The Bigger Chill: William Hurt to join Damages

William Hurt, master of speaking grimly while barely moving his lips, will be joining the cast of Damages for its second season. He plays a client of Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) that may have been romantically involved with her. This is Hurt's first regular character on television.

This is good news for the show, which I thought was interesting but uneven in the first season. The bad news? One of the biggest reasons for the uneven first season is also back: Rose Byrne. She just doesn't have the chops, and never is that more obvious that when she's in the same scene as Glenn Close.

Damages begins its second season with a 13 episode run... sometime? No official word from FX on the start date.