The "Damages" 2nd Season Finale (Spoiler Alert)

Last night was the second season finale of "Damages" and I haven't quite figured out how I feel about it.

I didn't hate it.  I didn't love it.

But I did love finally hearing Patty admit trying to murder Ellen, and I did love the stylized storytelling techniques.

The really cool rewinding of the scene when Patty shows up at Ellen's apartment, the cutting and sound effects when something interesting was going to happen.  Those were extremely effective. 

I guess what I didn't like were the contrivances.  Okay, so Patty wasn't shot, she was stabbed; Ellen wasn't arrested for shooting Patty, but for bribing the judge; Wes just happened to be in Ellen's apartment when Fuzzy showed up to kill her.  There were one too many of those.

And as I've said all season, it's hard for any show to top such a great first season as "Damages" had last year, but part of the problem this year was that characters I thought were going to become compelling, turned out to be duds.  Namely Danny Purcell and Claire Maddox.  Neither one of them was exciting and William Hurt's acting left a lot to be desired.

Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Tate Donovan, Ted Danson, and newcomer Timothy Olyphant were all very solid, but there were times the plot seriously let them down.

I know I'm way behind on "Damages" recaps, but they are coming, I swear.  Unfortunately, paying gigs have to take come before non-paying gigs. 

As much as I love to write the full length recaps, next year I may have to do snap recaps for "Damages" so I can post them the day after each episode airs.  We'll see.  In the meantime I appreciate your patience.

Megan's 25 Random Things

Remember a few weeks ago when I said how much I hated memes? And especially that dumb Facebook "25 Random Things" meme? Well I lied.

I love memes.  In fact they're my secret obsession.  But that's not all.  Many of the things you think you know about Megan are not quite true.  In fact you may be shocked by the following list.

So, drumroll please...without further ado are Megan's 25 Random Things about herself:

1. My name ain't Megan.  If you've read my "About" page you already know that, but I don't use a pseudonym to protect my privacy.  It's because a blog called Octavia's Minute would sound kinda strange.
2. I'm not black.  I just said that to be different.
3. I hate blogging.  It's just that my real profession in the sex trade doesn't maintain my very lavish lifestyle, so I have to supplement.
4. The same goes for writing for BlogHer.  You think I like it, don't you?  Not even.  And those women over there, what a bunch of catty bitches!
5. The "Damages" finale is tonight and you'd expect that I'd be watching, wouldn't you?  Well no.  I don't watch "Damages."  Those recaps some of y'all are so fond of?  My 10 year old niece Nancy writes 'em. 
6. The same goes for those "Desperate Housewives" snap recaps.  And I gotta crack the whip because she's way behind on all of them, the little slacker.
7. I voted for John McCain.
8. Those surrogate kids of mine?  Don't exist. The only kid in my life is stupid little Nancy and if she doesn't catch up on those recaps, that's gonna change in a big way.
9. You think Megan's favorite TV shows are "Lost," "American Idol," "House," "24" and shows like that, don't you?  Well no.  My favorite show?  "The Osbournes Reloaded."
10. I hate teenagers.
11. I hated teenagers even when I was one.
12. I'm reaching a milestone birthday this year and haven't decided how many people I'm telling the number to.
13. I'm having a birthday party.
14. My favorite song these days, Madonna's "Jump."  I am so ready to jump!  And look out when I do.
15. If my in time at my day job is 9 AM, as long as I get to Penn Station by 9 AM, I consider myself on time.
16. My dog Daisy?  She wasn't a cocker spaniel.  She was a chihuahua.
17. I almost always believe I'm the smartest person in any room.
18. I don't really believe Oprah's a goddess.  I just said that so I'd have a good SEO phrase.
19. I want to have Bill O'Reilly's baby.
20. I use a Twitter ghost writer.
21. My Twitter ghost writer?  You guessed it, Nancy.
22. One of my neighbors is a black belt in judo.
23. One of my other neighbors is a screenwriter.
24. Simon Cowell and I once chatted on the phone.
25. Facebook bought my idea about paying users to write memes.

Tomorrow's meme?  25 reasons you can't believe everything you read on April Fool's Day.

"Damages" Recap: "You Got Your Prom Date Pregnant" (3/4/09)

Ellen meets the FBI posse on the street.  She no longer thinks Patty had Pete killed 'cause Patty's so upset by his death.

But be warned, she says, because for Patty this is a call to war.  You're not just targeting her.  Now  she's targeting you.

At Hewes, Inc. Patty and Ellen are meeting with Tommy.  Patty just told him about the FBI's investigation.

Tommy's upset that Patty didn't tell him before.  He leaves in a huff.

Flash forward two months.

Tommy gets off the elevator at Hewes, Inc. and wants to see Patty.  A security guard stops him and reminds him he's no longer allowed in the building.  Tommy once again leaves in a huff but not before he says he's gonna sue Patty for wrongful termination.  And then, "Tell her I tried to warn her."

I wonder if this is a phony firing like the last time.  Somehow I don't think so.

Flash forward, I think, to Tommy going to the underground garage and getting the gun.   Outside, Ellen gets in his car and he passes the gun to her.  He says he hopes she knows what she's doing.

"I do."

Cut to Ellen holding the gun on Patty. 

Patty:  "It's not who you are."

Opening credits.

"Damages" Recap: "They Had To Tweeze That Out Of My Kidney" (2/25/09)

Poor Ellen can't sleep and gets up to take some pills.  As she's washing them down she hears someone talking to her, and it's...poor, dear, dead fiance David!

David, Ellen and I miss you! 

Ellen's confused but pleased to see him.  David tells her she's not dreaming but having one of those half asleep/half awake hallucinations we all have from time to time. 

David's in medical mode too 'cause he's wearing scrubs.  He picks up the pill bottle and Ellen explains she only takes them when she can't sleep.  She also says she moved out of the apartment they shared together.  David's glad about that 'cause he never liked the place. 

Considering Patty got it for them, no wonder.

Ellen apologizes to David for getting him killed and David's like, that's all water under the bridge.  What he is concerned about is the wedding present he left for her.  Why hasn't she opened it yet? 

He opens a dresser drawer and there's the gift.

The phone rings and David asks if it's Patty.  Ellen looks at the number and says it's the FBI.  David smiles, "That's right you're a Fed now."

Ellen corrects him, "No, an informant."

She then answers the phone, but it's a mistake because when she turns around David is gone. 

Daviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid!

Agent Glenn's on the phone and tells Ellen Uncle Pete tried to kill himself.

Ellen asks if he's gonna live.

"We don't know."

Opening credits.

"Damages" Recap: "New York Sucks" (2/18/09)

It's night time at Hewes, Inc. and Ellen Parsons is working late.  No one's around and the offices are dark except...as Ellen's coming down the stairs carrying law books she notices a light in her office.  She watches closely as the light goes off and Uncle Pete comes out.

Out in the hall is a rack of dry cleaning which Uncle Pete then wheels away. 

Flashback to the day Tommyhawk introduced Ellen to Uncle Pete.  He was pushing a rack of drying cleaning then as well.

Ellen goes in her office and looks around carefully.  The light on her computer is just going off and her monitor is warm.  Uncle Pete must have been using Ellen's computer to check his Facebook page.

In a meeting with her FBI posse, Ellen discusses the potential of flipping Uncle Pete.  Agents Mario and Glenn did a background check on him and found he's had run-ins with the law all his life.  Petty larceny, burglary, you name a "falling off the truck" kind of operation and he ran it.

Finally he got caught for running numbers.  Patty represented him, got his sentence reduced and Uncle Pete's been clean ever since.

That's as far as the FBI posse knows, but we know better.

Agent Mario says, "If Pete knows where Patty's skeletons are buried, we'll find them."

Opening Credits.

TV Quick Hits: "The Bachelor," "BSG," "Ugly Betty," "Lost," & "American Idol"

It's been one crazy week on TV what with "The Bachelor" dumping his "true love" for his other "true love," "24's" hostage taking at the White House of all places, and "American Idol's" Tatiana hysterics. 

Here's my take on some of the action this week and be warned...there are spoilers aplenty:

The Bachelor: 

Am I the only one in the country who thinks it's time to break-up with "The Bachelor?"  At the beginning of the season all I heard was women sighing all over the place, "Oh Jason, he's a single Dad!"  As if somehow that was going to make him better husband material than the other "princes" they've had on that show.

Well a few weeks and some dead roses later, Jason Mesnick ditched his fiancee, his "one true love" Melissa, for his other "really one true love," Molly.

That all happened on Monday and since then Jason's replaced Bernie Madoff as the most hated man in America.  The producers of "The Bachelor" have been accused of fixing the results, there were not so secret angry emails back and forth between Jason and Melissa, and the whole country was in an uproar.  So much so that Jason's had to start his own national apology tour.

People, can I just tell you, take a page out of former fan, Kelly Ripa's book and stop watching that blasted show.  There's never going to be another Trista and Ryan, there will be no happy endings, and "The Bachelor?"  He's just not that into you...or Melissa.

American Idol: 

Continuing on the reality TV front, y'all know I'm a fair weather "Idol" watcher meaning I almost never write about "American Idol" until the final 12 are chosen.  Well this week that milestone came to pass.  Thursday night, the judges made their wild card choices.  That meant adding the very worthy Jasmine, Matt and Megan.  

Jasmine was especially moving with her rendition of Christina Aguilera's "Reflection." That kid's got potential

Then came the big surprise, Simon announced that this year there was going to be a final 13!  And the 13th contestant was...Anoop, this year's answer to Sanjaya.  Now if I were as crude as say, Dr. Gregory House, I would say that "American Idol" had picked their own "Slumdog Millionaire." But I'm not, am I?

And like on "The Bachelor" the emotional train wreck was the entertaining part.  Namely, Tatiana del Toro. You know, the "thank you, thank you, I love you, I love you," girl. The judges finally puts her and us out of our collective miseries and dumped her. 

Next week, Megan's "Idol Chit Chat" returns.

Let the singing begin!

"Damages" Recap: "A Pretty Girl In A Leotard" (2/11/09)

I know I'm behind on my "Damages" recaps, but they are coming, I promise. I hope to be caught up by next week's episode.  I took a little break after the craziness of award season, but now I'm back.

This week we get the full throttle return of Katie Connor.  It was she and One Night Stand Greg who put events into motion last season that eventually led to the death of poor, dear David.  And in case you forgot, Katie was also David's sister.

We're at Ellen's apartment when Katie arrives.  She, Ellen and Katie's new boyfriend Mark are going to the movies.  Mark is meeting them at the theatre. 

After sitting down and refusing Ellen's offer of a drink Katie gives Ellen an envelope with the security deposit for the apartment she and David shared.  Ellen's surprised because she thought the apartment had another month to go on the lease. 

Katie tells her that her parents have packed up the apartment and everything is ready to be moved.  Ellen considers going back one last time to say goodbye. She often feels it's the only thing she has left of David.  That and a throbbing rage to avenge his murder. 

Katie strongly advises her not to go back.  For once, Katie and I agree.

Opening credits.

"Damages" Recap: "I Agree, It Wasn't Funny" (2/4/09)

Patty gets suspicious of Ellen this week and because of that, things are starting to cook.

We open with Patty and Ellen at a ritzy spa.  All decked out in cushy white robes and relaxing on plush recliners, these two women of the law look like any pair of girlfriends out for a spa day.

But we know better.

Ellen thanks Patty for the spa invite and says she's been worried about her, what with Danny's betrayal and all.  Patty's like, Danny who?

Not believing Patty's nonchalance, Ellen says Patty must be angry.

Patty then goes into one of the great Patty monologues of the whole series.  She tells Ellen how she chooses a case. 

"It starts with a seed of anger.  I can feel it in my hands and my chest.  And that seed has to be nurtured and cultivated until it grows into a full blown rage." She grins broadly.  "Then I know that I can't turn back.  I have no choice but to take the case because the rage doesn't abate ..."

"Until someone's punished," Ellen finishes Patty's thought.

Patty asks, "Do you feel that too?"

"I've begun to, recently." 

A spa lady serves them drinks.

Patty tells Ellen that although Danny betrayed her, he's a minor cog in the machinery of the Evil Empire and she's going after them.  If Danny gets his little cog-ass crushed in the process, so be it.

Speaking of the cog, Danny's coming out of his townhouse with a real estate agent.  He's put the house up for sale and doesn't care what price the agent gets for it, he just wants it gone.

The agent says something about it not being a seller's market.  What she doesn't say is that the market prospects get worse when the crime scene cleaners are still trying to get a murdered woman's blood out of the kitchen floor.

Danny doesn't care, he just wants it sold.

We flashback five weeks to the conversation Danny and Christine had on the stoop. The one where she says if the Evil Empire is making people sick, Danny's got to stop them. 

Next we're in Danny's car after the gala and Danny tells Christine he's not gonna say anything.  He made a deal and the Evil Empire is going to leave them alone.

Cut to Danny and Christine arguing in the kitchen after the gala.  Christine says if Danny doesn't stop the Evil Empire, she will.

Flash forward to Danny walking down the steps of the townhouse.

Opening Credits.

Sometimes Out Of Death Comes Life: Happy Birthday Megan's Minute!

Sometimes out of death comes life. 

A month before I started Megan's Minute, a good friend of mine, I'll call him CR, had a stroke and died.  He was 59 years old.

He was a brilliant, funny, often infuriating man who lived and breathed, photography, film and literature.  He was proudly anti-social, unapologetically liberal and would have been as astounded as anyone to see that a black man was now President of the United States.

CR was also an incredible writer, but when he died, his novel was unpublished and his screenplays unmade.  Only those of us who knew him well knew what a wonderfully entertaining and imaginative writer he was.

The last time I saw CR was months before he died.  My last contact with him was exchanged emails the Christmas before he died saying how we had to get together soon.

After hearing of his death, I was devastated that the "get together" would never happen.  And mixed in with the grief of his loss was the thought that no one else would ever read his work.

Why am I telling you this?

It's simple.  I've always believed myself to be a writer.  I've written stories, screenplays, and portions of novels, but never had the courage or the commitment to jump in feet first and find out if I had what it took to make a living as a writer.

After CR died, I discovered I desperately needed for someone to read my work.  Even if it was only five people whose names I never knew.

I'd already been considering blogging thanks to my friend Island Girl.  And after CR died, that was the push I needed to get me past the fear of my work not being good enough, or perfect enough, or whatever.

I chose Valentine's Day 2007 for my first post because it was a Valentine to myself.  A commitment to myself, my work and what I hoped would be a new future.

So at 11:55PM--it took me until the end of the day to summon my courage--I clicked "post" and  my first Megan's Minute post went live.

"Damages" Recap "Hey! Mr. Pibb!" (1/28/09)

We're at the fourth episode of this second season of "Damages" and I'm truly underwhelmed by the whole Daniel Purcell case.  First of all, I don't see he and Patty as a couple. 

I know he's supposed to be a mysterious character, a man with secrets, but he's got no charisma and I don't care if he killed his wife. 

I'm still happy with the show because Patty is such a ruthless character and because I like Ellen working undercover to try and get the goods on her.

But Danny Purcell? The less I see of him the better.

So how do we open this episode?  With Danny Purcell.

He's washing dishes at that beautiful house on the lake and smiling happily.  Looking out the kitchen window he sees Christine on a swing laughing and swinging in the setting sun.   Danny gets to a dish with some stubborn dirt on it and frowns as he tries to clean it.  Christine is still swinging and calling to Danny to come out and join her.

Danny's rubbing at the dish, glancing out the window and suddenly he sees a hooded figure walking up behind Christine.

"Daniel!  You're missing all the fun!"

Christine....!

Danny sees the figure getting closer to Christine but all he can do is keep scrubbing at the plate.  The dirt stays stubbornly in place.  Danny mumbles he'll never get it out.

"Daniel!"

The figure gets closer and closer.

Christine....!!

A jail guard bangs on the jail cell door and Danny jolts awake in his bunk.

At Hewes Inc., Patty is telling Ellen about Reporter Josh and how she can't get in touch with him.  She wants Tommyhawk and Ellen to go down to the wilds of West Virginia and find out what he knows about the Evil Empire.  Ellen mildly protests, saying she'd rather stay behind and work on the Evil Empire/Christine murder angle, but Patty says they need Reporter Josh and "you and Tom are going to find him."  And by the way, next time just do what I say and don't give me any lip. 

Hee hee.  Ellen's pushing her luck by not saying, "Yes, ma'am, No, ma'am" every time Patty speaks.  I think she's starting to get on Patty's nerves.

Flash forward five months later to Ellen's apartment.  She's putting away her gun when someone knocks on the door.  She invites the unseen person in and asks, "Is that the money?"  We see a closeup of a black briefcase. 

"Are you sure you're okay?"  Ellen asks.  "You look worried."

In the hallway, outside the apartment door we hear two loud bangs.  Ellen comes out of the apartment carrying the black briefcase.

Opening credits.

"Damages" Recap: "I Knew Your Pig" (1/21/09)

Last week we ended with Danny Purcell and Claire Maddox in a car in the pouring rain. 

This week we open in the same place.  It's still raining and Danny and Claire are still talking in riddles.

It's like one of those plays you go to where no one looks at each other and every character talks in short stilted bursts.

"Did you kill your wife?"  Claire asks.

"I had nothing to do with this."

"Did she find out about us?"

Cut to flashes of Christine and Danny arguing in their kitchen after the party. 

"No."

I think someone's fibbing.

"Someone leaked your report." 

"I did."

"Who is responsible for this?" 

"Who do you think?"

"Is Glenn Close still as hot as you remember?"

Oops...that was my question, not Claire's.

Back to the world of Patty Hewes, Tommyhawk and Patty are meeting in her apartment about Ultima National Resources, this season's Evil Empire.

The company's been sued more than two hundred times in the past thirty years but they only lost one case.  That one they didn't even bother to appeal because the payout was $100 million---two days profit for the company. 

See, these are the kinds of companies that need to be taxed within an inch of their lives.  Just sayin'.

Tommyhawk still wants to know what all the corporate intrigue has to do with defending Danny.  And by the way, is there anything in the Patty/Danny history he needs to know about?

"If there was I'd tell you," Patty says.

Opening credits.

"Damages" Recap: "Burn It, Shred it, I Don't Care" (1/14/09)

We begin this week where we ended last week.  The camera shot tracks down the hallway to an apartment.  We hear good old Ray Charles crooning away inside apartment 1910.

Then there's a closeup of Ellen and she says, "It seems like you're not going to tell me the truth after all.  That's okay."  She takes a drink. 

"I lied too."

Bang, bang. 

Flashback six months earlier.  Ellen's in the backseat of her FBI spy car when Patty calls.  There's been an emergency and Ellen needs to meet Patty at her office right away. 

When we see Patty, she's in the bathroom at Danny Purcell's house and she's been crying.  Hmm.   Is she still in love with Purcell and she's worried about him?  Or is she freaking out because of poor dead Christine lying on the kitchen floor?  Ray Fiske's blood soaked spectral appearance might have something to do with her being so emotional. 

Detectives are prowling all around Purcell's kitchen when Patty comes in.  The lead detective, Detective Huntley wants to know if Patty is Purcell's attorney.  Patty says she's not. 

When Detective Huntley starts questioning Purcell, Danny gives some lame-ass story about dropping his wife off in front of the house after they came back from the party.

When he got back to the house---after parking the car?---the front door was unlocked and an "Aryan or Nordic" looking, short, stringy haired blonde guy slammed into him and ran off.  That's how he hurt his head.  Purcell went to look for Christine and found her dead, dead, dead on the kitchen floor.

He then goes into this story about how the guy must have followed Christine 'cause he saw Purcell drop her off, blah, blah, blah...

Who believes this guy?

Purcell's either the worst liar in the world or William Hurt has turned into a very bad actor.

The detective wants to know if Purcell knew of anyone who hated his guts and would have wanted to kill his poor dead wife.  Purcell's like, me?  No, never. 

Flashback to Purcell and Goodwin at the toxic water---I don't know it's toxic, it just looks like it would be---and Goodwin telling Danny, "It's time, Mr. Purcell.  Are you ready to be reasonable?"

Flash forward to Purcell and the detective. 

No grievances or threats against me.  None whatsoever.  Not a one.

Patty's like, WTF?

Flashback to Patty and Danny in his car where he tells her he's in trouble.

Flash forward and the cops start to wheel Christine out on a gurney and Purcell goes into full blown phony grieving husband mode.  "Oh Jesus....oh, Jesus, Christine!"

Oh give me a break!

Purcell, still in the throes of "grief" and hyperventilating or something, collapses on the sofa.  Patty gets him juice, explaining to the detective that Danny's a diabetic.  She then demands the detective leave the questioning for later.  'Cause you know what?  Now she is his attorney.

Opening credits.

"Damages" Recap: "I Lied, Too" (1/7/09)

"Damages" is back and so are Megan's "Damages" recaps.  A big woo hoo on both fronts.

We open to the sultry sounds of Ray Charles singing "Just for a thrillllll....you changed the sunshine to raaaaaaaaain...."

It's present day and Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) is drinking a whiskey and talking to an unseen guest.  "What's the matter?  You shouldn't be scared."

She pauses and laughs,  "Actually I take that back.  You should be scared.  You should be terrified."  Pause. 

"It would be so much easier if you said the words."  Another pause.  "I can never remember the name of this song."  She takes a sip. 

"All I want you to do is tell the truth....but I know that can be hard for you, so...I brought something that I thought might help."

Ellen smoothly pulls out a gun.  "And who knows?  Maybe the truth will set you free."

"Just for a thrillllll...."

Flashback six months. 

We see the studio audience of "Live with Regis and Kelly" applauding and there are Regis and Kelly on the set.  Regis does an introduction

"And now here's one of our good friends just off a big courtroom win, please welcome back....Patty Hewes!" 

What the!?

And out she comes, Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) in all her evil, legal glory.

Regis asks Patty how much she made on the Frobisher case.  Millions?  Billions?  Patty's like Reg, I'll show you my bank account if you show me yours.

"So tell us about this Arthur Frobisher," Kelly asks. "Pretty wealthy guy huh?"

"Not any more." Patty smirks. 

Everyone laughs.  Patty chuckles, all charm and poise.

"Our plaintiffs were very well taken care of," she adds.

"So what are you gonna do with all that money?"

Patty's going to spend part of the money on a foundation she's starting with her friend Sam Arsenault to fight hunger in New York City.

Regis asks about taking another case and Patty says her hands are full with the foundation and it being her son's last year in high school.  You know, working mother and all.  Heh.

But she has "a fantastic team at the firm."

Kelly mentions seeing one of Patty's very capable employees backstage and Regis waves out a reluctant Ellen standing in the wings.  Ellen smiles and gives them a little wave.

"I can tell you I would be absolutely lost without her."  Patty applauds in Ellen's direction.

Cut to Ellen royally pissed off, walking down the street and getting in her FBI handlers' car.  Her handlers are Agent Randall Harrison (Mario Van Pebbles) and Agent Werner (Glenn Kessler).

"The woman's full of sh*t," Ellen says.  "A month ago she tried to kill me and now she's acting like my best friend." 

Agent Mario---I like that better than Agent Harrison---tells Ellen they've got a case they want Ellen to convince Patty to take.  Agent Glenn---ditto---explains it's a set-up and will be part of the plan to take Patty down. 

Ellen's more than eager.  When do we start, huh?  Huh?  HUH?

Agent Mario tells her to jump back in her skin and to take a chill pill.

Ellen's like: "That's easy for you to say, you just want to arrest Patty Hewes."

Agent Mario:  "And you don't?" 

Ellen:  "I want to destroy her."

Opening Credits.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the second season of one of the best TV shows of last season, the Emmy award winning "Damages."

Season 2 of "Damages" Begins Wednesday

Patty Hewes (Glenn Close, pictured left) tried to have Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) killed and now Ellen wants payback.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, you missed the first season of  "Damages," but don't despair, you can catch up when "Damages" returns for it's writers' strike delayed second season, Wednesday night on FX.

The season premiere picks up seven months after Ellen's attack which launched the excellent first season in such a shocking way, and once again the producers use the flashing back and forth technique that gave the first season so much suspense and unpredictability.

Ellen is having what looks like a casual drink with an unseen guest while encouraging that guest to tell her "the truth."  The scene is deceptively nonchalant as Ellen sips her whiskey before casually taking out a gun and threatening to use it.

From there we flashback six months to present day and Ellen's attempts to get the goods on Patty, while having revenge fantasies in group therapy about Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson), the man she thinks was responsible for her fiance, David's death.  The last time we saw good ol' Art, he was bleeding to death from a gunshot wound in a field miles from nowhere.

Is he still alive?  You'll just have to watch and find out.

An Interview with Academy Award Winner Mary Steenburgen of "Four Christmases"

I love Mary Steenburgen. She's one of those actresses who slips in and out of roles, seemingly with little effort and she brings a quiet, steely, strength to whatever character she plays.

Her latest movie, "Four Christmases" is about a couple, Kate and Brad (Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn) whose yearly plan to avoid family Christmases is thwarted by a blizzard. Since their parents are divorced, that means four visits with four sets of dysfunctional parents, siblings, step-siblings and significant others. Mary Steenburgen plays Kate's Mom, Marilyn.

Mary Steenburgen (pictured left) is an Arkansas native, an Academy Award winner---for the film "Melvin and Howard---and has done film, television and Broadway. But she's not only an actress, wife and mother, she's also partnered with two friends to open an interior design shop, Rooms and Gardens.

In addition to being politically active, she was an ardent supporter of longtime friend Hillary Clinton during the presidential election, Mary's involved in charitable work as well. Part of the proceeds from a special line of candles sold at Rooms and Gardens will be donated to Heifer International, an organization that fights world hunger.

She's a woman with a lot on her mind and that's why when I had the chance to interview her recently, I was very excited. Here are excerpts from our conversation: