A phenomenological description of coupled, layered helium films, which includes damping, is formulated and applied to analysis of the recent data of Ellis and Hallock. This application requires estimating the interfilm coupling for two quite different situations: for low $^{3}$He coverage, where the $^{3}$He behaves like a d=2 ideal gas and for high $^{3}$He coverage, where $^{3}$He is a self-bound incompressible liquid. Only one of the two modes that coupled, layered films are able to support is observed. It is the weakly damped, third-sound mode. The second mode, involving motion of the $^{3}$He, is overdamped, \ensuremath{\omega}${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{3}$\ensuremath{\simeq}${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}3}$, at both low and high $^{3}$He concentration.