(S03E10) "Your Honor, when I find the Tobins' money, nobody's gonna care how I did it." -- Patty Hewes to a judge who cautions her on working outside the boundaries of his courtroom

This was sort of an even-keeled episode of 'Damages,' in that nothing particularly earth-shattering happened. Well, I guess the escalating dysfunction of Lenny and his dad could be considered earth-shattering, though not unexpected. One of those two is going down, either physically (Lenny will send a thug to take out his dad) or emotionally (his dad will reveal Lenny's elaborate hoax of a life). I can't wait to find out which way it goes.

Also earth-shattering -- at least for Ellen -- would be learning that the woman in her dreams and in the photo she found is her mother. Anyone else think that's how it will play out? Or is that too predictable for 'Damages'? The whole thing certainly seems suspect, especially considering how Ellen's mom and sister reacted to the photo. And darn them for ending the episode just as Ellen is driving off to find the woman.

Ellen and Patty are downright chummy these days, aren't they? I like how Ellen told Nick that she's working with using Patty because "she's better than Gates." "If you don't go to Gates with this, I can share the credit with you," said Ellen. "We both know a bust like this can make a career." And of course, he jumps right into that bee's nest.

There's a few people who are really starting to unravel, one of them being Marilyn Tobin, who's beside herself that the foundation won't let her go on the African trip. You've got to feel for her; I mean, she really seems to care about those African children she's known since they were babies. And her life being the way it is now, something like that could be the one thing that might keep you going in the midst of chaos. And Zedeck was no help on that score.

But even more unraveled than Marilyn is Tom Shayes. That guy is starting to totally lose it, and with good reason. He's not only lost everything, but he's dragged his family down, too. He and his wife have been paying their own mortgage, as well as both of their parents' mortgages and her mom's chemotherapy. That's some serious crap to mess with your head. Tom might inadvertently kill his mother-in-law if he can't pay for her chemotherapy.

What about all of the investors wanting to replace Patty Hewes with another attorney whom they feel will move faster on getting their money? Seems like Patty would have some kind of reputation in that community for getting the job done. And I believe her when she told the judge that once she finds the money, no one will care how she did it.

Tessa seems to be walking a fine line, or maybe she's just trying to figure out which side is the good guys. Towards the beginning, she seemed more aligned with the Tobins, accepting Joe's check to go out and have a nice dinner and musing over the fact that he's her half-brother. But then she learns the awful truth from both Ellen and, earlier, Tom. "I want you to know the truth about the Tobin family," said Tom. "They had your mother killed ... the Tobins murdered her to protect their money."

I didn't really talk about Ellen's sister, because what is there to say? She screwed up, and like Ellen said, she should pay the consequences. But, hmmm ... after what Ellen's mom said about her in a previous episode; that Ellen's sister had it rough when she was a kid and how she was so worried about her. Maybe the mystery woman is actually HER mother, not Ellen's.

I look forward to your thoughts and theories on this episode.