"Damages" Recap & Review - "We Are Not Animals"

Damages
“We Are Not Animals”

Original Air Date: September 11, 2007

Tom R. - TwoCents Staff Writer

So here we are, just past the halfway mark. And the question now becomes, “Where is Patty Hewes?”

Present:
If Ellen can be trusted, the timeline is established. Patty lent Ellen her apartment while she was out of town. Someone got in and tried to kill Ellen. She killed him in self defense, then removed her blood-spattered clothes, threw on the overcoat and headed back to her apartment, where she found the murder weapon in the living room, and then found David in the bathtub. Someone tried to get in the door, but she bolted it and ran down the fire escape, where she was picked up by the cops.

So…was Patty the intended target, or was Ellen? And where did the body go?

Looking for an attorney, she calls on Tom. He refers her back to Hollis, but the meeting was a ploy to try to get Patty out of hiding, knowing Tom would make contact. The Hewes and Parsons camps are forming. With six more episodes, expect an explosion somewhere along the line.

Past:
Patty uses loyalties and confidentiality to drive a wedge between Tom and Ellen. Fiske’s sleep troubles continue as he moves to suppress the subpoena to compel Greg to testify. Others in the Frobisher camp want to eliminate Greg altogether, but Fiske pushes for the legal moves first. The judge allows Patty’s subpoena to stand, and Fiske urges Greg to go underground. He is abducted from his hotel, but it turns out to be Patty, who tells him, “Frobisher isn’t the only one with resources.” She assigns a very large bald man named Malcolm to protect him, but as his deposition approaches, he hits Malcolm with a baseball bat and ducks out as Frobisher’s men begin to follow him. He does not show for the deposition, leading to a rare uncontrolled outburst by Patty.

Meanwhile, Patty’s troubled son Michael has served his time at the rehabilitation camp, but he tells Patty he wants to stay. Calling his bluff, she presents him with emancipation papers and the chance to start a life without her influence. The episode ends with his return home.

Shining moment: The slow zoom to the empty chair as everyone waits for Greg’s deposition. Then again, watching the writers realize that they’re in the clubhouse turn is pretty cool too.

Damages airs Tuesdays at 10 PM on FX and repeats immediately and during the week.