Father Figure - Recap

After his car is taken back by the law firm, Eli is forced to commute to work by bus where he has to listen to Patti complain about coordinating his engagement party to Taylor. Maggie also wants some of his time, asking to sit with him on a case so she can get some experience and a win. He agrees and they go into the daily meeting, where Martin Posner notes that associate billable hours are down. Maggie volunteers for the case and gets it thanks to noting Eli will be working with her. As they talk, Eli suddenly is on a battlefield with a soldier telling him they need to rescue a Private Swain. They head for the ridge where she's pinned down...



...and Eli comes back to reality, underneath the conference table. After giving a hasty explanation about dropping his pen, the meeting ends. Posner talks with Jordan and the latter thinks Eli's loss of perks will bring him back to normal. Posner isn't so sure and suggests that if Eli is physically or mentally impaired, they can get around the contract preventing them from firing him.

Eli goes to see Dr. Chen while noting that the firm isn't representing anyone named Swain. Chen believes that Eli has had yet another vision and the name Swain will become important.



He then goes to see Taylor, and chats briefly with Brian, a boy waiting outside for his parents who are at Taylor's firm in a custody case. The boy's mother is a National Guardsman, and when Taylor talks to Eli she explain she's representing the boy's father. The mother is trying to gain custody but Taylor is sure that the court won't grant an active soldier's motion. Taylor also mentions that the mother's name is Patricia Swain.

Back at WPK, it becomes clear that the case Maggie wants to take on is on Patricia's behalf, but her current lawyer isn't thrilled with being dropped. Patti has the engagement party well in hand and is looking forward to seeing Eli square off against Taylor in court. A process server arrives and gives Eli papers requiring him to submit to a physical.

Eli goes to court with Patricia's lawyer Larry, who previously represented Beth in the pharmaceutical/autism case. Larry is reluctant to have Eli help but is forced to take it when he can't oppose Taylor's arguments that Patricia shouldn't get a hearing because of her military status. Eli ends up presenting precedent with several soldiers who have received custody, although he shrugs apologetically to Taylor. He tries to apologize afterward but Patricia wants to talk to him: she's dropping Larry and wants Eli to represent her. Eli accepts then catches up to Taylor in the parking garage. She honestly believes that Brian needs to be with her father, and hoped the case would be settled so she could spend the rest of the time working on the engagement party. Eli brings her around but is forced to ask for a ride.

It turns out that Eli's brother Nate will be doing the exam, and Eli asks him to forge the results. Nate refuses, both because it's unethical and because he thinks Eli could use a break.

In court, Patricia's husband testifies that she's a changed person and wants a divorce. In turn, Patricia says that Brian is out of control and his father can't control him. Afterward, Eli assures Brian that he should tell the truth but Brian is nervous that his father may be present. Patricia suggests that Eli examine phone records from when she was gone, that show a 911 call was made from her husband's house.

Afterward in his office, Eli has another vision of a battlefield and takes refuge under Patti's desk. He sets up another appointment with Chen, who taps into Eli's memories. This time Eli remember an incident as a boy when his father was waving a gun and rambling on about Nazi soldiers. His father went into the next room and Eli remembers hearing a gunshot. Eli is clearly upset by the memories.



In court, Eli confronts Brian with the 911 phone records, noting the boy called 911 the same night he ran away from home. Brian is forced to admit that his father hit him that night and shows the court bruises on his stomach. Afterward, Patricia admits that she had her suspicions but didn't want to believe her husband could so such a thing. Eli figures that she'll win custody but warns that there'll be a criminal investigation.

At the engagement party, Taylor is mad at Eli for blindsiding her with the phone records, and thinks that Brian's injuries could be the result of football. Eli ends up apologizing and then runs into Nate, who is drinking. Beth is also there, and Eli realizes that Patti invited to give Eli someone else to consider. Eli isn't thrilled and has Nate dance with Beth. Jordan gives a speech congratulating the couple, but Eli has another vision of himself on the battlefield, taking the ridge and heading for the rally point. He runs... and ends up in a pastry display at the party. Everyone just stares.



Eventually Eli, Nate, and Taylor get back to Eli's apartment. Eli apologizes and Taylor wonders if this is what it was like with Eli's father. She leaves and Eli wonders to Nate how their mother managed to put up with it. Nate believes their mother loved their dad and then tells Eli that he'll sign off on the bogus medical report, and make sure Eli doesn't end up like their father.

Eli visits Chen who gives him another memory session. It picks up where the last one left off, with Young Eli discovering his father simply shot a mirror. The police respond to the gunshot so Eli takes the gun and pretends that he fired the shot so his father won't get taken away.

Realizing the connection, Eli visits Patricia and explains that Brian is lying about the injuries in conjunction with his father Robert. Robert will go to jail but Patricia will be released from service and not die in Iraq. Patricia admits that she's part of the plan as well, and Eli admits he can't lie in court given what he knows.

The next day, Eli gives his closing argument and asserts that whether Brian is lying or telling the truth, he's clearly upset and needs his mother more then ever. With the war on, there's no guarantee she'll ever be released. While they wait for the verdict, Eli apologizes to Taylor, who wonders if the craziness brought on by his aneurysm will ever end. Eli doesn't have anything to tell her.



The judge finds in Patricia's favor and then has the authorities take Robert away. Afterward, Jordan congratulates Eli on the win but seems suspicious of the fact that Nate has the same last name as Eli. Eli assures him flat out that there's nothing wrong with him, and Jordan accepts that... for now.

Back at Eli's apartment, Taylor is going through engagement gifts and notes that Eli covered for Brian in his closing statement. She wonders that someone could do that for someone else, and Eli admits that he did the same thing for his father. Then... he tells her that the engagement is off: he can't put her through what his mother went through. No matter how much he loves her. Taylor can only leave as Eli sits dejected in his chair.


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