Eli Stone: Grace (Episode 202)

Mid-jog, Nate’s trying to negotiate last minute tickets for the final game to be held at Marvel Stadium, despite Eli’s protests that he doesn’t want to go. Nate wants to do something for him, now that the aneurysm’s back; he thinks there’s more to his non-diagnosis and Eli’s returned time bomb than Eli will say. Eli brushes him off and says he hasn’t had a vision since it came back anyway. And he jogs right into a vision. I love TV.

The vision is trying to be Fosse-esque, starring Katie Holmes singing “Hit Me With a Hot Note” and dancing with a squad of male back ups. Her voice is fine, but it doesn’t blow me over. There’s steam and red light and black leather-looking garments, and it all sends Eli straight to Chen, saying it was like a super-sized vision. Chen thinks he’s vision de-sensitized. He tells Eli to follow the signs. Eli’s going pro-active, though, and decides to ferret out a case that might relate, using Maggie as his butt monkey to do it.

At WPK, Patti’s put Maggie on the assignment, looking for Duke Ellington-ish cases. She’s also writing Eli’s memo informing the firm that his aneurysm is back. She thinks this is not The Thing To Do. Eli: Yeah, email would be better. Patti says that if he wants people to know, he needs to talk. Eli is tired of talking about it. Maggie pops up and asks about what. Literally, she just pops up. She has nothing of use, so it’s a good time for Patti to interrupt and tell Eli he has an actual client. His name is Thomas Hayes, and he has neither a daughter nor half-sister who might have appeared in Eli’s vision. He does have a son who died in Iraq a few days ago, though. He wants Eli to stop the Army from burying his son. He says that Daniel, his son, wouldn’t have wanted a full military burial with an honor guard; Eli says that the DOD wouldn’t send one unless it was requested by the family. Mr. Hayes says his wife, Daniel’s next of kin, wants the whole kit and caboodle. Maggie asks why he and his wife have such different ideas of what Daniel would want. He says that his wife and son had a different relationship; she doesn’t believe him when he tells her Daniel wouldn’t want it. She wants to believe that Daniel died in service of a great idea, but he didn’t want to be remembered that way. He tells the lawyers that Daniel wasn’t killed in battle, his heart gave out because of a medical condition. “It’s rare, it’s hereditary, and it can go undetected and cause sudden death,” he says. Mr. Hayes thinks Eli knows something about that sort of thing.

Nate and Eli are at the game, and so is Katie Holmes, dropping a hotdog, spilling her soda, and being a klutz all over someone’s shirt. Eli, to divert attention from Katie, starts chanting that the Marvels suck. People turn their ire on him, and Katie silently thanks him while people throw foodstuffs at him. She tries to help him clean up, saying that this sort of thing happens to her a lot. Eli’s like, you’re not at all like the woman in my… PANTS! Okay, he doesn’t say that, but he stutters a lot asking her if she needs a lawyer, even more so when he finds out she’s a lawyer too. She works for Lawyers Without Limits, so unless Eli associates with third world despots, they’ve never crossed paths. Eli introduces himself and says that he’s not as creepy as he seems right now. Katie’s name is Grace, though she asks him not to point out the irony. I will: her name is Grace and she has none! Eli tells her that, despite how crazy it sounds, he thinks he was meant to meet her. Grace thinks he’s nice, but she wants to leave now. Eli writes his name down for her. “It was really interesting meeting you,” she sighs. She leaves, and Eli digs slushie out of his ear.

Later he tells Chen about it, saying she wasn’t like the woman in his vision. Chen says that the Bible defines grace as “the spirit of God that exists in humans for the sole purpose of strengthening them.” The boys are barbecuing on the roof. Chen asks why Eli’s looking for a case; maybe Grace is there for him. Maybe the vision was meant to bring him some joy. Maybe it means that he’s not alone. Oh, how I missed you, Frank Lebokowski.

So Jordan’s big revelation last week about what they have to do was taking the firm in a more socially responsible direction, and he’s got a plan that makes even Eli balk a little. Eli was thinking more along the lines of giving bonuses for pro bono work, while Jordan’s thinking, you know, complete overhaul. He’s written a manifesto that outlines WPK’s future: taking on better clients. Eli asks what Posner and Klein will think, and Jordan’s like, it’s in the bag! Cut to Posner and Klein—whose hair, by the way, is going to eat all of San Francisco—agog that Jordan wants to turn the entire firm pro bono. Jordan corrects them: they would take on paying clientele, but they would be a nobler clientele. “We implement a Hioppocratic oath for our clients, committing to represent only those who do no harm,” Jordan says. Except to their wallets, Martin says. Jordan tells his friends that they aren’t who they wanted to be thirty years ago. He shows them a mission statement they wrote when they were younger and more idealistic. It appears to be written on a napkin. Both Martin and Marci scoff, but Jordan’s got the shine back. He says he’s going to present the proposal to all the partners, and it would be “ill-advised” for the PK in WPK to intervene.

Mrs. Hayes and her lawyer (Gina Effing Torres) face off with Maggie, Eli, and Mr. Hayes. She didn’t want Daniel to go to Iraq, but if he had to die there, she wants to give his death some meaning. Mr. Hayes reiterates that Danny didn’t want a military funeral. He told his dad so. Mrs. H is like, when? All those times you talked on the phone? He asks her to trust him on this. Mrs. Hayes paints a picture of her husband as a distant father who pressured his son into military service by not being interested in anything else, including Daniel’s interest in medicine. Maggie says that bringing this into court will do no good. Mrs. Hayes is angry he would take this to court: “My son is lying in a box on a tarmac somewhere. You couldn’t let me make a decision about him even once.” She and her lawyer leave, and Eli asks if Mr. Hayes is okay. Basically, no.

Patti tells Eli that Grace is on the phone. He races to take the call. She says that since yesterday, she’s been wondering if he sent her the ticket. The ticket to the game came in the mail with a note: “You are not alone.” And while a series of accidents led to their meeting, she wondered if it was a huge set up. Eli says he didn’t send the ticket, but he’d like to buy her lunch. She freezes, embarrassed, and says she’s going to Kenya in two days, so no thanks, have a nice life, bye. Eli looks puzzled. More so than usual.

Grace is all busy at work, and also sweaty, when Eli arrives with hotdogs (she never got to eat hers as the game). She says she has to file a brief in court, but they can eat on the way. Eli is charming.

Taylor tells Jordan she’s worried about this whole plan, about which the firm is buzzing. He tries to brush it off, but she insists this is a big deal. Using the rollercoaster metaphor, he tells her that all new endeavors are come with fear and fallout. Taylor says she hates rollercoasters, but she loves being with her dad. She’s with him now, too.

Grace (I keep wanting to call her Maggie) tells Eli that until recently, she was a bankruptcy lawyer helping huge conglomerates avoid taxes. Hmmm. Lawyers Without Limits is hard, she says, all the dropping in and out of people’s lives, not having roots. Eli asks about her love life, and they flirt with lawyer-speak. She’s unattached. They sit on a park bench, and Eli asks why she switched jobs. She’s evasive, changing the subject and asking how he got retained by God. She did the equivalent of lawyer-googling him. Eli tells her not to believe everything she reads online. She asks again if he sent her the ticket. He didn’t, but he wonders why she used it. She says, basically, that she does feel alone, never having a “Love Actually” magical airport moment, and she thought she deserves a little magic in her life. She gets up to leave, and Eli asks her to dinner. He knows this great jazz place. Grace, strangely enough, loves jazz. She asks how Eli knew, and he says maybe he’ll explain if she says yes.

Hayes testifies in court that his son keeled over of congestive heart failure, which would have happened anywhere. Eli asks why he shouldn’t be buried as a soldier, the way he died. Hayes says that Daniel didn’t want that; this was a war of choice, not necessity, and he told his dad that the last time they spoke. Hayes says that because Daniel disagreed with the war, to be buried in a military funeral would be hypocritical. Gina Torres asks if he’s requested a military burial and, when he says he has, calls him the hypocrite.

Jordan smiles to himself as he heads to his meeting with the partners, but only Martin and Marci are waiting for him. Marci says they’re seeking a court order against Jordan: they want his authority removed pending a psychological work up of him.

Maggie tries to summon Eli to court, but he’s trying to get Patti to find an incredible jazz place for him. He leaves her to try to get him into a place hosting a Duke Ellington cover band so that Maggie’s head doesn’t explode. In court, Gina Torres plays a video Daniel sent to his mom that is downright smurfy in positivity; he says he’s being recommended for a medal, even, by one Sergeant Ellington. Maggie glances over at Eli on hearing this. Gina Torres asks if this is someone who seems embarrassed of his uniform. Eli objects to its relevance, as it only speaks to his attitude the day he made it. In private conference with his lawyers, Mr. Hayes says Danny was putting on a brave face for his mom. Eli and Maggie don’t think it will play that way. Hayes repeats again that the military burial isn’t what he wanted. Eli pushes to know about Sergeant Ellington; Hayes served with his dad. Eli thinks Hayes knows more than he’s saying, that Ellington is important to this case somehow, to Danny. Hayes shouts for Eli not to call him that. Eli wants to know more to help win the case, but Hayes says he’s done enough.

Eli splashes water on his face in the men’s room. Dowd finishes his business and asks Eli if his aneurysm is catching, what with how Jordan’s going crazy. Matt tells him about the lawsuit, but Eli takes off mid-explanation. Cut to Taylor telling Jordan they’ll fight it, and she’ll represent him. Eli interrupts to say that he’ll do it. Taylor: So the craziest attorney in the world is trying to prove my dad’s not nuts? Eli says he’s not crazy. Taylor says he told a judge he had a direct line to God. Eli’s like, IT WORKED, your dad’s not dead! Jordan interrupts to say that he knows Eli feels responsible for the changes he’s making, but he’s simply not. It’s been a long time coming. He wants to handle it himself. He leaves, and Taylor and Eli agree he doesn’t have it handled. They both know he’s doing this because of Eli, and while Taylor’s grateful for him helping save her dad’s life, she won’t let him risk his firm.

At dinner, Eli tells Grace that he’s theoretically behind Jordan, but cutting 60% of the firm’s clients… makes Eli the most boring date ever, despite Grace’s protests to the contrary. And if Katie Holmes always wore her haircut like this, she would be much better off. Eli hits reset so that Grace ahs a memorable last night before Kenya. She lights her menu on fire, and she tells him that she’s not fit for society. Eli smiles and listens for a moment; the song playing is a sloooow version of “Hit Me With a Hot Note.” Grace isn’t familiar. Eli asks her to dance, but she tells him unequivocally that she can’t dance. He tells her it’s a slow song, they just have to sway. He convinces her, and she hesitantly gets to her feet, allowing him to escort her to the dance floor. She reminds him of their deal: dinner for an explanation. She says she knows about the aneurysm. Eli tells her that it came back. He tells her that he didn’t send her the ticket, but he did see her before they met. “You had a vision of me?” she asks, weirded out. He tells her he saw her singing, and she was sexy and confident. She laughs and says that dancing with him there makes her feel like that. He asks why she changed her life, and she says that she doesn’t want to ruin this perfect moment with sad stories. He asks if it’s too sad to say he wishes she weren’t leaving. He moves in to kiss her, but she tells him she can’t: she doesn’t want to complicate it. He asks if she’ll just keep dancing with him instead.

Hayes is waiting for Eli at the office. He asks how Eli knew about Ellington. “I got a tip,” he says. “From a very senior partner.” The story is this: Danny failed his physical thanks to his “very mild” heart condition, and Hayes reached out to an old friend, who, as Eli puts it, found a sympathetic doctor to look the other way. Hayes says he checked: it wasn’t necessarily life-threatening at the time. He gave Daniel the choice not to enlist “or forever disappoint his dad?” Eli squawks. Hayes says that the only thing keeping him going is making sure Danny’s last wish is granted; he produces a letter for Eli that Danny sent. “Things have never been worse,” he writes. He describes forcing people from their homes, dragging parents from their kids. He saw one father trying to get his son somewhere safe, unwilling to let go. Danny wished he’d been that kid with that dad. That father never would have pulled strings to put his son in harm’s way. Hayes told him he’d learn about himself in war, but all he learned was that he wasn’t his dad, or a soldier, and every time he puts on his uniform, he gets a little sicker, and he wanted his father to know that. Hayes recites this last part from memory. The judge reads the remainder in chambers to the lawyers and the Hayeses. Danny finished by saying that if Hayes is reading the letter, it means that Danny had the guts to send it, but he doesn’t want his mother to know. The judge says that the law requires her to rule according to the best evidence available, and the email, sad as it is, is enough. She rules for Mr. Hayes.

His wife turns to him and flatly says he knew about the heart condition. She tells him not to come home, to email her an address and she’ll ship his things, but she doesn’t want him near her. “I should never have let you near my son,” she gasps.

Back at the firm, Maggie tries to look at the bright side, but the only thin she comes up with is Eli’s having visions without an aneurysm. He turns on Patti for not doing his dirty work for him. Patti’s like, what should I say, the man we love and stood vigil for is dying again? No thanks. Eli shouts for attention: “I just want to let you know that the aneurysm’s back. Big, bad, funnier than ever. I will do my best not to drop dead in your office. Thank you!” Maggie watches, dumbstruck. She apologizes for not knowing, and he tells her to save her pity, since he almost drowned in it last year. He’s pissed that he’s back to being defined by the defect in his brain. Maggie tells him the only pity he’s drowning in is self-pity. She demands to know who he’s so angry at. Hayes, for one, for bringing him in to destroy his marriage, and Jordan, for two, for taking on a cause because of him and not letting him defend him. Maggie, without saying so, tells him not to be so self-centered, as those things aren’t in his control. He’s also mad at Grace for leaving; he grouses that he finally meets someone he likes (ouch, Mags) and she’s disappearing. Patti tells him Nate’s on the phone, and he’s mad at Nate, too, for bringing him to the game and letting him see what he’d be missing. He tells Patti to tell Nate he’s on his way.

At Nate’s, Eli points at his brother and says that Nate bought Grace the ticket and took him to the game for a reason. He doesn’t know how or why, but he knows Nate did it. Nate smirks and steps away from the door. He tells Eli that since he didn’t want to talk about his aneurysm, he had to go looking for answers elsewhere. He slaps a battered, rubber-banded composition book on the table. It’s their dad’s, and he found it in their mother’s garage. Eli: “Dad kept a diary?” Nate says it reads like a crazy person’s to do list. He wrote down names, places—whatever he saw. “It all has to do with you,” Nate says. “You now, ten years after he died.” Nate read some of it, and he found out what Eli did, asking for the aneurysm back. It’s in there, the date and everything: “E saves Chan’s life.” (Chan was Nate’s nickname. I think it was Chan.) Eli won’t look his brother in the eye, but tries to take the notebook. Nate snatches it back, saying he hasn’t read it all, and a lot of it doesn’t make sense, but Grace was in there, as was the ticket and the date of the game. “Why?” Eli asks, breathless. Nate asks why Eli asked for the aneurysm. “Because I didn’t want it to ruin your life,” Eli says. Nate thinks their dad didn’t want it to ruin Eli’s, either. “You are not alone,” he repeats. He wanted Eli to know he could still be happy. Eli shakes himself and tells Nate that Grace is leaving, moving to Africa. He asks why he’d meet her. Nate doesn’t know, especially after everything she’s been through. He sighs sadly when he realizes Eli doesn’t know. He opens the notebook for Eli and hands it to him.

Eli runs to the airport, where he finds Grace. Turns out that Grace has the same heart condition as Danny: rare, hereditary, sudden death. They have a lot in common, he thinks. “The guy with the defective brain and the girl with the defective heart,” she says. “When do we go see the wizard.” Eli tells her that, with the ticket, the “you are not alone,” he’s supposed to get her to stay. She doesn’t think a  higher power would want him to stop her from helping people in Kenya. He offers to come with her, but she tells him that he’d just be thinking of Jordan. That’s who he is, that’s who she’s fallen for. He thinks they weren’t brought together for nothing. “It wasn’t for nothing,” she tells him. She thinks it’s proof that there’s someone out there for them. “It was a reminder.” Eli thinks there has to be more, and Grace is certain there is: he gave her a magical airport moment, complete with sweet kissing. She wants it to be good bye; he wants it to be for now. She tells him that no one knows what will happen in the future, not even him. They say their sad goodbyes. Poor defective brain and heart.