"I like where this case is headed."
-- Detective Huntley
I wish I had his confidence. Maybe the unease I felt after watching this installment of Damages has to do with the episode itself, rather than the entire case.
Maybe it's just frustration: halfway through the season, we still have no real clue how the Tobin case connects to Tom's death.
Maybe it's that the appearance of one mysterious new character (Zedeck) and the return of another (Decker) wound up feeling kind of lackluster.
Or maybe it's that this episode kept the season's most interesting players -- Joe Tobin and Leonard Winstone -- off the field for most of the hour.
With all those complaints out the way, I'll say that "Don't Forget to Thank Mr. Zedeck" offered up at some things to like.
Everything about Tom Shayes in this episode was great. Once again, Tate Donovan is making the most of his final episodes, and we're getting to see the path that's going to lead him to the trunk of that car.
Loved his mashed potatoes speech, and his not-so-slow burn listening to his douche bag advisor talk about golfing in Arizona. And then that gives him the idea to track down Tobin's money using Danielle's flight attendant daughter! I like seeing him play detective. Seeing Ellen and the junior DA squad do the same thing? Not as interesting.
I also liked Patty's visit to Sterling Biddle, and the way the writers were smart enough to have him bring up Silence of the Lambs, seeing as how that's exactly what Patty was up to: using one criminal to catch another. Biddle was played by Wallace Shawn, and you'll note the obligatory Princess Bride reference in the title. He was plenty creepy here, only exchanging information after a bizarre, not-exactly-conjugal-but-still-skeevy visit with new Hewes/Shayes attorney Alex.
(Is Alex's business card going to read "associate" or "Patty's Whipping Girl"?)
And finally, I like anything with the detectives investigating Tom's death/Patty's car crash. In a just world, Tom Noonan's Detective Huntley would get his own spin off. In the bleak, bitter world of Damages, it seems like he's the only one enjoying himself.
Tom Coombe
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