Pro: Interesting, complicated multi-plot setup based on multiple storylines set at different times. This can make the show absorbing and addictive.

Con: Ridiculously over-the-top leaping between timelines, which can make the show disjointed and incoherent. You think the time travel on Lost is bad? These are each of the title cards from just the first episode of season three:

Okay, this is only six of them, and I left out at least two. *Spoiler alert* - they both said "6 Months Later."

Pro: Huge, talented cast, which in season three includes Glenn Close and Rose Byrne, as well as Lily Tomlin (yay!)

Con: Cast is great, characters are not very subtle. Because the plot is based on betrayals and obscured motives, everyone flips rapidly back and forth between being evil and then actually being innocent. This makes them less like rich, well-rounded characters and more like repeatedly tossed coins (and….flip! she’s evil again.)

Glenn Close and Lily Tomlin in Damages. Lily's character is good so far, but look at that screenshot! She'll turn evil eventually.

Pro: Plot is unpredictable, complex and seems to be planned well in advance, which means pieces that show up in the beginning tie together well by the end.

Con: While the actual content of the plot is hard to predict, its rhythms are not. As soon as you think you know something for certain, something will happen to undo that knowledge. As soon as somebody’s allegiances change, they’re going to get killed. Newly introduced minor character? Yeah, he’s a spy/assassin/FBI agent/illegitimate son/drug kingpin.

Why is everyone so monochromatic and glowy six months from now?

Pro: Damages has a distinct visual style, making it extremely recognizable and helping it seem more like a unified whole.

Con: The visual style, for the most part, manages to be an unlikely combination of monotone grey-ness and overexposed bright spots, which means everything looks like it was bleached and then shot with a shaky camera.

See what I mean about this show? It’s like Janus. Or Two-Face. Or that comedy/tragedy mask. So while I may tune into Damages this season, I doubt I’ll blog much about it, unless Lily Tomlin is just so awesome that she overwhelms the show’s many negatives. And I wouldn’t put it past her.