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Despite the fact that if you listen to the musical score (which may be the only trustworthy source on this show) William Hurt a.k.a. Daniel Purcell is loony tunes, Patty agrees to help him fight off the accusations that he throttled his wife. She puts him up in a top-secret location with a security detail, but he is still being followed. The police can’t find any evidence of an intruder, but Purcell claims that’s, like, totally expected. Besides, he told the cops that he doesn't know of anyone who would want to hurt him -- ummmm, right. Patty is skeptical of it all, and would totally cock an eyebrow if Botox injections would allow such a maneuver. She may or may not believe that Purcell did it, but she definitely knows he needs help. I guess she thinks she owes him something after all.
Ellen owes somebody something, too. She owes Frobisher a head-bashing, for starters, but she couldn’t do it last week. So this week she finds Timothy Olyphant to vent over that fact. Of course he has some (okay a lot) of handy, problem-solving guns and a whole file of Frobisher clippings, so if she changes her mind, he’s there to help. My boyfriend may be more than a little creepy, which does nothing to diminish my crush! Ellen also owes Patty a takedown, but unfortunately Purcell’s case may be getting in the way of that, since Patty has decided she doesn’t have time to take the bait-case the FBI sent her way. Ellen’s peeved, but the FBI isn’t too troubled. They decide to focus on entrapping Tom instead and then making him flip and dish all the dirt he undoubtedly has on Patty. How will they do this? No, not through a crafty legal case, but through legal ethics 101, e.g.: Do not pay your clients off. Tom considers having to retake the MPRE (that’s law school stuff, don’t worry your li'l head over it), but Patty wants him on the Purcell case.
You know who else is on the Purcell case? Marcia Gay Harden. She is a badass, hard-nosed corporate lawyer who is either out to get Purcell or sleeping with him or both. She is fixing to be tough competition for Patty and even plays a mean game of handball (which is a critical skill for corporate lawyers). She uses her athletic prowess to convince a judge to issue a warrant for the box of documents Purcell sent to Patty’s office. This is shaping up to be quite the showdown, although Marcia and Patty may both want to know what Purcell was torching in his backyard. Who has a backyard in New York City? Crazy people, that’s who.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Language and sexual situations and violence, oh my! Got to love late-night cable! I don't know about your viewing experience, but over in these parts, there is something off about the sound of this show. It is extremely quiet and I have to turn the volume way up so whenever it goes to commercials it gets really loud and I have to lunge for the remote control. Maybe it is just a scheme to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Does anyone else have this problem? Anyway, the camera quietly swoops down the hallway of a hotel or apartment complex. Something about the swoop reminds me of Evil Dead 2, which is actually the second thing on this show to remind me of that movie, which I haven't seen since 1995. The other thing is the wishy windy music they play whenever Daniel Purcell is in the scene. Maybe Daniel Purcell's hand was possessed by an ancient Aztecan evil and that's why he throttled his wife, but he can't mention it for fear of waking the evil. Or maybe Frobisher will get raped by trees. Who knows? It's a crazy show. Back to the camera swooping down the hallway, it zooms in on room number 1910 and maybe I spent too much time recapping Lost, but I can't help but think that has to mean something and is not just the Fibonacci sequence or a cryptosymbological hint of thing to come. Cut to Ellen of the future, hair loose, eyeliner smudgy, chugging whiskey like a lumberjack or a Republican, admitting that she lied and firing off two shots. Cut to Ellen "today" sitting in the back of the FBI's car after her failed attempt to wear a wire and capture incriminating evidence of Patty's evil ways. Patty is calling her on her BlackBerry and she is unsure of what to do. The way she looks at her phone, you can tell she is worried that Patty has been having her followed or implanted a GPS locator in her phone or something. She answers and Patty, who is at Purcell's house, tells her there has been an emergency and she wants her to come to the office. Ellen agrees, hangs up and looks anxiously at the G-men as if they could help her figure out why Patty wants to meet her at the office in the middle of the night.
At Daniel Purcell's house, Patty dabs her eyes (who knew she was so emotional? Honestly, it's unexpected and it may show a new more sensitive side of Patty. Maybe a side that only showed up after the Ghost of Lawyers Past started lurking around her office chaise.) The police are at Daniel's house photographing his wife's body and looking for forensic evidence. Before CSI and its beleaguered progeny hit primetime, I wonder if they would have bothered doing close ups of the wife's fingernails, petechial hemorrhaging, and the bruising around the neck. Now that we know phrases like "petechial hemorrhaging," we may not know how to spell it and have to Google around to find it, but we know it. And we know that it means: Murder! We also know helpful facts like strangulations are usually crimes of passion and that means husbands are suspect numero uno. Anyway, thanks CSI! Patty comes back into the room where the wife's body lies. The detective asks her why Purcell wanted them to call her, since she's not representing him. She shrugs and says she saw him at a charity event earlier and that's probably why he thought of her. The detective wants to ask her and Purcell some questions. The detective apparently doesn't believe Patty; why else would he want to ask someone who claims to totally unrelated questions. Purcell and Patty sit and Purcell recounts his tale as the EMT patches up his bleeding forehead. Purcell dropped his wife off around midnight, returned home and found the door open, he called her name, some guy he never saw before ran past him, slammed him against the door and ran. Purcell chased him for a second, then went to find his wife. The detective asks whether anyone would want to hurt him. He claims no, but the editing team disagrees with him and we are treated to a montage of all the threats made against Purcell last week and all of his paranoid actions. As his wife's body is wheeled out, Purcell flips out and starts screaming and shaking and demanding that the cops go after the guy who did it. He collapses on the couch in a diabetic low blood sugar attack and Patty calls off the interview. She's representing him now.
Oh how nice that they have commercials this week. Commercials are a recapper's best friend. Patty meets her trusted associates at the office. Tom reports that Purcell's daughter is staying with family upstate and they will get a team up there now. Ellen adds that she booked him at "the Wooster," leaked it to a beat reporter (who will totally never talk to her again) and then actually booked Purcell at the Waldorf. Wow, guys, it's like you took a class in this in law school. When Patty rejoins them, Tom tells her everything is done, but what exactly are they doing working on this case? They aren't criminal defense attorneys. Patty is, like, totally aware of that, but thanks Tom. She can't pass this case off, though. Ellen reminds her that the lead plaintiff in the infant mortality case is coming in tomorrow, and, frankly that seems like a really bad time to mention that. Obviously Patty is too stressed out right now to even consider meeting the plaintiff and foists the entire case over to Tom to chair. Ellen tries to hide the "Oh crap" look that is spreading all over her face, but does a really lousy job of it. Tom, on the other hand, is thrilled at the prospect of taking first chair for the first time ever since he's been a partner for twenty years or so and thinks he might be up for the challenge. Patty pats him on the back and heads off. Ellen looks like she might cry.
Patty stares at Purcell asleep in her office. She gently wakes him up and tells him it's time to go to a hotel. Purcell sits up groggily and remembers that he has to call his daughter. I'm such a stupid softie that I instantly tear up at the thought of that phone call. Patty suggests he put off the call until the sedative wears off. She even more gently presses him about the police. He lied to them and she wants to know why. He doesn't want to talk about it. He knows what he's up against, but Patty doesn't think he does. She spells it out for him: He was found in the house with his dead wife's body and no sign of forced entry and he lied to the police. He will be the only suspect. He doesn't want to talk anymore, so they take him to the hotel. And by "they" I mean the ten large security guards they found in the middle of the night to come escort Purcell to the hotel. Is that something you can just look up in the yellow pages? My brief, but extremely scientific survey says maybe, but you would have to be willing to work with a company called Bullet Catchers who eerily have a photo of a little girl all by herself and a racing bullet headed her way as the central image on their homepage. Charmante! So ten large besuited and bespectacled bodyguards escort Purcell into his hotel. Despite Ellen's best efforts at subterfuge, Goodwin (or whatever his name is in this show) has followed Purcell to the hotel. He looks at the security and grimaces in frustration. Does that mean he killed Purcell's wife? Oh who the hell knows.
The morning Patty tracks down Ellen and asks her about delivering Purcell to his hotel room. Ellen claims it went fine and then asks Patty to close her office door so they can talk privately. She wants to know if Patty thinks Purcell did it or if he is capable of it. I thought the cardinal rule of criminal lawyering was a strict "don't ask, don't tell"? Well, that and watch an assload of Jack McCoy before giving your opening or closing argument. Patty tells her not to jump to conclusions, but she thinks anyone is capable of anything. She stares at Ellen for a minute as if suddenly remembering that Ellen actually is just some lowly first-year associate who should be honored that Patty even knows her name, let alone knows that she works for her. Patty is drinking coffee from one of those New York bodega paper cups and it just seems so out of character that I have to mention it. Patty is definitely a $5 nonfat latte with one Splenda drinker, not a $1 deli coffee swiller. Patty turns to go, but Ellen stops her again with a plea to take back the reins of the infant mortality case. Patty glares at her and reminds her that she is the client liaison on this case and as such it is her job to make the client feel happy, comfortable, and supported by the entire firm. Ellen looks a little shocked that Patty is treating her like any other first year. She sighs and stares at the spot where Patty was standing.
Ellen meets the FBI in some alley (mysteriously free of dumpsters and/or homeless people) and breaks the news that Patty foisted the infant mortality case off on Tom. The FBI agent who isn't Mario Van Peebles wants to know what Patty's interest is in the case, but Ellen isn't sure beyond the fact that Patty and Purcell are friends. Apparently it's the FBI's Casual Friday, because Mario Van Peebles is wearing a tight fitting Henley top, which is revealing some serious raisin smuggling, if you know what I mean. He posits that it might be worth targeting Tom because if they can indict him, they could get him to flip and tell them everything about Patty. They want to make sure Ellen is okay with them targeting Tom, and she is. She points out that Tom is a big boy who can pay the price if he wants to break the law. As she walks off, the FBI men exchange a look like she is a coldhearted bitch, but I disagree. She is a recent law school grad and there is nothing more dangerous than a first year law student. Those kids have a constitution and aren't afraid to use it.
Ellen comes back to work... Oh, wait, maybe it's a different day, because her hair is different. She's been wearing a bunch of shirts that all sort of look alike, but her hair, that changes. Today she has a sleek low-slung ponytail where the hair is wrapped around to hide the elastic. Not a flyaway in sight. Uncle Pete has left her a newspaper with an article about Frobisher leaving the hospital. Cut to her in a totally different shirt lurking outside her ex-grief counseling group waiting for Wes, but kind of trying to stay out of sight so she doesn't get yelled at anymore. Wes sees her hiding and comes to talk to her. She wanted to talk to him about having the opportunity to kill the man who murdered her fiancé. Wes sort of shakes his head and tries to get his mind around what she is saying. She barrels on and tells him that she was alone with him in his hospital room, but couldn't do it, because she realized that it is not what her fiancé would have wanted her to do. So she left, but now she regrets it and feels like she blew her big chance at homicide. Oh Ellen, don't worry your pretty oversized head over that, it is merely a dream deferred! Pinky swear that a mere six months from now you'll be peppering somebody with bullets. Wes stares at her in some combination of awe and horror and flirtatiousness. He tells her not to give up and if she really wants to go kill the guy she probably still can. Ellen almost growls in aggravation that the guy already left the hospital and she doesn't know how to find him. Wes knows that where there's a will there's a way. Ellen has nothing to say to that platitude, so abruptly ends the conversation. She just needed to tell someone that she was premeditating murder, you know, just to make sure she got first-degree murder if it comes up at trial later. Cut to six months later. Ellen and Wes are rolling around in bed in room 1910. She is panting hard when the phone rings. She answers the phone in some sort of reverse prank phone call where she answers with the heavy breathing. She agrees to meet the person in ten minutes. She crawls out of bed while Wes tries to get her to tell him where she's going and who she is meeting. She tells him not to ask and not to be there when she gets back. I hope whoever she is meeting doesn't mind that she hasn't showered.
Patty meets Purcell in her office. His box of papers sits ominously on her table and he curses the day that he ever sent her the files. She wants to know what they are. He sighs, leans back in his chair, and tells her that his firm was hired to test some new toxic substance that is being marketed under the name Aricite. I don't really know if that is how it is spelled, but I am hooked on phonics and it sounds right. He doesn't know what it is used for, because even though he is vice president of his firm and head of research no one tells him nothing. Patty looks skeptical, but Purcell swears it is true. His firm has to maintain his client's confidentiality and that's that. Since when was there evil client/ chemical testing agency confidentiality? Whoever the client is they weren't happy with the results and his firm caved to their pressure and changed the results of Purcell's toxicity reports, but they kept his name on the papers. That's why he was so pissed and went through that whole desk clearing incident last episode. Patty leans close and asks quietly whether that client could have killed his wife. Purcell knows that they warned him to keep his mouth shut, but he doesn't think they are big enough to call the shots. Nay, not them, but who they consult for--the Energy Industry! That is who is at the root of all this evil. They are worth hundreds of billions of dollars and would risk anything and do anything to keep their private jets, Hamptons homes, Mustique vacations, and expense accounts. Purcell knows that Big Energy is out to get him because of his knowledge about this one chemical compound. Now that they offed his wife, he isn't going to the police and he swears he is never going to ride a bicycle, recycle, or even hint at "going green" again. Patty knows he is scared, but warns him that if he doesn't come forward with this information he will most likely go to prison. Purcell stares at her and then replies that he doesn't care. He was stupid once and won't do it again. He has a daughter to protect. Patty asks him what she should do with his box of papers, but he doesn't care. If it ever comes to light he'll deny every word of it. Patty sighs in exasperation. She walks him to the elevator and is surprised when her son emerges from it. She stares at him for a second, hesitatingly introduces him to Purcell and then stares as Purcell gets in the elevator and the doors close on him. She stares so much that her son turns to stare too. I'm sure there is some awesome history unfolding there, but I am hesitant to guess that Michael is the offspring of the unholy union between Patty and Purcell. Ah hell I just did.
Ellen and Tom meet with the lead plaintiff in the infant mortality class action suit. She is black, so you know she is meant to represent the low income and at risk women who were injured by the insurance companies. Ellen assures her that Tom, while no Patty, is an excellent attorney. The plaintiff asks for a moment alone with Tom, so she can entrap him properly and Ellen nervously agrees and leaves them to it. Ellen is wearing a shirt from an earlier scene, so I'm a little confused about the timeline. They tell us when six months elapse, can't they tell us what day of the week it is, too? It would be extremely helpful. The woman tells Tom that she works two jobs and it would help so much if she could get something up front. And so it begins. So the FBI is planning on bringing down the notorious Patty Hewes, not with some carefully and craftily constructed legal case, but with legal ethics 101? Really? They really think Patty would jeopardize her entire career to pay some upfront fees to a class action defendant? Really? That is just sort of sad on the part of the FBI. That is the best they could come up with? Are they stupid? This does not bode well for the recruitment practices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Aim higher guys! The moral compass of our nation's legal system apparently lies with you. Isn't there terrorism to be fighting? Illegal downloads to be stopping? Drug overlords to bring down? Fringe science to be explored? No? Okay then back to your moral quandary. Tom tells the plaintiff that such practices are illegal, but the second she tells him that other firms offered to help her out, he reconsiders. Oh Tom, if other firms jumped off a bridge, would you? Back in the remarkably clean alley, Ellen listens to a tape of Tom's ethical iffiness. She is shocked, shocked!, at Tom's almost lapse. She gets this really goofy google-eyed look on her face and I pause to stare at it awhile. She sure is wide-eyed in horror! The FBI reminds her that until he actually forks over the money there is no crime. Seriously, isn't this a matter for the Bar Association? Really, we're increasing our deficit for this?
Damn those commercials are loud. But I'm sure my neighbors are thrilled to know that Red Lobster is having an all-you-can-eat scallop fest right now.
Patty excuses herself from work to drive up to Purcell's country house where he and his daughter are staying. She rolls up in her black Cadillac with her sunglasses on and stares at Purcell as he plants a tree with his daughter. Her glasses match her car and she looks really manly. Her pantsuit doesn't really help the situation. She sits with Purcell on the veranda at his lakeside home and, oh my god, do I need to get in the pocket of the Energy Industry pronto because the guy has some seriously sweet real estate. Patty breaks the news that the police found no evidence of an intruder. Purcell is saddened, but not surprised. She asks him to let her pursue the report, because that is the only way she can help him. He shakes his head no. He has no problem sitting down with the police to go over his story. Patty grills him about his relationship with his wife, their finances, his temper. He denies there were any problems between him and his wife. Patty won't let it go though; she wants to find the people behind the report. Purcell sighs, gets up, and tells her that they will never find who was behind it. Oh, man, those are fighting words to Patty! She watches as he walks over to his daughter and corrects her tree-watering method. He is weirdly out of breath and zombie walking, but that could just be William Hurt acting (!!) like a recent widower. Or not.
Patty has changed into a skirt and heels for her meeting, probably hoping that it can't hurt to show a little leg when you are asking a favor. She walks into a huge, luxurious office with built-in wood panels, enormous windows, and Scandinavian furniture. I accidentally spit out my mouthful of coffee in laughter when Patty announces that her host is the smartest guy at the EPA. That's what the location scout thinks an EPA office looks like? Really? All the federal offices I've been to involve florescent lighting, low ceilings, indoor-outdoor carpet, linoleum, and standard issue metal desks. But what do I know. Patty gave this guy Purcell's files and wants to know what they are. He confirms that they are toxicity reports for some industrial compound, but because the product isn't on the market yet he can't tell her the application of the compound. He knows that some company spent millions of dollars on developing it and they aren't going to let just anyone know its uses. Patty asks him to find out, but be discreet. He promises to ask his friends in the field. And by friends in the field he meant tipping off Purcell's firm! The naughty EPA agent meets Goodwin for a private tete-a-tete to discuss the fact that Patty Hewes has possession of incriminating documents. Goodwin thanks him for the tip and promises to look into the leak. The EPA guy mutters something about how he feels that a good relationship with Big Energy is the only way to create a clean environment. I think Rachel Carson just threw up in her mouth. Goodwin and the EPA guy threaten to beat each other on the golf course, smack each other on the ass, and head off. Really? Golf? I know they are successful white guys, but really golf? Shut up already. Goodwin almost frantically calls for a meeting with someone named Claire Maddox.
Ellen has been summoned to a meeting with Patty and Tom. Tom silently hands her an envelope. Instead of opening it, Ellen demands to know what it is. She looks completely freaked out already. Patty tells her that it is a photograph; someone they know has been keeping a secret. Ellen's eyes almost pop out of her head. She takes a deep breath, tries to not sweat, and opens the envelope. She pulls out the picture and stares at it with the "puzzled" face she learned in acting classes at the Y. It's a sonogram. She doesn't get it. Tom tells her it's a boy! And then they all crack up at how funny it is that Tom's having a kid and everyone is so paranoid at their firm that the mere sight of an unmarked envelope makes them all have heart palpitations. What a warm office environment they have! Does everyone cry when they serve birthday cake?
Ellen is back in the car with feds. How often does she have to meet these guys? Wouldn't they want to keep their contacts to a minimum to avoid being spotted together? Maybe? Ellen assures them that Tom seems fine with everything. Her chat is interrupted when the FBI agent who isn't Mario Van Peebles gets a phone call. He starts cursing loudly and excuses himself to yell at his ex-wife for calling him on that phone. Um, Mr. Smartypants? If it is such a big inconvenience, don't answer it. Really, just hit ignore and go about your day. I mean if you really want to start yelling at your phone and then answer it and yell some more and make a huge spectacle of it go ahead. I'm just saying ignoring it is an option. While the guy yells into his phone, Mario Van Peebles explains that he is getting divorced. Ellen really doesn't care. She asks about Tom's meeting with the plaintiff. She is having some doubts about this new plan, but so long as they use him to bring down Patty, she will go for it. Does she have to do anything else with the FBI? She already brought in the case, met with the fake plaintiff and Tom is already set on bringing the plaintiff the money she requested. Why exactly is Ellen still necessary to them? I don't know, but I kind of hope she and Mario Van Peebles hook up. Is that wrong? It is. I should expect better from MVP.
Goodwin heads into his meeting with Claire Maddox and is greeted by an onslaught of post-bedtime language delivered exquisitely by Marcia Gay Harden. She is not interested in cleaning up his "containment problem." He explains that some very sensitive documents were leaked by an employee. She asks if Mr. Kendrick knows and Goodwin snappishly replies that Mr. Kendrick doesn't need to know if she does her job. She ignores him and asks who has the documents. At the mention of Patty Hewes, she looks up from her notepad and stares open mouthed.
Ellen and Wes are having coffee. When did they exchange phone numbers? Wes announces that he is impressed with her. She looks confused. He pulls out a newspaper article about Frobisher leaving the hospital. He says he's impressed with her, but she can't go up against someone like Frobisher. Ellen denies that it was Frobisher and tries to change the subject, but Wes lays out his case. In group she said that she worked on a case for over a year, that there was a $2 billion settlement and that the guy just got out of the hospital. He knows it is Frobisher and he knows that she can't go up against somebody like that. She needs to let it go. She is uncomfortable with the conversation and won't look Wes in the eye.
Wes is at home neatly clipping the Frobisher article out of the paper. He walks to an armoire, unlocks it and opens it to reveal a doorway to Narnia! If by Narnia you mean a whole bunch of clippings about Frobisher and an arsenal of guns large and small. Look out Mr. Tumnus there's a new psycho in town. So my boyfriend's a proud supporter of his Second Amendment rights. What's so wrong with that? Oh shut up.
At some point in the space time continuum, Tom makes his way down to some poorly lit basement, knocks on a door, heads into an office, pulls a gun out from under a desk, wraps it in a towel and hands it to Ellen, who meets him in his car. She thanks him for the illegal weaponry and swears she knows what she is doing. Flash forward to her shooting the gun. Flash back six months to Ellen entering Tom's office. She wants to talk about what is going on with the Purcell case. She doesn't understand Patty's interest in it. And she totally didn't sign up for criminal defense work. Um, oh forget it. Tom tells her to stick with him on the infant mortality case then and Ellen giggles that is what she was hoping he would say. Ellen suddenly gets very serious and asks after Tom's daughter and whether he would let her be a lawyer. Tom says she already wants to be the first female Supreme Court Justice, not realizing that Daddy already clerked for one. That line right there could be the most realistic thing about this entire show. If you ever meet someone who clerked for a Supreme Court Justice they make sure you know it frequently and often. Ellen posits that kids have an innate sense of right and wrong that gets screwed up as they get older, but Tom has nothing to say about that. He sighs, looks at the photo of his daughter and doesn't say anything until Ellen is almost out of the room. He then answers that as you get older you realize the world is unfair and if you want justice you have to fight and claw and do anything to get it. Ellen laughs that he's been working for Patty too long. I wonder if Ellen was trying to subtly talk him out of paying off the client? I hope it works. I like Tom. Well, I like him well enough to hope he goes down with something more complex than a first-year law student professional responsibility problem.
Some bald guy is congratulating Patty on her decision to bug her own office. Wow. That is sort of awesome. The guy has a tape for her to hear. It's Tom agreeing to pay the FBI's fake plaintiff. Patty sits quietly listening. At the end of the tape she closes her eyes, sighs, and takes off her glasses saying that she didn't expect that. The guy asks if she is going to let him go through with it and Patty answers that it would be a big case for the firm. Cut to Tom loading one of those silver metallic briefcases with stacks of crisp twenties. And, really, if you're going to deliver $60,000 in twenties, wouldn't you want to carry it in something that just screams, "I am loaded with dirty money"? Nothing says impending crime like a silver briefcase. Cut over to the FBI who has staked out the meeting location and wired the fake plaintiff. As Mario Van Peebles yells at his partner for fiddling with the wedding ring he is wearing around his neck, Tom comes into the park. The fake plaintiff thanks him for agreeing to meet her and give her the money. Tom pops open his briefcase. Cut to Ellen sitting anxiously in her office. She is wearing a different shirt and has a different hair style so it must be a different day. Cut back to Tom who is having doubts. He holds the envelope of cash in his hands, but doesn't give it over. He looks doubtful, but tells the plaintiff that he's going to give it to her, but she has to swear never to tell anyone. She promises. Tom's phone rings and the FBI agents watching the transaction curse to themselves about who could be calling a busy lawyer in the middle of the work day? Tom answers with a curt, "It's not a good time." Et tu, Tom? Even you don't know how to ignore a call? Ugh. He shuts the case, tells the plaintiff that he has to take the call, and will be in touch. He walks off, leaving the FBI in a tizzy. The phone call was from Patty. She wants him to turn down the infant mortality case and help her on the Daniel Purcell murder. She assures him it is much bigger than merely murder. I hope the fact that Tom walked away from the FBI's bait case means that storyline will disappear. You are never going to get Patty Hewes with something so small and asinine. The woman bugs her own office for crying out loud, don't you think she is too smart to fall into that trap? Good grief.
Claire Maddox and her tight white dress walk onto a handball court with a briefcase and court order all ready to go. She greets the judge, who is playing, and hands him her draft order. She explains that it is an ex parte replevin action for the return of stolen property. Once the judge sees that it is against Patty Hewes he couldn't care less about the legality. He signs the order and instantly an entire team of uniformed police officers flood the hallowed halls of Hewes and Associates. Uncle Pete makes a feeble last stand at Patty's office door, but the uniformed officers have no time for old men. They charge the door and give Patty the court order and threaten to turn the place upside down looking for the stolen documents. Patty calmly reads the order and sees Claire Maddox's name on it.
Ellen is hard at work in some freakishly large office when she sees Tom walk by. She calls his name out and tells him that she's been doing background research on the infant mortality case. He tells her that he's not taking the case because the client wanted money up front and he's just not that kind of lawyer. Ellen looks shocked, but refrains from yelling, "J'accuse!" He tells her that he didn't mention the money upfront thing to Patty because he knows Ellen was the one who brought in the case. She thanks him for that and is sorry that his big break was a bum deal. He shrugs that Patty didn't want him to take the case anyway and Ellen looks insta-worried. Tom shrugs that it's just Patty being Patty and she wants him to help out on the Purcell case.
Patty pulls up to Daniel Purcell's country house and is greeted by an irate tirade from Purcell about her sharing his information with the guy from the EPA. Doesn't she know that he was appointed by Big Energy and is in their pocket? Patty defends her actions. She wanted the information leaked so she could figure out who commissioned the Aricite report. She pulls out the court order and shows Purcell Claire Maddox's name. She is counsel for the world's third-largest energy provider. The third largest? What, number one and two were too busy? Ultima Energy killed his wife. He apologizes for underestimating her.
Ellen comes to check on Patty before she leaves. Patty doesn't look up from her paper, but answers that she's fine. Ellen asks her if she heard about Tom's client demanding an upfront payment. Patty looks shocked, but Ellen assures her that Tom turned her down flat. As Ellen turns to go, Patty reminds her that she was the one who brought in the client and she should really be more careful because everyone is looking to play an angle. Ellen nods sagely, but you can't help but wonder how much Patty knows.
Purcell sits in his car in the pouring rain. The door opens and Claire Maddox gets in. She doesn't say anything and she and Purcell sit side by side quietly. Claire finally turns to him and asks if he told anyone about them. He says no. Cut to Purcell digging a hole in his backyard and torching something.
Discuss this episode in the Damages forums, and see what Glenn Close and the show's creators had to say about the new season!