Eli Stone: Unwritten (Episode 203)

Testify! Jordan is fed up that Eli and Taylor cannot have a conversation without fighting. She thinks he shouldn’t take the stand to testify that he doesn’t have post-traumatic stress disorder (since the burden of guilt is on Martin and Marci); Eli thinks he should (because it will prove he’s in control of all his faculties). Jordan agrees with Eli, which, after they’ve left, Taylor points out to Eli is the fourth time he’s done that. Eli exposits that she asked for a bench trial to protect her dad from a jury, an expedited hearing to shield him from the press, and now she doesn’t want him on the stand. Jordan needs a litigator, not an overprotective daughter, he says. They both wish an outside firm would take this on, but none will. Eli climbs onto a trolley and into a vision.

Eli shakes himself, muttering. Behind him, Jordan says he’s anxious, too, but in situations like this, it’s best to focus on the client. “Because of the thing with the case,” Eli adds. Jordan leads Eli out, eventually revealing that he’s about to face the greatest court in the land—you know, that supreme one.

A random associate quizzes Matt about Jordan’s proposal to cut salaries and how nutso that is. Keith gets bullshit, telling the guy that he owes Jordan for his richie lifestyle. He orders the kid to show Jordan some respect. Taylor catches the tail-end of the conversation and gets pissed at Matt for not saying anything. He says that no one will believe him because he won’t be objective, which he thinks is going to be a huge problem for Taylor as well when she faces a judge on behalf of her father. He tells her that she doesn’t have to represent her dad to prove to him she’s a great lawyer. She blows him off, saying she’s got work to do.

Nate and Eli walk, and Nate says that maybe “this” is the case that will take him to the Supreme Court. Eli thinks Nate has vision fever. “You had a vision last week; you read a little bid of Dad’s journal; it’s all cool and exciting; you got the prophet bug,” he says. He tells Nate has no time for new cases at the moment, but Nate wants him to come with him to the free clinic where he’s been working since he was divinely separated from his aneurysm. He has a six-year-old patient with severe health problems, thanks to the peeling lead paint in the low income crappy housing she and her family live in. Eli says that cases like that are nearly impossible to prove, plus the statue of limitations on lead paint suits has run out. He leaves Nate and crosses the street into another vision. This time, he and Jordan are standing in front of the Supreme Court building. Jordan says that the equal protection clause was written for cases like theirs, people struggling against powerful interests fighting against them. It’s the pinnacle of his career, and but for Eli, he’d be fighting the other side, representing the LPA. He’d be arguing the constitutional rights of paint manufacturers to poison children. Eli realizes what’s going on, and the vision fades. Nate runs up to him and says he has “vision face,” asking if it was about his case. Eli tweaks to AGAIN and accuses Nate of reading their dad’s journal. He has, and once he saw the Lees’ names, he freaked. Eli stops him from continuing, saying he doesn’t want to live his life according to their dad’s “unibomber prophecy manifesto.” Nate tells Eli that if he only knew the Kims—but Eli says he knows Jordan, and he knows what will happen if he doesn’t help him. He takes the journal from Nate’s hands and tells him to go be a doctor.

Eli’s brought the journal to Chen, saying he’s done a “controlled skim” of the page Nate dogeared for him, which confirmed what Nate and his vision said. The page had the name Kim, that of the client, plus Chen’s, and Nurhachi, who Chen says was one of his teachers in China. He gave Chen nightmares. He studied zhiguai, accounts of anamolies, black magic: “the Buddhist version of The X-Files.” He taught Chen an acupuncture technique called the Dark Truth. It’s old medicine, he says, that’s supposed to bring clarity through pain. But he won’t do it on Eli, because it’s too dangerous. Eli says that if it’s about Jordan, he has to know. Cut to Eli on the table, needles in his chest. Chen tells him to take a deep breath. Eli tells him to do it. One more needle at the heart and Eli falls into a red hole of pain.

In his vision, he’s in the WPK building, but it’s just Posner and Klein now. The first person he sees is Matt, who is back in fine form with the teasing and sarcasm. It’s six months from now, and Eli has lost Jordan’s case, and Jordan his place in the firm. That’s what happens when the lawyer is crazier than the defendant, Matt says. Eli gasps and clutches his heart, waking up in Chen’s office. Cut to Jordan’s office, where Eli’s trying to withdraw from the case, to Jordan and Taylor’s annoyed astonishment. He says to trust the case to Taylor: “I would just drag you down.” Jordan coldly says that if this is the way Eli will serve his case, he’s right. Taylor dismisses him and assures her dad that she can do this for him.

Patti smacks Eli for bailing on Jordan, which is like choosing the enemy side. Eli says he got a 911 from God. Patti tells him to *69 right back onto to the case, and Eli protests that it just doesn’t work like that. He next tries to draft Maggie into the lead paint case, but she breezily says that she won’t turn against their mentor like that. Eli sets her straight: Jordan is HIS mentor, Taylor is handling it, and Maggie is incapable of saying no to him (especially when a sick kid’s involved). Maggie: “I hate you.”

Taylor drafts Keith from the case he’s working with Matt. Matt’s like, no problem, I’m all for it, since Jordan needs AN OBJECTIVE LAWYER NOT YOU TO HELP HIM. For the record, I am still concerned about Natasha Henstridge’s forehead.

Nate’s patient, Leesie, has been having seizures most of her life, and more than that, her teachers have labeled her “slow.” Her medical bills are more than the family makes in a year, and they think a different place would make her better. Her mother can’t say for sure that she saw Leesie eating paint, but as a toddler, she’d put anything she could get her hands on into her mouth, and her mother saw her picking at the paint. Leesie brings over a picture she’s drawn, and her mother praises her in Mandarin. Eli explains that, since the house was built in the 50s, there’s two decades of lead paint on the walls, and they don’t know from which manufacturer. This is what makes lead paint liability cases impossible to win: no one knows who to sue. Eli’s solution? Sue them all.

At the courthouse, Eli tells Maggie (and her weird purple Peter Pan suit) that he needs to be alone at the table with Leesie; the defense will have an army, and the visual of Eli and the little girl will be a powerful tool against them. Keith, Taylor, and Jordan confer down the way. Eli and Jordan share A Look.

Various heads of various huge companies testify to Jordan’s sudden conversion to goodness and his abdication as their lawyer. Taylor asks one about the charity he set up, which Jordan advised him to do 30 years ago. When, as Taylor puts it, he had “pre-traumatic stress syndrome.” Marci has one more witness: Ellen Wethersby. Taylor and Jordan do the full-on exorcist head twist on that one.

Eli fights a mouthy defense attorney who accuses him of having no evidence. The judge sides with him, saying that while he’s not a heartless bastard without sympathy for a six-year-old girl, he needs Eli to present some evidence within 24 hours to prove that he has causation and, therefore, a case.

Taylor objects to Jordan’s wife taking the stand, citing marital privilege. Marci’s been warned, though, and she’s good to go. She asks Ellen to describe Jordan’s behavior since the building fell down on him. “He’s different, isn’t he?” Jordan gives his wife the nod. She says that he can’t sleep, and he’s working all the time. Taylor gets to her feet and asks if the no sleeping and constant working is a sign of someone traumatized or reinvigorated. Ellen can’t answer that. Taylor asks if she’s in therapy, over Marci’s objection. Ellen says she is. Taylor asks if Ellen’s asked him to do the same, which she hasn’t. Taylor’s like, good to know you’re so worried. Marci asks Ellen if she spoke to anyone about her concerns, and she says she talked to Taylor. Taylor objects and is overruled. Taylor’s response was that she was worried that he’d become self-destructive. Outside, Taylor apologizes. Jordan says that there’s no problem with a daughter being worried about her dad, but as a client, he’s worried. Taylor says she’ll fix it. Jordan has the solution: he’s taking the stand. He leaves to work on his testimony.

At the firm, Eli’s on his way out when he sees Jordan poring over books and papers. Eli apologizes again for leaving him in the lurch, but he knows this case will take them to the Supreme Court. He saw them there, working together. Jordan’s like nice, but that doesn’t help me. Eli tells him that a vision saved him when he was trapped in the bank. He’s about to tell Jordan about what he saw for Leesie, but Jordan gets angry, shouting that he doesn’t care. He’s about to lose his firm, what he’s worked for his whole life. He’s accused of not being in his right mind, which he finds ironic, given that Eli’s his inspiration and now he’s doubting Eli’s sanity. Eli reminds him that he was the one who wanted to fire half their clients—he advocated change, a little revolution, not total dynastic overthrow. Jordan’s hurt that Eli would indulge his “personal fantasies” when he’s fighting something very real at the moment. Eli, not considering that he could have gotten them to the Supreme Court by trying and losing Jordan’s case, that losing might be best for both of them, insists he’s doing this for Jordan. Jordan gets back to work.

Eli leaves and walks straight into a vision. They’re in the Supreme Court, which is awing Jordan with his awesomeness. It turns out that Eli trounced Gibbons, the mouthy lawyer, at trial, and now he and Eli are facing Posner and Klein. Eli takes the case file from Jordan, hoping to learn how he trounced Gibbons, but he comes to holding an issue of Us Weekly. He immediately calls Maggie: “I found out how we win.”

Eli’s withdrawn his product liability claim and is filing the complaint as a public nuisance, which requires no causation on the plaintiff’s part and has no statute of limitations. (He compares it to factories scrubbing smoke stacks; paint manufacturers should be responsible for stripping poisonous walls.) He’s given the green light.

Jordan testifies that he had a moment of clarity when he suggested culling the firm’s client list. He realized the way he lived his life had been detrimental to himself and others. Martin rises, and he and Jordan spar for a moment before Jordan says that Martin’s just trying to unseat him as head of the firm. Martin says that paranoia is a symptom of PTSD. Jordan’s like, than GOD this trial is just a delusion, then. He explains that the accident was not the reason for his sudden conversion: he was on his way to make the changes when the building collapsed. He admits Eli was his motivation. Martin presents Eli’s “counsel to the Almighty” testimony. He hands it to Jordan to read the part where Eli says that he’s changed people’s lives with messages from God. Martin’s ultimate question: does Jordan believe changing the firm is a divine mandate? Keith objects and objects and tries to call recess until the judge tells Martin to shut up and dismisses for the day.

Gibbons offers Eli, Maggie, and the Kims half a million, with a confidentiality clause and no claim to liability or possible future suit. Eli tells the Kims that this is a bribe, and they can turn it down and help so many other people. The Kims can’t say no to this kind of money, which would pay off their debts and then some. Eli’s like, but my vision! The Kims say they’ll think about it. They leave, and Eli tells Maggie that they won’t take it. She thinks it’s malpractice for him to counsel them to turn it down, since they need that money. Nate is ready to celebrate. Eli, confused, says that this isn’t how it’s supposed to go. He decides he needs the journal. On hearing that Papa Stone had visions, too, Maggie turns to Nate and asks if he can see the future, too. “No. Well, once.” Maggie shakes this off and tells Eli to think about the present: he doesn’t need a book to tell him what the right thing to do is.

Keith and Jordan drink scotch so that Jordan can throw a pity party. Keith tells Jordan that Taylor was right not to want him to take the stand. Jordan admits he owes her an apology. Plus, Keith says, she was right to get rid of Eli, since he’d have handed Posner and Klein the win with Eli at the table. Jordan realizes this is what Eli said. “I guess we were better off without him,” he says. Keith has the original game plan of WPK in his hand. He says it’s hard to imagine the three of them, his age, planning their futures. Way to call him ancient, dude. Jordan hands him the napkin with the original plan on it. “Exhibit A,” he says. Keith thinks it might just be.

At Chen’s, Eli demands the book back. Chen refuses to give it, saying that Eli has to accept that he can’t control the uncontrollable. Eli says this can’t be how it goes, two cases that should be won both being lost, and he has to know the plan. Chen seriously tells him that he doesn’t want to know what’s in the journal: “I wish I didn’t know.” Eli says if there was something that bad, Nate would have told him. Chen thinks there are things in it that Nate wouldn’t understand. Eli had to know when he took back the aneurysm that there would be dark times. Eli says yes, but if there’s something in there that can help Jordan, he’s going to use it. Chen reluctantly gives him the book. He tells Eli that if he wants to help, he should just be there for Jordan. He doesn’t need the journal.

On the stand, Jordan thinks the only thing relevant to his case is whether or not he has PTSD, and if he’s capable of charting the course of a firm he helped build 30 years ago. He says Eli is only a factor in that he’s reminded Jordan of the way he used to be—the way all three WPK founders were. He produces the mission statement. “WPK will be a firm that serves the public good and honors the public trust,” he reads. He thinks it ironic that it’s so evocative of the statement he’s made recently that makes him apparently crazy. Marci leans on her hand, like, oh, here we go. Jordan wonders how they got here, from a bold idealistic dream to accusations of insanity. It starts with compromises until you’ve compromised everything. Thirty years ago, he and his friends promised to change the world, and it somehow became a way to make money. He says he’s trying to honor his true, dumber self. “In a way, it is like post-traumatic stress,” he says, “because I don’t ever want to go back to the battle that stole that person from me.” Keith nods his approval.

Eli goes to see Jordan. He says his clients got the offer they couldn’t refuse. Jordan won his case, too, but Marci and Martin had the board vote him out as managing partner immediately. He thinks that was their play all along. They tried to discredit him and succeeded, and they would have done that with Eli representing him even more fully, had he been a lawyer instead of a friend. Eli: FRIEND? Jordan asks what other word is better for someone you care deeply about and admire even more? Make out already, guys. Eli thought after their fight, they weren’t friends. Jordan says that friends fight, and at that moment, he couldn’t deal with visions of the Supreme Court. Now, however… Eli’s like, yeah, we missed that boat. “We all have visions, Eli,” Jordan says. Like his for his firm. If they weren’t meant to go to the Supreme Court with Leesie’s case, maybe another. Eli thinks it needs to go to the Supreme Court, but maybe it needs someone else. Eli asks what now, and Jordan says he’s going to start the practice he intended to. He asks if Eli won’t follow his old boss to a new firm. Eli: “No. But I’ll follow my friend.”

Eli gives his case to Jeffrey Powell, the attorney for the residents of Silver Terrace. Powell’s like, but this case is huge! And brilliant! And huge! “Why me?” he asks. “We’re not exactly besties.” Eli says that’s good, since it means no one will follow it back to him. “This has to be someone else’s crusade,” he says.

Marci and Martin offer to let Jordan stay as counsel. “That’s a very magnanimous consolation prize, Martin. I have some rather specific anatomical suggestions as to what you can do with it,” Jordan says. He asks for the firm to return the paintings from his personal collection. Enter Taylor, with AWESOME news: one of her first assignments with the firm was to go over the real estate holdings. When WPK bought the building, Martin was going through a nasty divorce and Marci was fighting (false, she says) insider trading charges. So they agreed to put Jordan’s name on the title, and only Jordan’s name. Jordan looks at his daughter, astounded. “Marci, Martin. It appears you’re trespassing on my property,” Jordan says. All attorneys will have a week to decide if they want to stay. Yaaaay!

Eli meets Chen on the rooftop for another barbecue. He has the journal. He didn’t read it, he says. He doesn’t want to live his life according to it says might happen. “I don’t want to try to control the uncontrollable anymore.” He throws the journal into the fire, which Chen thinks is bold. Bold would be reading it, or asking what’s in it, he says. Chen: “You’re going to take long strides on the surface of the earth, Eli. And with every step, you’re going to change the world.” It doesn’t matter if it was in the book, it’s what Chen believes.

Eli walks home, and into a vision. He’s a the Supreme Court again. This time Powell is at the table. And there in the courtroom? Maggie, surprised to see him. Only Maggie’s not fighting for the Leesies of the country. She’s there with Posner, Klein, and Associates, on behalf of the Lead Paint Manufacturer’s Alliance. Eli’s eyebrows, they spring right off his head.