Damages “Trust Me”
Original Air Date: Apr 1, 2009
Tom R. - Sr. Staff Writer
tom@thetwocentscorp.com
You used to hear, over and over, “There’s nothing good on TV.” Between the final chapter of The Shield, the male breast cancer storyline on Nip/Tuck and the rebound of 24, it’s been a banner year for examples that blow that statement out of the water. Add this finale to that list. Not only do the writers tie up every one of the myriad of loose ends, they even throw in some new twists that even I didn’t see coming.
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Damages
ReplyDelete“Trust Me”
Original Air Date: Apr 1, 2009
Tom R. - Sr. Staff Writer
tom@thetwocentscorp.com
You used to hear, over and over, “There’s nothing good on TV.” Between the final chapter of The Shield, the male breast cancer storyline on Nip/Tuck and the rebound of 24, it’s been a banner year for examples that blow that statement out of the water. Add this finale to that list. Not only do the writers tie up every one of the myriad of loose ends, they even throw in some new twists that even I didn’t see coming.
The main shining moment has to be Patty’s dream, where she is confronted by the men she has pushed out of her life…Phil, Michael, Ray Fiske, Uncle Pete…In the dream, she meets Ellen in the kitchen, who repeats her maxim, “Trust no one.” This follows Purcell’s confession, where he announces his plans to atone for what he has done, and he advises Patty to do the same.
Nice touch as the episode begins…We see the shooting scene. After the gun fires, the scene rewinds before our eyes until we see Patty knock on Ellen’s door. It’s a device that was used in the movie The Rules of Attraction, but that film used it so much that it lost all effectiveness. Using it once here works well, especially on second viewing, once we know what preceded the knock.
We had seen Messer enter Ellen’s apartment with his gun drawn and silenced. Now we see Wes coming to her rescue and throwing him out of her apartment before she finished her shower. Messer approaches Ellen at the office, claiming to be investigating David’s murder. He arranges to meet her privately. On the way to the meet, he gets behind the wheel. He notices Wes in the back seet, and we cut to the cryptic gunshot and Wes’s departure.
Ellen pushes Patty to bribe the judge, but Patty reaches out to Finn Garrity in a last-ditch attempt. Garrity refuses, but comes to Pell and Kendrick, using her visit as leverage. He pushes for ownership stakes and gives them a 24 hour deadline. Kendrick retaliates by attacking Suzie. This sends him to Patty with an offer, but she tells him that the window for her offer has closed.
Patty meets with Pell. She drops Ellen’s name as an informant. She and Pell come to an agreement…Ellen will bribe the judge, and Pell will let the FBI think she acted without Patty’s instruction. Pell will hand over Kendrick and the aracite information. Patty gets the bribe money and brings it to Ellen in the mysterious suitcase. This puts her at Ellen’s door an brings us current.
We think.
Ellen pulls the gun on Patty and hands her the red folder that Uncle Pete’s wife had given to her. But when Patty opens it, there is only a note telling her that they are being watched. The gunshots do not hit Patty. Ellen shoots out the FBI cameras. As she confronts Patty, Ellen reveals her disillusionment, that Patty is just another example of the corruption in the world. Patty confesses to giving Uncle Pete the order to kill Ellen. Ellen takes the bribe money and leaves.
As Ellen gives the bribe money to the judge, Werner moves in for the arrest. But on their way out of the building, he is arrested himself by Tom’s sister. Seems that Patty was working with the US Attorney’s office. She was wearing a wire during her meeting with Pell. Werner rolls on him, and we see both Pell and Kendrick being arrested.
The last piece of the puzzle is Patty’s appearance as she leaves Ellen’s apartment. Werner was wrong in his judgement…Patty was not shot. As she entered the elevator heading up to Ellen’s apartment, Garrity had gotten onto the elevator with her. Begging to be a part of the case against Kendrick, and refused by Patty, he pulled a knife and stabbed her. Before she arrived on Ellen’s floor, she had another visitation from Ray Fiske’s ghost, imploring her to tell the truth. So the final shining moment of season two is the fact that the entire time Ellen had the gun on her, with every threat made, Patty was already on the verge of bleeding to death. Another scene that’s more effective the second time around.
In the final moments, we see a fully recovered Patty meeting with Tom at her beach house, while Ellen visits David’s grave. As Ellen mentions a new position, Patty tells Tom, “She’ll be back. Trust me.” Does this set up a case with Ellen and Patty on opposite sides? Only the writers know.
So there’s my final two cents for the season. Hope you’ve enjoyed thi season too. Drop in your comments or send me a note at: tom@thetwocentscorpcom .