Traditionally, dogs have been used on film and TV to portray a character’s kinder, gentler side – because even the toughest villain is humanized by puppy love. But Damages, the new FX legal drama starring Glenn Close as a cutthroat corporate attorney, is not traditional TV fare. Here, dogs appear as potent symbols of the show’s message: that the practice of law is so dog-eat-dog that displaying the kind of loyalty canines are known for could get you fired - or worse.
Initially, Close’s character Patty Hewes comes across as a passionate defender of the underdog, determined to take down corrupt billionaire Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson). Patty even has a dog of her own, a mutt named Corey that she takes to the dog park regularly enough that her enemies know they can find her there early in the morning.
When confronted at the park by the attorney for the opposition, who urges her to settle, Patty proudly points out that her dog is the one "humping the Ridgeback." Obviously, her dog is an alpha and so is Patty. She refuses to settle.
This alpha female gets called "bitch" a lot in the span of an hour, but to Patty, that’s more of a compliment. And as early in the game as the end of the pilot episode, it became clear that Patty isn’t quite the underdog-lover she makes herself out to be. She’s got an agenda, and a little thing like an innocent dog won’t stop her.
Tossing a dog collar into the river, it’s obvious that Patty’s the one who arranged to have the collar’s wearer whacked, manipulating the devastated owner into stepping up as a star witness in Patty’s case against Frobisher.
First Patty murders a dog, then she destroys evidence; this character takes villainy to new heights, with shades of Fatal Attraction’s Alex Forrest, Dangerous Liaison’s Marquise de Merteuil, and 101 Dalmatians’ Cruella DeVil, plus echoes of two films Close didn’t star in (The Devil Wears Prada and Single White Female).
Underdogs, watch your backs.
