‘Damages’: No, really, whodunnit?

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I like to think of myself as a fairly astute television viewer -- it’s my job, after all. But it dawned on me while watching Tuesday night’s ‘Damages’ that I had no idea who perpetrated the central crime. Who killed David?

Let’s go over who I consider the suspects. First, there’s Ellen. I’ll eliminate her because she’s the most obvious choice, and the show is too craftily written to go for the easy answer. Second, Patty. But the blood and guts element of it all doesn’t seem like her style -- she had a henchman kill a dog, after all. Third, Tom. He is a big enough guy to whack someone, but his loyalty to Patty is suspect, and therefore so is his motive. Fourth, Gregory. His hinted-at relationship with Ray adds a dangerous, dirty little element to the puzzle. And fifth, there’s Lila. Sure, she’s wee ... but she’s a schemey lil’ lady.

The most recent episode tipped the evidence in favor of Patty -- that was quite the wigout she had at the beach house -- but still didn’t give any definitive answers. I trolled around some message boards to find other theories, which, in the name of avoiding unintentional spoilerage, I’ll reveal after the jump.

On the FX message board, the sentiment is leaning toward Lila, the ‘psycho stalker,’ hypothesizing that she let herself into David’s apartment with the spare set of keys she created. The posters on the site also throw out a wild card that David’s sister, Katie, is the killer, citing how freaked out she looked at the jail when she saw Ellen behind bars.

The fans at Television Without Pity, however, note that the only one that’s really escaped scrutiny on this show is -- gasp -- Patty’s husband! Using a peripheral character would be pretty sneaky. Others point to Securities and Exchange Commission two-timer George Moore -- maybe he doesn’t like how Ellen is investigating his examination of the Frobisher deal? And given the rate at which new characters are introduced on this show, some people figure that we haven’t even met the killer yet.

What are your thoughts? With the show wrapping up its first season, who do you think killed David?

-- Ann Donahue