This week's episode of Damages featured a first for the serpentine legal thriller: no flash-forwards. Instead, the plot unfolded in a linear fashion and was confined to the present-day, focusing on both the machinations of the Tobin family, Tom confessing to his in-laws about the financial fraud, and the domestic squabbles at the Parsons' home in New Jersey. There were no flashbacks, no six months later flash-forwards, and I missed the nonlinear structure of the series. Yes, the writers tried something different but what works best about Damages is that it is the television narrative equivalent of a Rubik's cube; I love twisting the various elements together, twirling the plot threads, to resemble something complete and whole. Last night's episode of Damages ("Flight's at 11:08") therefore placed its emphasis on Patty relentlessly pursuing the Tobin case and engaging in some mind games with the Tobin family lawyer Leonard Winstone, while Ellen chose her