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Episode: The Humanitarian

ELI STONE - "The Humanitarian" - Eli and Jordan take on a case to force the government to allow clinical trials of marijuana to cure MS. However, the billionaire philanthropist who backs them soon realizes that his own soon, suffering from MS, doesn't wish to participate. Meanwhile, Maggie and Matt try to determine who the mole is within the new firm that is luring clients to Posner-Kline.

"Eli Stone" Promotion Pictures featuring Steven Culp

Detailed summary:

Jordan and Eli lead Wethersby, Stone and Associates' first staff meeting on client retention as, in their new office, Matt leads Posner and Klein's staff meeting (with Maggie present). Posner and Klein has successfully poached almost every one of WPK's client list. Taylor and Eli suspect someone working for Wethersby is sabotaging their deals so that Posner and Klein can beat them to the punch. Eli believes retaining the rich client Jim Cooper, a philanthropist trying to grow a strain of marijuana that will help cure his son's MS, will be key to keeping the firm solvent.

While Eli reads through a file from the Cooper case, it catches fire. He puts it out. Then, the entire box of files catches fire. Eli's not sure what this vision means.

Eli and Jordan attend Jim Cooper Junior (J.J.)'s swim meet and gets enough time from Jim to pitch their ability to help Jim acquire a DEA license to grow his marijuana. Impressed by their approach, Jim hires Jordan and Eli.

On Eli's way out, he finds himself in another vision: a musical number complete with dancers and fire in which Jordan sings to him, "You Don't Mess Around With Jim."

Patti snags Keith in the office, begging him to take the DUI case of her daughter, Angela, a young medical student. Patti threatens Keith with a butter knife until he takes the case. Resigned, Keith agrees to meet in a conference room with Angela -- and is immediately smitten by the beautiful woman.

Matt visits Taylor in her office. He complains about her coming home every night and goes to sleep over her files. Taylor interrogates him about how they seem to be a step ahead of all her meetings. Her distrust of Matt and Posner and Klein's motives causes an argument between the couple, and Taylor kicks Matt out.

Eli, Jordan and Cooper visit a federal DEA agent. Marijuana is legal in California, but not under federal law. Jim reveals that his wife also died from MS. Eli tells Cooper he'lll sue the government for federal marijuana.

He steps into an elevator by himself, which descends quickly out of control. The door opens into Cooper's lab, which is burning. He sees someone sitting at the window and yells at the man to get out before the roof is engulfed in flames and crashes down. Eli jumps back into the elevator to find himself back in reality, with Jordan, Eli and the Coopers watching, astonished.

Chen fixes his garden when Eli stops by. They discuss whether all these visions are warning him to drop the case, whether he'll go to hell for it. Chen sees no other options, but Eli won't drop the case. Chen warns Eli that going against the visions is risky.

A government lawyer questions a DEA agent in court. Eli argues that previous studies regarding MS and cannabis have never been done regarding juvenile onset MS. He questions why the government should discriminate based on age.

Keith tries to get ADA Sam to drop Angela's DUI case. He presents evidence that the arresting officer had given several DUIs in the past to women who rejected him for dates. Trapped by Keith's smooth tactics, Sam drops the case against Angela. On their way out, Keith asks Angela out, and she accepts.

Eli comes back to his office to find J.J., who's concerned about his high school swimming career. Taking part in a marijuana study would end his swimming career and a shot at the Olympics. J.J. would rather achieve as much as he can while his MS is in remission, and confesses that participating in the clinical trial is his overbearing father's idea, not his. Eli feels terrible.

The next morning, Patti grills Keith about his upcoming date with Angela. Keith promises to take good care of Angela, but Patti still doesn't trust him, threatening him with violence if he makes even one misstep.

In court, Jim testifies that setting up his clinical cannabis trial was all for J.J.'s well being; he presents himself as a concerned father. When Jim explains J.J.'s dedication to quitting swimming to go into the clinical trial, Eli, in an effort to protect J.J., questions Jim's truthfulness, causing chaos among the defense team. During a recess, Jordan and Jim are furious at Eli, but Eli lets out that J.J. doesn't want to be in the clinical trial. Jordan impresses upon Eli the importance of winning Jim Cooper's case, as he is the cornerstone client of the new firm. In other words, Jordan warns Eli not to get involved in the Coopers' family issues.

Keith takes Angela out to a romantic Thai restaurant. Checking to see if he's a "playa," she looks at his cell phone history -- he calls his mother a lot, work, and his brother Terry. Angela begins to trust Keith. They take a walk together and make out.

Maggie pays a visit to Eli's office. She brings the name of the person who's been leaking information to Posner and Klein. Maggie describes her life at the new firm, but underneath her glowing description, it's obvious she's not happy there. Maggie does, however, admit that not working with Eli or Jordan makes her "miss things" about her former firm.

Back at the office, Patti walks into Keith's office. He's immediately defensive, but Patti just reports that Angela said she had a nice time.

In court, Eli fervently argues that Jim should continue with his clinical trial, despite his motives regarding his son. The judge finds in favor of Jim Cooper. As Jim celebrates, Eli prods J.J. to tell his father how he really feels. J.J. can't find the nerve to stand up to his father. Eli again feels terrible.

Keith receives a phone call from the ADA that Angela's DUI blood test revealed traces of cocaine. The charges were dropped, but the ADA is just calling to let him know. His perfect woman not seeming so perfect anymore, Keith doesn't know what to do.

At the next staff meeting, Eli and Jordan announce the flood of new clients their firm has been able to retain after winning the Cooper case, which cheers up the staff. As the meeting adjourns, Eli and Jordan talk to Rudy, the attorney who has been feeding Posner and Klein information. Instead of firing Rudy, Eli gives him a second chance to show them why he's worth keeping at the firm.

Over in Chinatown, Eli shares a beer with Chen. Eli feels guilty over his inability to affect the father/son relationship between the Coopers. Chen chastises Eli for defying his visions, and warns of dire consequences.

But Eli is not done with the Coopers yet. That night, J.J. comes over to Eli's house. He wants emancipation from his father, and asks Eli to represent him. (c) aceshowbiz.com

Detailed summary:

Another good but not great episode of Eli Stone. I don't know what is missing but this season of Eli Stone has kind of been disappointing so far. Eli Stone was probably the biggest surprise of last season and why I loved the show so much was because the show did something few shows do today, it was actually uplifting and charming. While those still remain this season they aren't as prevalent as they were last season.

I think this is at least partially due to Eli not having nearly as vivid visions as he did the first season. I thought Eli's wacky visions distinguished it from other shows. This year's visions have been much more bland in my opinion. Despite not being as good as the first season, Eli Stone is a must watch and I encourage anyone who likes TV to at least tryout Eli Stone if they haven't already.

Well unto last night's episode. I am left wondering why Steven Culp always has to be the bad guy nowdays. Since his departure from Desperate Housewives, essentially all of his roles have been villains to varrying degrees. I also question how a two week episode arc will work on Eli Stone (the next episode will involve the same case). Since I thought this week's case was only average, I don't know if it really deserved two episodes. I guess we will have to wait and see.

On the positive side it is always great when a member of the cast spontaneously bursts into song. I also thought it was pretty screative when Eli decided to use the fact that the government had a monopoly of Marijuana for clinical tests. (c) thetvlegion.com

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Steven Culp on "Eli Stone"

Episode: The Humanitarian