Season 2 of the FX Network drama Damages premieres today at 10PM ET/PT, after over 14 months since the Season 1 finale back in October 2007.

It’s hard to believe it’s been so long since any new episodes have aired. The show, which debuted in July 2007, was originally scheduled to begin its sophomore season in the summer of 2008, but was delayed and then nearly canceled because of the Writers’ Strike. While other shows became casualties of said Strike, the legal-thriller drama managed to escape the ax.

The first season of Damages saw Rose Byrne as the recent law school graduate Ellen Parsons, who takes a high-pressure job at the law firm Hewes & Associates, headed by cut-throat high-stakes litigation lawyer Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). The naive Ellen is hardly prepared for what happens over the next six months, including the murder of her fiance.

Hulu has a two-part recap of Season 1 of Damages, which will get you up to speed for tonight’s season premiere. Both videos — which are here below — are just under 20 minutes total, so you have plenty of time

Season 2 Preview

FX Network sent me the first three episodes of Season 2, which I watched immediately and LOVED!

I had planned to write about it while I’m vacation (which is where I am now), but I unfortunately left the discs behind. So, I’ll try to give you some tidbits from Season 2 based on memory (I promise, I’ll fact check and update when I get home in a few days). Note, this is the type of show where you have to be really careful of what you decide to talk about because there’s lots of mystery and plot twists, so I’ll do my best not to spoil anything.

• Three big names join the cast:
  — William Hurt as Daniel Purcell, someone from Patty’s past who’s found himself in a heap of trouble and now needs Patty to defend him.
  — Marcia Gay Harden as Claire Maddox, a corporate lawyer defending the “Natural Resources” company which Daniel Purcell was working for as an energy consultant.
  — Timothy Olyphant as Wes Krulik, a man that Ellen meets while in group grief counseling. Wes seems to be a potential love interest for Ellen and the two do have great chemistry, but even though Wes appeared to be a good influence on the traumatize Ellen, after a while I started to feel like maybe he wasn’t the best person to be in her life. I really like Timothy Olyphant, so I hope they don’t turn him into a bad guy, but with this show, no one is ever as they seem.
• Season 2 continues the “flashback” trend, but it seems less confusing than the first season, and as far as I remember, I think it was only “10 days earlier” flashbacks – nope, we get the “Six Months Earlier” ones too, but again, it seems less confusing this season … so far.
• Ellen returns to work for Patty, while at the time conspiring with the FBI to bring down Patty (Mario Van Peebles returns as FBI Agent Harrison)
• Ellen still wants revenge against former billionaire Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson), who is now broke and in the hospital after being shot by a disgruntled employee at the end of Season 1. This time around, looks like she might actually get a chance, but what will she do? There’s a few scenarios set up and at some point we see which one Ellen picks, but since I’ve only seen the first three episodes, something might change during the season.

Video

Watch the entire first season of Damages on DVD ($34.99) or Blu-ray ($49.99). Note, both versions are eligible for a limited time for Amazon’s Buy One Get One Free TV on DVD Sale.