Eli Stone/Pilot

Pilot
Season 1, Episode 1
Airdate	January 31, 2008
Written by	Greg Berlanti & Marc Guggenheim
Directed by	Ken Olin
— N/A	1x02 → Freedom
Eli Stone — Season One

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Pilot is the first episode of the first season of Eli Stone. Eli Stone, a wealthy and successful lawyer who specializes in representing corporations discovers that he has a brain aneurysm that is causing vivid hallucinations. The hallucinations drive him towards doing good, which sometimes means taking cases against his firm's own clients.

Starring: Jonny Lee Miller (Eli Stone), Natasha Henstridge (Taylor Wethersby), Loretta Devine (Patti), Sam Jaeger (Matt Dowd), James Saito (Frank Lebokowski), Laura Benanti (Beth Keller)

And: Victor Garber (Jordan Wethersby)

Guest Starring: Matt Letscher (Nathan Stone), Jodi Long (Judge Marcia Phelps), Pamela Reed (Lenore Stone), John Prosky (Alan Cooke), Johnny Pacar (Young Eli), Megan Paul (Young Beth)

With: Tom Amandes (Martin Posner)

And: Tom Cavanagh (Mr. Stone)

Special Appearance By: George Michael as Himself

Co-Starring: Phil Abrams (Hapless Attorney), Justin Lieberman (Eli, Age 12), Gokul (Sherpa #1), Natch Narasimhan (Sherpa #2), Barbara Niven (Miss Wethersby), Shawn Carter Peterson (Jury Foreperson), William Topputo (Ben), Paul Ganus (Hurried Man)

Notes

Music

• "Faith" by George Michael: The song that keeps following Eli through out the episode and is performed on several occasions is "Faith" by George Michael. Michael is a pop star from the 1980s who formerly performed in a group called Wham!, but found most of his success as a solo act. "Faith" comes from the Grammy award winning album of the same name, released in 1987.

• "Something To Believe In" by Aqualung: The song that plays at the end of the episode when Eli is in India is "Something to Believe In" by Aqualung. Aqualung is the stage name of British singer/songwriter Matt Hales. The song appears on Hales' fourth album, Memory Man, released in 2007.

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

• Controversy: The plotline involving Beth and her son's autism attracted controversy from the medical community because the hypothesis on which her case hinged, which claims that autism can be caused caused by a mercury-based preservative, is not supported by scientific evidence. However, "common knowledge" of the dangers of this type of vaccination has contributed to an overall decrease in vaccination rates despite the lack of evidence. In the real world, pharmaceutical companies have decreased usage of chemicals that have links to causing autism.
  The American Academy of Pediatrics requested that ABC either cancel the episode entirely or include a disclaimer clearing up the factual inaccuracies. A disclaimer was aired at the end of the episode, reading "The preceding story is fictional and does not portray any actual persons, companies, products or events." A second card followed with contact information for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Allusions and References

• Field of Dreams: When Eli is in the MRI machine, his brother teases him by quoting a line from Field of Dreams. Incidentally, when explaining the premise of the show, series creator Greg Berlanti calls it a "Field of Dreams-style drama." In the film, Kevin Costner stars as a farmer who is convinced by a mysterious voice to build a baseball diamond in his corn field.

Nathan: If you build it, they will come.

• Pop Stars: In the scene before the trolley hallucination, Patti names off several 80s pop acts. Cyndi Lauper is famous for singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," Billy Joel has had a slew of hits including "Piano Man," and The Go-Go's are a girl group most famous for "Vacation" and "We Got the Beat."

Patti: Who is it this time? Cyndi Lauper? Billy Joel? The Go-Go's?

Quotes

• Eli: He's not... I'm not...
  Beth: Yeah. I was pregnant for eight years.

• Eli: Are you breaking up with me? 'Cause I was just diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and that would be really bad timing on your part.