Coming back for more 'Damages'

“Damages” has gotten a reprieve.

Despite the legal thriller’s middling ratings, FX announced today that it has ordered two more 13-episode seasons of the Glenn Close drama. Network executives agonized over whether to renew the series, which drew plaudits from critics and attracted a loyal fan base. But with the show’s first-run episodes attracting just 2.5 million viewers, including 1.1 million in the key 18-to-49-year-old demographic, the prospects for its return were on shaky ground.

In the end, FX concluded it was worth the gamble. Executives have said that they hope to drive more viewers to the program through DVD sales and award nominations.

Close, actress Rose Byrne and actor Tate Donovan have signed on to be series regulars in Season 2. Production is scheduled to begin early next year but would probably be delayed if the writers strike continues.

--Matea Gold

(Photo courtesy FX)

That, folks, was a season (series?) finale. No Journey, no cut to black, no stupid Meadow trying and failing to parallel park.

After last week's episode, I was crabby that "Damages" seemingly took the easy way out, with assorted henchmen being responsible for David's murder and the attack on Ellen.

But here's the thing: Assorted henchmen were responsible for those crimes -- but silly me, I underestimated Patty's deep, deep need to win, no matter what the obstacles.

“Damages” may not have drawn the hordes of viewers FX had hoped for when it launched the legal psychodrama this summer, but stars Glenn Close and Ted Danson said today that the low ratings haven’t eroded the satisfaction they’ve gotten from the series.

“It’s one of my favorite jobs I’ve ever had,” Danson said during a conference call with reporters to tout the season finale, which airs Oct. 23.

Playing corporate chieftain Arthur Frobisher, who is locked in a bloody litigation fight with Close’s steely attorney, Patty Hewes, “has reinvigorated my desire to act,” he added.

As for Close, “I have not put myself through the ringer worrying about numbers,” she said. “I do know we’ve created something to be really, really proud of, and it would have an exciting future if we get that chance.”

That remains to be seen. As producers make the final edits on the last episode, FX executives are pondering whether to bring the show back for another season.

John Landgraf, president of FX Networks, sounded anguished at the thought of canceling the complex thriller, but he said the growing number of viewers using DVRs to watch programming has put pressure on the network’s business model.

“I would say I’m cautiously optimistic,” Landgraf said. “There are still some things that could derail the renewal of the show. As magnificent as the show is creatively, it has struggled somewhat” in the ratings.

That's it?  Really?  If it is, it's all the fault of "Pulp Fiction."

Tarantino's 1994 flick started a barrage of out-of-sequence, intertwined, multiple-character storytelling that still hasn't abated.  Sometimes it serves the story well -- I'd argue it did in Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic" in 2000 -- and sometimes it serves to jazz up an otherwise mundane plot.

With Tuesday night's episode of "Damages," I'm starting to fear that the technique was used in this show for the latter.  Sure, it was fascinating to anticipate how all the various time-jumping strands would coalesce, and in the most recent episode they did.  But it resolved into a collective "Wha?"

That ... was not what I expected.

In the course of an hour, we saw the rather precipitous downfall of Frobisher's attorney, Ray Fiske.  It turns out he was the one to hand over the chunk of Frobisher company stock to Gregory, and then advised him to sell.  And if that little bit of insider trading wasn't enough to land him in a heap o' trouble, he got Gregory a job, then made a pass at him, which was rebuffed.

And then ... and then ... I'll put it after the jump to prevent crabby e-mails from folks who haven't watched the show yet.

“Damages” fans waiting for illumination about the murder mystery at the heart of the FX drama are hoping to garner some more clues when the show’s third-to-last episode airs at 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Even though network executives promise there will be a satisfying conclusion to the Patty Hewes-Arthur Frobisher showdown by the end of the season, they can’t say as much about the fate of the series.

Although the intricately plotted legal thriller starring Glenn Close and Ted Danson has gained a passionate following, it has not been as sizable as the cable network had hoped.  By the end of each week, episodes have averaged a cumulative viewership of 4.9 million people, including 2.4 million 18- to 49-year-olds. Live viewing, on which the network bases most of its ad sales, is substantially lower.

“The ratings are pretty middling,” said John Landgraf, president of FX Networks. “It’s nothing to write home about.”

Nevertheless, the network is considering picking up the show for another season, a prospect about which Landgraf said he was “reasonably optimistic, not wildly optimistic.”

“I couldn’t be happier with it creatively,” he said. “I think the show is a credit to our brand.”

A decision could come as soon as this week or as long as several months from now, once network executives have a chance to study the final viewership data, including DVR viewing.  One factor that could persuade FX to give the program a second shot: the hope that the drama will rack up some major awards, which in turn could trigger interest in a new season.  On the other side of the ledger is the worry that the show’s complicated plotting tests viewer commitment.

“The very thing that makes people so excited about it — the heavily layered serialization — makes it a challenge in the current environment,” Landgraf said.

The FX president pledged that those who have followed the show’s twists and turns will be satisfied by the Oct. 23 finale, which also hints at a possible second season story line.

Interestingly, the show’s writers scrapped their original plan for how to wrap up the season as the series progressed, even changing who will ultimately emerge as the killer (or is it killers?).

“You inevitably find that you have to make adjustments,” Landgraf said. “This is what really good show-runners do: they think through everything, then they leave their minds open to a better solution.”

-- Matea Gold

(Photo courtesy FX)

Well, that was a first for "Damages."  In the present-day setup, Tom went to investigate Ellen's assertion that there was a missing body at Patty's apartment.  He was interrupted by a creepy, beige, diminutive guy in a bellhop's uniform, sporting the jaunty cap and all.  Both men were surprised to see each other and reacted with stuttering caution.  Tom said he had a set of keys for Patty's house, and the dancing little person -- I mean, the single-color bellhop -- said he came in from a service elevator because Patty had a water delivery.  He asked Tom to lock up when he leaves, shuffled off ... and Tom goes over to the coffee table, WHERE HE FINDS AN EAR.

I like to think of myself as a fairly astute television viewer -- it's my job, after all.  But it dawned on me while watching Tuesday night's "Damages" that I had no idea who perpetrated the central crime.  Who killed David?

Let's go over who I consider the suspects.  First, there's Ellen.  I'll eliminate her because she's the most obvious choice, and the show is too craftily written to go for the easy answer.  Second, Patty.  But the blood and guts element of it all doesn't seem like her style -- she had a henchman kill a dog, after all.  Third, Tom.  He is a big enough guy to whack someone, but his loyalty to Patty is suspect, and therefore so is his motive.  Fourth, Gregory.  His hinted-at relationship with Ray adds a dangerous, dirty little element to the puzzle.  And fifth, there's Lila.  Sure, she's wee ... but she's a schemey lil' lady.

The most recent episode tipped the evidence in favor of Patty -- that was quite the wigout she had at the beach house -- but still didn't give any definitive answers.  I trolled around some message boards to find other theories, which, in the name of avoiding unintentional spoilerage, I'll reveal after the jump.

Call it "The Sopranos" rule: When a sketchy guy starts looking at real estate, it's probably not the place where he wants to build his dream house.

Frobisher takes center stage this week, as some of his machinations start unraveling -- and others build up steam.  Larry, his contact with disgruntled employees, transfers to Patty's side.  But Bad Hat Guy?  Turns out to be a crony of Frobisher's from the SEC, and it's implied that he's smoothed over the government's case.

And Gregory Malina?  Still missing.  Maybe dead. (And could he be taking a dirt nap on the property Frobisher is suddenly interested in?)

Early on in the run of "Damages," Patty gave her protege, Ellen, a level-headed stare and told her to "trust no one." (No, she isn't an "X-Files" fan.) In Tuesday's episode, however, it finally became clear that Ellen -- as wide-eyed and naive as she sometimes appears -- has taken her advice to heart.

In present-day time, it's revealed that Ellen spent the night at Patty's house after she and David had a fight. Patty -- gone for the weekend -- was the only one who knew she was staying there, which may make her complicit in the attack on Ellen by a mystery man.

As if there wasn't enough happening on "Damages," what with the Frobisher case, creepy Patty and David and Ellen's awkward engagement and his murder.  We know it's all leading up to (deep breath) ... but it turns out that three of the newer faces are complicating matters even more.

First there is Gregory Malina, the consultant who had something to do with the Frobisher stock dump, although it's not clear what.  Despite leaking information intended to clear Frobisher and burn Katie, he still seems to have a lot of enemies -- one of Patty's henchmen gunned down a babe/assassin right before she tried to kill Gregory.  Panicked, he ran to ... Ray, Frobisher's attorney.  Innnteresting.

So here's the big question: Is it Tom going after Ellen with a butcher's knife in the final fight?

This week's episode focused on Patty's No. 2 in command, who has the gall to entertain a job offer from a competing law firm.  It's a cushy deal -- a named partnership, more money, more benefits and entry into a high-end music school for Tom's daughter.  He goes so far as to resign from Hewes and Associates, only to be lured back through a little bit of reverse psychology by Patty.

What remains to be seen, however, is how far Tom, with his reenergized loyalty, will go for his boss.

Oh, Katie.  I've warned you before about getting in over your head with Patty and crew, and yet you refuse to listen.

It's time for Katie's deposition in the Frobisher case, and Patty took the baptism-by-fire route to prep her for interrogation.  All the secrets Katie thought were just between her and Patty -- attorney-client privilege, yadda yadda yadda -- were outed in front of Ellen: namely, the trip to rehab for drug addiction and the abortion that resulted from her affair with Gregory.

And, as it turns out, Katie had more secrets to reveal.

Hey Patty, pick up your phone.  It's karma on line one.  OK, fine, don't pick up.  It's more fun if you don't learn your lesson.

Monday begins with Patty getting word that the judge in the Frobisher case is ready to rule for dismissal unless she can come up with a coherent argument by Friday to continue the litigation.  She goes into Stage 5 workaholic mode, returning to her office to rally the troops -- only to find a grenade has been anonymously sent to her in the mail.

This brings up some ugly memories for Patty, namely that she was slashed by a deposed CEO after a court case several years back and almost died.  Since then, she's had a recurring dream in which she's something like Agent Smith in "The Matrix" -- that there are numerous of her body doubles getting out of limousines in front of her apartment in order to confuse a lurking assassin.  No anxiety there at all.

You're Katie Connor. Your brother is a hotshot doctor, your future sister-in-law just got hired by big-time scary lawyer Patty Hewes. You may be the crucial witness in a gazillion-dollar lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a very, very rich and very, very sketchy man who is accused of defrauding thousands of his employees. There's nothing tenuous in your position at all. So what do you do?

Lie to everyone about everything, of course.

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.

'Damages': Now you don't owe me nothin'!

That, folks, was a season (series?) finale. No Journey, no cut to black, no stupid Meadow trying and failing to parallel park.

After last week's episode, I was crabby that "Damages" seemingly took the easy way out, with assorted henchmen being responsible for David's murder and the attack on Ellen.

But here's the thing: Assorted henchmen were responsible for those crimes -- but silly me, I underestimated Patty's deep, deep need to win, no matter what the obstacles.

“Damages” may not have drawn the hordes of viewers FX had hoped for when it launched the legal psychodrama this summer, but stars Glenn Close and Ted Danson said today that the low ratings haven’t eroded the satisfaction they’ve gotten from the series.

“It’s one of my favorite jobs I’ve ever had,” Danson said during a conference call with reporters to tout the season finale, which airs Oct. 23.

Playing corporate chieftain Arthur Frobisher, who is locked in a bloody litigation fight with Close’s steely attorney, Patty Hewes, “has reinvigorated my desire to act,” he added.

As for Close, “I have not put myself through the ringer worrying about numbers,” she said. “I do know we’ve created something to be really, really proud of, and it would have an exciting future if we get that chance.”

That remains to be seen. As producers make the final edits on the last episode, FX executives are pondering whether to bring the show back for another season.

John Landgraf, president of FX Networks, sounded anguished at the thought of canceling the complex thriller, but he said the growing number of viewers using DVRs to watch programming has put pressure on the network’s business model.

“I would say I’m cautiously optimistic,” Landgraf said. “There are still some things that could derail the renewal of the show. As magnificent as the show is creatively, it has struggled somewhat” in the ratings.

That's it?  Really?  If it is, it's all the fault of "Pulp Fiction."

Tarantino's 1994 flick started a barrage of out-of-sequence, intertwined, multiple-character storytelling that still hasn't abated.  Sometimes it serves the story well -- I'd argue it did in Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic" in 2000 -- and sometimes it serves to jazz up an otherwise mundane plot.

With Tuesday night's episode of "Damages," I'm starting to fear that the technique was used in this show for the latter.  Sure, it was fascinating to anticipate how all the various time-jumping strands would coalesce, and in the most recent episode they did.  But it resolved into a collective "Wha?"

That ... was not what I expected.

In the course of an hour, we saw the rather precipitous downfall of Frobisher's attorney, Ray Fiske.  It turns out he was the one to hand over the chunk of Frobisher company stock to Gregory, and then advised him to sell.  And if that little bit of insider trading wasn't enough to land him in a heap o' trouble, he got Gregory a job, then made a pass at him, which was rebuffed.

And then ... and then ... I'll put it after the jump to prevent crabby e-mails from folks who haven't watched the show yet.

“Damages” fans waiting for illumination about the murder mystery at the heart of the FX drama are hoping to garner some more clues when the show’s third-to-last episode airs at 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Even though network executives promise there will be a satisfying conclusion to the Patty Hewes-Arthur Frobisher showdown by the end of the season, they can’t say as much about the fate of the series.

Although the intricately plotted legal thriller starring Glenn Close and Ted Danson has gained a passionate following, it has not been as sizable as the cable network had hoped.  By the end of each week, episodes have averaged a cumulative viewership of 4.9 million people, including 2.4 million 18- to 49-year-olds. Live viewing, on which the network bases most of its ad sales, is substantially lower.

“The ratings are pretty middling,” said John Landgraf, president of FX Networks. “It’s nothing to write home about.”

Nevertheless, the network is considering picking up the show for another season, a prospect about which Landgraf said he was “reasonably optimistic, not wildly optimistic.”

“I couldn’t be happier with it creatively,” he said. “I think the show is a credit to our brand.”

A decision could come as soon as this week or as long as several months from now, once network executives have a chance to study the final viewership data, including DVR viewing.  One factor that could persuade FX to give the program a second shot: the hope that the drama will rack up some major awards, which in turn could trigger interest in a new season.  On the other side of the ledger is the worry that the show’s complicated plotting tests viewer commitment.

“The very thing that makes people so excited about it — the heavily layered serialization — makes it a challenge in the current environment,” Landgraf said.

The FX president pledged that those who have followed the show’s twists and turns will be satisfied by the Oct. 23 finale, which also hints at a possible second season story line.

Interestingly, the show’s writers scrapped their original plan for how to wrap up the season as the series progressed, even changing who will ultimately emerge as the killer (or is it killers?).

“You inevitably find that you have to make adjustments,” Landgraf said. “This is what really good show-runners do: they think through everything, then they leave their minds open to a better solution.”

-- Matea Gold

(Photo courtesy FX)

Well, that was a first for "Damages."  In the present-day setup, Tom went to investigate Ellen's assertion that there was a missing body at Patty's apartment.  He was interrupted by a creepy, beige, diminutive guy in a bellhop's uniform, sporting the jaunty cap and all.  Both men were surprised to see each other and reacted with stuttering caution.  Tom said he had a set of keys for Patty's house, and the dancing little person -- I mean, the single-color bellhop -- said he came in from a service elevator because Patty had a water delivery.  He asked Tom to lock up when he leaves, shuffled off ... and Tom goes over to the coffee table, WHERE HE FINDS AN EAR.

I like to think of myself as a fairly astute television viewer -- it's my job, after all.  But it dawned on me while watching Tuesday night's "Damages" that I had no idea who perpetrated the central crime.  Who killed David?

Let's go over who I consider the suspects.  First, there's Ellen.  I'll eliminate her because she's the most obvious choice, and the show is too craftily written to go for the easy answer.  Second, Patty.  But the blood and guts element of it all doesn't seem like her style -- she had a henchman kill a dog, after all.  Third, Tom.  He is a big enough guy to whack someone, but his loyalty to Patty is suspect, and therefore so is his motive.  Fourth, Gregory.  His hinted-at relationship with Ray adds a dangerous, dirty little element to the puzzle.  And fifth, there's Lila.  Sure, she's wee ... but she's a schemey lil' lady.

The most recent episode tipped the evidence in favor of Patty -- that was quite the wigout she had at the beach house -- but still didn't give any definitive answers.  I trolled around some message boards to find other theories, which, in the name of avoiding unintentional spoilerage, I'll reveal after the jump.

Call it "The Sopranos" rule: When a sketchy guy starts looking at real estate, it's probably not the place where he wants to build his dream house.

Frobisher takes center stage this week, as some of his machinations start unraveling -- and others build up steam.  Larry, his contact with disgruntled employees, transfers to Patty's side.  But Bad Hat Guy?  Turns out to be a crony of Frobisher's from the SEC, and it's implied that he's smoothed over the government's case.

And Gregory Malina?  Still missing.  Maybe dead. (And could he be taking a dirt nap on the property Frobisher is suddenly interested in?)

Early on in the run of "Damages," Patty gave her protege, Ellen, a level-headed stare and told her to "trust no one." (No, she isn't an "X-Files" fan.) In Tuesday's episode, however, it finally became clear that Ellen -- as wide-eyed and naive as she sometimes appears -- has taken her advice to heart.

In present-day time, it's revealed that Ellen spent the night at Patty's house after she and David had a fight. Patty -- gone for the weekend -- was the only one who knew she was staying there, which may make her complicit in the attack on Ellen by a mystery man.

As if there wasn't enough happening on "Damages," what with the Frobisher case, creepy Patty and David and Ellen's awkward engagement and his murder.  We know it's all leading up to (deep breath) ... but it turns out that three of the newer faces are complicating matters even more.

First there is Gregory Malina, the consultant who had something to do with the Frobisher stock dump, although it's not clear what.  Despite leaking information intended to clear Frobisher and burn Katie, he still seems to have a lot of enemies -- one of Patty's henchmen gunned down a babe/assassin right before she tried to kill Gregory.  Panicked, he ran to ... Ray, Frobisher's attorney.  Innnteresting.

So here's the big question: Is it Tom going after Ellen with a butcher's knife in the final fight?

This week's episode focused on Patty's No. 2 in command, who has the gall to entertain a job offer from a competing law firm.  It's a cushy deal -- a named partnership, more money, more benefits and entry into a high-end music school for Tom's daughter.  He goes so far as to resign from Hewes and Associates, only to be lured back through a little bit of reverse psychology by Patty.

What remains to be seen, however, is how far Tom, with his reenergized loyalty, will go for his boss.

Oh, Katie.  I've warned you before about getting in over your head with Patty and crew, and yet you refuse to listen.

It's time for Katie's deposition in the Frobisher case, and Patty took the baptism-by-fire route to prep her for interrogation.  All the secrets Katie thought were just between her and Patty -- attorney-client privilege, yadda yadda yadda -- were outed in front of Ellen: namely, the trip to rehab for drug addiction and the abortion that resulted from her affair with Gregory.

And, as it turns out, Katie had more secrets to reveal.

Hey Patty, pick up your phone.  It's karma on line one.  OK, fine, don't pick up.  It's more fun if you don't learn your lesson.

Monday begins with Patty getting word that the judge in the Frobisher case is ready to rule for dismissal unless she can come up with a coherent argument by Friday to continue the litigation.  She goes into Stage 5 workaholic mode, returning to her office to rally the troops -- only to find a grenade has been anonymously sent to her in the mail.

This brings up some ugly memories for Patty, namely that she was slashed by a deposed CEO after a court case several years back and almost died.  Since then, she's had a recurring dream in which she's something like Agent Smith in "The Matrix" -- that there are numerous of her body doubles getting out of limousines in front of her apartment in order to confuse a lurking assassin.  No anxiety there at all.

You're Katie Connor. Your brother is a hotshot doctor, your future sister-in-law just got hired by big-time scary lawyer Patty Hewes. You may be the crucial witness in a gazillion-dollar lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a very, very rich and very, very sketchy man who is accused of defrauding thousands of his employees. There's nothing tenuous in your position at all. So what do you do?

Lie to everyone about everything, of course.

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.

'Damages': Its future is still in question

“Damages” may not have drawn the hordes of viewers FX had hoped for when it launched the legal psychodrama this summer, but stars Glenn Close and Ted Danson said today that the low ratings haven’t eroded the satisfaction they’ve gotten from the series.

“It’s one of my favorite jobs I’ve ever had,” Danson said during a conference call with reporters to tout the season finale, which airs Oct. 23.

Playing corporate chieftain Arthur Frobisher, who is locked in a bloody litigation fight with Close’s steely attorney, Patty Hewes, “has reinvigorated my desire to act,” he added.

As for Close, “I have not put myself through the ringer worrying about numbers,” she said. “I do know we’ve created something to be really, really proud of, and it would have an exciting future if we get that chance.”

That remains to be seen. As producers make the final edits on the last episode, FX executives are pondering whether to bring the show back for another season.

John Landgraf, president of FX Networks, sounded anguished at the thought of canceling the complex thriller, but he said the growing number of viewers using DVRs to watch programming has put pressure on the network’s business model.

“I would say I’m cautiously optimistic,” Landgraf said. “There are still some things that could derail the renewal of the show. As magnificent as the show is creatively, it has struggled somewhat” in the ratings.

That's it?  Really?  If it is, it's all the fault of "Pulp Fiction."

Tarantino's 1994 flick started a barrage of out-of-sequence, intertwined, multiple-character storytelling that still hasn't abated.  Sometimes it serves the story well -- I'd argue it did in Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic" in 2000 -- and sometimes it serves to jazz up an otherwise mundane plot.

With Tuesday night's episode of "Damages," I'm starting to fear that the technique was used in this show for the latter.  Sure, it was fascinating to anticipate how all the various time-jumping strands would coalesce, and in the most recent episode they did.  But it resolved into a collective "Wha?"

That ... was not what I expected.

In the course of an hour, we saw the rather precipitous downfall of Frobisher's attorney, Ray Fiske.  It turns out he was the one to hand over the chunk of Frobisher company stock to Gregory, and then advised him to sell.  And if that little bit of insider trading wasn't enough to land him in a heap o' trouble, he got Gregory a job, then made a pass at him, which was rebuffed.

And then ... and then ... I'll put it after the jump to prevent crabby e-mails from folks who haven't watched the show yet.

“Damages” fans waiting for illumination about the murder mystery at the heart of the FX drama are hoping to garner some more clues when the show’s third-to-last episode airs at 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Even though network executives promise there will be a satisfying conclusion to the Patty Hewes-Arthur Frobisher showdown by the end of the season, they can’t say as much about the fate of the series.

Although the intricately plotted legal thriller starring Glenn Close and Ted Danson has gained a passionate following, it has not been as sizable as the cable network had hoped.  By the end of each week, episodes have averaged a cumulative viewership of 4.9 million people, including 2.4 million 18- to 49-year-olds. Live viewing, on which the network bases most of its ad sales, is substantially lower.

“The ratings are pretty middling,” said John Landgraf, president of FX Networks. “It’s nothing to write home about.”

Nevertheless, the network is considering picking up the show for another season, a prospect about which Landgraf said he was “reasonably optimistic, not wildly optimistic.”

“I couldn’t be happier with it creatively,” he said. “I think the show is a credit to our brand.”

A decision could come as soon as this week or as long as several months from now, once network executives have a chance to study the final viewership data, including DVR viewing.  One factor that could persuade FX to give the program a second shot: the hope that the drama will rack up some major awards, which in turn could trigger interest in a new season.  On the other side of the ledger is the worry that the show’s complicated plotting tests viewer commitment.

“The very thing that makes people so excited about it — the heavily layered serialization — makes it a challenge in the current environment,” Landgraf said.

The FX president pledged that those who have followed the show’s twists and turns will be satisfied by the Oct. 23 finale, which also hints at a possible second season story line.

Interestingly, the show’s writers scrapped their original plan for how to wrap up the season as the series progressed, even changing who will ultimately emerge as the killer (or is it killers?).

“You inevitably find that you have to make adjustments,” Landgraf said. “This is what really good show-runners do: they think through everything, then they leave their minds open to a better solution.”

-- Matea Gold

(Photo courtesy FX)

Well, that was a first for "Damages."  In the present-day setup, Tom went to investigate Ellen's assertion that there was a missing body at Patty's apartment.  He was interrupted by a creepy, beige, diminutive guy in a bellhop's uniform, sporting the jaunty cap and all.  Both men were surprised to see each other and reacted with stuttering caution.  Tom said he had a set of keys for Patty's house, and the dancing little person -- I mean, the single-color bellhop -- said he came in from a service elevator because Patty had a water delivery.  He asked Tom to lock up when he leaves, shuffled off ... and Tom goes over to the coffee table, WHERE HE FINDS AN EAR.

I like to think of myself as a fairly astute television viewer -- it's my job, after all.  But it dawned on me while watching Tuesday night's "Damages" that I had no idea who perpetrated the central crime.  Who killed David?

Let's go over who I consider the suspects.  First, there's Ellen.  I'll eliminate her because she's the most obvious choice, and the show is too craftily written to go for the easy answer.  Second, Patty.  But the blood and guts element of it all doesn't seem like her style -- she had a henchman kill a dog, after all.  Third, Tom.  He is a big enough guy to whack someone, but his loyalty to Patty is suspect, and therefore so is his motive.  Fourth, Gregory.  His hinted-at relationship with Ray adds a dangerous, dirty little element to the puzzle.  And fifth, there's Lila.  Sure, she's wee ... but she's a schemey lil' lady.

The most recent episode tipped the evidence in favor of Patty -- that was quite the wigout she had at the beach house -- but still didn't give any definitive answers.  I trolled around some message boards to find other theories, which, in the name of avoiding unintentional spoilerage, I'll reveal after the jump.

Call it "The Sopranos" rule: When a sketchy guy starts looking at real estate, it's probably not the place where he wants to build his dream house.

Frobisher takes center stage this week, as some of his machinations start unraveling -- and others build up steam.  Larry, his contact with disgruntled employees, transfers to Patty's side.  But Bad Hat Guy?  Turns out to be a crony of Frobisher's from the SEC, and it's implied that he's smoothed over the government's case.

And Gregory Malina?  Still missing.  Maybe dead. (And could he be taking a dirt nap on the property Frobisher is suddenly interested in?)

Early on in the run of "Damages," Patty gave her protege, Ellen, a level-headed stare and told her to "trust no one." (No, she isn't an "X-Files" fan.) In Tuesday's episode, however, it finally became clear that Ellen -- as wide-eyed and naive as she sometimes appears -- has taken her advice to heart.

In present-day time, it's revealed that Ellen spent the night at Patty's house after she and David had a fight. Patty -- gone for the weekend -- was the only one who knew she was staying there, which may make her complicit in the attack on Ellen by a mystery man.

As if there wasn't enough happening on "Damages," what with the Frobisher case, creepy Patty and David and Ellen's awkward engagement and his murder.  We know it's all leading up to (deep breath) ... but it turns out that three of the newer faces are complicating matters even more.

First there is Gregory Malina, the consultant who had something to do with the Frobisher stock dump, although it's not clear what.  Despite leaking information intended to clear Frobisher and burn Katie, he still seems to have a lot of enemies -- one of Patty's henchmen gunned down a babe/assassin right before she tried to kill Gregory.  Panicked, he ran to ... Ray, Frobisher's attorney.  Innnteresting.

So here's the big question: Is it Tom going after Ellen with a butcher's knife in the final fight?

This week's episode focused on Patty's No. 2 in command, who has the gall to entertain a job offer from a competing law firm.  It's a cushy deal -- a named partnership, more money, more benefits and entry into a high-end music school for Tom's daughter.  He goes so far as to resign from Hewes and Associates, only to be lured back through a little bit of reverse psychology by Patty.

What remains to be seen, however, is how far Tom, with his reenergized loyalty, will go for his boss.

Oh, Katie.  I've warned you before about getting in over your head with Patty and crew, and yet you refuse to listen.

It's time for Katie's deposition in the Frobisher case, and Patty took the baptism-by-fire route to prep her for interrogation.  All the secrets Katie thought were just between her and Patty -- attorney-client privilege, yadda yadda yadda -- were outed in front of Ellen: namely, the trip to rehab for drug addiction and the abortion that resulted from her affair with Gregory.

And, as it turns out, Katie had more secrets to reveal.

Hey Patty, pick up your phone.  It's karma on line one.  OK, fine, don't pick up.  It's more fun if you don't learn your lesson.

Monday begins with Patty getting word that the judge in the Frobisher case is ready to rule for dismissal unless she can come up with a coherent argument by Friday to continue the litigation.  She goes into Stage 5 workaholic mode, returning to her office to rally the troops -- only to find a grenade has been anonymously sent to her in the mail.

This brings up some ugly memories for Patty, namely that she was slashed by a deposed CEO after a court case several years back and almost died.  Since then, she's had a recurring dream in which she's something like Agent Smith in "The Matrix" -- that there are numerous of her body doubles getting out of limousines in front of her apartment in order to confuse a lurking assassin.  No anxiety there at all.

You're Katie Connor. Your brother is a hotshot doctor, your future sister-in-law just got hired by big-time scary lawyer Patty Hewes. You may be the crucial witness in a gazillion-dollar lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a very, very rich and very, very sketchy man who is accused of defrauding thousands of his employees. There's nothing tenuous in your position at all. So what do you do?

Lie to everyone about everything, of course.

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.

'Damages': I blame Quentin Tarantino

That's it?  Really?  If it is, it's all the fault of "Pulp Fiction."

Tarantino's 1994 flick started a barrage of out-of-sequence, intertwined, multiple-character storytelling that still hasn't abated.  Sometimes it serves the story well -- I'd argue it did in Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic" in 2000 -- and sometimes it serves to jazz up an otherwise mundane plot.

With Tuesday night's episode of "Damages," I'm starting to fear that the technique was used in this show for the latter.  Sure, it was fascinating to anticipate how all the various time-jumping strands would coalesce, and in the most recent episode they did.  But it resolved into a collective "Wha?"

That ... was not what I expected.

In the course of an hour, we saw the rather precipitous downfall of Frobisher's attorney, Ray Fiske.  It turns out he was the one to hand over the chunk of Frobisher company stock to Gregory, and then advised him to sell.  And if that little bit of insider trading wasn't enough to land him in a heap o' trouble, he got Gregory a job, then made a pass at him, which was rebuffed.

And then ... and then ... I'll put it after the jump to prevent crabby e-mails from folks who haven't watched the show yet.

“Damages” fans waiting for illumination about the murder mystery at the heart of the FX drama are hoping to garner some more clues when the show’s third-to-last episode airs at 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Even though network executives promise there will be a satisfying conclusion to the Patty Hewes-Arthur Frobisher showdown by the end of the season, they can’t say as much about the fate of the series.

Although the intricately plotted legal thriller starring Glenn Close and Ted Danson has gained a passionate following, it has not been as sizable as the cable network had hoped.  By the end of each week, episodes have averaged a cumulative viewership of 4.9 million people, including 2.4 million 18- to 49-year-olds. Live viewing, on which the network bases most of its ad sales, is substantially lower.

“The ratings are pretty middling,” said John Landgraf, president of FX Networks. “It’s nothing to write home about.”

Nevertheless, the network is considering picking up the show for another season, a prospect about which Landgraf said he was “reasonably optimistic, not wildly optimistic.”

“I couldn’t be happier with it creatively,” he said. “I think the show is a credit to our brand.”

A decision could come as soon as this week or as long as several months from now, once network executives have a chance to study the final viewership data, including DVR viewing.  One factor that could persuade FX to give the program a second shot: the hope that the drama will rack up some major awards, which in turn could trigger interest in a new season.  On the other side of the ledger is the worry that the show’s complicated plotting tests viewer commitment.

“The very thing that makes people so excited about it — the heavily layered serialization — makes it a challenge in the current environment,” Landgraf said.

The FX president pledged that those who have followed the show’s twists and turns will be satisfied by the Oct. 23 finale, which also hints at a possible second season story line.

Interestingly, the show’s writers scrapped their original plan for how to wrap up the season as the series progressed, even changing who will ultimately emerge as the killer (or is it killers?).

“You inevitably find that you have to make adjustments,” Landgraf said. “This is what really good show-runners do: they think through everything, then they leave their minds open to a better solution.”

-- Matea Gold

(Photo courtesy FX)

Well, that was a first for "Damages."  In the present-day setup, Tom went to investigate Ellen's assertion that there was a missing body at Patty's apartment.  He was interrupted by a creepy, beige, diminutive guy in a bellhop's uniform, sporting the jaunty cap and all.  Both men were surprised to see each other and reacted with stuttering caution.  Tom said he had a set of keys for Patty's house, and the dancing little person -- I mean, the single-color bellhop -- said he came in from a service elevator because Patty had a water delivery.  He asked Tom to lock up when he leaves, shuffled off ... and Tom goes over to the coffee table, WHERE HE FINDS AN EAR.

I like to think of myself as a fairly astute television viewer -- it's my job, after all.  But it dawned on me while watching Tuesday night's "Damages" that I had no idea who perpetrated the central crime.  Who killed David?

Let's go over who I consider the suspects.  First, there's Ellen.  I'll eliminate her because she's the most obvious choice, and the show is too craftily written to go for the easy answer.  Second, Patty.  But the blood and guts element of it all doesn't seem like her style -- she had a henchman kill a dog, after all.  Third, Tom.  He is a big enough guy to whack someone, but his loyalty to Patty is suspect, and therefore so is his motive.  Fourth, Gregory.  His hinted-at relationship with Ray adds a dangerous, dirty little element to the puzzle.  And fifth, there's Lila.  Sure, she's wee ... but she's a schemey lil' lady.

The most recent episode tipped the evidence in favor of Patty -- that was quite the wigout she had at the beach house -- but still didn't give any definitive answers.  I trolled around some message boards to find other theories, which, in the name of avoiding unintentional spoilerage, I'll reveal after the jump.

Call it "The Sopranos" rule: When a sketchy guy starts looking at real estate, it's probably not the place where he wants to build his dream house.

Frobisher takes center stage this week, as some of his machinations start unraveling -- and others build up steam.  Larry, his contact with disgruntled employees, transfers to Patty's side.  But Bad Hat Guy?  Turns out to be a crony of Frobisher's from the SEC, and it's implied that he's smoothed over the government's case.

And Gregory Malina?  Still missing.  Maybe dead. (And could he be taking a dirt nap on the property Frobisher is suddenly interested in?)

Early on in the run of "Damages," Patty gave her protege, Ellen, a level-headed stare and told her to "trust no one." (No, she isn't an "X-Files" fan.) In Tuesday's episode, however, it finally became clear that Ellen -- as wide-eyed and naive as she sometimes appears -- has taken her advice to heart.

In present-day time, it's revealed that Ellen spent the night at Patty's house after she and David had a fight. Patty -- gone for the weekend -- was the only one who knew she was staying there, which may make her complicit in the attack on Ellen by a mystery man.

As if there wasn't enough happening on "Damages," what with the Frobisher case, creepy Patty and David and Ellen's awkward engagement and his murder.  We know it's all leading up to (deep breath) ... but it turns out that three of the newer faces are complicating matters even more.

First there is Gregory Malina, the consultant who had something to do with the Frobisher stock dump, although it's not clear what.  Despite leaking information intended to clear Frobisher and burn Katie, he still seems to have a lot of enemies -- one of Patty's henchmen gunned down a babe/assassin right before she tried to kill Gregory.  Panicked, he ran to ... Ray, Frobisher's attorney.  Innnteresting.

So here's the big question: Is it Tom going after Ellen with a butcher's knife in the final fight?

This week's episode focused on Patty's No. 2 in command, who has the gall to entertain a job offer from a competing law firm.  It's a cushy deal -- a named partnership, more money, more benefits and entry into a high-end music school for Tom's daughter.  He goes so far as to resign from Hewes and Associates, only to be lured back through a little bit of reverse psychology by Patty.

What remains to be seen, however, is how far Tom, with his reenergized loyalty, will go for his boss.

Oh, Katie.  I've warned you before about getting in over your head with Patty and crew, and yet you refuse to listen.

It's time for Katie's deposition in the Frobisher case, and Patty took the baptism-by-fire route to prep her for interrogation.  All the secrets Katie thought were just between her and Patty -- attorney-client privilege, yadda yadda yadda -- were outed in front of Ellen: namely, the trip to rehab for drug addiction and the abortion that resulted from her affair with Gregory.

And, as it turns out, Katie had more secrets to reveal.

Hey Patty, pick up your phone.  It's karma on line one.  OK, fine, don't pick up.  It's more fun if you don't learn your lesson.

Monday begins with Patty getting word that the judge in the Frobisher case is ready to rule for dismissal unless she can come up with a coherent argument by Friday to continue the litigation.  She goes into Stage 5 workaholic mode, returning to her office to rally the troops -- only to find a grenade has been anonymously sent to her in the mail.

This brings up some ugly memories for Patty, namely that she was slashed by a deposed CEO after a court case several years back and almost died.  Since then, she's had a recurring dream in which she's something like Agent Smith in "The Matrix" -- that there are numerous of her body doubles getting out of limousines in front of her apartment in order to confuse a lurking assassin.  No anxiety there at all.

You're Katie Connor. Your brother is a hotshot doctor, your future sister-in-law just got hired by big-time scary lawyer Patty Hewes. You may be the crucial witness in a gazillion-dollar lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a very, very rich and very, very sketchy man who is accused of defrauding thousands of his employees. There's nothing tenuous in your position at all. So what do you do?

Lie to everyone about everything, of course.

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.

'Damages': It's a shame about Ray

That ... was not what I expected.

In the course of an hour, we saw the rather precipitous downfall of Frobisher's attorney, Ray Fiske.  It turns out he was the one to hand over the chunk of Frobisher company stock to Gregory, and then advised him to sell.  And if that little bit of insider trading wasn't enough to land him in a heap o' trouble, he got Gregory a job, then made a pass at him, which was rebuffed.

And then ... and then ... I'll put it after the jump to prevent crabby e-mails from folks who haven't watched the show yet.

“Damages” fans waiting for illumination about the murder mystery at the heart of the FX drama are hoping to garner some more clues when the show’s third-to-last episode airs at 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Even though network executives promise there will be a satisfying conclusion to the Patty Hewes-Arthur Frobisher showdown by the end of the season, they can’t say as much about the fate of the series.

Although the intricately plotted legal thriller starring Glenn Close and Ted Danson has gained a passionate following, it has not been as sizable as the cable network had hoped.  By the end of each week, episodes have averaged a cumulative viewership of 4.9 million people, including 2.4 million 18- to 49-year-olds. Live viewing, on which the network bases most of its ad sales, is substantially lower.

“The ratings are pretty middling,” said John Landgraf, president of FX Networks. “It’s nothing to write home about.”

Nevertheless, the network is considering picking up the show for another season, a prospect about which Landgraf said he was “reasonably optimistic, not wildly optimistic.”

“I couldn’t be happier with it creatively,” he said. “I think the show is a credit to our brand.”

A decision could come as soon as this week or as long as several months from now, once network executives have a chance to study the final viewership data, including DVR viewing.  One factor that could persuade FX to give the program a second shot: the hope that the drama will rack up some major awards, which in turn could trigger interest in a new season.  On the other side of the ledger is the worry that the show’s complicated plotting tests viewer commitment.

“The very thing that makes people so excited about it — the heavily layered serialization — makes it a challenge in the current environment,” Landgraf said.

The FX president pledged that those who have followed the show’s twists and turns will be satisfied by the Oct. 23 finale, which also hints at a possible second season story line.

Interestingly, the show’s writers scrapped their original plan for how to wrap up the season as the series progressed, even changing who will ultimately emerge as the killer (or is it killers?).

“You inevitably find that you have to make adjustments,” Landgraf said. “This is what really good show-runners do: they think through everything, then they leave their minds open to a better solution.”

-- Matea Gold

(Photo courtesy FX)

Well, that was a first for "Damages."  In the present-day setup, Tom went to investigate Ellen's assertion that there was a missing body at Patty's apartment.  He was interrupted by a creepy, beige, diminutive guy in a bellhop's uniform, sporting the jaunty cap and all.  Both men were surprised to see each other and reacted with stuttering caution.  Tom said he had a set of keys for Patty's house, and the dancing little person -- I mean, the single-color bellhop -- said he came in from a service elevator because Patty had a water delivery.  He asked Tom to lock up when he leaves, shuffled off ... and Tom goes over to the coffee table, WHERE HE FINDS AN EAR.

I like to think of myself as a fairly astute television viewer -- it's my job, after all.  But it dawned on me while watching Tuesday night's "Damages" that I had no idea who perpetrated the central crime.  Who killed David?

Let's go over who I consider the suspects.  First, there's Ellen.  I'll eliminate her because she's the most obvious choice, and the show is too craftily written to go for the easy answer.  Second, Patty.  But the blood and guts element of it all doesn't seem like her style -- she had a henchman kill a dog, after all.  Third, Tom.  He is a big enough guy to whack someone, but his loyalty to Patty is suspect, and therefore so is his motive.  Fourth, Gregory.  His hinted-at relationship with Ray adds a dangerous, dirty little element to the puzzle.  And fifth, there's Lila.  Sure, she's wee ... but she's a schemey lil' lady.

The most recent episode tipped the evidence in favor of Patty -- that was quite the wigout she had at the beach house -- but still didn't give any definitive answers.  I trolled around some message boards to find other theories, which, in the name of avoiding unintentional spoilerage, I'll reveal after the jump.

Call it "The Sopranos" rule: When a sketchy guy starts looking at real estate, it's probably not the place where he wants to build his dream house.

Frobisher takes center stage this week, as some of his machinations start unraveling -- and others build up steam.  Larry, his contact with disgruntled employees, transfers to Patty's side.  But Bad Hat Guy?  Turns out to be a crony of Frobisher's from the SEC, and it's implied that he's smoothed over the government's case.

And Gregory Malina?  Still missing.  Maybe dead. (And could he be taking a dirt nap on the property Frobisher is suddenly interested in?)

Early on in the run of "Damages," Patty gave her protege, Ellen, a level-headed stare and told her to "trust no one." (No, she isn't an "X-Files" fan.) In Tuesday's episode, however, it finally became clear that Ellen -- as wide-eyed and naive as she sometimes appears -- has taken her advice to heart.

In present-day time, it's revealed that Ellen spent the night at Patty's house after she and David had a fight. Patty -- gone for the weekend -- was the only one who knew she was staying there, which may make her complicit in the attack on Ellen by a mystery man.

As if there wasn't enough happening on "Damages," what with the Frobisher case, creepy Patty and David and Ellen's awkward engagement and his murder.  We know it's all leading up to (deep breath) ... but it turns out that three of the newer faces are complicating matters even more.

First there is Gregory Malina, the consultant who had something to do with the Frobisher stock dump, although it's not clear what.  Despite leaking information intended to clear Frobisher and burn Katie, he still seems to have a lot of enemies -- one of Patty's henchmen gunned down a babe/assassin right before she tried to kill Gregory.  Panicked, he ran to ... Ray, Frobisher's attorney.  Innnteresting.

So here's the big question: Is it Tom going after Ellen with a butcher's knife in the final fight?

This week's episode focused on Patty's No. 2 in command, who has the gall to entertain a job offer from a competing law firm.  It's a cushy deal -- a named partnership, more money, more benefits and entry into a high-end music school for Tom's daughter.  He goes so far as to resign from Hewes and Associates, only to be lured back through a little bit of reverse psychology by Patty.

What remains to be seen, however, is how far Tom, with his reenergized loyalty, will go for his boss.

Oh, Katie.  I've warned you before about getting in over your head with Patty and crew, and yet you refuse to listen.

It's time for Katie's deposition in the Frobisher case, and Patty took the baptism-by-fire route to prep her for interrogation.  All the secrets Katie thought were just between her and Patty -- attorney-client privilege, yadda yadda yadda -- were outed in front of Ellen: namely, the trip to rehab for drug addiction and the abortion that resulted from her affair with Gregory.

And, as it turns out, Katie had more secrets to reveal.

Hey Patty, pick up your phone.  It's karma on line one.  OK, fine, don't pick up.  It's more fun if you don't learn your lesson.

Monday begins with Patty getting word that the judge in the Frobisher case is ready to rule for dismissal unless she can come up with a coherent argument by Friday to continue the litigation.  She goes into Stage 5 workaholic mode, returning to her office to rally the troops -- only to find a grenade has been anonymously sent to her in the mail.

This brings up some ugly memories for Patty, namely that she was slashed by a deposed CEO after a court case several years back and almost died.  Since then, she's had a recurring dream in which she's something like Agent Smith in "The Matrix" -- that there are numerous of her body doubles getting out of limousines in front of her apartment in order to confuse a lurking assassin.  No anxiety there at all.

You're Katie Connor. Your brother is a hotshot doctor, your future sister-in-law just got hired by big-time scary lawyer Patty Hewes. You may be the crucial witness in a gazillion-dollar lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a very, very rich and very, very sketchy man who is accused of defrauding thousands of his employees. There's nothing tenuous in your position at all. So what do you do?

Lie to everyone about everything, of course.

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.

'Damages': Is it endangered?

“Damages” fans waiting for illumination about the murder mystery at the heart of the FX drama are hoping to garner some more clues when the show’s third-to-last episode airs at 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Even though network executives promise there will be a satisfying conclusion to the Patty Hewes-Arthur Frobisher showdown by the end of the season, they can’t say as much about the fate of the series.

Although the intricately plotted legal thriller starring Glenn Close and Ted Danson has gained a passionate following, it has not been as sizable as the cable network had hoped.  By the end of each week, episodes have averaged a cumulative viewership of 4.9 million people, including 2.4 million 18- to 49-year-olds. Live viewing, on which the network bases most of its ad sales, is substantially lower.

“The ratings are pretty middling,” said John Landgraf, president of FX Networks. “It’s nothing to write home about.”

Nevertheless, the network is considering picking up the show for another season, a prospect about which Landgraf said he was “reasonably optimistic, not wildly optimistic.”

“I couldn’t be happier with it creatively,” he said. “I think the show is a credit to our brand.”

A decision could come as soon as this week or as long as several months from now, once network executives have a chance to study the final viewership data, including DVR viewing.  One factor that could persuade FX to give the program a second shot: the hope that the drama will rack up some major awards, which in turn could trigger interest in a new season.  On the other side of the ledger is the worry that the show’s complicated plotting tests viewer commitment.

“The very thing that makes people so excited about it — the heavily layered serialization — makes it a challenge in the current environment,” Landgraf said.

The FX president pledged that those who have followed the show’s twists and turns will be satisfied by the Oct. 23 finale, which also hints at a possible second season story line.

Interestingly, the show’s writers scrapped their original plan for how to wrap up the season as the series progressed, even changing who will ultimately emerge as the killer (or is it killers?).

“You inevitably find that you have to make adjustments,” Landgraf said. “This is what really good show-runners do: they think through everything, then they leave their minds open to a better solution.”

-- Matea Gold

(Photo courtesy FX)

Well, that was a first for "Damages."  In the present-day setup, Tom went to investigate Ellen's assertion that there was a missing body at Patty's apartment.  He was interrupted by a creepy, beige, diminutive guy in a bellhop's uniform, sporting the jaunty cap and all.  Both men were surprised to see each other and reacted with stuttering caution.  Tom said he had a set of keys for Patty's house, and the dancing little person -- I mean, the single-color bellhop -- said he came in from a service elevator because Patty had a water delivery.  He asked Tom to lock up when he leaves, shuffled off ... and Tom goes over to the coffee table, WHERE HE FINDS AN EAR.

I like to think of myself as a fairly astute television viewer -- it's my job, after all.  But it dawned on me while watching Tuesday night's "Damages" that I had no idea who perpetrated the central crime.  Who killed David?

Let's go over who I consider the suspects.  First, there's Ellen.  I'll eliminate her because she's the most obvious choice, and the show is too craftily written to go for the easy answer.  Second, Patty.  But the blood and guts element of it all doesn't seem like her style -- she had a henchman kill a dog, after all.  Third, Tom.  He is a big enough guy to whack someone, but his loyalty to Patty is suspect, and therefore so is his motive.  Fourth, Gregory.  His hinted-at relationship with Ray adds a dangerous, dirty little element to the puzzle.  And fifth, there's Lila.  Sure, she's wee ... but she's a schemey lil' lady.

The most recent episode tipped the evidence in favor of Patty -- that was quite the wigout she had at the beach house -- but still didn't give any definitive answers.  I trolled around some message boards to find other theories, which, in the name of avoiding unintentional spoilerage, I'll reveal after the jump.

Call it "The Sopranos" rule: When a sketchy guy starts looking at real estate, it's probably not the place where he wants to build his dream house.

Frobisher takes center stage this week, as some of his machinations start unraveling -- and others build up steam.  Larry, his contact with disgruntled employees, transfers to Patty's side.  But Bad Hat Guy?  Turns out to be a crony of Frobisher's from the SEC, and it's implied that he's smoothed over the government's case.

And Gregory Malina?  Still missing.  Maybe dead. (And could he be taking a dirt nap on the property Frobisher is suddenly interested in?)

Early on in the run of "Damages," Patty gave her protege, Ellen, a level-headed stare and told her to "trust no one." (No, she isn't an "X-Files" fan.) In Tuesday's episode, however, it finally became clear that Ellen -- as wide-eyed and naive as she sometimes appears -- has taken her advice to heart.

In present-day time, it's revealed that Ellen spent the night at Patty's house after she and David had a fight. Patty -- gone for the weekend -- was the only one who knew she was staying there, which may make her complicit in the attack on Ellen by a mystery man.

As if there wasn't enough happening on "Damages," what with the Frobisher case, creepy Patty and David and Ellen's awkward engagement and his murder.  We know it's all leading up to (deep breath) ... but it turns out that three of the newer faces are complicating matters even more.

First there is Gregory Malina, the consultant who had something to do with the Frobisher stock dump, although it's not clear what.  Despite leaking information intended to clear Frobisher and burn Katie, he still seems to have a lot of enemies -- one of Patty's henchmen gunned down a babe/assassin right before she tried to kill Gregory.  Panicked, he ran to ... Ray, Frobisher's attorney.  Innnteresting.

So here's the big question: Is it Tom going after Ellen with a butcher's knife in the final fight?

This week's episode focused on Patty's No. 2 in command, who has the gall to entertain a job offer from a competing law firm.  It's a cushy deal -- a named partnership, more money, more benefits and entry into a high-end music school for Tom's daughter.  He goes so far as to resign from Hewes and Associates, only to be lured back through a little bit of reverse psychology by Patty.

What remains to be seen, however, is how far Tom, with his reenergized loyalty, will go for his boss.

Oh, Katie.  I've warned you before about getting in over your head with Patty and crew, and yet you refuse to listen.

It's time for Katie's deposition in the Frobisher case, and Patty took the baptism-by-fire route to prep her for interrogation.  All the secrets Katie thought were just between her and Patty -- attorney-client privilege, yadda yadda yadda -- were outed in front of Ellen: namely, the trip to rehab for drug addiction and the abortion that resulted from her affair with Gregory.

And, as it turns out, Katie had more secrets to reveal.

Hey Patty, pick up your phone.  It's karma on line one.  OK, fine, don't pick up.  It's more fun if you don't learn your lesson.

Monday begins with Patty getting word that the judge in the Frobisher case is ready to rule for dismissal unless she can come up with a coherent argument by Friday to continue the litigation.  She goes into Stage 5 workaholic mode, returning to her office to rally the troops -- only to find a grenade has been anonymously sent to her in the mail.

This brings up some ugly memories for Patty, namely that she was slashed by a deposed CEO after a court case several years back and almost died.  Since then, she's had a recurring dream in which she's something like Agent Smith in "The Matrix" -- that there are numerous of her body doubles getting out of limousines in front of her apartment in order to confuse a lurking assassin.  No anxiety there at all.

You're Katie Connor. Your brother is a hotshot doctor, your future sister-in-law just got hired by big-time scary lawyer Patty Hewes. You may be the crucial witness in a gazillion-dollar lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a very, very rich and very, very sketchy man who is accused of defrauding thousands of his employees. There's nothing tenuous in your position at all. So what do you do?

Lie to everyone about everything, of course.

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.

'Damages': An homage to David Lynch?

Well, that was a first for "Damages."  In the present-day setup, Tom went to investigate Ellen's assertion that there was a missing body at Patty's apartment.  He was interrupted by a creepy, beige, diminutive guy in a bellhop's uniform, sporting the jaunty cap and all.  Both men were surprised to see each other and reacted with stuttering caution.  Tom said he had a set of keys for Patty's house, and the dancing little person -- I mean, the single-color bellhop -- said he came in from a service elevator because Patty had a water delivery.  He asked Tom to lock up when he leaves, shuffled off ... and Tom goes over to the coffee table, WHERE HE FINDS AN EAR.

I like to think of myself as a fairly astute television viewer -- it's my job, after all.  But it dawned on me while watching Tuesday night's "Damages" that I had no idea who perpetrated the central crime.  Who killed David?

Let's go over who I consider the suspects.  First, there's Ellen.  I'll eliminate her because she's the most obvious choice, and the show is too craftily written to go for the easy answer.  Second, Patty.  But the blood and guts element of it all doesn't seem like her style -- she had a henchman kill a dog, after all.  Third, Tom.  He is a big enough guy to whack someone, but his loyalty to Patty is suspect, and therefore so is his motive.  Fourth, Gregory.  His hinted-at relationship with Ray adds a dangerous, dirty little element to the puzzle.  And fifth, there's Lila.  Sure, she's wee ... but she's a schemey lil' lady.

The most recent episode tipped the evidence in favor of Patty -- that was quite the wigout she had at the beach house -- but still didn't give any definitive answers.  I trolled around some message boards to find other theories, which, in the name of avoiding unintentional spoilerage, I'll reveal after the jump.

Call it "The Sopranos" rule: When a sketchy guy starts looking at real estate, it's probably not the place where he wants to build his dream house.

Frobisher takes center stage this week, as some of his machinations start unraveling -- and others build up steam.  Larry, his contact with disgruntled employees, transfers to Patty's side.  But Bad Hat Guy?  Turns out to be a crony of Frobisher's from the SEC, and it's implied that he's smoothed over the government's case.

And Gregory Malina?  Still missing.  Maybe dead. (And could he be taking a dirt nap on the property Frobisher is suddenly interested in?)

Early on in the run of "Damages," Patty gave her protege, Ellen, a level-headed stare and told her to "trust no one." (No, she isn't an "X-Files" fan.) In Tuesday's episode, however, it finally became clear that Ellen -- as wide-eyed and naive as she sometimes appears -- has taken her advice to heart.

In present-day time, it's revealed that Ellen spent the night at Patty's house after she and David had a fight. Patty -- gone for the weekend -- was the only one who knew she was staying there, which may make her complicit in the attack on Ellen by a mystery man.

As if there wasn't enough happening on "Damages," what with the Frobisher case, creepy Patty and David and Ellen's awkward engagement and his murder.  We know it's all leading up to (deep breath) ... but it turns out that three of the newer faces are complicating matters even more.

First there is Gregory Malina, the consultant who had something to do with the Frobisher stock dump, although it's not clear what.  Despite leaking information intended to clear Frobisher and burn Katie, he still seems to have a lot of enemies -- one of Patty's henchmen gunned down a babe/assassin right before she tried to kill Gregory.  Panicked, he ran to ... Ray, Frobisher's attorney.  Innnteresting.

So here's the big question: Is it Tom going after Ellen with a butcher's knife in the final fight?

This week's episode focused on Patty's No. 2 in command, who has the gall to entertain a job offer from a competing law firm.  It's a cushy deal -- a named partnership, more money, more benefits and entry into a high-end music school for Tom's daughter.  He goes so far as to resign from Hewes and Associates, only to be lured back through a little bit of reverse psychology by Patty.

What remains to be seen, however, is how far Tom, with his reenergized loyalty, will go for his boss.

Oh, Katie.  I've warned you before about getting in over your head with Patty and crew, and yet you refuse to listen.

It's time for Katie's deposition in the Frobisher case, and Patty took the baptism-by-fire route to prep her for interrogation.  All the secrets Katie thought were just between her and Patty -- attorney-client privilege, yadda yadda yadda -- were outed in front of Ellen: namely, the trip to rehab for drug addiction and the abortion that resulted from her affair with Gregory.

And, as it turns out, Katie had more secrets to reveal.

Hey Patty, pick up your phone.  It's karma on line one.  OK, fine, don't pick up.  It's more fun if you don't learn your lesson.

Monday begins with Patty getting word that the judge in the Frobisher case is ready to rule for dismissal unless she can come up with a coherent argument by Friday to continue the litigation.  She goes into Stage 5 workaholic mode, returning to her office to rally the troops -- only to find a grenade has been anonymously sent to her in the mail.

This brings up some ugly memories for Patty, namely that she was slashed by a deposed CEO after a court case several years back and almost died.  Since then, she's had a recurring dream in which she's something like Agent Smith in "The Matrix" -- that there are numerous of her body doubles getting out of limousines in front of her apartment in order to confuse a lurking assassin.  No anxiety there at all.

You're Katie Connor. Your brother is a hotshot doctor, your future sister-in-law just got hired by big-time scary lawyer Patty Hewes. You may be the crucial witness in a gazillion-dollar lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a very, very rich and very, very sketchy man who is accused of defrauding thousands of his employees. There's nothing tenuous in your position at all. So what do you do?

Lie to everyone about everything, of course.

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.

'Damages': No, really, whodunnit?

I like to think of myself as a fairly astute television viewer -- it's my job, after all.  But it dawned on me while watching Tuesday night's "Damages" that I had no idea who perpetrated the central crime.  Who killed David?

Let's go over who I consider the suspects.  First, there's Ellen.  I'll eliminate her because she's the most obvious choice, and the show is too craftily written to go for the easy answer.  Second, Patty.  But the blood and guts element of it all doesn't seem like her style -- she had a henchman kill a dog, after all.  Third, Tom.  He is a big enough guy to whack someone, but his loyalty to Patty is suspect, and therefore so is his motive.  Fourth, Gregory.  His hinted-at relationship with Ray adds a dangerous, dirty little element to the puzzle.  And fifth, there's Lila.  Sure, she's wee ... but she's a schemey lil' lady.

The most recent episode tipped the evidence in favor of Patty -- that was quite the wigout she had at the beach house -- but still didn't give any definitive answers.  I trolled around some message boards to find other theories, which, in the name of avoiding unintentional spoilerage, I'll reveal after the jump.

Call it "The Sopranos" rule: When a sketchy guy starts looking at real estate, it's probably not the place where he wants to build his dream house.

Frobisher takes center stage this week, as some of his machinations start unraveling -- and others build up steam.  Larry, his contact with disgruntled employees, transfers to Patty's side.  But Bad Hat Guy?  Turns out to be a crony of Frobisher's from the SEC, and it's implied that he's smoothed over the government's case.

And Gregory Malina?  Still missing.  Maybe dead. (And could he be taking a dirt nap on the property Frobisher is suddenly interested in?)

Early on in the run of "Damages," Patty gave her protege, Ellen, a level-headed stare and told her to "trust no one." (No, she isn't an "X-Files" fan.) In Tuesday's episode, however, it finally became clear that Ellen -- as wide-eyed and naive as she sometimes appears -- has taken her advice to heart.

In present-day time, it's revealed that Ellen spent the night at Patty's house after she and David had a fight. Patty -- gone for the weekend -- was the only one who knew she was staying there, which may make her complicit in the attack on Ellen by a mystery man.

As if there wasn't enough happening on "Damages," what with the Frobisher case, creepy Patty and David and Ellen's awkward engagement and his murder.  We know it's all leading up to (deep breath) ... but it turns out that three of the newer faces are complicating matters even more.

First there is Gregory Malina, the consultant who had something to do with the Frobisher stock dump, although it's not clear what.  Despite leaking information intended to clear Frobisher and burn Katie, he still seems to have a lot of enemies -- one of Patty's henchmen gunned down a babe/assassin right before she tried to kill Gregory.  Panicked, he ran to ... Ray, Frobisher's attorney.  Innnteresting.

So here's the big question: Is it Tom going after Ellen with a butcher's knife in the final fight?

This week's episode focused on Patty's No. 2 in command, who has the gall to entertain a job offer from a competing law firm.  It's a cushy deal -- a named partnership, more money, more benefits and entry into a high-end music school for Tom's daughter.  He goes so far as to resign from Hewes and Associates, only to be lured back through a little bit of reverse psychology by Patty.

What remains to be seen, however, is how far Tom, with his reenergized loyalty, will go for his boss.

Oh, Katie.  I've warned you before about getting in over your head with Patty and crew, and yet you refuse to listen.

It's time for Katie's deposition in the Frobisher case, and Patty took the baptism-by-fire route to prep her for interrogation.  All the secrets Katie thought were just between her and Patty -- attorney-client privilege, yadda yadda yadda -- were outed in front of Ellen: namely, the trip to rehab for drug addiction and the abortion that resulted from her affair with Gregory.

And, as it turns out, Katie had more secrets to reveal.

Hey Patty, pick up your phone.  It's karma on line one.  OK, fine, don't pick up.  It's more fun if you don't learn your lesson.

Monday begins with Patty getting word that the judge in the Frobisher case is ready to rule for dismissal unless she can come up with a coherent argument by Friday to continue the litigation.  She goes into Stage 5 workaholic mode, returning to her office to rally the troops -- only to find a grenade has been anonymously sent to her in the mail.

This brings up some ugly memories for Patty, namely that she was slashed by a deposed CEO after a court case several years back and almost died.  Since then, she's had a recurring dream in which she's something like Agent Smith in "The Matrix" -- that there are numerous of her body doubles getting out of limousines in front of her apartment in order to confuse a lurking assassin.  No anxiety there at all.

You're Katie Connor. Your brother is a hotshot doctor, your future sister-in-law just got hired by big-time scary lawyer Patty Hewes. You may be the crucial witness in a gazillion-dollar lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a very, very rich and very, very sketchy man who is accused of defrauding thousands of his employees. There's nothing tenuous in your position at all. So what do you do?

Lie to everyone about everything, of course.

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.

'Damages': Where the bodies are buried

Call it "The Sopranos" rule: When a sketchy guy starts looking at real estate, it's probably not the place where he wants to build his dream house.

Frobisher takes center stage this week, as some of his machinations start unraveling -- and others build up steam.  Larry, his contact with disgruntled employees, transfers to Patty's side.  But Bad Hat Guy?  Turns out to be a crony of Frobisher's from the SEC, and it's implied that he's smoothed over the government's case.

And Gregory Malina?  Still missing.  Maybe dead. (And could he be taking a dirt nap on the property Frobisher is suddenly interested in?)

Early on in the run of "Damages," Patty gave her protege, Ellen, a level-headed stare and told her to "trust no one." (No, she isn't an "X-Files" fan.) In Tuesday's episode, however, it finally became clear that Ellen -- as wide-eyed and naive as she sometimes appears -- has taken her advice to heart.

In present-day time, it's revealed that Ellen spent the night at Patty's house after she and David had a fight. Patty -- gone for the weekend -- was the only one who knew she was staying there, which may make her complicit in the attack on Ellen by a mystery man.

As if there wasn't enough happening on "Damages," what with the Frobisher case, creepy Patty and David and Ellen's awkward engagement and his murder.  We know it's all leading up to (deep breath) ... but it turns out that three of the newer faces are complicating matters even more.

First there is Gregory Malina, the consultant who had something to do with the Frobisher stock dump, although it's not clear what.  Despite leaking information intended to clear Frobisher and burn Katie, he still seems to have a lot of enemies -- one of Patty's henchmen gunned down a babe/assassin right before she tried to kill Gregory.  Panicked, he ran to ... Ray, Frobisher's attorney.  Innnteresting.

So here's the big question: Is it Tom going after Ellen with a butcher's knife in the final fight?

This week's episode focused on Patty's No. 2 in command, who has the gall to entertain a job offer from a competing law firm.  It's a cushy deal -- a named partnership, more money, more benefits and entry into a high-end music school for Tom's daughter.  He goes so far as to resign from Hewes and Associates, only to be lured back through a little bit of reverse psychology by Patty.

What remains to be seen, however, is how far Tom, with his reenergized loyalty, will go for his boss.

Oh, Katie.  I've warned you before about getting in over your head with Patty and crew, and yet you refuse to listen.

It's time for Katie's deposition in the Frobisher case, and Patty took the baptism-by-fire route to prep her for interrogation.  All the secrets Katie thought were just between her and Patty -- attorney-client privilege, yadda yadda yadda -- were outed in front of Ellen: namely, the trip to rehab for drug addiction and the abortion that resulted from her affair with Gregory.

And, as it turns out, Katie had more secrets to reveal.

Hey Patty, pick up your phone.  It's karma on line one.  OK, fine, don't pick up.  It's more fun if you don't learn your lesson.

Monday begins with Patty getting word that the judge in the Frobisher case is ready to rule for dismissal unless she can come up with a coherent argument by Friday to continue the litigation.  She goes into Stage 5 workaholic mode, returning to her office to rally the troops -- only to find a grenade has been anonymously sent to her in the mail.

This brings up some ugly memories for Patty, namely that she was slashed by a deposed CEO after a court case several years back and almost died.  Since then, she's had a recurring dream in which she's something like Agent Smith in "The Matrix" -- that there are numerous of her body doubles getting out of limousines in front of her apartment in order to confuse a lurking assassin.  No anxiety there at all.

You're Katie Connor. Your brother is a hotshot doctor, your future sister-in-law just got hired by big-time scary lawyer Patty Hewes. You may be the crucial witness in a gazillion-dollar lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a very, very rich and very, very sketchy man who is accused of defrauding thousands of his employees. There's nothing tenuous in your position at all. So what do you do?

Lie to everyone about everything, of course.

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.

'Damages': One point for Ellen, finally!

Early on in the run of "Damages," Patty gave her protege, Ellen, a level-headed stare and told her to "trust no one." (No, she isn't an "X-Files" fan.) In Tuesday's episode, however, it finally became clear that Ellen -- as wide-eyed and naive as she sometimes appears -- has taken her advice to heart.

In present-day time, it's revealed that Ellen spent the night at Patty's house after she and David had a fight. Patty -- gone for the weekend -- was the only one who knew she was staying there, which may make her complicit in the attack on Ellen by a mystery man.

As if there wasn't enough happening on "Damages," what with the Frobisher case, creepy Patty and David and Ellen's awkward engagement and his murder.  We know it's all leading up to (deep breath) ... but it turns out that three of the newer faces are complicating matters even more.

First there is Gregory Malina, the consultant who had something to do with the Frobisher stock dump, although it's not clear what.  Despite leaking information intended to clear Frobisher and burn Katie, he still seems to have a lot of enemies -- one of Patty's henchmen gunned down a babe/assassin right before she tried to kill Gregory.  Panicked, he ran to ... Ray, Frobisher's attorney.  Innnteresting.

So here's the big question: Is it Tom going after Ellen with a butcher's knife in the final fight?

This week's episode focused on Patty's No. 2 in command, who has the gall to entertain a job offer from a competing law firm.  It's a cushy deal -- a named partnership, more money, more benefits and entry into a high-end music school for Tom's daughter.  He goes so far as to resign from Hewes and Associates, only to be lured back through a little bit of reverse psychology by Patty.

What remains to be seen, however, is how far Tom, with his reenergized loyalty, will go for his boss.

Oh, Katie.  I've warned you before about getting in over your head with Patty and crew, and yet you refuse to listen.

It's time for Katie's deposition in the Frobisher case, and Patty took the baptism-by-fire route to prep her for interrogation.  All the secrets Katie thought were just between her and Patty -- attorney-client privilege, yadda yadda yadda -- were outed in front of Ellen: namely, the trip to rehab for drug addiction and the abortion that resulted from her affair with Gregory.

And, as it turns out, Katie had more secrets to reveal.

Hey Patty, pick up your phone.  It's karma on line one.  OK, fine, don't pick up.  It's more fun if you don't learn your lesson.

Monday begins with Patty getting word that the judge in the Frobisher case is ready to rule for dismissal unless she can come up with a coherent argument by Friday to continue the litigation.  She goes into Stage 5 workaholic mode, returning to her office to rally the troops -- only to find a grenade has been anonymously sent to her in the mail.

This brings up some ugly memories for Patty, namely that she was slashed by a deposed CEO after a court case several years back and almost died.  Since then, she's had a recurring dream in which she's something like Agent Smith in "The Matrix" -- that there are numerous of her body doubles getting out of limousines in front of her apartment in order to confuse a lurking assassin.  No anxiety there at all.

You're Katie Connor. Your brother is a hotshot doctor, your future sister-in-law just got hired by big-time scary lawyer Patty Hewes. You may be the crucial witness in a gazillion-dollar lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a very, very rich and very, very sketchy man who is accused of defrauding thousands of his employees. There's nothing tenuous in your position at all. So what do you do?

Lie to everyone about everything, of course.

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.

'Damages': Revenge of the tertiary characters!

As if there wasn't enough happening on "Damages," what with the Frobisher case, creepy Patty and David and Ellen's awkward engagement and his murder.  We know it's all leading up to (deep breath) ... but it turns out that three of the newer faces are complicating matters even more.

First there is Gregory Malina, the consultant who had something to do with the Frobisher stock dump, although it's not clear what.  Despite leaking information intended to clear Frobisher and burn Katie, he still seems to have a lot of enemies -- one of Patty's henchmen gunned down a babe/assassin right before she tried to kill Gregory.  Panicked, he ran to ... Ray, Frobisher's attorney.  Innnteresting.

So here's the big question: Is it Tom going after Ellen with a butcher's knife in the final fight?

This week's episode focused on Patty's No. 2 in command, who has the gall to entertain a job offer from a competing law firm.  It's a cushy deal -- a named partnership, more money, more benefits and entry into a high-end music school for Tom's daughter.  He goes so far as to resign from Hewes and Associates, only to be lured back through a little bit of reverse psychology by Patty.

What remains to be seen, however, is how far Tom, with his reenergized loyalty, will go for his boss.

Oh, Katie.  I've warned you before about getting in over your head with Patty and crew, and yet you refuse to listen.

It's time for Katie's deposition in the Frobisher case, and Patty took the baptism-by-fire route to prep her for interrogation.  All the secrets Katie thought were just between her and Patty -- attorney-client privilege, yadda yadda yadda -- were outed in front of Ellen: namely, the trip to rehab for drug addiction and the abortion that resulted from her affair with Gregory.

And, as it turns out, Katie had more secrets to reveal.

Hey Patty, pick up your phone.  It's karma on line one.  OK, fine, don't pick up.  It's more fun if you don't learn your lesson.

Monday begins with Patty getting word that the judge in the Frobisher case is ready to rule for dismissal unless she can come up with a coherent argument by Friday to continue the litigation.  She goes into Stage 5 workaholic mode, returning to her office to rally the troops -- only to find a grenade has been anonymously sent to her in the mail.

This brings up some ugly memories for Patty, namely that she was slashed by a deposed CEO after a court case several years back and almost died.  Since then, she's had a recurring dream in which she's something like Agent Smith in "The Matrix" -- that there are numerous of her body doubles getting out of limousines in front of her apartment in order to confuse a lurking assassin.  No anxiety there at all.

You're Katie Connor. Your brother is a hotshot doctor, your future sister-in-law just got hired by big-time scary lawyer Patty Hewes. You may be the crucial witness in a gazillion-dollar lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a very, very rich and very, very sketchy man who is accused of defrauding thousands of his employees. There's nothing tenuous in your position at all. So what do you do?

Lie to everyone about everything, of course.

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.

'Damages': Tommy, can you hear me?

So here's the big question: Is it Tom going after Ellen with a butcher's knife in the final fight?

This week's episode focused on Patty's No. 2 in command, who has the gall to entertain a job offer from a competing law firm.  It's a cushy deal -- a named partnership, more money, more benefits and entry into a high-end music school for Tom's daughter.  He goes so far as to resign from Hewes and Associates, only to be lured back through a little bit of reverse psychology by Patty.

What remains to be seen, however, is how far Tom, with his reenergized loyalty, will go for his boss.

Oh, Katie.  I've warned you before about getting in over your head with Patty and crew, and yet you refuse to listen.

It's time for Katie's deposition in the Frobisher case, and Patty took the baptism-by-fire route to prep her for interrogation.  All the secrets Katie thought were just between her and Patty -- attorney-client privilege, yadda yadda yadda -- were outed in front of Ellen: namely, the trip to rehab for drug addiction and the abortion that resulted from her affair with Gregory.

And, as it turns out, Katie had more secrets to reveal.

Hey Patty, pick up your phone.  It's karma on line one.  OK, fine, don't pick up.  It's more fun if you don't learn your lesson.

Monday begins with Patty getting word that the judge in the Frobisher case is ready to rule for dismissal unless she can come up with a coherent argument by Friday to continue the litigation.  She goes into Stage 5 workaholic mode, returning to her office to rally the troops -- only to find a grenade has been anonymously sent to her in the mail.

This brings up some ugly memories for Patty, namely that she was slashed by a deposed CEO after a court case several years back and almost died.  Since then, she's had a recurring dream in which she's something like Agent Smith in "The Matrix" -- that there are numerous of her body doubles getting out of limousines in front of her apartment in order to confuse a lurking assassin.  No anxiety there at all.

You're Katie Connor. Your brother is a hotshot doctor, your future sister-in-law just got hired by big-time scary lawyer Patty Hewes. You may be the crucial witness in a gazillion-dollar lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a very, very rich and very, very sketchy man who is accused of defrauding thousands of his employees. There's nothing tenuous in your position at all. So what do you do?

Lie to everyone about everything, of course.

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.

'Damages': Girls just want to have fun, indeed

Oh, Katie.  I've warned you before about getting in over your head with Patty and crew, and yet you refuse to listen.

It's time for Katie's deposition in the Frobisher case, and Patty took the baptism-by-fire route to prep her for interrogation.  All the secrets Katie thought were just between her and Patty -- attorney-client privilege, yadda yadda yadda -- were outed in front of Ellen: namely, the trip to rehab for drug addiction and the abortion that resulted from her affair with Gregory.

And, as it turns out, Katie had more secrets to reveal.

Hey Patty, pick up your phone.  It's karma on line one.  OK, fine, don't pick up.  It's more fun if you don't learn your lesson.

Monday begins with Patty getting word that the judge in the Frobisher case is ready to rule for dismissal unless she can come up with a coherent argument by Friday to continue the litigation.  She goes into Stage 5 workaholic mode, returning to her office to rally the troops -- only to find a grenade has been anonymously sent to her in the mail.

This brings up some ugly memories for Patty, namely that she was slashed by a deposed CEO after a court case several years back and almost died.  Since then, she's had a recurring dream in which she's something like Agent Smith in "The Matrix" -- that there are numerous of her body doubles getting out of limousines in front of her apartment in order to confuse a lurking assassin.  No anxiety there at all.

You're Katie Connor. Your brother is a hotshot doctor, your future sister-in-law just got hired by big-time scary lawyer Patty Hewes. You may be the crucial witness in a gazillion-dollar lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a very, very rich and very, very sketchy man who is accused of defrauding thousands of his employees. There's nothing tenuous in your position at all. So what do you do?

Lie to everyone about everything, of course.

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.

'Damages': Patty's very bad week

Hey Patty, pick up your phone.  It's karma on line one.  OK, fine, don't pick up.  It's more fun if you don't learn your lesson.

Monday begins with Patty getting word that the judge in the Frobisher case is ready to rule for dismissal unless she can come up with a coherent argument by Friday to continue the litigation.  She goes into Stage 5 workaholic mode, returning to her office to rally the troops -- only to find a grenade has been anonymously sent to her in the mail.

This brings up some ugly memories for Patty, namely that she was slashed by a deposed CEO after a court case several years back and almost died.  Since then, she's had a recurring dream in which she's something like Agent Smith in "The Matrix" -- that there are numerous of her body doubles getting out of limousines in front of her apartment in order to confuse a lurking assassin.  No anxiety there at all.

You're Katie Connor. Your brother is a hotshot doctor, your future sister-in-law just got hired by big-time scary lawyer Patty Hewes. You may be the crucial witness in a gazillion-dollar lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a very, very rich and very, very sketchy man who is accused of defrauding thousands of his employees. There's nothing tenuous in your position at all. So what do you do?

Lie to everyone about everything, of course.

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.

'Damages': Oh, Katie. Poor, stupid Katie.

You're Katie Connor. Your brother is a hotshot doctor, your future sister-in-law just got hired by big-time scary lawyer Patty Hewes. You may be the crucial witness in a gazillion-dollar lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher, a very, very rich and very, very sketchy man who is accused of defrauding thousands of his employees. There's nothing tenuous in your position at all. So what do you do?

Lie to everyone about everything, of course.

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.

'Damages': Any coincidence that 'devil' has the word 'evil' in it?

It’s obvious why crime shows have become a mainstay on television: Blood! Guts! Maniacs! Good! Evil! Redemption! But civil litigation isn’t as sexy -– how much tension can you create over someone whipping out a pen and signing papers?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Most people will be gabbing over Glenn Close’s stellar performance as a brilliant and cruel attorney on Tuesday night’s premiere of FX’s fantastic new series “Damages” –- but the show isn’t just a one-trick pony. Close plays Patty Hewes, a woman straight out of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with more than a touch of Al Pacino’s Beelzebub in “The Devil’s Advocate.” Hewes’ breezy forms of psychological manipulation are fun to watch –- she buys her just-hired associates a whole new wardrobe to get them to fit in, then promptly mandates that the dry-cleaning can be done only by her preferred provider –- but it’s the undercurrent of physical menace that really sells the show.