Episode Report Card Keckler: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Singing In The Rain
By Keckler | Season 1 | Episode 6 | Aired on 03.05.2008
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Whew! It's out! It's finally out! Eli's aneurysm, that is. When no lawyer will represent Eli in his disbarment case, Taylor applies to her father. She gives him some guff about how the reason for their breakup was her infidelity and Law Daddy takes the case. However, when Nathan is called to the stand to testify about his brother's health, Eli -- having already asked Nathan to lie under oath to save both their jobs -- finally gets the point of this week's "Who'll Stop the Rain" visions and announces his aneurysm. While Jordan clearly feels hurt and betrayed, his professional pride won't let him give up on Eli's case. Jordan calls a press conference and files a countersuit against the California Bar Association for violations of Federal Americans with Disabilities Act. That suit buys them more time in front of the judge and Eli gets to make his case that his aneurysm makes him a better person and lawyer. The judge rules in his favor but sanctions him and fines him $1000 for Eli's initial cover-up of his condition.
In other case files, Bennett and Dowd team up to defend a ballplayer who kinda sorta accidentally killed his third base coach with a foul ball. Since the ballplayer (NOT BARRY BONDS!) is suspected of juicing, the ADA wants to make it a criminal case, likening it to vehicular manslaughter while under the influence. Dowd and Posner pull a meeting with the DA -- no "A" necessary -- who promises to speak to his underling and push him away from criminal charges. That all seems smooth and martini-lunched until the ADA shows up with photos showing the ballplayer's wife rolling in the sheets with the dead third base coach. Turns out the ballplayer hired a PI to follow his wife and, well, now it looks like the ballplayer did it in the baseball diamond with the baseball. (Hey, at least I didn't make a foul play joke!) Bennett and Dowd convince the slugger to surrender to the police.
Jordan is pretty pissed off at Eli but since he can't fire him, he instead divests Eli of his office, his assistant -- Patti's working for Taylor now, oh yes! -- his caseload, and perhaps most damaging, Jordan's regard. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
It's not often that a show makes me squeal, but when the show opened and we saw Eli talking to Allan Rachins about why he should represent Eli in his disbarment case, I did actually squeal. Because, seriously! It's Brackman from L.A. Law! The quirky lawyer show that spawned all quirky lawyer shows! (I'll still never forget that bizarre golf course case where some old biddy was salivating on the witness stand over her description of a golfer beating a swan to death with his club.) The fact that Rachins' head so perfectly blocks the second and third letters of his law firm's name so all you saw was B [head]ckman couldn't have been a coincidence. Anyway, Rachins, having shaved off his hippie Dharma & Greg locks in order to return to the straight-laced legal locks of his youth, basically tells Eli that he really has no shot at winning his case even if he could find a lawyer. Rachins is even more convinced of that fact after Eli admits that he's been hiding his life-threatening aneurysm. (Oh, wait -- there is an "E" behind Rachins' head. Darn.) Yeah, so things don't look too bright for Eli. However, it's Eli Stone, so I have a feeling the sun will come out tomorrow. In the middle of this meeting, Eli feels drops of water on his head that he assumes are coming from a faulty AC, but since we don't see the drops, we can expect visions soon.
Over at the firm's morning meeting, everyone is reacting to a new case. Maggie's gibbering, "He's dead? As in dead-dead?" Dowd has the best response for her yet when he snaps, "No, alive-dead. He is a zombie." Seriously -- shut up, Maggie, no one cares about a character who cries in nearly every episode. Eli enters at this point and snarks that he thought they were all filled up with "blood-sucking clients." Oh, Eli, zombie's aren't blood-sucking, they're brains-sucking! Then again, maybe Eli's a little blind where brains are concerned. Because, you know: aneurysm. Anyway, Eli's brainless quip pretty much goes over like the proverbial lead balloon as everyone else sort of shuffles papers or drinks coffee to avoid looking at him. Jordan makes a sardonic comment about no one reading the daily paper and clarifies that Jayson Turk, the All-Star catcher for the Golden State Marvels, hit a foul ball that bopped the third base coach on the head and, well, killed him. FOUL PLAY! (Sorry. Had to be said.) Posner drawls, "Yes, I picked an excellent night to bring the kids out to the firm's luxury box." A) I'm sure they couldn't even see much from the luxury box, since luxury boxes are so far from the actual playing field they might as well be at SFO; and B) They play video games. They'll get over it.