The best episodes of Damages
Ranked by viewer rating, highs first. Lit marks on the season rail place this list across the run. Vote on a placement to back it or contest it.
- 01
As Ellen uses the Malina videotape to fight the charges that she killed her fiance, Patty engineers a confrontation with Frobisher that brings the lawsuit to a dramatic conclusion.
- 02
Though she refuses Patty's offer to come back to work, Ellen does agree to return to press Moore for more information that could help nail Frobisher.
- 03
As the Executive looks to force a settlement by providing Patty's team some critical information, Gregory Malina emerges from hiding to apologize to Katie and testify against Frobisher.
- 04
Ray Fiske's suicide prompts Frobisher to unleash everything he has in order to gain control of evidence that could undermine him in court.
- 05
Patty Hewes and Frobisher prepare for his deposition but he beats her to the punch by holding a press conference and telling all about the car accident he had 25 years ago. Patty tells Tom that Ellen is only useful to them as long as Gregory Malina is alive. When she learns he is dead she tells Ellen she is off the Frobisher case. When Ellen ignores Patty's direct orders not to contact George Moore, she finds herself out of a job. In the flash forward, Tom is still unable to locate Patty and Ellen tells him the identity of the person who tried to have her killed.
- 06
As she looks to finally have Patty jailed, Ellen's plan unravels amid a series of complex double crosses.
- 07
With the case pushing Ellen and David's relationship to a breaking point, Gregory Malina comes under increasing pressure to testify.
- 08
And My Paralyzing Fear of Death
As a bomb threat puts Patty and her family on edge, Ellen's loyalty to the firm is tested when she must choose between delivering a brief to an important judge and attending her own engagement party.
- 09
As Tom faces a decision between a lucrative partnership at a big firm and taking over the Frobisher lawsuit, Ellen and David's long hours at work jeopardize their relationship.
- 10
As Patty tries to contain the damage caused by Gregory Malina's sudden disappearance and an insider who's leaking privileged information to Frobisher, Ellen's attentions are diverted by her own father's pending legal troubles.
- 11
McClaren's latest leak thrusts Ellen into the spotlight. Tensions between McClaren and Rutger Simon come to a head.
- 12
Burn It, Shred It, I Don't Care
Patty decides to take the child mortality case which, unbeknown to her, has been planted by the FBI. She passes the case to Tom Shayes who may be prepared to engage in unethical conduct to get the plaintiff to sign up with them. When his daughter is arrested for cocaine possession, Sam Arsenault decides his chances at a political career have been ruined and asks Patty if he can still invest in the foundation. She manipulates him into upping his donation. Daniel Purcell reveals to Patty that data produced by his company for a client has been doctored and that it involves a highly toxic substance. When Purcell is attacked in his home and his wife killed, Patty decides to represent him. Purcell hasn't been entirely truthful about his relationships, however
- 13
Having been humiliated in open court when Daniel Purcell recanted his testimony, Patty decides she is going to go after Walter Kendrick and UNR. The first step is to stop a merger UNR is contemplating. Patty has a good case to put to Federal officials but she is outmaneuvered. Ellen weighs accepting a dinner invitation at Patty's apartment; this would be her first time there since the attempt on her life. Her FBI handlers want her to go and wear a wire. When Ellen later tells them she is being followed, they tell her the sting may be over. Uncle Pete believes that Ellen is the biggest threat against Patty suggests that she something about it. He also gets her more information about the infant mortality case. We learn the identity of Ellen's attacker. Daniel Purcell puts his house up for sale and in flashbacks, the identity of his wife's killer is revealed.
- 14
When Patty tells Ellen to stop investigating Arthur Frobisher's connection to Calder Security, she decides to hire a private investigator on her own. When she sees Phil, Patty's husband, leaving her hotel she suspects he may be having an affair. When her investigator provides her with the incriminating photos, Ellen makes sure Patty gets them. Claire Maddox is disgusted with Walter Kendrick's underhanded dealings and starts planting seeds of doubt about his leadership with a member of the Board. When it's suggested that she take over the company Claire accepts but learns just how tough Kendrick can be. The FBI inform Ellen of Agent Harrison's death.
- 15
As Daniel Purcell struggles to conceal his involvement in his wife's murder, Ellen and the F.B.I. set out to catch Patty bribing a judge.
- 16
Louis Tobin's suicide is ruled a heart attack though no one really believes that to be the case. Danielle Marchetti is now out of her coma and the DA and Ellen offer her immunity from prosecution if she tells all that she knows about Tobin. Joe Tobin tells her in no uncertain terms what he expects of her. Patty suggests that she plead the 5th. Louis' daughter Carol doesn't take the news that her father committed suicide very well and pays Danielle a visit. Louis' relationship with Danielle is explained as is his reason for wanting to get her out of the country. Ellen meets her old friend Josh who is now a crime reporter. Meanwhile, Patty interviews a candidate, Alex Benjamin, for an associate position and suggests she should speak to Ellen first. In a flash forward 5 months into the future, more of Tom Shayes situation is revealed.
- 17
Patty and Ellen face off against each other in court, and the shocking results alter their lives forever.
- 18
As Fiske works to keep Gregory Malina from being deposed, Patty sows seeds of doubt between Tom and Ellen while working to get her son to come home from a reform academy.
- 19
Almost a year has passed since Ellen Parsons left Hewes and Associates. She is now working in the District Attorney's office and is dealing with a fairly important drug case, trying to get a dealer to reveal the identity of his supplier. Patty Hewes is now acting on behalf of a group of investors trying to recover money they had entrusted to Louis Tobin and who, it turns out, was running a Ponzi scheme. With billions of dollars unaccounted for, Patty is trying to find any funds that may have been hidden by the Tobin family. Patty and Ellen have had no contact since her departure but Patty has been reluctant to re-assign her office, convinced that Ellen will return. She even sends her an expensive handbag. Ellen wants nothing to do with her however and when she thinks Patty may be interfering with her drug case, tells her she doesn't need any help. She also tells her that any secrets she may have are perfectly safe. In a flash-forward 6 months into the future, Patty Hewes is in a serious accident when another car broadsides her vehicle in an intersection. The occupant of the other vehicle has fled but it is registered to someone she knows.
- 20
Patty goes on the offensive in her battle with Ultima National Resources and its CEO Walter Kendrick. She goes on television and accuses him not only of polluting with his West Virginia coal mine but of having arranged the murder of Daniel Purcell's wife. Her goal is to drive the stock price down and so justify a shareholder lawsuit. Kendrick and his lawyer, Claire Maddox, file a $200 million libel suit. Arthur Frobisher has some advice for Kendrick on how to deal with Hewes. Ellen may have a break in the investigation of her fiancé David's murder when his sister, Katie Connor, recognizes the man who was following her - wearing a police uniform. She asks her FBI contacts for help but when they refuse, she turns to Patty for help.
- 21
Ellen begins to explore Patty's relationship with Daniel Purcell. He was a witness in a big case 10 years before and Patty tore him to shreds during his deposition. Ellen begins to wonder if Patty paid him off but their relationship goes back much further and is much more meaningful than that of client and solicitor. As Patty has decided not to take on the child medical care case, the FBI want Ellen to slow down a bit as they are afraid Patty might get wind of what is going on. They also remind Ellen that this kind of sting may take years to come to fruition. Purcell finds himself in jail when the police arrest him trying to leave the country.
- 22
Patty's investigators track down the missing ring and a security camera provides them with a photo of the man who pawned it. The police soon make an arrest and Daniel Purcell identifies him as the man who attacked him and killed his wife. Patty's hopes of forcing the company to reveal its doctored environmental reports are dashed when Purcell, under oath, inexplicably refuses to accuse them of fraud. Tom and Ellen travel south to find journalist Josh Reston. They soon realize that they are dealing with powerful foes that will use every opportunity to stop them.
- 23
All That Crap About Your Family
Ellen visits the woman in her dreams to learn if she is her birth mother but actually learns something far different about her family. Just as Patty decides to move against Tessa, the DA arrests the young woman. Ellen convinces her to turn to Patty for help but finds herself suspended when her boss finds out what she has been up to. Patty however thinks she now knows what was going on with Tessa's regular visits to Antigua and convinces the DA to let Tessa make one more trip to the island. Leonard Winstone has to deal with his own problems when his father shows up at his office unexpectedly, threatening to reveal his secrets.
- 24
The attack Ellen suffered years ago comes back to haunt her.
- 25
Though sure that she's ready to help nail Frobisher, Katie sees that she's been used after the accuracy of her deposition is called into question.
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