"Damages" Recap - Episode 6: She Spat At Me

It's been a full two weeks since we've seen our dysfunctional little legal family so let's review, shall we?

Patty Hewes, our legal barracuda was content being the puppetmaster and all around God of her world.  Arthur Frobisher thought he was in the driver's seat because of Katie's tainted testimony, but is desperate to clear his name.  Ray Fiske was feeling the heat from his law firm to get the Frobisher win on the books.   Ellen and David developed cracks in their relationship.  Patty's son Michael was still locked up at Boot Camp Academy.  Katie was back at her parents'  homestead nursing her wounds.  One Night Stand Greg was feeling the heat from Frobisher's people represented by Old Guy/Grandpa and a couple of pummeling goons.  Flunky Tom transformed himself into Tommyhawk with a Patty partnership and a big fat raise.   And more importantly, his daughter Megan got into that exclusive music school.

This week, Patty put the screws to the Ellen and David relationship with the help of a potential "Fatal Attraction."  Ellen showed she's learned a thing or two at the knee of the master by "pulling a Patty" with One Night Stand Greg.  Frobisher proved he's spending a little too much time out in the sun skimming bugs out of that multi-million dollar pool.  And Mr. Deep Fried Southern Charm, Ray Fiske has more secrets than we suspected.

We open with David still dead in the bloody bathtub,  Ellen standing over him.  We then see Ellen and a dead body with a knife sticking out of it in Patty's apartment.  At this rate, someone might think Ellen's some kind of jinx.

The police come back from Patty's apartment and they're pretty pissed.  You see there was no body at Patty's apartment.  When the police tell Ellen that, she's stunned.  Later, she tells her attorney, Hollis Nye there are things she can't talk about because of "the case."  Nye asks her if it's the Frobisher case.  We don't get an answer we get a flashback.

It's three and a half months earlier and Ellen, looking all fresh and flirty sits down next to One Night Stand Greg and proceeds to "pull a Patty."  She chats with Greg, asks about his bruises and then dribbles facts about Katie into the conversation.  When Greg figures out who she is, she tells him Patty doesn't know she's there, and all she wants is information.  She'll see that he's protected.  She then threatens to subpoena his butt if she has to.

So Greg gives her a name.  "Barney," he says. When Ellen asks for a last name he answers, "Rubble.  Lives in Bedrock.  Hell of a right hook."  Heh.  Good line.

Ellen doesn't think so however and gives him 24 hours in her best Patty voice.   After weeks of playing, sweet and innocent Ellen, Rose Byrne got to sink her little Aussie teeth into that scene.  Well done.

Opening credits.

Ellen briefs Patty and Tommyhawk about her run in with Greg.  Ellen tells them about his bruises and that she thinks he feels guilty about Katie.  Patty asks her about herself.  "This was a big step," she explains.  "Approaching a witness under false pretenses.  Offering protection you can't provide."

"Don't they teach that in law school?"  Ellen retorts.  Patty looks satisfied and tells her if Greg doesn't contact them in 24 hours they'll subpoena him.  She then asks Patty to dinner.  It's much less like an invitation than a summons.  "Don't be late." she barks.

Greg meets with Old Guy/Grandpa in a park playground.  Greg says something about wanting to talk to "him."  We don't know if this is Frobisher or someone else.  Hm.  He tells Old Guy/Grandpa that he wants his life back, and Old Guy/Grandpa tells him, "This is your life."  Then he gives him his dripping ice cream pop to throw out.  His final advice to Greg?  "Anytime you get the urge to think for yourself, resist it."  Heh.

By the way, Old Guy/Grandpa is Old Guy/Grandpa because the first time we saw him, he had the stroller and the fake baby and I called him Grandpa.  Last week I started calling him Old Guy because I forgot I was already calling him Grandpa.  What can I say, I've been busy.  So from now on, he'll be Old Grandpa. 

Frobisher's with Ray Fiske and we find out Mr. Deep Fried Southern Charm has a bad case of insomnia.  The usually very dark circles under his eyes now look like jet black saucers.  Frobisher gives him the name of  a sleep therapist even though Fiske looks like he'd  rather have his nose hairs plucked out by hand than go see anybody Frobisher recommended.   He then tells a story about how he was at "Biff" Frobisher's basketball game with "Binnie" and "Boopsie" when a woman two rows back hocked a lugie on the back of his head.

He was humiliated and appalled and determined to do something about it.  How could anybody hate him so much?  After all, he's a man of the people.  He grew up dirt poor with a wooden spoon in his mouth, burdened by the heartbreak of dyslexia.  He's decided the only way to show people the real him is to write a memoir.  So he tells Fiske to find him a ghostwriter.  Fiske thinks it's a great idea for after the trial, but Frobisher wants the book written immediately.

It's interesting.  Even though we know Frobisher's a thieving scum-bucket, Ted Danson gives us exactly the right amount of sincere puzzlement and desperate frustration to make us believe that Frobisher's hurt is authentic.  It makes him more believable and that's a testament to Danson's likability and acting skill.

When Fiske protests again that the timing is bad, Frobisher calls him an a**hole and orders him to find a writer.  "The book's a good idea." Frobisher says.

Fiske, knowing when he's licked says dryly, "I can't wait to read it."

David comes home to find the television blaring and no one home.  He calls Ellen and finds out she forgot to turn it off.  She also tells him about Patty's dinner invitation and David responds with just the enthusiasm a dinner invitation from the woman who screwed over his sister deserves.  Ellen does a bit of fiance arm twisting and he finally agrees to go.

On a break from the hospital David is approached in the park by the granddaughter of the patient he treated a couple of weeks ago.  You remember, the granddaughter who wanted to jump his bones even though she knows he's engaged.  Her name is Lila and it turns out Grandpa...not to be confused with Old Grandpa...kicked the bucket after he left the hospital and she'd like David's advice about the worth of Dead Grandpa's medical equipment because she needs to sell it.  Could he please come up to her apartment to take a look?

Oh really!  How lame can she be?  Why doesn't she just ask him to come see Dead Grandpa's etchings?

Flash forward to the cops babysitting Ellen and they discover that Lila called David six times the night before he was killed.

Flashback to a grateful Frobisher toasting Ray Fiske for sixteen years of service.  As soon as he says, "You're a good friend," I know something's wrong but I don't realize what it is until Fiske starts spitting out his own teeth.  Ew.  Fiske jolts awake, panting and scared.  Nightmare fake out.

What do you do after having a horrifying nightmare?  You meet with the source of your nightmare at his multi-million dollar estate.  Frobisher greets him by calling him a walking corpse and damned if he ain't too far off on that one.  Fiske is not looking good at all.  While Frobisher's son Owen a.k.a. "Biff" shoots some hoops in the background, Fiske tells his client that he found him a ghostwriter.  He's evidently a crappy b-grade novelist, but a very good biographer.  The catch is that the publisher insists Frobisher spill all about his company dirty dealings.  Frobisher kind of agrees and is happy people will finally get to know the real him.

Next up, the Patty Hewes dinner from hell.  It's a pretty funny scene that sets up the centerpiece of Patty's goals for this week.  That is to keep chiseling away at the David/Ellen relationship.  I wonder what she served.  Japanese blowfish, maybe?  The Russian Roulette nature of that would be just like Patty.

During dinner David squirms like a worm on a hook, Ellen tries to make the best of things while keeping her job, hubby Phil chats easily about wine vintages and Patty is suspiciously quiet and "wife-like."  That is until she asks David how Katie is.  David's head nearly explodes, but he responds politely, she's crappy, thank you for asking Patty.  Ellen changes the subject by asking Patty how she and Phil met.  Patty demurs and throws the floor back to hubby Phil.  Phil obliges and says he was in Jakarta, Indonesia of all places, to do his Superman Economist thing when he spotted Patty across a crowded hotel lobby...we're spared the rest of the story when Phil's phone rings and he has to talk to Dubai 'cause you know, the market just opened there.  Great scene.

In the kitchen, after Ellen apologizes for David, Patty gives Ellen a little woman to woman advice.  She thinks David is "lovely" but she knows he didn't want to be there.  Her not so hidden message, dump David, 'cause girlfriend, he's only draggin' you down.

Ghostwriter George shows up at Frobisher's and they have a little chat about the book.  George, a nebishy kind of post grad guy, tries to ease Frobisher into talking about his company, but all Frobisher wants to talk about is his childhood and how he was born dirt poor, how he had to overcome the heartbreak of dyslexia, and how he pulled himself up by his bootstraps...blah, blah, blah.

Back at their apartment, David and Ellen have a blow out about the dinner from hell.  Ellen's pissed that David made it so obvious he didn't want to be there, and David's pissed 'cause he hates Patty and doesn't want to be on the same planet with her.  Ellen throws in his face the fact that she had to apologize for him.  She then ends the argument by telling him these dinners are part of her job and he better get used to more Patty face time in the future.  Right after this, One Night Stand Greg calls Ellen and wants to meet.

Flash forward and the cops are meeting with Lila.  She puts the finger on Ellen for David's murder and tells the cops that she and David were dating for nearly four months.  The cops say, so that means he was cheating on Ellen.

We don't get an answer, we get a flashback.

Dear, dumb, David's with Lila surrounded by Dead Grandpa's medical equipment.  Lila gives him this heartwarming story about Dead Grandpa's wartime exploits and the shrapnel he took at Iwo Jima, and how much she misses him, sniff, sniff---then hints how much she'd like to jump David's bones.  After all, "Life is short," she says.  David's beeper goes off just in time and he's outta there.

Next we see a closeup of a Statue Of Liberty postcard.  We pull out to see Ellen looking at it and One Night Stand Greg comes up behind her and says, "I hate that bitch!"

I did a double-take 'cause at first I didn't know who he was talking about.  Then he says, "All that stuff about welcoming everybody.  She doesn't look after anybody," and it all becomes clear.  Yo Greg, bitter much?  You're cursing out a statue!  Man the Statue of Liberty is sure taking a beating in this show.  Or giving a beating, as it were.

Anyway, he confides in Ellen that his only talent is getting people to like him.  Who knows what that means, but he does tell Ellen something else important.  "It's not about the broker," he says.  "It's more."  Greg then gets spooked by a Bald Guy that seems to be watching them, so he clams up and splits.

Old Grandpa meets Frobisher and Frobisher's all, I don't want to hear anything bad, and Grandpa's all, we need a new strategy 'cause Greg's gonna talk.  Frobisher tells him to take care of it and next time he calls, make sure it's good news.

Ellen tells Patty and Tommyhawk about the meeting with Greg.  None of them know what he meant by "it's not about the broker," but Patty tells Tommyhawk to draft a subpoena.

Frobisher's shooting hoops with "Biff" at the Frobisher homestead.  He tells Biff that he knows things are tough for him at school, what with him being a crook and all.  Biff is all loyal and "I believe you Dad."  Frobisher tells him he's writing a book and once that's done, everything will be wonderful again.  Biff once again is all loyal and "I believe you Dad."

The next thing we know, Frobisher shows up at Ghostwriter George's house and he's had a little more than one too many.  It's after midnight and Frobisher's interrupting George's private writing workshop with the luscious Indira who's draped prettily across his welcoming bed.  Frobisher doesn't care about any of that, but what he does care about is the box of grade school awards and childhood souvenirs he's brought over to show Greg.  Frobisher insists that he look at his third prize for a middle school spelling bee.  When George doesn't get the significance, Frobisher's like, "I'm dyslexic!  That's determination!"

Frobisher then tells George that just because he's wearing a certain kind of shirt, George shouldn't be judged on that one shirt because he owns so many other kinds of shirts.  So why should Frobisher be judged only by the theft of the life savings of all his employees?  After all, he's dyslexic! I think Frobisher's logic here is impeccable.

George is like, okay Mr. Frobisher, but could we do this at another time, when I don't have this incredibly hot woman in my bed just waiting for my good old fashioned lovin'?   Well, Frobisher doesn't like that at all, so he tells George, to go on and "screw the immigrant," if it makes you feel so superior.  George understandably sees red on that one and demands that Frobisher leave.  Things escalate to name calling and in response, Frobisher bops George in the nose with one of his middle school awards and draws blood.  Adding insult to injury, Frobisher fires him.

Deciding to write his memoir himself, the next scene has Frobisher at a computer typing, "'My Story,' by Arthur Frobisher" when the police show up to cart him off to jail.  Heh.

Instead of "My Story" I have some title suggestions of my own.  How about "Frobisher on rehsiborF?" Or "Dirt Poor to Filthy hciR."  Or "The leaR Frobisher."  Anybody have another one?  Don't be shy.

Anyway, Frobisher makes the cover of "The New York Courier"---a rag that looks suspiciously like "The New York Post"---with the headline, "Billionaire Brawl."  Patty and Ellen exchange a nice chuckle over that and Patty decides it's time for more womanly advice over drinks.

Patty tells Ellen about her poor schlub of a college boyfriend and how she used him to get her law degree and then dumped him because he wasn't ambitious enough.  "He disgusted me," Patty says.

Ellen and I both wait for her to laugh and let us in on the joke, but when she doesn't we uncomfortably realize she's serious.

Patty then says, "A man should want to be in charge.  The trick is making him feel like he actually is."

"Is that why Phil did all the talking at dinner?"  Patty smiles and admits he likes to "hold court."

That explains that suspicious quiet "wife-like" behavior.  Interesting.  Her last piece of advice, "Ellen, most men can't handle an ambitious woman.  It may take you a few tries, but make sure you find one who can."  Ellen, sweetie, you're gonna be looking a long time for that one.  When you find where they're hanging out, let me know.  In the meantime, good luck.

David calls Lila.  He can't find his keys and wants to know if he left them at her apartment.  She says no but after she hangs up she takes David's key ring off a hook and then tells Grandpa she's going out.  Grandpa!  He's not dead at all!  She kisses him goodnight, leaves the apartment and all of a sudden we have a new suspect in dear, dead fiance David's death.

Fiske is on a couch talking to Frobisher's sleep therapist.  So he did go.  Surprise, surprise.  He explains about the dream where he's losing his teeth and the therapist tells him losing teeth in a dream often represents insecurity or fear of a secret being revealed.  All of a sudden Fiske looks very sad and vulnerable and when the therapist questions him further he's silent for a moment.  When he finally opens his mouth blood comes pouring out.  Fiske bolts wide awake, panting and looking panicked.  Oh jeez.  Enough already with the nightmare fake outs.

One Night Stand Greg is on a bar stool, all alone, making love to his tonic and gin.  The Bald Guy from the park slips a gun in his pocket and follows a sloshy Greg home.  On the street, the Blondie who set Greg up with Old Grandpa approaches Greg, all smiles and pretty teeth.  She says she wants to give Greg her number.  As she reaches into her purse the Bald Guy pulls his gun from behind Greg and shoots Blondie.  Greg takes off in a panic like the scared rabbit he is.  Turns out Bald Guy was working for Patty, hired to protect Greg.  When he shot Blondie, she was about to pull her own gun and my guess is, there were a couple of bullets in there with the words "One Night Stand" on them.  Frobisher wanted a new strategy.  Evidently, this was it.

Greg ends up frantically knocking on someone's fancy townhouse door.  Whose door is it?  None other than Mr. Southern Fried Charm himself, Ray Fiske.  Greg tells Fiske he needs to talk to him.  Fiske is like, hell no, get away from my front door, before I sic the dogs on you.  Fiske is like, pleeeeeeease Ray, I have to talk to you.  He grasps Fiske's hand and there's just the hint of a caress.  Fiske opens the door.  Well, well, well.  Maybe we're a little closer to the source of those nightmares.  Is it possible that Mr. Ray Fiske practices his southern fried charms on both sides of the street?  Or is Greg some other kind of relation?

Back at Chez Ellen, David comes home to an open front door and an eerily quiet apartment.  Sensing danger, and in a brilliant piece of foreshadowing, David picks up one of those deadly Statue of Liberty bookends, bent on using it as a weapon.  He makes his way into a candlelit bathroom and there's Ellen all soft and soapy in an inviting bubble bath.   She and David make nice and he joins her.  The mood of all this warm and fuzzy lovin' is destroyed when we see at the front door of the apartment, Lila staring at the lovers canoodling.  It's obvious she does not like what she sees.  Batten down the hatches.

We open with David still dead in the bloody bathtub,  Ellen standing over him.  We then see Ellen and a dead body with a knife sticking out of it in Patty's apartment.  At this rate, someone might think Ellen's some kind of jinx.

The police come back from Patty's apartment and they're pretty pissed.  You see there was no body at Patty's apartment.  When the police tell Ellen that, she's stunned.  Later, she tells her attorney, Hollis Nye there are things she can't talk about because of "the case."  Nye asks her if it's the Frobisher case.  We don't get an answer we get a flashback.

It's three and a half months earlier and Ellen, looking all fresh and flirty sits down next to One Night Stand Greg and proceeds to "pull a Patty."  She chats with Greg, asks about his bruises and then dribbles facts about Katie into the conversation.  When Greg figures out who she is, she tells him Patty doesn't know she's there, and all she wants is information.  She'll see that he's protected.  She then threatens to subpoena his butt if she has to.

So Greg gives her a name.  "Barney," he says. When Ellen asks for a last name he answers, "Rubble.  Lives in Bedrock.  Hell of a right hook."  Heh.  Good line.

Ellen doesn't think so however and gives him 24 hours in her best Patty voice.   After weeks of playing, sweet and innocent Ellen, Rose Byrne got to sink her little Aussie teeth into that scene.  Well done.

Opening credits.

Ellen briefs Patty and Tommyhawk about her run in with Greg.  Ellen tells them about his bruises and that she thinks he feels guilty about Katie.  Patty asks her about herself.  "This was a big step," she explains.  "Approaching a witness under false pretenses.  Offering protection you can't provide."

"Don't they teach that in law school?"  Ellen retorts.  Patty looks satisfied and tells her if Greg doesn't contact them in 24 hours they'll subpoena him.  She then asks Patty to dinner.  It's much less like an invitation than a summons.  "Don't be late." she barks.

Greg meets with Old Guy/Grandpa in a park playground.  Greg says something about wanting to talk to "him."  We don't know if this is Frobisher or someone else.  Hm.  He tells Old Guy/Grandpa that he wants his life back, and Old Guy/Grandpa tells him, "This is your life."  Then he gives him his dripping ice cream pop to throw out.  His final advice to Greg?  "Anytime you get the urge to think for yourself, resist it."  Heh.

By the way, Old Guy/Grandpa is Old Guy/Grandpa because the first time we saw him, he had the stroller and the fake baby and I called him Grandpa.  Last week I started calling him Old Guy because I forgot I was already calling him Grandpa.  What can I say, I've been busy.  So from now on, he'll be Old Grandpa. 

Frobisher's with Ray Fiske and we find out Mr. Deep Fried Southern Charm has a bad case of insomnia.  The usually very dark circles under his eyes now look like jet black saucers.  Frobisher gives him the name of  a sleep therapist even though Fiske looks like he'd  rather have his nose hairs plucked out by hand than go see anybody Frobisher recommended.   He then tells a story about how he was at "Biff" Frobisher's basketball game with "Binnie" and "Boopsie" when a woman two rows back hocked a lugie on the back of his head.

He was humiliated and appalled and determined to do something about it.  How could anybody hate him so much?  After all, he's a man of the people.  He grew up dirt poor with a wooden spoon in his mouth, burdened by the heartbreak of dyslexia.  He's decided the only way to show people the real him is to write a memoir.  So he tells Fiske to find him a ghostwriter.  Fiske thinks it's a great idea for after the trial, but Frobisher wants the book written immediately.

It's interesting.  Even though we know Frobisher's a thieving scum-bucket, Ted Danson gives us exactly the right amount of sincere puzzlement and desperate frustration to make us believe that Frobisher's hurt is authentic.  It makes him more believable and that's a testament to Danson's likability and acting skill.

When Fiske protests again that the timing is bad, Frobisher calls him an a**hole and orders him to find a writer.  "The book's a good idea." Frobisher says.

Fiske, knowing when he's licked says dryly, "I can't wait to read it."

David comes home to find the television blaring and no one home.  He calls Ellen and finds out she forgot to turn it off.  She also tells him about Patty's dinner invitation and David responds with just the enthusiasm a dinner invitation from the woman who screwed over his sister deserves.  Ellen does a bit of fiance arm twisting and he finally agrees to go.

On a break from the hospital David is approached in the park by the granddaughter of the patient he treated a couple of weeks ago.  You remember, the granddaughter who wanted to jump his bones even though she knows he's engaged.  Her name is Lila and it turns out Grandpa...not to be confused with Old Grandpa...kicked the bucket after he left the hospital and she'd like David's advice about the worth of Dead Grandpa's medical equipment because she needs to sell it.  Could he please come up to her apartment to take a look?

Oh really!  How lame can she be?  Why doesn't she just ask him to come see Dead Grandpa's etchings?

Flash forward to the cops babysitting Ellen and they discover that Lila called David six times the night before he was killed.

Flashback to a grateful Frobisher toasting Ray Fiske for sixteen years of service.  As soon as he says, "You're a good friend," I know something's wrong but I don't realize what it is until Fiske starts spitting out his own teeth.  Ew.  Fiske jolts awake, panting and scared.  Nightmare fake out.

What do you do after having a horrifying nightmare?  You meet with the source of your nightmare at his multi-million dollar estate.  Frobisher greets him by calling him a walking corpse and damned if he ain't too far off on that one.  Fiske is not looking good at all.  While Frobisher's son Owen a.k.a. "Biff" shoots some hoops in the background, Fiske tells his client that he found him a ghostwriter.  He's evidently a crappy b-grade novelist, but a very good biographer.  The catch is that the publisher insists Frobisher spill all about his company dirty dealings.  Frobisher kind of agrees and is happy people will finally get to know the real him.

Next up, the Patty Hewes dinner from hell.  It's a pretty funny scene that sets up the centerpiece of Patty's goals for this week.  That is to keep chiseling away at the David/Ellen relationship.  I wonder what she served.  Japanese blowfish, maybe?  The Russian Roulette nature of that would be just like Patty.

During dinner David squirms like a worm on a hook, Ellen tries to make the best of things while keeping her job, hubby Phil chats easily about wine vintages and Patty is suspiciously quiet and "wife-like."  That is until she asks David how Katie is.  David's head nearly explodes, but he responds politely, she's crappy, thank you for asking Patty.  Ellen changes the subject by asking Patty how she and Phil met.  Patty demurs and throws the floor back to hubby Phil.  Phil obliges and says he was in Jakarta, Indonesia of all places, to do his Superman Economist thing when he spotted Patty across a crowded hotel lobby...we're spared the rest of the story when Phil's phone rings and he has to talk to Dubai 'cause you know, the market just opened there.  Great scene.

In the kitchen, after Ellen apologizes for David, Patty gives Ellen a little woman to woman advice.  She thinks David is "lovely" but she knows he didn't want to be there.  Her not so hidden message, dump David, 'cause girlfriend, he's only draggin' you down.

Ghostwriter George shows up at Frobisher's and they have a little chat about the book.  George, a nebishy kind of post grad guy, tries to ease Frobisher into talking about his company, but all Frobisher wants to talk about is his childhood and how he was born dirt poor, how he had to overcome the heartbreak of dyslexia, and how he pulled himself up by his bootstraps...blah, blah, blah.

Back at their apartment, David and Ellen have a blow out about the dinner from hell.  Ellen's pissed that David made it so obvious he didn't want to be there, and David's pissed 'cause he hates Patty and doesn't want to be on the same planet with her.  Ellen throws in his face the fact that she had to apologize for him.  She then ends the argument by telling him these dinners are part of her job and he better get used to more Patty face time in the future.  Right after this, One Night Stand Greg calls Ellen and wants to meet.

Flash forward and the cops are meeting with Lila.  She puts the finger on Ellen for David's murder and tells the cops that she and David were dating for nearly four months.  The cops say, so that means he was cheating on Ellen.

We don't get an answer, we get a flashback.

Dear, dumb, David's with Lila surrounded by Dead Grandpa's medical equipment.  Lila gives him this heartwarming story about Dead Grandpa's wartime exploits and the shrapnel he took at Iwo Jima, and how much she misses him, sniff, sniff---then hints how much she'd like to jump David's bones.  After all, "Life is short," she says.  David's beeper goes off just in time and he's outta there.

Next we see a closeup of a Statue Of Liberty postcard.  We pull out to see Ellen looking at it and One Night Stand Greg comes up behind her and says, "I hate that bitch!"

I did a double-take 'cause at first I didn't know who he was talking about.  Then he says, "All that stuff about welcoming everybody.  She doesn't look after anybody," and it all becomes clear.  Yo Greg, bitter much?  You're cursing out a statue!  Man the Statue of Liberty is sure taking a beating in this show.  Or giving a beating, as it were.

Anyway, he confides in Ellen that his only talent is getting people to like him.  Who knows what that means, but he does tell Ellen something else important.  "It's not about the broker," he says.  "It's more."  Greg then gets spooked by a Bald Guy that seems to be watching them, so he clams up and splits.

Old Grandpa meets Frobisher and Frobisher's all, I don't want to hear anything bad, and Grandpa's all, we need a new strategy 'cause Greg's gonna talk.  Frobisher tells him to take care of it and next time he calls, make sure it's good news.

Ellen tells Patty and Tommyhawk about the meeting with Greg.  None of them know what he meant by "it's not about the broker," but Patty tells Tommyhawk to draft a subpoena.

Frobisher's shooting hoops with "Biff" at the Frobisher homestead.  He tells Biff that he knows things are tough for him at school, what with him being a crook and all.  Biff is all loyal and "I believe you Dad."  Frobisher tells him he's writing a book and once that's done, everything will be wonderful again.  Biff once again is all loyal and "I believe you Dad."

The next thing we know, Frobisher shows up at Ghostwriter George's house and he's had a little more than one too many.  It's after midnight and Frobisher's interrupting George's private writing workshop with the luscious Indira who's draped prettily across his welcoming bed.  Frobisher doesn't care about any of that, but what he does care about is the box of grade school awards and childhood souvenirs he's brought over to show Greg.  Frobisher insists that he look at his third prize for a middle school spelling bee.  When George doesn't get the significance, Frobisher's like, "I'm dyslexic!  That's determination!"

Frobisher then tells George that just because he's wearing a certain kind of shirt, George shouldn't be judged on that one shirt because he owns so many other kinds of shirts.  So why should Frobisher be judged only by the theft of the life savings of all his employees?  After all, he's dyslexic! I think Frobisher's logic here is impeccable.

George is like, okay Mr. Frobisher, but could we do this at another time, when I don't have this incredibly hot woman in my bed just waiting for my good old fashioned lovin'?   Well, Frobisher doesn't like that at all, so he tells George, to go on and "screw the immigrant," if it makes you feel so superior.  George understandably sees red on that one and demands that Frobisher leave.  Things escalate to name calling and in response, Frobisher bops George in the nose with one of his middle school awards and draws blood.  Adding insult to injury, Frobisher fires him.

Deciding to write his memoir himself, the next scene has Frobisher at a computer typing, "'My Story,' by Arthur Frobisher" when the police show up to cart him off to jail.  Heh.

Instead of "My Story" I have some title suggestions of my own.  How about "Frobisher on rehsiborF?" Or "Dirt Poor to Filthy hciR."  Or "The leaR Frobisher."  Anybody have another one?  Don't be shy.

Anyway, Frobisher makes the cover of "The New York Courier"---a rag that looks suspiciously like "The New York Post"---with the headline, "Billionaire Brawl."  Patty and Ellen exchange a nice chuckle over that and Patty decides it's time for more womanly advice over drinks.

Patty tells Ellen about her poor schlub of a college boyfriend and how she used him to get her law degree and then dumped him because he wasn't ambitious enough.  "He disgusted me," Patty says.

Ellen and I both wait for her to laugh and let us in on the joke, but when she doesn't we uncomfortably realize she's serious.

Patty then says, "A man should want to be in charge.  The trick is making him feel like he actually is."

"Is that why Phil did all the talking at dinner?"  Patty smiles and admits he likes to "hold court."

That explains that suspicious quiet "wife-like" behavior.  Interesting.  Her last piece of advice, "Ellen, most men can't handle an ambitious woman.  It may take you a few tries, but make sure you find one who can."  Ellen, sweetie, you're gonna be looking a long time for that one.  When you find where they're hanging out, let me know.  In the meantime, good luck.

David calls Lila.  He can't find his keys and wants to know if he left them at her apartment.  She says no but after she hangs up she takes David's key ring off a hook and then tells Grandpa she's going out.  Grandpa!  He's not dead at all!  She kisses him goodnight, leaves the apartment and all of a sudden we have a new suspect in dear, dead fiance David's death.

Fiske is on a couch talking to Frobisher's sleep therapist.  So he did go.  Surprise, surprise.  He explains about the dream where he's losing his teeth and the therapist tells him losing teeth in a dream often represents insecurity or fear of a secret being revealed.  All of a sudden Fiske looks very sad and vulnerable and when the therapist questions him further he's silent for a moment.  When he finally opens his mouth blood comes pouring out.  Fiske bolts wide awake, panting and looking panicked.  Oh jeez.  Enough already with the nightmare fake outs.

One Night Stand Greg is on a bar stool, all alone, making love to his tonic and gin.  The Bald Guy from the park slips a gun in his pocket and follows a sloshy Greg home.  On the street, the Blondie who set Greg up with Old Grandpa approaches Greg, all smiles and pretty teeth.  She says she wants to give Greg her number.  As she reaches into her purse the Bald Guy pulls his gun from behind Greg and shoots Blondie.  Greg takes off in a panic like the scared rabbit he is.  Turns out Bald Guy was working for Patty, hired to protect Greg.  When he shot Blondie, she was about to pull her own gun and my guess is, there were a couple of bullets in there with the words "One Night Stand" on them.  Frobisher wanted a new strategy.  Evidently, this was it.

Greg ends up frantically knocking on someone's fancy townhouse door.  Whose door is it?  None other than Mr. Southern Fried Charm himself, Ray Fiske.  Greg tells Fiske he needs to talk to him.  Fiske is like, hell no, get away from my front door, before I sic the dogs on you.  Fiske is like, pleeeeeeease Ray, I have to talk to you.  He grasps Fiske's hand and there's just the hint of a caress.  Fiske opens the door.  Well, well, well.  Maybe we're a little closer to the source of those nightmares.  Is it possible that Mr. Ray Fiske practices his southern fried charms on both sides of the street?  Or is Greg some other kind of relation?

Back at Chez Ellen, David comes home to an open front door and an eerily quiet apartment.  Sensing danger, and in a brilliant piece of foreshadowing, David picks up one of those deadly Statue of Liberty bookends, bent on using it as a weapon.  He makes his way into a candlelit bathroom and there's Ellen all soft and soapy in an inviting bubble bath.   She and David make nice and he joins her.  The mood of all this warm and fuzzy lovin' is destroyed when we see at the front door of the apartment, Lila staring at the lovers canoodling.  It's obvious she does not like what she sees.  Batten down the hatches.