DamagesThey Had to Tweeze That Out of My Kidney
Original Air Date: Feb 25, 2008
Tom R. - Sr. Staff Writer
tom@thetwocents.com
Zero points for redemption, zero points for forgiveness, and zero points for clean slates and new lives. But did you really expect a different scorecard?
The title comes from the slug that put Frobisher in the hospital. He announces to his guru that he wants to build a healing center on the site where the shooting happened. The guru cautions him about everything having a dark side and a light side, but he agrees. Messer, however, cannot let Frobisher go. As long as he is pressing the case against Kendrick, Patty will keep digging into Messer’s background. After the guru meets him one-on-one, he tells Frobisher that he has brought a jackal into his life. The only options are to run from Messer forever or turn himself in. Frobisher drops the case and offers Messer anything he wants.
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[photo: TNT]
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Damages
ReplyDelete“They Had to Tweeze That Out of My Kidney”
Original Air Date: Feb 25, 2008
Tom R. - Sr. Staff Writer
tom@thetwocents.com
Zero points for redemption, zero points for forgiveness, and zero points for clean slates and new lives. But did you really expect a different scorecard?
The title comes from the slug that put Frobisher in the hospital. He announces to his guru that he wants to build a healing center on the site where the shooting happened. The guru cautions him about everything having a dark side and a light side, but he agrees. Messer, however, cannot let Frobisher go. As long as he is pressing the case against Kendrick, Patty will keep digging into Messer’s background. After the guru meets him one-on-one, he tells Frobisher that he has brought a jackal into his life. The only options are to run from Messer forever or turn himself in. Frobisher drops the case and offers Messer anything he wants.
Quite a few high points in this arc. It would have been easy to paint the guru as any number of stereotypes. He could have been Mike Myers’ platitude spouting Love Guru, hawking his books and adding “TM” to every key phrase. He could have been all about the money. He could have been all sunshine and denial, creating a bubble for Frobisher. Thankfully, he is a solid character, guiding Frobisher on his journey, letting him make his own choices, rather than forcing one philosophy or one therapy.
The scene between him and Messer is also excellent. Messer takes a parable from the guru’s teachings. After he explains the role of each animal in the story, he adds one more animal, changing the story to accommodate his own ending and a veiled threat. Other shows may have had Messer spit on the parable and kill the rabbit he is holding as he talks. But there’s something even more menacing watching Messer play this game. He’s in the guru’s head, and he knows how to keep himself there.
Meanwhile, Uncle Pete lies in his hospital bed, Patty has flashbacks about her father disappearing and Uncle Pete becoming her surrogate dad. The hospital room is bugged, and Ellen is listening in with the FBI. Patty encourages Pete to cooperate with them, to save himself. But the next visitor is Patrick. Pete is upset that he did not leave the country as requested. Patrick is worried that Pete will sell him out. Ellen doesn’t recognize his voice, so she moves in for a physical ID. Before she can get there, Patrick has killed Pete and left before Ellen can recognize him as her attacker.
A nicely done bit of intercutting here…Patty is watching parents and children at a playground, remembering Pete as Patrick shoots the poison into Pete’s IV. Patty’s phone rings, and the scene cuts to Patrick on the phone, then cuts to Ellen calling Patty with the news. For a moment, we don’t know which call Patty is taking. Did she order a hit? The resolution is quick. Patrick acted alone. Still, it’s a great moment, and there’s even a little relief that Patty does have her limits.
The episode ends with a tie back to the opening sequence of the season. We flash forward to see Pete’s wife finding a number of files in the closet, two of which are marked “Katie Connor” and “Ellen Parsons”. She delivers the file to Ellen (Yes, it’s a red folder) and when we revisit that opening scene, we see that Ellen is holding Patty at gunpoint. She hands Patty the red folder, the screen goes black and we hear gunshots.
It seems like every scene is prompting the question, “Now what?”
So there’s my two cents…I’d love to hear where your thoughts. Drop in your comments or send me a note at: tom@thetwocents.com .