If the measure of a man is how cool he sounds while buying a Chrysler that will be used by his company’s hired murderer on his way to hired murders, then Clarke Peters is at the top of the heap. I could listen to him talk about navigation systems all day long.
This week we learned that his character is willing to sink to the depths of corruption as part of his new alliance with Walter Kendricks, which is especially curious considering how little we know about his back story or motivation.
Card-carrying hedonist Claire Maddox took the floor in a big way in this episode as well, starring in no less than two bedroom scenes, with as many men. Her closing the deal with the youthful waiter was particularly, um, enjoyable. Nice gams, Ms. Maddox.
Her appearance in court following Kendricks’ “sue the bitch”-inspired defamation trial was perhaps less impressive, as Tom—shining in his role as Patty’s attorney—took Maddox to (law) school. She may be a shrewd lawyer, but can she out-shrew Hewes? So far, the answer is a resounding no. In the course of this one episode, Patty managed to get sued, settle for a pittance, and subsequently sue Kendricks for everything he’s got. Patty 1, Claire 0.
Incidentally, that courtroom scene highlights one of the more appealing aspects of Patty’s character—that even though she’s an evil genius, we can still find ourselves rooting for her from time to time. Especially when she aligns herself with a character as likeable as Tom.
Ellen, meanwhile, does a little ill-advised digging into the apartment she shared with her late fiancé David, and finds her would-be wedding gift (still unopened, at press time) along with a card promising to whisk her away to “somewhere with palm trees” once the Frobisher case settles down. What do you think he bought her? I’m going with a spindle of DVD-Rs.
When David’s sister Katie is mugged, and later spots one of her (many) past assailants in uniform at the local NYPD precinct, a whole new level of police corruption is unraveled, resulting in the inside-job-murder of said assailant and a new independent investigation by Ellen, and also a fight between Katie and Ellen, which leads to a scene in which Ellen calls Katie’s voicemail while watching Judge Karen on her plasma.
But this week’s biggest bombshell came by way of Patty’s decision to use Arthur Frobisher as part of her case against Kendricks. I don’t think anyone saw that coming, and until the writers explain a little bit more, it remains a puzzling move. We’ll see what’s in store next Sunday…
Until then, don’t forget—you can always catch up on Damages in the Showcase Video centre.