After ten episodes, it’s becoming clear to me that this season of Damages is really all about family. The case is focusing around a family: the Tobins. We have seen the complete dissolution of Patty’s family, Tom’s family is falling apart because of the loss of his life’s savings, and Ellen has had her own familial issues, which were only compounded in this episode. I loved the moment when she was discussing family life with Patty, and Patty went a bit out of character to point out how unsuccessful she had been in her family life. Patty doesn’t let her guard down often, so I thought it was a refreshing moment.
Family has been in focus the whole season, but it was really front and center in this episode. Ellen started having bizarre dreams about a strange woman who may or may not be her actual mother. (As an aside, is there a show on the air right now that does a better job with bizarre dream sequences than Damages?) I’m curious to learn more about Ellen’s family situation and how it is going to affect her character moving forward. It seems that with everything going wrong, she would almost welcome an excuse to drop her family. Will it push her closer to Patty? We’ve seen that Patty’s strong connection to Ellen seems to come from the loss of her own daughter. Is it possible that there have been lies about Ellen’s true parentage and that she will look more to Patty as a parent figure? With their pasts, I doubt it, but they do seem pretty friendly these days, regardless of who tried to kill who.
Ellen wasn’t the only one facing a shady past. Lenny’s father rolled into town, looking to get in on some of the sweet con action that Lenny has been working for so long. It was certainly fun watching the two of them spar. It’s going to be interesting to see if Lenny can keep the upper hand, or if the threats of being exposed to the Tobins will do him in. You can almost guarantee that the Tobins will find out about his past before the end of the season. I’m just looking forward to how it will happen and the impact it has on the characters.
There are only a few episodes left in the season, and we are starting to see Tom come apart. It’s sad really, especially now that we know his fate. Patty can see it happening, too, but clearly she is not going to be able to help him before it is too late. If the show does come back for a fourth season, I’m going to miss Tom.
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Mar 29, 2010 @ 23:30 EST5EDT
