Episode 13 - Flight Path

'Flight Path' - Eli's in his apartment eating cornflakes and reading the newspaper, when he starts singing and dancing along to George Michael's 'Faith'. This frivolity is short lived when he literally falls into a vision of a field where a woman in the distance waves to him. She's saying something but Eli's too far away to hear. He tries to get closer but debris starts falling from the sky, followed by a burning airplane.

Eli talks this over with Dr. Chen, convinced that, just like dear old Dad, the vision means a plane's going to crash and he needs to stop it. Frank points out he doesn't know what flight it will be or where it will crash, and that Eli should go online to see if he can find out who the woman in the vision was.

The next day, Taylor's at a café with Jordan who presents her with baby booties that were once hers. This immediately gets Taylor thinking about Matt and how good they are together. She admits that she thought working together again would be difficult, but she still looks forward to going home and seeing his "little frat boy face" at night. She's starting to realize that maybe they have a future together. Jordan confesses he's been trying to get in touch with Taylor's mother, calling her but hanging up. Taylor encourages him to face up to his ex-wife.

At Posner & Klein, Maggie is doling out work to a subordinate like a pro, which impresses Paul. He asks her to second chair a case that will require them working closely together and some travel. Maggie says she'll think about it.

Across town at Wethersby Stone & Associates, Taylor and Matt are listening to an engaged couple bicker over their prenuptial agreement. Taylor rants about the important things they should be focusing on, like embracing conflict. As she goes on she realizes that she's describing how she feels about Matt, and asks him to marry her in front of the couple. Matt is dumbfounded.

Eli is at St. Vincent's hospital where Nate confirms his latest MRI reveals no change on the aneurysm front. Then Nate gets a page about another patient – a woman about to get a heart transplant. Turns out the parents of the donor heart patient have revoked their consent after finding out Nate's patient is an atheist. Eli says they can sue to get the heart, and tags along when Nate goes to see her. He discovers the would-be transplant recipient is none other than the woman from his vision.

Eli sets about getting Diane the heart and enlists Keith to join him when they meet the donor's parents, the Carlisles. Turns out the family is Catholic and don't like the idea of their daughter's heart burning in hell for all eternity. Keith accuses them of discrimination but the Carlisles are unmoved.

Matt confronts Taylor about the proposal. After everything that's been going on with them lately, she thinks they should stop wasting time and just marry each other. Matt's fine with that, but insists on getting down on one knee and proposing to her.

Eli and Keith discuss their transplant case as Eli prepares to go before a judge to make the Carlisles give the heart to Diane. This segues into another crash vision. Diane is present again, but it's the discovery of a charred WSA leather case in the wreckage that has Eli thinking the vision might be warning him of danger closer to home.

At the firm staff meeting, Jordan announces that Taylor and Matt are engaged. To celebrate he hands out staff gifts for everyone – WSA travel cases just like the one Eli saw in his vision. He leaps into action, trying to get the TSA to ground flights while getting Patti to find out who in the firm is planning to fly somewhere. It turns out Jordan is going to Colorado to see Taylor's mother in person. Eli tries to convince him not to, but even though his visions saved Jordan's life when he was stuck in the building collapse, Jordan isn't about to let Eli's latest hunch stop him from living his life. Even if it kills him.

Keith and Eli argue their case for the donor heart before a judge, who takes the matter under advisement. Back at WSA, Matt surprises Taylor with next day, first class tickets to Maui so they can elope. They head home to pack and catch Eli coming back to the office. When he finds out what they're planning he tries to stop them from flying, but Taylor points out that Jordan landed safely in Colorado so there's no way she's not going away with Matt because of the vision.

Keith is visited by the donor patient's ex-boyfriend who informs him that she renounced the church six months previously, and would want her heart to go to Diane. He backs this up by presenting Keith with emails she wrote expressing her beliefs (or lack thereof) in God.

At Taylor's, she's enthusiastically packing for Hawaii while Matt is still stewing over Eli's vision. He doesn't want to take the trip if there's even the slightest possibility that something could happen to Taylor or their baby.

Over at the hospital, Diane refuses to allow Eli and Keith to use the emails in the hearing, because it will only hurt the Carlisles if they find out that their daughter didn't believe in the church anymore. She doesn't think she could live with herself if she did that to them.

Back at work, Matt lets Eli know that he's annoyed with himself for believing him over the vision – the Maui flight didn't crash but neither he nor Taylor were on it. But Eli has another vision about the flight, this time seeing a news report so he knows that the plane is due to crash that very day. Only problem is he doesn't know what flight so he can't warn them like his father did. So he enlists Frank to help him convince Nate that they need to try the Dark Truth. Regular acupuncture is not providing the answers he needs. Nate, realizing this is exactly what happened with their father and he died a week later, is not thrilled with this idea. But Eli convinces him, saying that Nate monitoring his condition while he's under will ensure his safety. Nate still has doubts, but they proceed with the Dark Truth. Eli's vision has him at an airport where paramedics are trying to resuscitate someone. Turns out that someone is Eli and the paramedic, unable to revive him, calls his time of death.

But there's no time to dwell on this portent of doom, because Eli's due in court for the judge's decision on the donor heart. She's about to rule that the Carlisles can withhold it from Diane, when Eli decides to use the emails anyway. After questioning Mrs. Carlisle and revealing her daughter's true beliefs, they decide to let Diane have the heart. But not before calling what Eli did repugnant. Eli's more concerned about getting Patti to double check that none of the WSA staff are flying that day. She assures him that no one is.

At the hospital, Diane is annoyed that Eli used the emails, but she's grateful that she's getting the heart. Eli checks his phone messages to find one from Maggie – she was sent one of the WSA bags that she's using on a business trip to Rome with Paul. Eli tries to call her back but her phone's not working, so he has to rush to the airport to try and stop her. Unfortunately before he can get to the gate he collapses.

Eli wakes up in a hospital bed with Maggie by his side. She explains that one of his aneurysms burst. The bleeding has been stopped now. The paramedics were able to get him the help he needed because Maggie was there to tell them about Eli's condition, and that he hadn't had a heart attack as first suspected. But Maggie was only there because she changed her mind about going to Rome with Paul and insisted on getting off the flight right before it took off. Her shenanigans caused the flight crew to redo all of their safety checks before they could leave again, and a problem with the engine was found. Eli realizes it was Maggie who saved everyone, including him. They start to talk about what's going on between them when Nate arrives, bearing bad news. Diane didn't survive the transplant. Later Eli wanders the hospital hallways and finds a snow globe that prompts him to have another vision.

This time he's back in the Himalayas just like he was in the pilot, only this time his father is there too. After establishing that he's not in heaven and that his father isn't God, Eli wants to know why Diane had to die. His father reveals that everything happens for a reason and Eli doesn't get to choose – in this case, Diane dying meant that the donor heart could be given to another patient. It went to Grace, who was back in San Francisco waiting for the right time to reconnect with Eli, when her heart gave out. Eli's father says Eli's soul mate was saved instead. Eli says he doesn't want to have any part in the divine visions if it puts people he loves, like Maggie, in danger. Eli wonders if it was a test; his father says everything is a test and that Eli is passing with flying colors. He couldn't be more proud.

Some time later, Eli is back at work and setting pictures on his desk. Young Eli is there with his father, Nate, and importantly, Maggie. To the strains of 'Brand New Day' Eli gets up and walks through the office, ready for whatever comes next.

(Airs on Saturday July 11 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, Jaime Murray, Kerr Smith as Paul Rollins, Alanna Ubach, Brenda Wehle, Missy Yager, Tim Guinee, Gregory Smith, Megan Hilty, Coby Ryan McLaughlin, Michael Benyaer and Tom Cavanagh.

'Flight Path' was written by Lindsey Allen and Oscar Balderrama and directed by David Petrarca.