Episode 10 - Sonoma


'Sonoma' - Eli wakens from a vision to find himself in the hospital. Nate and Dr. Chen are there, and the news isn't good. Eli remembers he was begging for Nate not to hate him over the whole Beth debacle, and Nate has to inform him that an MRI has revealed that Eli has a second aneurysm at the base of his brain, hence the nose bleeding. Though Nate says it's not uncommon for multiple aneurysms to form, Eli wonders if it's his own fault it happened. Dr. Chen looks uncomfortable when Nurhachi is mentioned, which Nate knows nothing about.

Matt is sitting on Taylor's bed reading a newspaper, while Taylor is looking at spa options for the relaxing getaway they're planning. Taylor complains about needing a break, given how focused they've been on the baby in the past few weeks. Matt gets a text about a settlement meeting that has gone awry.

This same settlement is brought up at an emergency WSA staff meeting. Eli is the plaintiff's lawyer and has been working on the case for a month. Taylor twigs it's the same case Matt mentioned, and that he is working for the defendant. A witness has been tracked down in a Sonoma jail cell and both sides are keen to talk to her.

At PK, Paul Rollins dispatches Matt and Maggie to talk to the witness, though Matt is immediately reluctant to go. Taylor, who's avoiding spending time with her father, decides she wants in on the case so she and Matt can still have their getaway after all.

The next morning, Taylor and Matt pick Eli up so they can travel together. Eli's not keen on the idea and is even more uncomfortable when Maggie shows up to catch a ride, too. During the drive, Matt reiterates his reluctance to stay in Sonoma, while Maggie demands that Eli apologizes for accusing her of sabotaging his relationships with other women. He does so to keep the peace, and admits he managed to ruin things with Ashley himself.

Back in San Francisco, Nate questions Dr. Chen over the whole Nurhachi story, but his threats of revealing to Eli that Chen kept a copy of their father's journal falls on deaf ears. Nate doesn't get any answers.

In Sonoma, Matt and Taylor would rather get their romantic weekend started while Eli and Maggie race to get to the witness first. Taylor and Matt are strolling down the street when Matt spots a familiar face – his ex-girlfriend Leah Rappaport. An awkward reunion follows. They catch up with Eli and Maggie at the Sonoma jail house who are arguing over who gets to speak to the witness, Jessie Bates, first. Turns out Jessie doesn't want to help either side with their case until they agree to help her with her own current incarceration. She runs an art gallery and is refusing to return a painting that someone was trying to sell, because that painting was stolen by the Nazis. The four lawyers agree to take the case, with Matt taking first chair after Eli and Maggie continue to bicker. The local judge is revealed to be none other than Matt's ex-girlfriend.

Nate continues his quest to find about 'the dark truth' by going to see Dr. Lee himself. She sees through him immediately and pegs him for Eli's brother. Across town, Patti offers to be Jordan's plus one at a benefit he's going to, after admitting that she used to treat him terribly behind his back after he found out about her drinking. She's trying to make amends.

In court, Matt struggles to keep the case on track when the judge inappropriately reveals what happened between them – he left her waiting at the airport when they were supposed to be going on a vacation, only emailing her 3 months later to say he had joined the FBI. She finds him in contempt for his behavior from 10 years earlier and throws him in jail. Eli steps into first chair. Things go a little better with Eli in charge, until Taylor objects to the judge's apparent bias against their side and ends up in a jail cell next to Matt's.

Jordan and Patti go to the benefit but the evening is ruined when they see his ex-wife Ellen and her new man.

Maggie and Eli continue to discuss the case in a hotel suite drinking wine. Maggie reveals that she met Eli when she was in her second year of law school – he came to speak at a University of Chicago dinner and a group of them went to a karaoke bar afterwards. A happily tipsy Maggie tries to get him to sing again before some very hot kissing ensues.

Matt's making jokes in jail but it isn't Taylor's idea of a romantic getaway. She's cool about the whole ex-girlfriend thing though, which Matt is a little put off by when he still struggles with the fact that Taylor sees her ex and love of her life every day. Taylor admits Eli isn't her great love, and that the position is still open. Matt asks if she's taking applications, and she says absolutely and reaches out to hold his hand through the cell bars.

Eli and Maggie are making out on the bed. He stops things, checking to make sure she isn't too drunk and that they both want this. They do, and things progress.

Nate makes another visit to Dr. Chen's. He tells him that Dr. Lee explained what the Nurhachi technique is, and confirmed that Chen performed it before. He admits he has, though only twice. The second time was on Eli, but he then reveals the first time was on Nate's father, who died less than a week later.

Jordan and Patti continue their night out, not at the benefit but at a diner. Patti wants to know why Jordan is letting Ellen walk all over him, but Jordan says it's his penance for everything he'd done, including cheating on Taylor's mother with Ellen. Patti calls him on it, suggesting he give himself a break and that if he wants to make amends with anyone it should be his first wife, Susan. He later takes the plunge and makes the call.

The next morning, Eli and Maggie wake up in bed together. Eli confesses to her about the second aneurysm. Maggie takes things the wrong way, like he's using the aneurysm as an excuse for what happened between them. She's interrupted by a phone call about their art theft case, and then cuts Eli off when he tries to explain what he meant.

The Sonoma court case is resolved and Jessie agrees to be a witness for the original settlement, but Eli discovers that Maggie got the jump him and has taken all of Jessie's evidence back to San Francisco for the defendant's side.

Matt and Taylor are released from jail, and he apologizes to the judge for the way he treated her. During the trip back home Matt and Taylor are relaxed and joking, but Eli, all alone in the backseat without Maggie, is unhappy as he still can't get in touch with her. Not surprising, as she's already back at PK working on the case and purposely ignoring his calls. He's still leaving messages for her that night, back home in his apartment. When he hears a knock on the door he hopes it's her, but instead it's a morose looking Nate and Dr. Chen. Nate prompts Chen to tell Eli about the copy of the journal that he kept, and about what he did before Eli's father died. Eli is understandably upset by this news, and the implications it has for his own health. Eli tells them both to get out.

(Airs on Saturday June 20 2009 on the ABC Television Network)

'Eli Stone' stars Jonny Lee Miller as Eli Stone, Victor Garber as Jordan Wethersby, Natasha Henstridge as Taylor Wethersby, Loretta Devine as Patti, Sam Jaeger as Matt Dowd, James Saito as Dr. Chen, Matt Letscher as Nathan Stone, Jason George as Keith Bennett and Julie Gonzalo as Maggie Dekker.

Guest stars include, Kerr Smith as Paul Rollins, Debrah Farentino as Ellen Wethersby, Melinda Clarke as Dr. Lee, Michaela Watkins as Judge Rappaport, Suzie Plakson as Jesse Bates, Tom McGowan as Donnie Griffiths, Nina Siemaszko as Katie Bochner, Andrew Borba as Eric Danvers, Frank Novak as Desk Sergeant, Michael Swan as Jeff Medearis, Ben Shields as Hotel Clerk and Paul Eric Jerome as Bailiff.

'Sonoma' was written by Brett Mahoney and Alex Taub and directed by Vincent Misiano.