It happened again.
First time in six months.
Tuesday morning. I'm walking down Market Street.
Normal day. Normal week. And by "normal," I mean old normal.
Pre-aneurysm-surgery-removal normal. And then it happened.
I heard the music.
You're making this up.
Not the part about walking down Market Street. That actually happened.
I'm glad, after three months, you're finally beginning
- to take our work here seriously. - I'm trying to make a point.
- And that would be what, exactly? - My life is back to the way it was.
And even if it wasn't, it wouldn't make me any less competent to practice law.
I've never said otherwise. In fact, I don't think your visions are relevant
- to your ability to practice. - Something we agree on.
We're more in sync than you might imagine.
That's great. Then just sign my permission slip, and I'll be on my way.
It's not a permission slip to go to the zoo, Eli.
It's a recertification of your license following surgery.
Can I go to court without it?
Then it's a permission slip.
Depression, especially in men, is very common after major surgery.
- I'm not depressed. - Many feel something is missing.
- It's called my law license! - You don't need to raise your voice.
So tell me, how long have you been back at the office?
One very long week.
You look lovely this morning. Love that suit on you.
Now if I were to ask you to pick some numbers at random,
say six of them, what pops into mind?
- Patti, it's not even 9am... - Nine, that's good.
How about 23? How're you feeling about 23?
- I can't help you win at lotto. - Not lotto. SuperLOTTO.
Jackpot's up to 65 mil. Come on Eli, hit me with some digits.
- I'm not psychic! - You predicted the earthquake,
saved my friends at Silver Terrace.
Do you remember a hospital and a surgery and an aneurysm removed?
Ring any bells? No? Whatever I was, I'm not anymore.
- What's this? - Welcome-back gift.
A portable MP3 player, so you can hear music while you work.
That's sweet,
but I concentrate better... with quiet.
- OK. - Thank you.
- That's interesting. - What is?
The woman who used to find your auditory hallucinations annoying
now misses you having them. Or misses who you were when you were having them.
Misses who I was? Do you ever listen to yourself?
I'll put it another way.
Has anything at work changed during your absence?
Yes, very big news.
In other good news, our own Jordan Wethersby has convinced
Mather-Young Financial to see the error of its ways
and return to the WPK fold. Jordan.
Yes. Pending a signing meeting, we will once again have the opportunity
to protect Mather-Young's God-given right to sell predatory mortgages
- to unsuspecting buyers. - I'm so giddy I can barely continue.
Nevertheless...
What is the latest from our pro bono department?
We survived judgment on pleadings in the McNiven fraud case.
But I've got depos all week on behalf of the Eco Preservation League
and could really use another body.
Would anyone care to step up and assist Ms. Dekker?
I would really appreciate it. As would the Bitterroot Mountainsnail.
The state bar prohibition against me practicing includes depositions.
So sadly, I am unable to take up the noble fight for the mountain snake.
Mountainsnail.
Speaking of Maggie, have you reconciled your feelings for her?
Yes, by not having feelings for her. The only thing between us is work.
Please, Eli. I'm drowning here. Since Jordan formed the pro bono department,
you've been in recovery and I've been the department.
I billed 250 hours alone last month and I'm so behind on my wedding plans,
Scott and I will end up at a drive-thru chapel in Vegas.
Keith, perfect timing. Maggie needs help avoiding a drive-thru thing.
- Jammed on Bowman antitrust. - The Ninth Circuit handed down
a decision you can use to get Bowman kicked, and buy you time
to help Maggie with her mountain lion. Everybody happy?
Snail. Mountainsnail.
The only thing going back to work has accomplished
- is reminding me how much I miss it. - And what is it you missed, exactly?
I miss zealous advocacy.
I miss going into a courtroom armed with nothing but legal precedent and wits,
sometimes not even the precedent. I miss the look in the client's eyes
that says that they totally trust you, that they depend on you... What?
You're not buying any of this, are you?
How are things with your brother?
- What's that to do with anything? - I ask the questions.
That's how this works.
- So... your brother? - He's fine. Nothing's changed.
- You and Beth are moving in together? - Well, almost nothing.
- You're cool with it? - Are you kidding? I'm arctic.
Although I did share a room with you for four years,
so I know she's doing it despite the drooling and bed-wetting.
Beth said you wouldn't have a problem with me moving in
- with the woman who deflowered you. - Poetic.
She was my first and it looks like you may be her last.
- How's her son doing? - He's doing really well.
So I guess you're kind of becoming a parent here.
There'd be pressure, but Dad set the bar pretty low.
- You'll find it, you know. - What?
Someone to share your life with.
So you see, everything's fine.
- All right, then. - All right, then, what?
- What are you doing? - Calling your bluff.
Signing my permission slip just like that?
It's not a permission slip and it's not "just like that."
We've had three months of sessions, as you're so fond of pointing out.
But as I'm fond of pointing out, these sessions haven't just been about
your competency to practice. And this is me proving it.
That slip of paper isn't gonna fill the void you're feeling in your life.
Practicing law won't do it, either.
You're missing something, it's true.
But it's nothing a law license can give you.
Only one way to find out.
Or I guess you could just tell me.
I think you're missing having a sense of the divine in your everyday life.
I think you're less happy now than when your life was occasionally upended
by the fantastic.
I think that grace fulfilled you in a way you didn't even know you needed.
And the only thing crazy about you
is the fact that you don't seem to realize that.
Thank you for signing my permission slip.
- I'll see you soon, Eli. - Well...
We've got a problem. Mr. Leightenberg's very agitated.
His blood pressure's up and he's asking for a priest.
Which is odd considering he's in for a relatively simple procedure,
and he's Jewish. OK, I'll talk to him.
OK, Mr. Leightenberg...
Um, excuse me, I...
Another deposit?
Dr. Stone?
Mr. Leightenberg.
Uh... Should I call a doctor?
Eric Langenhan from the state bar called again. And again and again.
- Tell him I got recertified. - I did. He wants you to call him.
- Hey. You got a minute? - Many.
So, what brings you by? You don't have a suitcase and the theme
to The Odd Couple isn't playing, so I assume Beth didn't kick you out already.
- I wanted to see how you were doing. - I'm fine.
- You OK? - Me? Great. Never better.
You know, it's funny, I was talking with a colleague of mine this morning
and your name came up. We were talking about sensory hallucinations.
So it made me realize that I had never asked you what it was like
- when you were having one of your... - Sensory hallucinations?
Was it like you were, um... I don't know,
like you were walking into a room and then suddenly you were...
- ...you were someplace else? - Nate, did something happen to you?
I was with a patient,
and then I was in a different place.
A bank. And I was there, but I wasn't.
And then there was this huge-ass crane that came crashing down on me
and the bank. And the next thing I knew,
I was face down on the floor of my exam room.
So, what do you think?
I think a huge-ass crane is gonna fall on top of a bank.
So, what, I just received a message from...?
Hold on. Just tell me everything, OK?
I need details. Start from the beginning.
Um... What kind of bank was it? Which branch? Was it day? Was it night?
- All that stuff. - This is helpful.
A healthy dose of crazy tunes from you would be enough
- to put the whole thing in perspective. - Nate, Nate! It could be a sign.
A sign that says, "Moving in with a girl for the first time,
you may experience sudden bouts of insanity." I'm fine. I'll see you later.
Dad, you don't seem like yourself. Are you all right?
Mather-Young made billions selling predatory mortgages.
And WPK is once again poised to make millions,
ensuring it's never held accountable for its behavior. So, yes.
- All is right with the world. - Not exactly coming across that way.
I've always taken great pride that this office was a paragon of efficiency.
This firm, my firm, hummed. With precision.
An equilibrium that was upset when one of my junior associates
began singing in meetings and leaping from furniture.
- Eli had a malformation in his brain. - Whatever the cause, it had an effect.
His cases, his crusades. It was all so messy.
After my initial hesitancy, to my great surprise,
I felt invigorated by it. And I'd been waiting for his return,
anticipating the excitement he brings to this place, but...
But the Eli who returned was more like the man I was engaged to
and less like the one who broke up with me?
Perhaps the moral is that we lead our lives independent of Mr. Stone.
I'm late for my signing meeting.
Goji berry chai with ginseng powder.
Drink very slowly. Brain freeze bad for chi.
- Dude, long time. - Four months.
- Like what you've done with the place. - Been like this for a while.
When did you expand to include spiritual fulfillment of the smoothie?
Paying to stick needles in your face is the first luxury to go in a recession.
- It's all about diversification. - Like practicing law
- and being a messenger for God? - An attorney who's also a prophet?
- Now that would just be crazy. - Maybe you should break out
your straitjacket again.
- Eli, did you have a vision? - Almost.
- How do you almost have a vision? - Nate had it.
You don't believe me?
Don't you want to believe me?
Did I tell you about the last time I went to see the Dead?
- At, like, a cemetery? - At, like, a concert.
The Grateful Dead. Winterland Arena, New Year's Eve, 1978.
The music filled me up, like my ears could breathe it in.
Something felt changed in me. I felt a part of something bigger.
I could taste magic and speak art and hear the turn of the universe.
Even as the show was ending, I remember thinking I was at the beginning
of a new world.
But the next morning when I woke up,
all I had was a headache and a ticket stub.
Life was plain again.
I still remember being a part of something magical.
But I can't hear it anymore, as much as I might want to.
Does any of that sound familiar?
Sorry I dropped out of your life.
I know you didn't want me to have the surgery.
You had your reasons. It's not for me to judge.
But what you have to realize, Eli,
is your life wasn't the only one affected by what was happening with you.
Everyone in your life, your friends, your brother, your co-workers,
we were all touched in some way.
And the more you changed your life, the more you enabled us to change our own.
But the surgery had consequences, and not just for yourself.
I know you think you took back your life, Eli.
But you took something from all of us, too.
I know.
And I'm sorry.
I guess I didn't realize everything that would change.
Maybe that's the thing, dude.
Maybe you're someone who doesn't realize something's missing till it's gone.
...a building that was under construction,
a crane at that site collapsed at about 1:07 this afternoon.
- Excuse me, sorry. - As you had mentioned,
- the crane was at the corner... - What's going on?
There was an accident at Credit Dauphine. A crane fell.
- Credit Dauphine Bank? - No, Credit Dauphine Spa and Resort.
Jordan was inside.
- Ellen? - Oh, Eli.
- That's why I'm calling you. - Damn it, he's still not picking up.
- Maybe he was running late. - No, I called him.
He said he couldn't talk. He was in a meeting.
To re-hire a client. One that fired us because of you.
- Taylor... - It's gonna be OK. I promise.
I spoke to my buddy at the mayor's office.
They pulled 33 people from the rubble. They think there's 18 still in the bank.
Do they think...? I gotta go down there.
I'm going, too.
- Eli? - Yeah?
I'll deny ever having been in touch with someone else's feelings,
but when it comes to you, Taylor doesn't always think straight.
You sure she needs to be any more bent right now?
- You saw? - Nate, it's OK.
- Eli, what's happening to me? - We're gonna figure that out, OK?
You're kidding. There are people dead or dying.
I'm not sure right now is the best time to relax my back.
When Eli had his visions last year, we'd use acupuncture
- to help him recall the experience. - Can we go directly to the séance?
The needle induces hypnosis, allowing you to re-live the event.
Even if that weren't a completely terrifying possibility,
- what would be the point? - We need to know if Jordan made it out.
The only way for us to know would be for me to...?
Go back in. Please.
If I get stalked by the other guy from Wham!.
- Relax. Close eyes. - What?
It's a long story.
Nobody put a gun to anyone's head.
It never occurred that it wasn't the smartest idea to buy a house on credit?
It's not our job to protect them from their own stupidity.
Gentlemen, I'm afraid...
I'm afraid this meeting has been premature.
Premature? Jordan, you're the one who asked for it.
It's true. But now I'm exercising my prerogative
to change my mind, as well as my First Amendment right
to tell you that you and your insipid company are pond scum.
Breathe, Nathan. You're all right.
He's still in the bank, Eli.
But he's not in the conference room.
- How do you know that? - I just do, lieutenant.
Well, thank you. That's very helpful.
I'll definitely reallocate men and resources.
- How do you know there aren't...? - Get two men with k-bars on that wall.
- There aren't survivors in the stairs? - People don't take stairs.
Look, even if they did, the crane took out the support wall.
The building basically imploded.
- Anybody in the stairwell is not alive. - Eli, what are you doing here?
Telling me my crews are in the wrong place.
- Can't you send a team in to be sure? - This whole area is a house of cards.
If I open up new search areas, we could destabilize the entire site.
- So if you'll excuse me. - What the hell are you doing?
Jordan left the meeting. Not in the conference room. He's in a stairwell.
- It's just like the earthquake. - Earthquake?
They're searching in the wrong place. He'll die while they do
- or get killed when debris shifts. - Are you a rescue expert?
- What is he doing? - They won't listen to me!
They probably won't listen to you. We need a court order.
An injunction? Eli, you're having some sort of breakdown. OK?
Just get away from here! Get away from me!
Come on.
- Now I know why Dad drank so much. - Dad drank so much
because he had visions and didn't know what to do. I know what to do.
- I can't go to court without a client. - What about family of others trapped?
Lieutenant O'Shea's right. Nobody takes stairs.
I hadn't broken up with Taylor, Jordan would be my father-in-law.
What would you do? Go to a judge and say you're on retainer to God?
That's probably not Plan A.
You'll figure it out, Eli. You always do.
Eli, you're gonna want to hear this.
Is the recovery effort endangering my husband's life?
- Yes. - And you think you can get a judge
- to force them to the right place? - I think we've got to try.
- Then let's go to court. - Oh...
Hey. What did you say to her?
I told her you saved my fiancé's life during the earthquake.
And I told her I never thanked you for it.
Um... Call Judge Phelps' clerk. He owes me a favor.
Tell him I need five minutes and a short order of notice.
Mr. Stone? I wasn't aware that your license to practice
- had been re-laminated. - Yesterday, as a matter of fact.
- If you don't mind... - The firm's in a bit of a crisis.
Seems an off time for your inaugural court appearance.
I'm seeking an injunction against the rescue team.
You're more deranged than I guessed.
Jordan is down there, you imbecile. Jordan.
Who brought you into this firm, your mentor, who has protected you.
- They're looking in the wrong place. - What are you talking about?
I don't have the time. I have to get to court.
Mr...
Patricia, get Taylor on the phone for me.
- You want me to do what? - Order the city to direct
its rescue team to search for Mr. Wethersby in the former stairwell
- instead of where they're digging. - You're not coming with a Ouija board.
I'm representing as an officer of court, I know Mr. Wethersby's well-being,
if not his life, to be at risk unless you grant my motion.
Which you want me to do ex parte, without hearing argument from the city.
- I think I can help with that. - Martin Posner, Matthew Dowd
and Taylor Wethersby of WPK. We'll enter on behalf of San Francisco.
- We've volunteered services pro bono. - Imagine where we got that idea.
The standard on an injunction is irreparable harm.
There's nothing more irreparable or harmful than a man's death.
Which could as easily result from indulging Mr. Stone's flight of fancy.
- An offensive characterization. - The accident site is unstable.
If they dig near the stairwell, it could collapse and crush my father...
...crush Mr. Wethersby where he actually is.
- The rescue team is playing a hunch. - Offensive characterization.
When it's backed by 50 years of experience and training,
- it's a little more than a hunch. - Which is all you have.
I have my own expert, with years of training and experience.
I would like the court to hear from him. From her.
She is a structural engineer.
Sarah Nave is a structural engineer.
Objection. The first we're hearing this.
I'll give you an hour's continuance to get up to speed.
Come out with it. You had a vision.
- Not exactly. I had access to a vision. - What the hell does that mean?
There's a way to get Jordan out alive. Maybe the only way.
Right. I completely forgot about George Michael's big hit,
- Only I Know What To Do in a Disaster. - Taylor, I need you to trust me.
Would you trust you? If it were your father buried under a sea of concrete,
would you put his life in the hands of somebody with instability
- recuperating from brain surgery? - No! A history of knowing
- more than he could know. - If that's what you believe,
go in there and tell the judge.
That's why I can't believe you. You don't believe yourself.
Nate! Nate! Call 911. Nate!
We don't know it's an aneurysm. Let's wait for the MRI to come back and...
- One step at a time. - What am I supposed to tell Beth?
After everything she's been through with Ben.
- How much more is she supposed to take? - Come on, you're Nate.
Rock star chick magnet.
You'll probably be the first guy to operate on his own brain aneurysm.
- If I botch it, can I sue myself? - I'll take care of that.
Hello?
Mr. Stone, this is Dr. Langenhan.
- Doctor? - Yes.
- I've been trying to reach you. - This isn't really the best time.
You're aware you're not permitted to set foot inside a courtroom
- until I sign off on it, right? - I think there's some mistake,
'cause I got the clean bill of mental health.
From who?
That office has been vacant for three months. Can I help you?
Yeah, I was thinking of renting it out. Do you mind if I take a look?
Sure.
It's not like there's anything in here to steal.
I'm officially losing it.
That is cause for concern.
Maybe you should seek professional help.
- You gonna say anything? - I don't know your name.
Three months, 12 sessions and I don't know your name.
It's not even on the... form you signed this morning.
- Which isn't signed. - It's very interesting.
- Isn't it? - No, it's interesting
that with a bank lying on top of Jordan and your brother lying in a hospital,
you'd take time out of what's obviously a fairly busy day to come talk to me.
Is it possible that, uh... this whole time
you've been nothing more than a... super-sized vision?
Anything's possible, Eli. Isn't that the very essence of faith?
That's not an answer.
- Are you...? - "God" can be a narrow term.
Let's say, hypothetically, that I am.
Or to use a term from your line of work, that I'm His fiduciary.
You had the aneurysm removed.
You were clear you wanted your life to return to what you consider normal.
But you're meant for so much more, Eli.
You're one of those people for whom "normal" is a failure of potential.
You're punishing me? By dropping a bank on Jordan?
That's not the way of things.
There's no, "You don't scratch my back, I'll smite yours."
What do you call giving my brother an aneurysm?
Really, with the language. And three months of therapy, Eli,
I would've liked to have seen such passion for your own life.
I would've liked to know you weren't state-certified!
Answer my question! Are you punishing me?
Jordan wasn't the only person in that bank. As for Nate,
I'm sure someone's told you that sub-arachnoid aneurysms are hereditary.
It's Nate or me, isn't it?
You recused yourself from the position. You wanted to have a normal life again.
- Wish granted. But... - Not Nate. It can't be him.
Why not? He seems to have your compassion, your kindness, your heart.
Really, the men in the Stone family are good stock.
He has met someone he wants to spend the rest of his life with.
And she has a son. And they're gonna have more kids.
- And they're gonna be a family. - What are you saying, Eli?
Give it to me.
Just give me back the aneurysm.
I'll do it.
Please. Because he's all that...
He's better than me. He's...
If we're gonna dance again, no more standing on our shoes.
From now on, you're gonna have to lead.
What do you mean?
I think you know.
Is that it? Your entire expert opinion
is based on a glance at the building blueprints?
None of us are working with a lot of time here.
- We're all making judgment calls. - You willing to bet your life on yours?
- Well... - But you're willing to risk Jordan's.
- I've nothing further. - Since time is of the essence,
- I'm going to deliver my ruling now. - Your Honor, I'd hope you'd at least
- wait for Mr. Stone. - He's dealing with a family emergency,
and I don't foresee him getting back in here soon...
Because you can't predict the future.
Good timing, Mr. Stone. I was just about to rule against you.
Before you do, I'd like to make a closing statement.
Your Honor, Mr. Stone suffers from a well-documented neurologic condition...
As well-documented that I predicted the Silver Terrace earthquake last year.
And if it's documentation that's the issue, I could pack this courtroom
with people whose lives I've changed through the other, uh...
Well, through the other visions that I've had.
Sent to me by some higher power.
Perhaps divine.
The man is one banana short of a fruit salad...
I know. I know, it sounds crazy. Particularly here.
A place of evidence, not faith.
A place where faith cannot be considered as evidence.
But this is still a place where witnesses swear on the Bible,
where the bailiffs call the court to order with prayers.
Courts acknowledge the existence of a higher power.
So why not acknowledge the possibility of a lawyer
who receives messages from Him?
You don't have to believe, Your Honor.
But believe that I do.
I believe that Jordan Wethersby will die
unless you intervene here.
I believe it so much that I'm willing to put my career
and my reputation on the line to say so.
There's a part of me that does believe you, Mr. Stone.
Certainly wants to.
But even if I did,
I swore an oath of my own that when I put on this robe,
I'd base my decisions on what can be proven
over what can merely be believed.
Plaintiff's motion for TRO... denied.
All rise.
- Taylor. Taylor, I need to... - Eli, let it go.
Hey, just wait, OK?! I just doused my career in gasoline
and lit a match in there. I am all-in now.
I... I think that you're scared. OK? Not just for your father,
but you're scared that I could be for real. And, hey, that is scary.
It used to scare the crap out of me. But not anymore, OK?
I'm not afraid anymore.
You can believe me.
You can.
- Even if I did... - Talk to Lieutenant O'Shea.
He may well listen to you. If there's a chance...
Mr. Stone, that's quite enough.
The only reason I'm not firing you right now is Jordan will want that honor.
Shut up, Martin.
- How do we a hold of O'Shea? - You don't have to do this.
Yes, I do.
I believe him.
Mrs. Wethersby, Miss Wethersby, we got him.
We got your dad. He's alive.
- Thank God! - Thank you.
Oh, my God.
There's bruising to his sternum.
He's also exhibiting signs of a concussion.
- But other than that... - They'll do x-rays and a CT scan,
but, all in all, I'd say someone's looking out for him.
Thank you.
I know you hate crying.
I think today we can make an exception.
Let us get him to the hospital, OK?
I'm going with you.
- I'm gonna go, OK? - Go ahead.
- Hey. - Did you find Jordan?
Yeah. They got him. He's fine.
Yeah, that seems to be going around. I got the results from my MRI back.
And it was negative.
Negative. I don't have an aneurysm.
- We need to do another MRI, Nate. - I told you, I'm fine.
No, not for you. We need to test me.
I'm very sorry. But it's not uncommon for the clipped aneurysm to,
basically, grow back. Which seems to have happened in your case.
I don't know why we didn't pick it up before.
I pulled your films from last month and they were clean.
It's OK.
You knew.
I have to go and see Jordan.
- How is he? The new tenant. - Good. He's been asking for you.
I'll never have a better chance at a raise than now, so...
Hey. You really knew where he was.
- You really... saw it. - Yeah.
- I can't get my head around that. - Welcome to my days and nights.
When it first started, when we were still together...
...I should have listened.
You listened now.
You had a good day.
I'm sorry if I...
Well, we both care about Taylor.
Might be the only thing we have in common.
Please God, let that be true.
You know he uses more hair product than you?
It's part of his charm.
Eli...
How are you feeling, sir?
Like I was just pulled out from under a three-story building.
I was coming to see you.
You're lying in a hospital bed.
When the building collapsed,
I was coming to see you.
- I needed to tell you... - Tell me what?
I know what we have to do now.