Damages Season 3 Episode 8

Taking a poke around the Internet, I was surprised to find that not a lot of people dug this episode.

Whereas I felt it was kind of just what I needed.

I’ve been complaining a little bit about how the show hasn’t been doing any callbacks to the plot threads it kind of swore it would come back to: Michael and Jill’s baby. Arthur. Wes.

We were kind of promised all of those things would come back to haunt us, but it’s been a pretty haunt-free season. We’ve just been following the plotlines that they set up in episode 1 of season 3, which is good for new viewers, but not quit as fun for guys like me.

So while this episode leaned heavily on things off the spine of the main plot, it was nice to see that the writers didn’t forget about people like myself, who come each week to see characters evolve.

And what have we got?

Well, we’ve got Patty finding out her grandchild-to-be is going to be born to her son and a woman who was declared an unfit mother in the state of Colorado. She tries to make Jill go away, which is interesting considering her family history.

We’ve got Arthur, who has started a wind-power company and actually written the book he kept saying he was going to write. And I guess it’s good, because by the end of the episode Arthur is cutting a movie deal in hopes of getting a well-loved face in front of his new company.

And we get a little motion on Ellen and Tom and Patty, who are now all working together to take the Tobin family down.

Is there more? There’s more! The homeless guy gets a name! We find out that the money in Tom’s car came from Winstone! We learn that Joe orchestrated Danielle’s death, and is keeping his sister away from anyone who might ask her questions!

And it appears that Ellen and Tom were leaving Patty and Gates and striking out on their own, law-firm-wise.

Was there more to learn? Oh, maybe, but those are the high points. If this season runs like the other seasons, we’ve got three more episodes of setup and red herrings before the big reveals come.

And after that? Time, and ratings, and FX will tell.