With a new season of Damages comes a new opportunity to immerse oneself in a world that folds in on itself over and over like so many soiled cocktail napkins at a charity gala. And judging by last week’s season premiere, we’re in for quite the ride. (Oh, and before we begin spoiling the episode, you should know that you can always catch Damages online at the Showcase.ca Video page.)

For starters, Patty Hewes’ sting operation on would-be governor Sam Arsenault’s Yale-bound, coke-lovin’ daughter, was as cruel and calculated a move as we’ve seen her pull since the blackmailing of Cajun sensation Ray Fiske and the attempted murder of Ellen Parsons. Clearly, the events of last year have not resulted in a taming of Ms. Hewes.

This year, though, unbeknownst to her, she has a very real opponent in Ellen, who’s been making some new friends in group therapy—one of whom (Timothy Olyphant) likes to talk about revenge, and kicking people’s heads off, and procuring firearms from guys named Frank. Speaking of which, is anybody willing to guess who’s on the other end of Ellen’s handgun in the closing seconds of the episode’s alternate timeline? (Seriously—let's hear some guesses.)

But the real question is, will the murder of Daniel Purcell’s wife lead Patty to take him on as a client, eschewing the infant mortality case that the FBI has concocted to help Ellen take her down from the inside? And if so, to what means will Ellen resort in order to expose her corrupt employer?

Time will tell, of course. In the meantime, it’s nice to see William Hurt playing Purcell to creepy perfection, as he stalks down dark streets, makes awkward conversation at Patty’s charity function, and angrily brandishes duotangs. It’s enough to make one recall his very memorable, and truly excellent turn as Kevin Costner’s id in Mr. Brooks. That movie was crazy.

Oh yeah, and Frobisher’s alive! For now.

See you next week.