Damagers – Recap & Review – I Look Like Frankenstein

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Damages
I Look Like Frankenstein

Original Air Date: Mar 15, 2010

Tom R. – Sr. Staff Writer
tom@thetwocents.com

“Reputations die hard.” – Arthur Frobisher

As Frobisher (Ted Danson) returns to the cast of characters, he offers both the title and the quote listed above. Looking for redemption by funding wind power research, he finds that people still see him as a monster. But of course, he is not the only character struggling with a bad reputation.

One of the most memorable scenes of season one showed him trying to hire a ghost writer to detail the more noble parts of his life. Now that a noble bio has been written (although nobody gets the title right), Frobisher looks to launch a wind power effort called the Whirlwind Initiative, and he looks to actor Terry Brooke (Craig Bierko) to be the face of the initiative. Brooke, however, says he has other commitments, and other actors fail to return Frobisher’s calls. So while his son Owen tells him his offenses were nothing compared to the Tobins, Frobisher still worries about being a pariah. After reading the book, however, Brooke approaches him with an offer: He will do Frobisher’s commercials, as long as he can play him in the screen version of his life story. We’ll have to wait and see if this is just a counterpoint to the Tobin story, or if there is more of a tie-in.

Despite calling himself “a man of his word”, Winstone has also been struggling with his reputation. At Marilyn’s request, he has asked his detective to find Carol Tobin. He asks one personal question, but gets an abrupt reminder to keep things professional. His isolation and frustration show on his face immediately. We know that Carol is kept hidden by someone, but that someone is kept in the shadows for most of the episode (very nice job with the suspense). We finally learn that not only is Joe hiding her, he gave her the means to kill Danielle. Winstone’s reputation comes into play when he realizes that Joe is hiding her in a building that he owns. When he heads over to confront them, he is noticed by Barry, the homeless man who was part of both mysteries. He calls Tom, and ties Winstone to the disposal of the phone and boots after Thanksgiving.

Ellen meets Michael and Jill while shopping for a baby gift for her sister. Thinking that Patty is out of Ellen’s life, he announces her pregnancy and invites Ellen to his art exhibit. Ellen shares this with Patty, thinking it is common knowledge. Jill’s reputation comes into question when she is summoned for a meeting with Patty. After declining a buyout, Jill is confronted with her past, namely that she was declared by a Colorado court to be an unfit mother. Jill leaves the office defiant, but the cracks begin to show when she rejoins Michael, who quickly sees his mother’s hand in all this.

Tessa Marchetti turns over her bank records from Antigua, but nothing is out of the ordinary. Patty and Tom then meet with Mr. Emanuel, who warns them that if the Tobin account was setup as an international banking company, they may never find the funds. Of course, he says this after we learn that he is getting a cut from Tobin and Zedeck.

3 Months Later…Huntley informs Ellen about the car crash, and asks for her help solving a puzzle. As he lays out the pieces, they all seem to implicate Ellen. She brushes him off, but does make a correction to Barry’s story. She and Tom were not having an affair. They were starting a new law practice together.

In the closing moments, we see the call that Tom ended to answer the door. But his attacker was not on the other side. It was Winstone, who gave him the bag of money, calling himself “a man of his word”. After the money changed hands, Winstone left and Tom closed the door.

Some mysteries are unfolding, while new characters bring new possibilities. There are bound to be some red herrings in there, but the tension stays high. What did you think? Drop in your comments or send me a note at: tom@thetwocents.com.