History YMMV / Damages

* CompleteMonster: Jerry Boorman from season 4 is a complete {{sociopath}} of a CIA agent and [[PsychoForHire mercenary]] who will ruin lives for the purpose of saving his ass from being punished for the vile things he has done as part of the "War On Terror". His most notable moment of cruelty comes when he is torturing an innocent Muslim-American into taking the fall for a murder attempt he carried out, at which point he admits to the man he is torturing, that he doesn't give a damn about America and [[ItsAllAboutMe only cares about himself]].

* CompleteMonster: Jerry Boorman; a complete sociopath of a CIA agent who will ruin lives for the purpose of saving his ass, as far as the vile things he has done as part of the "War On Terror". His most notable moment of cruelty comes when he is torturing an innocent Muslim-American into taking the fall for a murder attempt he carried out, at which point he admits to the man he is torturing, that he doesn't give a damn about America and only cares about himself.

* FridgeHorror: At the end of season 5, the audience finds out that [[spoiler: Rutger is the one who killed Naomi.]] However, [[DramaticIrony none of the characters discover the truth.]] [[spoiler:Everyone, including her victim's daughter, live on thinking she was an unstable woman who took her life.]]

** Walter Kendrick in season two also counts, though he is more or less a one-dimensional villain compared to the other villains on the show.
*** [[spoiler: Also Rick Messer.]]

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Ray Fiske. Tom Shayes as well

* NotSoDifferent: Patty is, if anything, ''more'' ruthless than Ray Fiske in the first season. [[spoiler: Fiske's only initial crime was insider trading, and he constantly resists Frobisher's bull-headed attempts to make things go away. Compared to Patty's several direct killings, blackmail, etc, Fiske is practically a Boy Scout.]]

* SeriesFauxnale: While the producers have [[WordOfGod denied this]], the season 3 finale works remarkably well as one of these complete with BackForTheFinale for a number of season 1 & 2 characters and a BittersweetEnding that's least cliffhangerish of any season thus far. Ultimately, the show UnCancelled by Direct TV and picked up for two more seasons.

* VillainProtagonist: Patty Hewes seems to exceed AntiHero by some degree! In fact she is often FauxAffablyEvil though for Ellen she starts out as a mere BitchInSheepsClothing.

** Season four gives us Chris, who has a major case of PTSD from when, during a top-secret and ultimately illegal mission for Blackwater expy Highstar, the mission went horribly wrong and Chris was the only one who made it back alive. Made worse with the fact that Highstar's CIA contact deems him a "liability", going so far as murdering the shrink Highstar had him talk to (even though the shrink was pretty much bound by privacy rules to not reveal what Chris had done, the CIA agent had him killed because he didn't want anyone in a position to expose the agent's crimes) THEN convincing Highstar CEO Howard Erickson to not only lure Chris back to Afghanistan (where he is promptly held prisoner) and tortured/held in solitary confinement (which compounds his PTSD) and [[spoiler: possibly is decapitated on orders of Erikson, who by this point decides that they have to kill Chris in order to ensure that he can't tell anyone what Erikson did to him]].
** [[spoiler: [[IGotBetter He survives]] ]].

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: ''[[WhamEpisode There Is No "We" Anymore]]'', particularly the scene depicting [[spoiler:David's murder]].

* VillainProtagonist: Patty Hewes seems to exceed AntiHero by some degree! In fact she is often FauxAffablyEvil though for Ellen she starts out as a mere Bitch in Sheep's Clothing.

* VillainProtagonist: Patty Hewes seems to exceed AntiHero by some degree!

** Highstar CEO and Erik Prince stand-in Howard Erikson [[{{YMMV}} may]] count, though the show has made a point to contrast his evil deeds with the image of a loving father who cares about his family, even as he is blackmailing a man with threats of having harm come to his recently enlisted son if he doesn't sell him land that he needs for an training compound he wants to build. It's up to the viewer if he was really just a complete {{Hypocrite}}, or if he was a one-time good guy with a real bad side who was manipulated by the wrong CIA agent.

** Highstar CEO and Erik Prince stand-in Howard Erikson [[{{YMMV}} may]] count, though the show has made a point to contrast his pure evil with the image of a loving father who cares about his family, even as he is blackmailing a man with threats of having harm come to his recently enlisted son if he doesn't sell him land that he needs for an training compound he wants to build. It's up to the viewer if he was really just a complete {{Hypocrite}}, or if he was a one-time good guy with a real bad side who was manipulated by the wrong CIA agent.

* CompleteMonster: Jerry Boorman; a complete sociopath of a CIA agent who will ruin lives for the purpose of saving his ass, as far as the vile things he has done as part of the "War On Terror". His most notable moment of cruelty comes when he is torturing an innocent Muslim-American into taking the fall for a murder attempt he carried out, at which point he admits to the man he is torturing, that he doesn't give a damn about America and only cares about himself. Highstar CEO and Erik Prince stand-in Howard Erikson counts, though the show has made a point to contrast his pure evil with the image of a loving father who cares about his family, even as he is blackmailing a man with threats of having harm come to his recently enlisted son if he doesn't sell him land that he needs for an training compound he wants to build.

* LawfulGood: Tom Shayes is Patty's partner in the firm but he's not nearly as successful as she is because of his upright ethical code.

* CompleteMonster: For a show with such gray morals Walter Kendrick arguably comes across as completely irredeemable. [[spoiler: Also Rick Messer.]]
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Patty's Uncle Pete, Frobisher and perhaps Tom Shayes.
** Also Ray Fiske for sure.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The theme tune: "When I Am Through With You" by The V.L.A.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Loads and loads. The series apparently casts its one-off and minor characters from the same place as ''[[LawAndOrder Law & Order]]'' and ''BurnNotice''.
** It also has a liking for former castmembers of ''TheWire''.