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The greatest season of any TV show in all of history is the first season of Glenn Close's "Damages."

This is like a haunted-house tale. Our avatar, Ellen (Rose Byrne), arrives at the chamber of secrets. Patty, Glenn Close, has hired Ellen. There is a major legal case, involving multiple murders. Patty herself might be capable of murder. She might try to murder Ellen.

Ellen feels deep ambivalence toward Patty--and it's the same ambivalence that we feel, in the audience. We recognize that Patty is a terrible person. At the same time, we want to spend more and more hours with her, because she is brilliant and charismatic; she is Glenn Close!

The main story is: Will Ellen succumb? Will she go to the Dark Side? Will she become another Patty? As she wrestles with her job, she displays a fair amount of Glenn-Close-sparked "fire"; she has much more chemistry with Close's character than with her ostensible fiance. (The murder of the fiance is almost a punchline. Oh, gosh. Oh, well.)

Years ago, when I first watched this season, I was mainly dazzled by Glenn Close, and I didn't have time for Rose Byrne. But, on a re-watch, I can admire Ms. Byrne. It's a treat to see her change, over time--to see the innocence fade away, and to see the steeliness in the final episodes.

Also, this is a season with more than one titanic performance. Close won an Emmy, but Zeljko Ivanek also won an Emmy; Ivanek has juicy material in his (slightly-homophobic) storyline, but you get the sense that he could break your heart just by reading from the phonebook. And Ted Danson is similarly magnetic; for a while, you aren't entirely sure just how awful this guy is, and the guessing game is fun, and Danson's "de-stablizing" charm is an interesting force throughout the season.

The movie I think of when I watch is "Dangerous Liaisons," another Close project, in which no one is precisely who she seems to be.

It's a pleasure to see a Gothic world on the small screen, and to see that world populated with these creepy, crafty, dynamic people. The first season really does hold up. Food for thought.

P.S. Yesterday, Lincoln Center decided--apparently at the eleventh hour--not to air "Carousel." But you can find the same performance on Amazon Prime. And, if you have a membership, streaming is free.
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