Episode 02 - Grace

'Grace' - As they jog, Nate asks Eli about how his aneurysm returned exactly when Nate's symptoms went away. They jog into a tunnel, which becomes a jazz club where Eli has a vision of a beautiful woman who sings and dances to a sexy musical number of the Duke Ellington song "Hit Me With A Hot Note" Eli tells Dr. Chen that he's never had a connection like he had with the woman in his vision.




A man named Thomas Hayes walks into Eli's office, looking for his help. His son Daniel died in Iraq, and Mr. Hayes wants to stop his wife from having Daniel buried with military honors. Thomas is a veteran himself, and claims numerous reasons why Daniel shouldn't be buried in uniform. One reason is that he died of a rare heart disease, not in combat. But Thomas also claims (without proof) that Daniel told him he wouldn't have wanted a military funeral.

Nate takes Eli to a baseball game, the last one in Marvels Stadium. In the crowd, he sees the woman from his vision. The woman drops her hot dog and soda, drawing annoyed comments from the people around her. Eli diverts their attention by heckling the home team. As the crowd throws food and beverages at him, Eli sees the woman is grateful for his self-sacrifice. The woman, Grace, helps Eli clean up. We discover that Grace is usually clumsy and also happens to be a lawyer for Lawyers Without Limits. Eli tries to convince her they were meant to meet and gives her his name and number. That night, Eli barbecues steak with Chen, who wonders if the vision of Grace was sent to Eli to show him he's not alone.




Jordan, who's healthy again, wants to call a partner meeting to present his plan for the company to focus exclusively on public interest and socially responsible work. Martin and Marci are flabbergasted. Jordan shows Martin and Marci the mission statement the three of them drew up when they founded the firm: a reminder that their ideals have changed over the years.

Eli, Maggie and Thomas have a conference with Mrs. Hayes and her lawyer. Mrs. Hayes believes a military funeral would give meaning to their son's death, while Thomas insists their son told them he wouldn't want one. As Thomas and his wife argue, it becomes apparent they won't be able to settle the case out of court.

Eli receives a call from Grace, who asks whether he sent her the ticket to the game. Apparently, she received the ticket a couple of days before along with a note: "You are not alone" Eli is amazed, but admits he didn't send the ticket. Eli asks Grace out to lunch, but she's leaving for Kenya in two days and is too busy and freaked out to continue the conversation. Later, Eli drops by her office with a dozen hot dogs ("Like roses, only smellier"). Grace is impressed. Because she's so busy, she invites Eli to walk with her to her next appointment.






Taylor confronts her father over his new direction for the firm and what it's doing to his relationship with Posner and Klein. Jordan doesn't like seeing his daughter upset, but she reassures him that she would always support him.

Eli and Grace walk across Central Park, eating their hot dogs. Grace explains that she was a bankruptcy lawyer until recently, but gave it up for a public interest job that gives her plenty of work hours and not much money or love life. Eli asks her why she used the ticket. She admits she thought it was unusual and could have lead to something magical. Eli asks her to dinner at a jazz place. Grace happens to love jazz.

In court, Eli and Maggie find themselves in a deadlock with the Hayes case. At the firm, Jordan enters the conference room to attend the partners' meeting. He finds only Martin and Marci there. They have filed a court order to freeze Jordan's authority, pending a psychological workup.

Right before his next court session, Eli frantically tries to find a jazz place to take Grace. Patti tells him about a restaurant with a Duke Ellington tribute band. Maggie drags Eli away so they won't be late for court. In session, they watch a video Daniel had sent a week before he died. Daniel seems content in Iraq, and on the tape he boasts that Sgt. Ellington has put him up for a medal. Eli is sure Ellington is relevant to the case. In private, Thomas admits to Eli that he served with Sgt. Ellington's father in the army, but doesn't think it relevant.

At the jazz club, Eli and Grace dance to "Hit Me With A Hot Note". He tells her about his aneurysm recurring and about his vision of her singing the song in the very club they are in. Grace also senses they're meant to be there. They share a romantic moment, but Grace stops short of kissing Eli because she's leaving for Kenya the next day.

Eli comes into work the next morning to find Thomas waiting for him. Thomas explains that Danny failed his first Army physical, but he got his friend Ellington to help get the Army to overlook his heart condition. Thomas feels guilty about the pressure he put on his son to join the Army and that it was his fault the Army didn't know about the heart condition. Thomas reads an email in which Daniel tells his father he joined the Army to make him proud, but his war experiences had gradually made him sick to put on the uniform. Eli gives the email to the judge, who rules in Thomas's favor. But after hearing the email, Mrs. Hayes is furious, blaming Thomas for their son's death.




Feeling terrible about winning the case but ruining a marriage, Eli returns to the office and yells to the entire staff that his aneurysm is back. Maggie is stunned and pulls Eli into his office. Eli rants about everything making him angry, including his situation with Grace. When Patti tells Eli that Nate is on the phone, Eli stops his rant. Maybe it was Nate who sent Grace that ticket.

Nate tells Eli he's been reading their deceased father's journal. The writing describes many of their father's visions, and a lot of them have to do with Eli in the present. This is how Nate found out Eli had asked for the aneurysm back. The journal also said the brothers would go to that baseball game, that Nate would send the tickets to Grace, and even provided a specific address. Eli tells Nate he asked for the aneurysm back so it wouldn't ruin Nate's life. The journal makes it clear their father didn't want Nate's life ruined, either, that meeting Grace was supposed to show Eli he wasn't alone. Eli wonders, then, why they would meet right before she was leaving for Africa. Nate shows Eli another passage in the journal that prompts him to rush to the airport.

Eli finds Grace before she catches her flight. He tells her he knows about her heart condition... which happens to be the exact same heart condition Daniel had! They're amazed at the coincidences. Eli believes this is a sign Grace is supposed to stay in San Francisco. Grace disagrees, thinking their meeting was just a reminder that there's someone out there for everyone; that no one is truly alone in the world. She thanks Eli for giving her a "magical airport moment." They kiss, share a tearful goodbye, and Grace walks off to board a plane to Africa.


(Aired on Tuesday October 21 2008 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, Tom Amandes as Martin Posner, Katie Holmes as Grace Fuller, Ken Howard as Thomas Hayes, Roxanne Hart as Emily Hayes, Gina Torres as Emily's Lawyer, Brenda Wehle as Judge, Katey Sagal as Marci Klein, Jarrett Sleeper as Daniel Hayes, Ewan Chung as Logan and Marcus Brown as Angry Fan.

'Grace' was written by Alex Taub and Leila Gerstein and directed by David Petrarca.




Source
ABC