Best thing on television

Has anybody been watching Damages on F/X? I missed the first episode, and was going to write it off as another lawyer show, but everyone's been calling it one of the best shows of the summer... or, you know, ever. Well, I downloaded the first three episodes, and they weren't lying. It's absolutely brilliant. Seriously, the fourth episode just aired on Tuesday, and I can't believe I have to wait a whole week to see what happens.

The show focuses on Ellen, a young lawyer working for a powerful law firm headed by Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). In the present, Ellen is brought in by the police, shell-shocked and blood-spattered, as a suspect in the murder of her fiance. But most of the story is told in flashbacks to six months earlier, when Ellen was first hired by Patty, while the firm was in the midst of a high-profile case suing a corporate executive (Ted Danson) whose employees lost their pensions in an Enron-type scandal. The thing I love about it is that you really have no idea who's a good guy and who's a bad guy - everyone is duplicitous and manipulative, but then you see the softer side, too. There are so many shades of gray that it's hard to decide who to root for, since everyone seems a little bit evil, except for Ellen - and even she might end up being a murderer! The twists and turns are insane, and will keep you going "Oh, my God" pretty much throughout the whole show.

It doesn't look like the episodes are available online, or repeated on F/X, but hey - this is all about shades of gray and questionable morals, so do what I did and illegally download it. It's worth it, trust me. Do it now while you've only got 4 episodes to catch up on. (That may sound like a lot, but believe me, you'll want to watch the next one as soon as the first episode ends.) Hell, I'll give you a summary of what you missed, just as long as you watch it. You'll thank me later.