Damages (2007–2012): Season 1, Episode 3 - And My Paralyzing Fear of Death - full transcript

Previously on Damages.

All we found on her was this.

I want to help you, Ellen,
'cause I know you didn't do it.

Hewes & Associates
called me yesterday.

Once Patty meets you,
there's no turning back.

She'll see what I see.

And she'll own you.

Ms. Hewes.

Is there any way I
could still interview?

You're hired.

A young lawyer with a fantastic
new job and a dreamy doctor fiance.



You're my sister. How do
you know Arthur Frobisher?

I catered a function for
him and some businessmen.

Arthur Frobisher told his
employees to invest in the company

and then sold his own stock.

We don't have a case
unless we can connect

Frobisher with his broker.

Frobisher's lawyer
calls three times a day.

He's just trying
to intimidate you.

Patty Hewes gets that
girl in front of a jury,

all bets are off.

I miss seeing you around
the office, Tommy.

Everyone thinks you
were actually canned.

Katie's hiding details.

I met a guy down in Florida,



had a stupid one-night stand.

Did you see him again?

No.

You were right.
She's using me.

Patty Hewes needs
people who are driven.

You'll never change her.

Learn everything you can,

then get the hell out of
there before it's too late.

Do yourself a favor,
Ellen, don't have kids.

He must have hired strippers.

You mean our son had
them in our apartment?

Patty, I'll have
a talk with him.

That lawyer you asked
for will be here shortly.

Judge Toomey will see you now.

Your Honor, I cannot make a case

if Mr. Fiske refuses to participate
in the discovery process.

My office has delivered
over 850,000 documents.

Yes, but not the
ones we requested.

You requested everything.

And we haven't received it.

Because everything takes time.

Patty, Ray, I'm
sick of you both.

Your Honor, I don't...

No, really, Ray, I am.

You with the grandstanding
and the media attacks

and the unrelenting tsunami of
arcane and irrelevant motions.

Stall tactics, Your Honor. He's
trying to bog me down in paperwork.

No doubt. And I wouldn't mind,

except that I have to
read them all, too.

Your Honor, every motion
we filed has merit.

Shut up. And you, Ms. Hewes,

well, I guess I should
be grateful to you.

You don't waste my time
with unnecessary paperwork.

Thank you, Your Honor.

But, you,

you present a far
greater problem.

Which is?

Right about now, Ms. Hewes,
you don't seem to have a case.

With respect, I disagree.

I'll bet you do.

But I'm afraid Mr. Fiske's
motion to dismiss is beginning

to feel like it has some merit.

So here's what's
going to happen.

You will cut the crap,

and give this lady every
last shred of discovery

she is asking for.

Certainly, Your Honor.

And you, my dear, by Friday,

you will submit a brief
that lays out for me

why in God's name I should
not dismiss your case.

No problem, Your Honor.

We've got a big problem.

I need every attorney to
contribute on this brief.

Andrew, you'll analyze
the SEC filings.

Felicia and Craig, Frobisher's
personal financial transactions.

The duty-of-care argument will be
handled by Sean, Mike and Nelson.

Ellen, help Sean's team.

We're under the gun here, so
nobody plan on going home.

That's it, get to work.
Ellen, stay here for a second.

Take a crack at summarizing

our application of
the ERISA statute.

Neither rain, nor sleet,
nor cataracts and arthritis.

Thank you, Pete.

Just get a draft on its feet
and give it to Sean Eckhardt.

He'll do whatever
rewrite is necessary.

God, it's going to
be a shitty week.

Who would want to
do this to you?

How much time do you have?

Sorry I didn't call you back.

They evacuated our building.

Yeah, I know, I
saw it on the news.

They shut down our office, so
we've moved to Patty's apartment.

Now we have a brief to prepare,

so she won't be able to
meet with you this week.

Oh, okay.

Don't worry. I'll set something
up as soon as I can, I promise.

Well, the sooner the better.

The type of work you do is
particularly high-profile, Ms. Hewes.

Maybe you could help
us by assembling...

You'd like a list of names.

Anybody who may currently
hold a grudge against you.

That's a long list.

Do you have a lot of enemies?

You could say that.

Hey, are you still good for
Friday for the engagement party?

They want a deposit.

You know what? I'm going to
have to check with Patty.

Things are pretty
crazy right now.

Okay, well, let me know.

Listen, I've got to
go. I'm at the gym.

I'll talk to you later.
Have a good workout.

Am I correct? You've been
attacked in the past?

Yes.

Would you like to tell
us about that incident?

It happened 10 years ago. I
was slashed, I almost died.

Greg, you think maybe next time,

you could take this off?

Actually, it's stuck.

Hmm. How ironic.

His name is Gregory Malina,
and as far as I can tell,

Katie told the truth
about how she met him.

He was down in Florida.

The same weekend she cooked for
Frobisher, that is 100 percent confirmed.

Any ties to Frobisher?

Not that I can tell.

What about the bomb threat?
Any ties to Frobisher on that?

The Feds are the Feds.

You're almost better off trying
to figure it out yourself.

What is it, Tom?

Look, Patty, I know that
this is not the best time,

and I'm happy to do whatever
you need me to do right now,

but following Katie
Connor around?

Yes?

I'm a lawyer, Patty.

I miss it.

Be patient, Tom.

Hi, Cory. Good boy.

Hi, Carly, could
you take him out?

I'm sure he needs it. Cory,
Cory, Cory, go on, go on.

Ms. Hewes.

May I help you?

I'm here to help you, ma'am.

I see you've met.

Friend of yours?

John Petroni, Patty Hewes.

You have no reason
to remember this,

but we've actually met before.

Forgive me, Mr. Petroni.
Where was that?

South Lawn of the Clinton
White House, spring of '98.

John is former Secret
Service, Patty.

He couldn't come with a
higher recommendation.

It's an honor to see you again.

It's very nice to
see you, as well.

Secret Service? This is a
bit much, don't you think?

Not after last time, no. And
this is not up for debate.

So this means what? You'll
be accompanying me...

Everywhere.

I'm sorry about the
troubles at your office.

I know this couldn't have
come at a worse time.

Well, thank you for
being so understanding.

I can't tell you how embarrassed
we are to be here again.

In 30 years of
adolescent education,

I have learned that the best way

through these
situations is candor.

Mr. Lalas, we know that you
have gone above and beyond.

If you have to expel
Michael, we won't fight it.

No, I don't think
we're there yet, quite.

But we're close.

This latest stunt
was quite serious.

We confiscated
Michael's computer.

He used it to hack
into our school system.

He accessed student records,

upcoming exams, which he
distributed to the student body,

along with passwords to our
faculty's personal e-mail accounts.

Oh, Jesus.

I'm sure you appreciate the
privacy issues involved.

Michael made public a lot
of delicate information.

Your son is very bright.

I see enormous
insight and potential.

And there's a recent dream
of his that I find troubling.

He told you a dream?

I normally don't put a lot of
weight on adolescent dreams,

but this one seems revelatory,

and he has given me
permission to relay it.

In the dream,

eight black limousines pull
up in front of your apartment,

and out of each one steps a
Michael who all look exactly alike.

So much so that even Michael can't
tell which one is the real him.

But he knows that the other seven
are body doubles he has hired.

Hired to do what?

To prevent him from
being assassinated.

I see you've met my son.

Yes, ma'am.

Mikey. Come on, let's go home.

Understand, Mr. Frobisher, you've
not been accused of anything.

Well, I appreciate that.

And for the record,
I just want to say

that I sympathize with the
position you guys are in.

As a party to this litigation,

I can understand why
I'm in your crosshairs.

Mr. Frobisher is too polite
to express his outrage

at this intrusion into
his life and privacy.

Ray...

My client had nothing to do with
these threats against Patty Hewes,

and quite frankly, he's not
required to answer your questions.

Mr. Frobisher, you could
clear your name really quickly

if you could just
give us access to

your computer and your
cell phone records.

How about some probable cause?

You show us a warrant, Mr. Frobisher
will be happy to comply.

Ray, you give them
whatever they need.

I have nothing to hide.

Gentlemen, I'm sorry, I gotta
take off. It's been a pleasure.

Thank you,
Mr. Frobisher. Yeah.

We will cooperate fully.

I'll show you out.

Thank you.

Hey. Stall, you know,
stonewall them. Be a lawyer.

Well, Art, you just promised...

I'll be damned if I'm going to let the
Feds poke around in my personal life.

Don't give them a goddamn thing.

Hey, sweetheart, I'm
going to be a little late.

Yeah.

My God. Ellen.

Are you okay? What happened?

If you needed a lawyer, why
didn't you ask for Patty?

Just get me out of here.

Morning.

You're home early.

Thirty-six hours. You made it.

Did you get any sleep?

I think I might have nodded off
during a catheter insertion.

I can't really be
sure. How about you?

Couple hours.

How's the brief coming?

Great. Yeah, it's fine.

I have no idea.

I'm going to go with great.

Well, I hope I have
it done in time,

because Katie's invited
everybody for Friday.

Hey. Hey.

You put too much
pressure on yourself.

Look, I am fine rescheduling.

When?

You don't have a weekend
off for another two months.

Besides, if we
cancel Friday now,

my mother will have
a nervous breakdown.

We've collected prints and
DNA from the packing materials

and run them through
our database. And?

Unfortunately,
there was no match.

The device itself was an Army-issue
M67 fragmentation grenade.

The serial number was filed off,
so we can't trace the source,

but we do know that it was
sent through the US Mail,

originated at a
Midtown drop box.

What you're saying is that
anybody can take a bomb,

put it in a mailbox
and mail it to my wife.

The device wasn't
live, Mr. Grey.

This time.

Is someone trying
to kill me or not?

This type of threat usually
has one of two profiles.

It may just be a warning.

And the other profile?

The threats will continue
and they will escalate.

Let me see you guys out.

Thank you.

Now, a lot of you are probably
aware of the fact that

after yesterday's events,

six of your co-workers took
personal days and I fired them.

All of you are members
of an extraordinary team,

and I value each and
every one of you.

If you want to quit,
just tell me now.

But if you call in sick
Thursday or Friday,

don't bother coming in Monday.

Your jobs won't be
waiting for you.

That grenade was never
meant to destroy our office.

It was meant to
destroy our resolve.

We have two days left
to show Judge Toomey

that there's a case
to litigate here.

Frobisher's former
employees lost everything.

Right now, we are their
only hope for restitution.

And nothing, nothing is going to keep
us from getting a clear and powerful

opposition brief to the court.

So back to work.

Ms. Hewes, Sean's not
returning my e-mails. I...

I fired him.

Get your section to me. I'll
rewrite it for the brief.

You know what we should do? We
should box up a couple of these,

send them over to Patty's,
watch the bomb dogs go nuts.

Get me the relish, will
you? What were you saying?

Look, Art, I can keep
those agents at bay.

And I'm not pointing
fingers here,

but if there's something
that you've done...

Why would I do anything, Ray?

Because the brief
Patty has to write

to save her case is due Friday,

and all this pandemonium is hardly
helping her concentration any.

Wow. You think?

That better not be
a confession, Art.

Guess how much it costs to send
a hand grenade through the mail.

Don't say another word.

Does your wife Mallory ever
want to just reach over there

and pinch your cheeks
'cause you're so adorable?

No.

You should go outside and get
some sun, Ray. You look like crap.

Hi, I'm Ellen
Parsons. Good morning.

I need to talk to Patty. I'm
not sure what the procedure is.

Knock. We'll see what happens.

Hi. Walk with me. Hi.

Ms. Hewes, I don't know
if you got my e-mail.

About your engagement party.

I know it's bad timing.

It's just the only night my fiance
and I can make it work is Friday.

This Friday?

I know. I know
the brief is due,

and my section will be done
well in advance, I promise.

Well, then by all
means, enjoy the party.

Thank you, Ms. Hewes.

Ellen, you're an adult.

Do your work, your
life's your own.

And, Ellen, call Katie. I want
to get a meeting on the books.

Sure.

You got something
against hotels?

No. It's just that we never
seem to finish our conversation.

Stop it. So let's talk.

You were good to me after
Florida. You did the right thing.

I was half responsible.

Still, we hardly knew each other

and you helped me through it, which
you didn't have to do. I was grateful.

So why'd you stop calling?

I was kind of
confused back then.

Have you been following
the Frobisher case?

Arthur Frobisher?
Sure, on the news.

Yeah, well, do you remember we
actually saw him down in Florida?

Vaguely. Didn't you
cater some event for him?

Yeah. He helped set
me up in a restaurant.

I'm now being asked to
be a witness against him.

Do you know anything?

I don't know yet, but...

I saw him several
times that weekend,

and the lawyer thinks that maybe
I can contradict his testimony.

You're kidding.

No, I wish I was.

Look, I had to
tell her about us.

I had to account for my
time down in Florida and...

I mean, I didn't tell
them your last name.

I didn't want to get
you in shit like I was.

No, no. It's okay.

It's okay. It's
okay, thank you.

Maybe if you do know something,

you should come down and
speak to the lawyers with me.

No, no, I don't. I mean, the only
time I saw Frobisher was with you.

Look, I'm sorry you're
going through all this.

I mean, if there's
anything I can do.

Okay? Hey, if you
need anything...

Okay. First off,
I want to applaud

the three of you for being here.

Family dynamics aren't
easy to talk about,

and just your presence in this
room is cause for optimism

that together we will
be able to get to

the source of what's
troubling Michael.

That's our goal, as well.

Great.

But just so I can
understand some basics here,

Mr. Grey, you're
Michael's stepfather?

Is that right? Yes.

We've been living together
as a family for 12 years now.

Phil is my father,
Dr. Herschenfeld.

I see.

Well, then, as
Michael's parents,

I'd like to hear from you why
you think we're here today.

Well, I think we're
here today because

Michael has
manipulated you people

into thinking he deserves
yet another chance.

Patty. No, no, no,
no. That's okay.

Go on, Ms. Hewes.

No, there's no more.
I was finished.

Having spoken with
Michael, I have to say,

as a therapist and educator,

my immediate concern is a recent
dream of his regarding his mortality.

And my paralyzing fear of death.

Right.

Are you familiar with the dream?

Oh, yes, we are.

It's not Michael's.

No? No.

Michael heard that
from somebody else.

Come in.

Are you going to
be here all night?

Looks like it.

How's it going?

Great.

I think I'm going to
finish it a little early.

I know how hectic
it's been for you.

Ellen, I don't give out
awards for beating deadlines.

Make sure you're putting
your best foot forward.

I will.

I always liked this office.

You're lucky. No distractions.

You have your work
and you do it.

How are you holding up?

Fine. Fine.

Turns out my son isn't going
to be expelled after all.

Well, that's great news.

Yeah, great.

New pictures?

Yeah, sorry.

I know you don't like personal
stuff around the office.

Who told you that?

Tom.

Tom.

Always speaking out of
turn. I wonder how he is.

Can I see them?

Sure. It's just my family...

Let me see.

I like that family's
important to you.

When did you say your
engagement party is?

Friday night.

Soon.

Very.

So... That's exciting.

Yeah.

Those bookends are hideous.

Take them home.

Hello?

Did I wake you? It's okay.

Are you still working?

Do you think I
should invite Patty?

Where?

To the engagement party.

I don't know.

She's hanging around my office.

I think maybe she
wants to be invited.

Really?

Do you think it's rude not to?

I don't know.

You have to invite
her bodyguard?

I'll just give her the address.

Right? Okay.

All right. Just come home.

Come in.

Sorry to bother you.

If you're free, we'd love
you to come Friday night.

Or not.

If you can.

It's a lovely thought.

Now close the door.
I've got work to do.

Sure.

Hey. Can't sleep?

I'm sorry. Go back to bed.

You know I can't
sleep without you.

The guard has changed
shift in the lobby.

All the doors locked.

Michael is sound asleep.

And you are safe.

I'll never be safe.

You can't let yourself
think that way.

Good morning.

Good morning, Ms.
Hewes. Here's the brief.

There's an indexed and...
And good morning to you.

You stay all night?

Yeah.

You have more time
if you need it.

No, I'm good, thank you.

We'll see about that.

Thank you. You're welcome.

And how's your morning?

Every day above ground
is a Pyrrhic victory.

How about yourself?

I let it get to me last night,
Pete, but today's another day.

That's my girl.

Thank you. Morning.

Got so much work to do. Did
you get this taken care of?

My guy partitioned
the hard drive,

indexed the content,
then ran a purge.

Which means?

It's been wiped clean.

Here's a list of what
Michael had in there.

What's a M-I-L-F?

I have no idea.

Stop it.

Hell, Patty, it's just
teenage curiosity.

Ms. Hewes, your
limo's waiting.

So he works for a
consulting firm.

Yeah, but back when he
met Katie in Florida,

he was waiting tables
in the West Village.

That's an interesting
career path.

The thing is, Frobisher has had
no dealings with Gregory's firm.

I can't find a link
between these guys.

Gregory wears a wedding ring.

So it's possible that Katie's
just lying to hide their affair.

Why not subpoena him?

No.

We're going to wait until
we know what's there.

Tom, could you see
if there's anything

we can use in this?
If not, rewrite it.

Who wrote it? Ellen.

What's the problem? I thought
you wanted some legal work.

Do you think rewriting a first
year's draft is what I had in mind?

Come in.

Just checking on you.

I thought you could use this.

Sure.

If someone really wanted
to kill me, be honest,

there's not a damn thing you
could do about it, is there?

No one's going to
touch you, Ms. Hewes.

Not on my watch.

You know, ever
since I was little,

I've always thought
I'd die violently.

This man who attacked
you, who was he?

He was a former CEO.

At trial, he lost everything.

I came out of the courthouse
so pleased to have won,

I didn't see him coming.

I learned something, though.

What's that?

Taking power away from a
man is a dangerous thing.

Someone always pays.

Evening, Mr. Grey.

Evening, Jorge.

Thank you.

Jorge, the seat,

you have to put the seat
back after you've driven.

I've got long legs, okay?

Mr. Grey!

He's gonna be fine. We're going
to take him in, run a few tests,

just to make sure
everything's okay.

His head hit the
windshield after the scare.

Hey. Hey.

What scare?

I was reaching for my glasses
in the glove compartment.

There was another grenade.

I'm so sorry.

Hell of a night, huh?

I'm glad Phil's okay.

Thank you, Tom.

Do you have Ellen's
draft for me?

Yeah.

Although, there was
nothing I could do.

It's that bad?

No. Besides a
formatting error,

it's perfect.

How's Ellen doing?

She's a little naive,
works hard, but...

But what?

I question her priorities.

This is great work.

Thank you.

We've assembled the brief.

I want you to personally submit
the chamber's copy to Judge Toomey.

I want him to put a
face to your name.

You'll be making
a first impression

that could serve us
well if we go to trial.

Thank you, Ms. Hewes.

Don't thank me,
Ellen. You earned it.

I want the man to
know who you are.

Heading out?

Delivering the brief to Toomey.

No shit. Yeah.

Hope you cleared a few hours.

No, I'm just handing it in.

Then I have my engagement party.

Toomey will keep you waiting all
night. He's notorious for it.

Patty, my guy did some
research on that Web site.

What is it, Pete?

I think you're going to
want to see it for yourself.

Hi, Ellen Parsons
for Judge Toomey.

Regarding?

I'm delivering the opposition
brief in the Frobisher case.

You can just leave it with me.

Ms. Hewes asked me to
deliver it personally.

Suit yourself.

The judge is holding a settlement
conference. It'll be a while.

Water?

I'm fine, thanks.

Why didn't your
bodyguard come in?

You're going to risk your
life for a bowl of ziti?

I told Mr. Petroni that I
wanted to talk to you alone.

More like yell at me alone.

Why did you tell my dream
to everyone at school?

You saw. They
thought it was cool.

It's not yours.

So?

So you lied to everyone.

Yeah? What's your point?

Thank you. Can we have
some water, please?

I am not accusing you.
I am just confused.

I am trying to understand you.

Okay.

If you're angry with me,
why don't you just tell me?

Angry.

I don't even know what
you're talking about.

Yes, you do.

If you say so.

Hey, everybody wants to know
when you're going to get here.

I have no idea.

I should probably just leave
the brief with the receptionist.

You said it's a big deal
to meet the judge, right?

Yeah, but is it more
important than...

Ellen, look, I can keep your
family occupied for a while longer,

but the decision's yours.

Do you think you
might be depressed?

No.

I think I'm tired,

and that's just because I
purposely stay up too late.

You stay up too late on purpose?

I want to feel tired so
that I can feel stupid.

Michael, I don't understand why
you would want to feel stupid.

Because I'm scared.

Of what?

Being smarter than you.

I'm afraid you're
going to realize it.

Stop playing games.

Fine. I won't explain.

All right, okay, okay.

Go ahead, explain.

When I make you angry
or I make you laugh,

I do it because I'm
controlling you.

So you enjoy manipulating me.

No. God, no. It's
way too easy.

I don't enjoy it. I
feel sorry for you.

You make me sad.

I don't believe you.

I think you resent me.

You resent my work.

You have every right to.

But that doesn't
justify your behavior.

What behavior?

It has to stop, Michael.

What has to stop?

It has to stop now.
Do you understand me?

Are we done?

I guess so.

How you doing, man?

What's up? Spare a cigarette?

Yeah.

Thanks. Appreciate it.

Got a light?

Whoa! Dude! Stop!

Mom! Mom! Mom!

Holy Christ!

If you change your mind,
just leave that on my desk.

I'm off to karaoke.

I should probably stay.

You know, it's just a brief. Attorneys
leave them with me all the time.

The first step to discipline
is control through fear.

The first seven days,

your son is allowed absolutely no
contact with the outside world.

How about the Internet?

Nothing.

Good.

Who the hell knew that a 17-year-old
could buy a grenade online?

Ma'am, you did the right thing.

I forgot about you.

True to form, the judge is
running three hours late.

Really?

Ellen was still there
when I left at15.

Well, interesting
choice. Thanks, Delia.

Ms. Parsons? Yes.

Patty insisted I damn well better
make it a point to meet you.

It's a pleasure, Your Honor.

Patty says you're the
best and the brightest,

and she's not one for hyperbole.

You got time for a chat?

Sure, sir. Yes, definitely.

You're one of the lucky ones,
coming up under Patty Hewes.

She cut the shit and come clean?

Still swears she
didn't kill her fiance.

Well, technically she didn't.

What do you mean?
He wasn't a fiance.

We canvassed the building.

Neighbors said they had a hell
of a beef and she walked out.

Really?

The engagement was called off.

Sounds like he really liked
you. You're the best, huh?

And the brightest.

Was it worth it?

I don't know. Depends.

How pissed was my family?

You know your dad.

I'll make it up to them.

We'll make it up to
them at the wedding.

I didn't kill David.

Someone tried to kill me.