Set in New York's world of high stakes litigation, Damages follows the lives of Patty Hewes, the nation's most revered and most reviled litigator, and her bright, ambitious protégée Ellen Parsons as they become embroiled in a class action lawsuit targeting Arthur Frobisher, one of the country's wealthiest CEOs. As Patty battles Frobisher and his attorney, Ellen learns what it takes to win at all costs -- and that lives, not just fortunes, are at stake.The series premiered on July 24, 2007 on FX and aired for three seasons before moving to the DirecTV channel Audience Network in 2010, airing for two further seasons, and concluding in 2012.
Hot-shot, high-stakes, New York City attorney Patty Hewes hires a new associate, the bright, ambitious, but somewhat naive Ellen Parsons, to help her as she tries to ruin billionaire Arthur Frobisher. Hewes represents a group of employees who are suing Frobisher in a class-action suit after he sold his company, leaving the employees financially devastated. Ellen is unaware that her best friend, Katie Connor, and the younger sister of her fiancé David, is working for Frobisher who is financing her new restaurant opening. Flashing forward eight weeks in the future: a man is found murdered, and Ellen, wandering the streets covered in blood, becomes the prime suspect.
After Katie is prepped to testify in the case against Frobisher, Patty suspects she's withholding key information that could undermine her credibility on the witness stand.
As a bomb threat puts Patty and her family on edge, Ellen's loyalty to the firm is tested when she must choose between delivering a brief to an important judge and attending her own engagement party.
Though sure that she's ready to help nail Frobisher, Katie sees that she's been used after the accuracy of her deposition is called into question.
As Tom faces a decision between a lucrative partnership at a big firm and taking over the Frobisher lawsuit, Ellen and David's long hours at work jeopardize their relationship.
With the case pushing Ellen and David's relationship to a breaking point, Gregory Malina comes under increasing pressure to testify.
As Fiske works to keep Gregory Malina from being deposed, Patty sows seeds of doubt between Tom and Ellen while working to get her son to come home from a reform academy.
As Patty tries to contain the damage caused by Gregory Malina's sudden disappearance and an insider who's leaking privileged information to Frobisher, Ellen's attentions are diverted by her own father's pending legal troubles.
As the Executive looks to force a settlement by providing Patty's team some critical information, Gregory Malina emerges from hiding to apologize to Katie and testify against Frobisher.
Patty Hewes and Frobisher prepare for his deposition but he beats her to the punch by holding a press conference and telling all about the car accident he had 25 years ago. Patty tells Tom that Ellen is only useful to them as long as Gregory Malina is alive. When she learns he is dead she tells Ellen she is off the Frobisher case. When Ellen ignores Patty's direct orders not to contact George Moore, she finds herself out of a job. In the flash forward, Tom is still unable to locate Patty and Ellen tells him the identity of the person who tried to have her killed.
Though she refuses Patty's offer to come back to work, Ellen does agree to return to press Moore for more information that could help nail Frobisher.
Ray Fiske's suicide prompts Frobisher to unleash everything he has in order to gain control of evidence that could undermine him in court.
As Ellen uses the Malina videotape to fight the charges that she killed her fiance, Patty engineers a confrontation with Frobisher that brings the lawsuit to a dramatic conclusion.
Three months after the Frobisher settlement, Patty is concentrating on establishing a charitable foundation when an old boyfriend, named Daniel Purcell, contacts her and entangles her in a new case involving corporate fraud and greed. Meanwhile, Ellen continues working with the FBI to destroy Patty, but she becomes more rash and impatient as she continues to set up her appearances to hide her rage behind fabricated grief in the wake of David's murder. Elsewhere, Arthur Frobisher is revealed to have survived the assassination attempt and is recovering in seclusion as ..
Patty decides to take the child mortality case which, unbeknown to her, has been planted by the FBI. She passes the case to Tom Shayes who may be prepared to engage in unethical conduct to get the plaintiff to sign up with them. When his daughter is arrested for cocaine possession, Sam Arsenault decides his chances at a political career have been ruined and asks Patty if he can still invest in the foundation. She manipulates him into upping his donation. Daniel Purcell reveals to Patty that data produced by his company for a client has been doctored and that it involves a highly toxic substance. When Purcell is attacked in his home and his wife killed, Patty decides to represent him. Purcell hasn't been entirely truthful about his relationships, however
Almost a year has passed since Ellen Parsons left Hewes and Associates. She is now working in the District Attorney's office and is dealing with a fairly important drug case, trying to get a dealer to reveal the identity of his supplier. Patty Hewes is now acting on behalf of a group of investors trying to recover money they had entrusted to Louis Tobin and who, it turns out, was running a Ponzi scheme. With billions of dollars unaccounted for, Patty is trying to find any funds that may have been hidden by the Tobin family. Patty and Ellen have had no contact since her departure but Patty has been reluctant to re-assign her office, convinced that Ellen will return. She even sends her an expensive handbag. Ellen wants nothing to do with her however and when she thinks Patty may be interfering with her drug case, tells her she doesn't need any help. She also tells her that any secrets she may have are perfectly safe. In a flash-forward 6 months into the future, Patty Hewes is in a serious accident when another car broadsides her vehicle in an intersection. The occupant of the other vehicle has fled but it is registered to someone she knows.
Having been told by his father that some money from investors has been hidden for the family's use, Joe Tobin struggles with whether he should tell Patty Hewes or conspire with his father. Tom Shayes tracks the telephone number given them by Joe Tobin to a cellphone now in possession of a homeless man who found it in a dumpster. He also finds a pair of expensive boots belonging to Louis Tobin and a trail of expenses suggesting the man had a mistress with the initials DMM. He turns to Ellen for help in identifying the her. Shayes also receives some devastating news about his own investment portfolio. Meanwhile, Patty Hewes and Phil Grey's divorce is not going well; he has an interesting proposition for her however. In a flash forward to six months into the future, it is revealed that one of the principal characters has died.
Three years have passed since Patty and Ellen last worked together. Ellen reconnects with her high school friend, Chris Sanchez, who has recently returned from a stint at High Star, a private contractor in the Middle East. Unable to get assistance from the corporation or the government, Ellen decides to look into his case. Both her new boss and Patty warn Ellen about building a case against High Star Security Corp.
Ellen presents the High Star case to senior partners at Nye, Everett and Polk. After the gas explosion, Chris's paranoia heightens as he believes he's being targeted. Patty counsels Ellen on her case. Erickson and Boorman scheme to make the lawsuit go away.
A whistle-blower case puts Patty and Ellen against each other.
A hacker claims to have pertinent information about the leak at Princefield; Patty's former colleague offers her services to Ellen.
Ellen detects inconsistencies in McClaren's story. Later, Ellen's mother requests her help.
Complete episode guide for Damages with detailed information about every season and episode including air dates, summaries, ratings, and streaming availability in France.
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Ellen begins to explore Patty's relationship with Daniel Purcell. He was a witness in a big case 10 years before and Patty tore him to shreds during his deposition. Ellen begins to wonder if Patty paid him off but their relationship goes back much further and is much more meaningful than that of client and solicitor. As Patty has decided not to take on the child medical care case, the FBI want Ellen to slow down a bit as they are afraid Patty might get wind of what is going on. They also remind Ellen that this kind of sting may take years to come to fruition. Purcell finds himself in jail when the police arrest him trying to leave the country.
Patty's investigators track down the missing ring and a security camera provides them with a photo of the man who pawned it. The police soon make an arrest and Daniel Purcell identifies him as the man who attacked him and killed his wife. Patty's hopes of forcing the company to reveal its doctored environmental reports are dashed when Purcell, under oath, inexplicably refuses to accuse them of fraud. Tom and Ellen travel south to find journalist Josh Reston. They soon realize that they are dealing with powerful foes that will use every opportunity to stop them.
Having been humiliated in open court when Daniel Purcell recanted his testimony, Patty decides she is going to go after Walter Kendrick and UNR. The first step is to stop a merger UNR is contemplating. Patty has a good case to put to Federal officials but she is outmaneuvered. Ellen weighs accepting a dinner invitation at Patty's apartment; this would be her first time there since the attempt on her life. Her FBI handlers want her to go and wear a wire. When Ellen later tells them she is being followed, they tell her the sting may be over. Uncle Pete believes that Ellen is the biggest threat against Patty suggests that she something about it. He also gets her more information about the infant mortality case. We learn the identity of Ellen's attacker. Daniel Purcell puts his house up for sale and in flashbacks, the identity of his wife's killer is revealed.
Patty goes on the offensive in her battle with Ultima National Resources and its CEO Walter Kendrick. She goes on television and accuses him not only of polluting with his West Virginia coal mine but of having arranged the murder of Daniel Purcell's wife. Her goal is to drive the stock price down and so justify a shareholder lawsuit. Kendrick and his lawyer, Claire Maddox, file a $200 million libel suit. Arthur Frobisher has some advice for Kendrick on how to deal with Hewes. Ellen may have a break in the investigation of her fiancé David's murder when his sister, Katie Connor, recognizes the man who was following her - wearing a police uniform. She asks her FBI contacts for help but when they refuse, she turns to Patty for help.
Ellen's hopes of a resolution to her fiancé David's murder are dashed when the policeman Katie Connor recognized is found dead. She's also shocked to learn that Arthur Frobisher is their new client in the shareholder lawsuit against UNR. Working late one night, she sees Uncle Pete coming out of her office. The FBI is also interested in his activities. Pete is Patty's real uncle and has a lengthy criminal record for petty offenses, though nothing since he started working for Patty 20 years ago. The FBI nab him in a sting operation and give him a choice: provide information they can use against Patty or go to jail leaving his dying wife to cope alone. Pete is genuinely torn at the prospect of betraying Patty and pretends to go along with FBI - but in fact has his own way of extricating himself from the situation he finds himself in.
With Uncle Pete in hospital recovering from his suicide attempt, Patty is spending a good deal of time at his bedside. In flashbacks, Patty remembers her family situation and the important role Pete played in protecting her from her hard-drinking and abusive father. The FBI still plan on putting pressure on Pete if and when he comes out of the coma. Pete gets a surprise visit from Patrick, the man he hired to kill Ellen. Arthur Frobisher comes under pressure from the henchman he hired to ransack Ellen and David's apartment. He is concerned that Frobisher's continued cooperation with Patty Hewes will lead him to reveal his role in David's death. In a flash forward to three months in the future, Pete's wife gives Ellen a folder she found with Ellen's name on it.
With Uncle Pete now dead, Patty finally tells Tom Shayes that she is under investigation by the FBI. However, when Tom asks his sister, who has access to Justice Department files, just what the investigation is about she reports that there is no record or an FBI file to be found. Patty declares war of sorts on the FBI and visits their office to make it clear that she holds them responsible for Uncle Pete's death and will stop at nothing to ensure justice is done. Wes decides to ask Katie Connor out on a date but asks Ellen if she has any objection. Ellen says she doesn't but her response is less than convincing. In a flash forward to two months into the future, we learn where Ellen gets her gun. We also learn that Patty has had a major falling out with someone.
Patty's husband is still under consideration for the position of Energy Secretary without realizing that his possible nomination is meant to create a conflict. The stress is getting to Ellen and she confides in Wes, telling him about the work she has been doing for the FBI. It's not enough to get the hit called off however. Claire Maddox begins to realize the extent to which Walter Kendrick has kept her in the dark about some of his more nefarious activities after Daniel Purcell admits that he falsified his report following a deal with Kendrick. At home, Patty and her husband are pleased when 18 year-old Michael decides the time has come for them to meet his girlfriend. She's not quite what they were expecting.
When Patty tells Ellen to stop investigating Arthur Frobisher's connection to Calder Security, she decides to hire a private investigator on her own. When she sees Phil, Patty's husband, leaving her hotel she suspects he may be having an affair. When her investigator provides her with the incriminating photos, Ellen makes sure Patty gets them. Claire Maddox is disgusted with Walter Kendrick's underhanded dealings and starts planting seeds of doubt about his leadership with a member of the Board. When it's suggested that she take over the company Claire accepts but learns just how tough Kendrick can be. The FBI inform Ellen of Agent Harrison's death.
As Daniel Purcell struggles to conceal his involvement in his wife's murder, Ellen and the F.B.I. set out to catch Patty bribing a judge.
As she looks to finally have Patty jailed, Ellen's plan unravels amid a series of complex double crosses.
Joe Tobin calls lawyer Leonard Winstone after accidentally hitting Danielle Marchetti with his car. Winstone arranges for a doctor to examine her but Joe ignores his advice and takes her to the airport even after she's begins to show symptoms of a possible brain hemorrhage. Patty Hewes' attempts to find her and keep her from leaving the country fall on deaf ears at the DA's office, however, so it's left up to her and Tom Shayes to locate her and find a reason to justify a subpoena. Tom Shayes has dinner with his parents-in-law to tell them about the loss of their investments. Ellen Parsons travels to her parents home in New Jersey for a family dinner and learns that her sister's husband has run off. She also discovers something else about her sister.
Patty Hewes wants to know why Louis Tobin called Danielle Marchetti on that fateful Thanksgiving day he told his family about his Ponzi scheme. She is concerned that once Tobin is sentenced, he will have no interest or reason to cooperate with her as she tries to find any money he may have hidden. The DA agrees to a one day delay in the sentencing and he's brought in for furthering questioning. The DA asks Ellen to sit in on the interview. Louis Tobin is also concerned about reports that his son Joe is drinking again and tells the family lawyer, Leonard Winstone, to do something about it. He also also a plan for dealing with his planned sentencing. Patty Hewes has lunch with her son Michael, whom she's not seen for awhile. He seems to have adjusted to life as an adult but isn't entirely truthful with her. Ellen confronts her sister about what she found in her bag. In a flash forward 5 months into the future, the NYPD detectives tell Patty what they know about Tom Shayes.
Louis Tobin's suicide is ruled a heart attack though no one really believes that to be the case. Danielle Marchetti is now out of her coma and the DA and Ellen offer her immunity from prosecution if she tells all that she knows about Tobin. Joe Tobin tells her in no uncertain terms what he expects of her. Patty suggests that she plead the 5th. Louis' daughter Carol doesn't take the news that her father committed suicide very well and pays Danielle a visit. Louis' relationship with Danielle is explained as is his reason for wanting to get her out of the country. Ellen meets her old friend Josh who is now a crime reporter. Meanwhile, Patty interviews a candidate, Alex Benjamin, for an associate position and suggests she should speak to Ellen first. In a flash forward 5 months into the future, more of Tom Shayes situation is revealed.
The judge in the Tobin case puts pressure on Patty to start producing results in recovering the funds from the Ponzi scheme or face being replaced. She seeks information from who an expert resource who has a particular quid pro quo in mind. Patty's solution involves the ambitious Alex Benjamin, who is ever more desperate to join the firm. For Tom Shayes, the impact of his own financial losses are heavy. The post-mortem on Danielle Marchetti reveals heart failure but Ellen has her doubts. The DA puts in charge of investigating Marchetti's death. Tobin finally meets the mysterious Mr. Zedeck, his father's partner who may have access to the hidden cash. In a flashforward 4 months into the future, the police have evidence that it could have been Tom Shayes driving the car that struck Patty's car in the intersection. They also find something interesting in the trunk of his car.
Tom Shayes travels to Antigua and follows up on his lead as to how Louis Tobin may have been smuggling money out of the country. Zedeck is on to him quickly however and Tom's source of information at the local bank soon dries up. Patty continues to play mind games with Ellen who decides to show her old boss that she too has learned a trick or two. Ellen finds out that Joe Tobin's sister Carol visited Danielle Marchetti the day she died. Not satisfied with her boss' single-minded pursuit of a conviction at the expense of those who were defrauded, she goes elsewhere with the information. In a flashforward 3 months into the future, the detectives confront Ellen about the expensive handbag they've found at the scene of the crime.
Patty and Tom run into a brick wall when trying to get information from the Antiguan bank. Working with Ellen, they focus on trying to find Carol Tobin, who has mysteriously vanished. Tom turns to Barry the homeless man who lives in the neighborhood where Carol was last seen. Having run into Michael Hewes and his pregnant girlfriend in a department store, Ellen innocently congratulates Patty on her soon becoming a grandmother. Patty is soon after her son's companion. Arthur Frobisher tries to get a well-known movie star to be the front man for his new renewable energy venture. In a flash-forward 3 months into the future, Ellen is interrogated by the police where she reveals her and Tom's personal plans.
Patty and Tom focus on getting in touch with Carol Tobin to see if they can learn from her what may have happened on that fateful Thanksgiving day when her father Louis confessed to them that his financial empire was a Ponzi scheme. Her brother Joe and family lawyer Leonard Winstone have her tucked away in an apartment and have convinced her not to leave. A visit to her psychiatrist however gives them the opening to contact her. Her information reveals someone is lying. Ellen meanwhile has to deal with a family crisis when she learns that her sister Carrie has been arrested and charged with a serious drug offence. Her boss makes it quite clear that she is to remain clear of the case and avoid any hint of favoritism. In a flash forward two months into the future, Tom Shayes gives Patty his resignation.
With Patty's help, Ellen hires her investigator, Malcolm, to look into her sister's drug case. She also asks him to look into her own background and particularly her one time babysitter, Ann. Patty meanwhile is under threat of removal from the Tobin case when a group petitions the judge in the case to remove her. She explains the lead with Tessa Marchetti but he gives her one week to come up with something concrete or she's out. Tom wants to lean on Tessa but Patty flatly refuses. Under ever increasing financial pressure, Tom ignores Patty's orders and approaches Tessa pushing the young woman into the arms of the DA. Marilyn Tobin meanwhile is outraged that the charity she has supported for many years will not allow her to make the annual trip to Africa. She suggests to Ray Winstone that he get Stuart Zedeck to help her out.
Ellen visits the woman in her dreams to learn if she is her birth mother but actually learns something far different about her family. Just as Patty decides to move against Tessa, the DA arrests the young woman. Ellen convinces her to turn to Patty for help but finds herself suspended when her boss finds out what she has been up to. Patty however thinks she now knows what was going on with Tessa's regular visits to Antigua and convinces the DA to let Tessa make one more trip to the island. Leonard Winstone has to deal with his own problems when his father shows up at his office unexpectedly, threatening to reveal his secrets.
Patty Hewes meets with Judge Reilly who, given the events in Antigua, decides she is making enough progress to keep her on the Tobin case. While she is very appreciative of his decision, he goes on to tell her about Tom Shayes' financial situation and the loss of all his assets in Louis Tobin's Ponzi scheme. She tells Tom there is only one thing he can do. Ellen meanwhile is surprised when her boss tells that she will be co-prosecuting Carol Tobin for the murder of Danielle Marchetti. Arthur Frobisher oversteps the line when he alludes to the actor portraying him in a film that he once arranged to have someone murdered. When Patty gets hold of the information she goes straight to the DA and Ellen is now hopeful that the murder of her late fiancée David, will now be solved. Leonard Winstone's past comes to light and Ellen makes sure that Joe Tobin knows the details.
Tom and Ellen continue with their plan to get information on the Tobin family's Ponzi scheme from Leonard Winstone even though Patty has inexplicably told them to stop. It all starts to go wrong when Stuart Zedeck learns that someone impersonated him and withdrew money from the charity's account. He sends his henchman to find out what is going on which leads to a confrontation with Tom. Marilyn Tobin meanwhile goes to Patty and agrees to confess to knowing about the Ponzi scheme and to murder if only they will leave her son Joe alone. Patty makes her views on that point quite clear. Patty is surprised when she runs into her son Michael's pregnant girlfriend. She let's Patty know in no uncertain terms that she has no intention of leaving town and that she and Michael are very much enjoying the money Patty gave her. Patty gets her revenge. Ellen's old boyfriend tells her who was responsible for the death of her fiancé David.
Ellen files the High Star case. She also discovers the motive behind Chris' missions after taking his deposition. Meanwhile, Erickson offers Patty a settlement. And Patty searches for Michael in Boston with the help of Detective Victor Huntley.
Ellen meets Nasim Marwat, the son of Chris' Afghan contact. Erickson decides to torture Chris for information about the possibility of an intelligence breach. Patty discovers important information that High Star extracts terror suspects for the CIA and recruits her mentor Bill Herndon (Judd Hirsch) to investigate the company.
Patty and Ellen prepare Marwat for his deposition while a flu-ridden Boorman sets out to keep it from happening; Erickson works his contacts to ensure that his CIA contracts remain secret. Meanwhile, Catherine Hewes is extremely ill.
Patty and Ellen scramble to gain access to Nasim, while Boorman scrambles to keep that from happening. Ellen enlists a reporter (Griffin Dunne) to find Chris in Afghanistan. Erickson and another businessman (John Cullum) negotiate a land deal; and Michael Hewes surfaces in New York looking for Catherine.
Patty uses her drug company case to gain information on High Star. A journalist tries to embed with High Star mercenaries in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Michael demands to see his daughter.
Dean, the Times reporter that Ellen has been talking to, meets with a contact in Afghanistan and tells him he's looking for Chris Sanchez. Boorman arrives at the safe house to find his girlfriend. She confronts him about the boy. Patty and Ellen depose Howard Erickson.
Afghan men hired by one of Erickson's men transport Sanchez in the trunk of a vehicle without AC's knowledge. Jerry Boorman meets with Patty to explain his history with with Erickson and the company. Patty and Ellen don't believe him and they decide they need to speak with the boy Jerry is holding captive.
As Ellen (Rose Byrne) moves to settle her lawsuit against High Star in exchange for Chris Sanchez's (Chris Messina) safe return, her plans are upended by Patty's (Glenn Close) surprise legal action against Howard Erickson (John Goodman). And while Ellen wants to put the suit behind her, rogue CIA agent Jerry Boorman (Dylan Baker) redoubles his efforts to destroy Erickson as he fights to hang on to his Afghan son.
Patty and Ellen seek the source of the Princefield leak, while Patty takes on Ellen through the press.
Someone from McClaren's past turns up and sheds light on his personal life; Patty has a confrontation with an adversary.
The attack Ellen suffered years ago comes back to haunt her.
A blizzard strands Patty and Ellen; McClaren uncovers a major player in the trading scandal.
Ellen begins to uncover the truth about her attacker. Chris Sanchez approaches McClaren with information.
McClaren's latest leak thrusts Ellen into the spotlight. Tensions between McClaren and Rutger Simon come to a head.
Patty and Ellen face off against each other in court, and the shocking results alter their lives forever.