‘Damages’ comes full circle in final year

By Frazier Moore

AP Television Writer

NEW YORK

They created “Damages” as a coming-of-age story like no other.

Here, when this legal drama-thriller started back in 2007, was the smart but naive young lawyer, Ellen Parsons, landing a dream job as the protegee of legendary high-stakes litigator Patty Hewes.

But it was quickly obvious these two women weren’t going to work happily ever after.

No, things have been tough for Ellen who, steadily sadder but wiser from her toxic ties with Patty, is hellbent on destroying this ruthless, scheming former boss — if Patty doesn’t destroy her first.

Now, in the series’ fifth and final season, they will square off against each other both in the courtroom and out in a showdown from which at least one of them may not come out alive.

This, after all, is the series whose theme song warns, “When I am through with you, there won’t be anything left.” Starring Glenn Close as Patty and Rose Byrne as Ellen, “Damages” returns tonight at 9 on DirecTV.

“We’re bringing full circle what happened since the first season,” says Glenn Kessler, who, along with his brother Todd A. Kessler and Daniel Zelman, are the series’ creators and executive producers. “It’s been terrifically fun to go back and reinvest in all the horrors and manipulation and deceit, and really blow it up as both women go at each other, full force.”

If it’s fun for the creators, it certainly promises to be fun, as well as arresting, for the audience.

Once again, this “Damages” season is framed by a legal case pulled from the headlines. In the past, Enron-level stock manipulation and a Bernie Madoff-grade Ponzi scheme have fueled the action. Now inspiration is provided by WikiLeaks as a website called McClarenTruth.org gets its Julian Assange-esque founder in hot water. Channing McClaren needs a lawyer fast when one of his leaks exposes the identity of a major whistleblower with tragic results.

“But unlike the past, there isn’t a clear-cut antagonist this season,” says Todd Kessler, just a week after production wrapped.

As before, the show titillates the audience with glimpses of the future that hint at where the battle may lead. In the premiere, a particularly startling and troubling sight three months hence should keep viewers coming back in weeks ahead to see how the story’s twists will get them to that shocking resolution.