"Did you kill your wife?"

It’s no coincidence that the question pulsing through every moment of this episode is also its first line of dialog. Whether or not Daniel Purcell killed Christine is now, improbably, the driving force of the second season of Damages, usurping the front-and-centre stature of the federal investigation on Patty Hewes’ misdeeds.

But even as we learn that Daniel has laid hands on his wife, and that she did file a restraining order against him three years ago, and that he and his wife did have a heated argument about his infidelity on the night of her murder, and that his lie detector test did come back inconclusive, and that, also, he is the real father of Patty’s son (woah), a clear picture of his innocence or guilt has yet to emerge—even if it is tipping towards the latter.

Patty, meanwhile, determines that Daniel knows much more than he’s letting on, and manages to have him followed and arrested as he tries to flee the country on his girlfriend Claire’s advice. Patty Hewes: Still one step ahead of everybody. For now.

Another major development this week came by way of the small farming town of Bloomsfield, West Virginia, which happens to have a problem with coal contamination. Here, we meet a “reporter” named Josh who takes notes about dead pigs and bottles contaminated water. So far, it would seem that his reports are going directly to Daniel himself. That is, until a couple of husky men slash his tires, kidnap him and steal his camera—which they intend to deliver to Mr. Kendrick, who is rapidly emerging as this season’s Frobisher-style evil figurehead.

Developments galore, to be sure. But even with all the excitement lobbed our way this week, it’s tough to lose sight of that one, big question…

So if you caught last night's episode, let us hear it in the comments: Who do you think killed Christine Purcell?

And if you missed the broadcast on Showcase, don’t forget that you can always catch it online in our Video centre.

See you next week.