ES BS

I taped Lost last night. Haven't watched it yet, but I did overtape and catch the premiere of Eli Stone. It's a comedy-drama about a lawyer representing big companies who starts having visions and goes on a spiritual quest.

The case that shows just how much he screws over the little guy is when he represents a pharmaceutical against a mother. Apparently they've refused to remove an ingredient in a vaccine that might cause autism. Eli changes sides. This might be trendy, but as far as I understand, such lawsuits are groundless. (Here's a new study released the same day as Eli Stone.) Couldn't they have had a different case to show how noble he is?

I'm reminded of Eddie Murphy's The Distinguished Gentleman. He plays a con man who gets elected to Congress. To show his growing conscience, he tries to get a bill passed to help people who get sick because they live near high-tension wires. More bad science.

PS Eli sells his pro-bono switch by promising to set up "Chinese Walls" to separate his case from the rest of the firm. Everyone keeps asking him to repeat the term. Anyone who's gone to law school knows all about Chinese Walls, even if the phrase isn't as popular as it used to be for political reasons.