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Damage Report: What Do We Know About Patty Hewes So Far?

Sigh. Am I the only one suffering through complete and utter withdrawal from FX's legal thriller Damages?

I'm still not all that sure why FX decided not to air a new episode of the taut drama last night, but I will say that I got many an email asking me if the series had been canceled. Rest assured, it hasn't, otherwise you'd be getting an earful from me today demanding that the cabler reinstate the series immediately.

So while Wednesdays have become a day in which I typically reflect about Damages and the latest clues we've just gleaned from each week's installment, there's no new episode to discuss today. That being said, I thought I'd take a look at just what we've learned so far about Damages' enigmatic moral black hole, Patty Hewes.

Name: Patty Hewes (Glenn Close)
Profession: High-stakes litigator; devil incarnate
Marital Status: Divorced once; currently married
Husband: Phil Grey, prone to frequent business trips to London
Son: Michael (from her first husband, unnamed), currently detained (thanks to Patty) in a rehabilitation facility after sending his parents a hand grenade and unreachable by phone.
Uncle: Pete, the kindly gentlemen who picks up Hewes & Associates' hard-working lawyer's dry cleaning and liaises with Patty's network of spies. Is he really her uncle or just some old-time thug that she's kept on the books? We're really not sure.
Ex-Husband: Unknown. (Though how great would it be if one of the skeletons in Patty's closet was at least a brief affair with Frobisher? It might explain just why she has such a sharp axe to grind with the billionaire.)
Allies: Very few, though they would include Phil (one would suspect anyway); poor, overworked Tom (Tate Donovan), now a partner; and Uncle Pete.

Greatest Fear: That she will die violently (hardly a surprise, given her line of work and her savagery in pursuing a win at any cost)
Recurring Nightmare: That a line of limos pulls up to her apartment complex and dozens of decoy Patty Hewes step out of the cars, leading her to be unsure just which one of them is her.
Contradictions: Seems to feel a sense of pride in Ellen (Rose Byrne)'s work as an associate, even though she only hired her to deliver a now-useless witness; loves her precious pooch more than anything but was more than willing to kill Katie's dog Saffron to force her into action.
Surprise Information: That she knew all along about Greg (Peter Facinelli) and the real connection between him and Katie and that he would lead Katie to perjury; also knows what a Ho-Ho is.

Backstory: The reason she became a lawyer was to protect people from bullies, after she was bullied and/or abused by her father. It's unknown whether her parents are dead or alive but their flashbacks would likely reveal quite a lot of information about Patty. Uncle Pete has worked for Patty for what seems like decades and has no problems about doing a little dirty work to further her latest cause (just who was the one that murdered Saffron?).

Questions: How did Patty get to be so fabulously successful and what is her endgame with the Frobisher trial? Did she hire Ellen just to get to Katie, or is there something else she wants from her young associate? Who else's strings is Patty pulling? Soda skank? Martin? And why is Ellen staying at Patty's apartment when the Mystery Man attempts to kill her? Is Patty's dream of a violent end manifesting itself on Ellen?

And is there anything I've missed?

Damages returns next week with a brand-new episode (“She Spat At Me”), in which Patty pursues Greg to gain valuable information before it’s too late, Frobisher launches a rather unusual strategy, Patty has dinner with our favorite lovebirds, and the enigmatic and Cassavetes-adverse Soda Skank (a.k.a. Lila) suddenly reappears in David’s life. I cannot wait!

Comments

Anonymous said…
I didn't think that Damages was canceled as I knew you would be the first one screaming on the rooftops about it. I did miss it last night as it has become one of the highlights of my tv-viewing week now. Any idea why FX decided to take a week off?
Seat42F said…
Just a guess : )Damages has so much buzz going for it right now, but there are still TONS of viewers who missed out on the launch and are saying something like "I'd watch but I missed the premiere so I will wait for DVD or iTunes or replays."

In giving the show a week off, to me anyway, the labor day marathon ( all five eps airing that day )would be more manageable. People can tune in on labor for the marathon and then be up to speed the next day with a new episode.
Anonymous said…
I see absolutely no good reason for not airing it last night, but at least we got this great analysis out of it!
"Damages' enigmatic moral black hole..." Perfect description of Patty Hewes!

And, really, what is up with Uncle Pete? There's something very odd about that relationship.
Kristen said…
Hi, great post! I'm glad Wednesday still brings a Damages post from you, since I was drawn into your site by your weekly insights (actually have you on my blogroll and don't think I've introduced myself yet, which I hope isn't terrible manners). Anyway, love the blog, love this analysis -- it makes me anticipate next week's eppy all the more.
Anonymous said…
Great post! I too was happy to see you write about Damages this week, even though FX didn't air it. I'm not sure why though. Even if they wanted to do a marathon to catch people up who haven't been watching, why would they ruin the momentum the series has gained so far? It's just weird.

I loved the breakdown of what makes Patty tick and the fact that you are covering this series week to week.
Anonymous said…
Awesome, AWESOME breakdown.

Your like the official P. Hewes profiler or something!!?!

And yes...the Damages withdrawal was tough to deal with, but the marathon kept me occupied, and now...we have a new ep!!

Thanks again for sharing!

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