So much for singing and dancing on "Eli Stone." Eli's (Jonny Lee Miller) visions take a grisly turn this week as this time he gets thrust into the middle of a war zone (seems like WW II). Apparently, the not-so-cryptic message he receives is that he is supposed to rescue a Private Swain and take some ridge. That's all well and good; but no George Michael song? What a gyp.

So this time it doesn't take Eli half the episode to figure out his quest, only about 10 minutes. He is supposed to represent Private Felicia Swain, a member of the National Guard who is serving in Iraq and also happens to be in a custody battle with her husband. Only catch? Taylor (Natasha Henstridge) is representing the husband. And she's none too pleased when Eli steps onto the scene and forces the case to trial just a week before their engagement party.

Eli thinks that the visions will go away when he takes the case, but that doesn't happen. If that isn't bad enough, he also has to deal with Maggie (Julie Gonzalo), the obligatory overzealous sorority girl of the firm. Still asking, how did she get hired? Yeah, her subplot in the episode is pretty much worthless.

And then there is the physical/drug test that he is being forced to take by the senior partners. He goes to see his brother Nate (Matt Letscher), another useless supporting character, but bro refuses to forge the forms. Says it isn't ethical. Tough luck.

To top it all off, he goes back to Chen (James Saito) for more acupuncture, trying to understand why the vision is persisting. Unfortunately, he goes back to another memory of his dad (Tom Cavanagh), and it is a painful one (as most memories of Papa Stone are). This particular flashback focuses on one day when Eli came home and saw his dad involved in a military fantasy similar to his own. A fantasy that ends in an off-screen gunshot.

And the award for most embarrassing moment goes to...

Back in court, things take an interesting turn when it is revealed that Robert Swain has been beating his son. The case is all but won for Eli. After the day in court, Eli and Taylor go to their very uncomfortable engagement party, which is made even more awkward by the presence of Beth (Laura Benanti), Eli's college girlfriend and client from the pilot. Of course, Eli goes ahead and makes things even more awkward when he enters into vision land as Jordan (Victor Garber) is giving a speech. When he emerges from the war zone, Eli finds himself on the pastry table, covered in frosting and sugar. Yum.

Following the party, Eli compares himself to his dad and his brother says that there is no similarity. He then shows Eli that he has faith in him by handing him a clean physical form. Bro also manages to fire off a few sarcastic one-liners. Maybe he isn't a useless character after all?

Eli goes back to finish the vision and remembers the end to the war story with his dad. Apparently, dad went into the other room and shot the wall. The cops came to the house, and little Eli took the blame for it. Dad shot the wall, Eli took the fall (more fun with rhymes!). He snaps out of the acupuncture-induced flashback as the metaphorical light bulb goes on above his head. It's a bright one too. The kid is lying for his parents just as Eli lied for his.

Ethics are overrated

Eli confronts Private Swain, and she admits that the family concocted the plan because it was the only was the government would discharge her from the military. Eli is horrified, yet impressed that the dad is willing to go to jail for the family and the son is willing to lie in court. Still, he has misgivings about finishing the case.

In the end, Eli manages to sidestep the issue of ethics by condemning the situation that the family is in, and not the father. The mother ends up getting full custody, the dad gets led away in handcuffs and we get our controversial political issue of the week. Funny how that all works out.

But all is not happy and joyous in the land of the reluctant prophet. Convinced that he will only continue to slide deeper and deeper into vision land and not wanting to burden Taylor or a future family, Eli breaks things off with her. While they are opening engagement presents. Sure, it's the right thing to do, but Eli, you sure picked a hell of a time to do it.

And after three episodes?

We got more of the same from "Eli Stone" this week. The case was a little less predictable, and the courtroom banter was fun, but the series is starting to get a little repetitive. The snappy dialogue and likeable Jonny Lee Miller are both still pluses, and of course Tom Cavanagh appearances are also always welcome. It was a reasonably entertaining episode, but one wonders how long the entertainment will last. The mostly forgettable supporting cast doesn't hep matters much.

Quote of the Week

"Do you know George Michael? He usually just shows up and sings. It's a lot safer." Eli to a fellow soldier in vision land.

What did you think about this week's episode? Any ways that you think the show can improve? Comment and let us know!

Story by Derek Krebs
Starpulse contributing writer