Soda Water: An Early Look at Tonight's Episode of "Damages" ("Hey! Mr. Pibb")

I received an unexpected treat yesterday afternoon in the form of tonight's outstanding episode of FX's Damages ("Hey! Mr Pibb"), a fantastic hour of serpentine plot twists paints a convincing picture of a larger conspiracy at work as it pushes the characters to some dark places so far unseen this season.

Plus, don't be surprised if one of the episode's many reveals leaves you wondering just what you truly believe after all.

Want a few hints about what to expect for tonight's episode? Let's dive in.

For those of us who are spoiler-averse, I won't divulge full-on spoilers here but will merely hint at some developments in this week's episode. So what can you expect?

• That water sample that journalist Josh Reston (Matthew Davis) managed to steal from one of Ultima National Resources' coal plants in West Virginia? It becomes increasingly valuable to everyone involved in the case... and proves the lengths that some interested parties will go to conceal the truth.
• Look for a suitcase full of money to make an appearance in an intriguing way.
• Saturday Night Live's Darrell Hammond turns up as a shadowy chapstick-wearing mystery man. Yes, seriously.
• Christine Purcell's ruby ring resurfaces, as does the stringy-haired blonde man who pawned it.
• Patty makes a self-sacrificing decision that could change everything.
• Claire Maddox (Marcia Gay Harden) is a high-powered attorney but I am glad that she still has time to shop at farmers' markets and question her boss about Ultima's involvement with the Purcell murder and middleman Wayne Suttry (Brett Cullen).
• Tom is a bluegrass and classic country music aficionado. (Really?)
  
• Just what is that smell in the air?
• Ellen and Tom make a good team and are a far shrewder pair than we typically think.
• This is exactly what scares me about small towns.
• Watch the legs.
  
• Dream deciphering reveals just as much about the analyst as it does the dreamer.
  

All in all, tonight's episode of Damages is a simply fantastic installment that ramps up the tension and narrative stakes this season and alters the ongoing plot in an incredible and unexpected way. It also proves just why serialized dramas still work in an age of procedural dramas: the subtle way they get under your skin and can manage to surprise even the most jaded of viewers.

Tonight on Damages ("Hey! Mr. Pibb"), Patty concentrates on defending Daniel Purcell in the murder case against him, while Ellen and Tom travel to West Virginia research the case against Ultima National Resources.