[DMG] I agree, it wasn't funny

TV Programme: Damages
Season: 2
Episode: 5
Date I watched this episode: 05/02/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 7 days.

I was pleasantly surprised by this episode. The last couple haven't really gone anywhere (as I've said numerous times) whereas here there seemed to be a number of threads from earlier on (particularly episode 2) that were tied up, while others were revisited. For example Wes's gun cabinet, and the infant mortality case.

I've been worried in previous episodes that not every scene actually serves a purpose. But I did feel here that this problem wasn't present. A particularly good example was the party at Patty's apartment. While there was an interwoven sequence where Ellen remembered the attempt on her life, the scene was still useful as it made Ellen speak to lots of different people, whilst rekindling her fear and paranoia, leading her (in the natural story continuity) to the firing range with Wes. So the "storyboard design" if you like, was very well-done here. In fact, in general I think the Ellen/Wes relationship is developing fairly organically in the right direction, which is at least something to hold on to.

The episode kept you guessing more than previous ones. For example, we wondered who Pete and Wes were talking to on the phones. The revelations here, especially around Rick Messer (whom it is great to see back, by the way, and not in so much of a cameo role here), have far-reaching consequences across the story and set the stage for future events in a much more directed way than earlier on. It also opened the door for a return of Frobisher, which can't be a bad thing!!

The twist with Ellen becoming a "triple agent" as it were, is actually quite interesting and clever. I never would have guessed something like that, in fact the FBI agents were a bit stumped and this was the only true "WTF?!" moment in the episode as far as I was concerned. This will make for some great complex storylines coming up, I hope.

The Danny/Christine flashbacks are developing nicely. Danny seems much more professional now, and I can't work him out (whereas before I thought I had him worked out). I still think there has to be more than meets the eye here with Christine. I wonder if maybe her death was faked? It doesn't quite seem believable that Danny could be so calm as he was in that meeting with the Energy Commission, when his wife had just been killed by the very man he was speaking in favour of. Or, I wonder if Danny is more in on it than we can even see now.

Patty seems to be getting back to her good old self. The change in her moods is quite a signature of hers, and can come across as deliciously evil, like where in this episode she talks to Ellen about the infant mortality case and leaves it in exactly the place where Ellen will know that she is in trouble. Unfortunately for Patty, Ellen is always one step ahead (making it even more nail-biting when we thought Patty had "caught up").

As is usual this season, I didn't get the ending. Wes killed someone but who was it? I'm not meant to know, I hope.

The legal parts of this episode revolved around an almost Farscape-like crusade to kill a merger involving a huge multinational. Patty and Ellen single-handedly take on Walter Kendrick and his merry men. Somehow it didn't seem likely from the start. This part of the episode was weak, and used very standard Damages devices including fairly two-dimensional corruption. And I definitely don't get that gentleman's club thing, where Walter was dressed as a lady. Is this some sort of American tradition that I'm missing?

Where are Katie Connor, Andrew/Felecia, Patty's charity, Josh Restin, etc in this episode? Once again there seem to be storylines left hanging but this episode reassures me that these will be revisited at some point. Sometimes this season it feels like the writers have picked storylines out of a hat on an episode-by-episode basis, as some storylines are just ignored for a while and then picked up again.

As is tradition I have to say something about the title. I'll probably never guess these; I certainly never would have thought of Walter Kendrick as being the receipient here, and his character was developed a lot further in this episode than earlier, so I didn't really "know" him before. Next week's is called "A Pretty Girl In A Leotard". I think this is a Patty kind of thing to say.

In summary then, this episode tied up a few loose ends, while leaving enough open to make the show still interesting. It certainly made me feel better about the direction of this show in general. However, why couldn't they have just skipped the last two episodes and done this earlier? In a 13-episode season, there is no real room for dawdling.