By the third episode, maybe we should know whether "Eli Stone" is going to work or not. Unfortunately, it's still too early to tell. Although the legal wrangling gains some dimension, and Eli's relationships take some damage, a few gimmicks are already too familiar -- and, perhaps, inescapable.

In this episode, Eli ends up wrangling with his fiancee, Taylor, both inside the courtroom and regarding their engagement gala. ("Why does everyone keep calling it a gala?" Eli asks. His secretary ticks off the various luxuries -- including an orchestra and ice sculptures, and declares, "That's a gala.") Naturally, he spoils the party by freaking out about another of his hallucations, this time a "Saving Private Ryan" scenario that seems to direct him toward the court case in question.

The court case is by far the most interesting legal challenge "Eli Stone" has yet encountered: a custody battle that proves to be built on many layers of falsehoods. Eli doesn't have to ask if he's on the right side, but he does have to confront some nasty parallels to his own childhood. His father suffered from the same sort of hallucinations, but instead of taking inspiration from them, he degenerated into alcoholism. A flashback scene, in which young Eli has to talk his semi-sane father into dropping a handgun, is probably the most powerful moment of the show to date.

However, the disaster at the engagement party shows, too clearly, that the show is in danger of writing itself into a corner. Nobody at the law firm must know of Eli's illness, because they would then be unable to insure him against malpractice. Ergo, every episode seems likely to contain scene of Eli wackily ducking behind a potted plant or tackling someone. Yet this is already not very funny anymore. In another few episodes, it's going to become excruciating. Is there no way out of this? Can't Eli at least remind himself that it's a vision, not reality, and thus keep himself from acting out? (Previews for next week suggest: not yet.)

The grittier ending of this episode -- with Eli telling a lie to his boss/future father-in-law that promises to have serious repercussions, and a possible break between Eli and Taylor -- seems promising. A lot of things about "Eli Stone" seem promising. But it's too early to tell whether this show's promise will win out over its problems.

One of the principal creators of "Eli Stone" is Greg Berlanti, who had a hand in the excellent "Everwood" and "Brothers & Sisters." The original co-creator of "Brothers & Sisters," playwright Jon Robin Baitz, has publicly and repeatedly thanked Berlanti for adding more humor and lightheartedness to the show, which in its original incarnation threatened to be too dark. Maybe Berlanti should've asked Baitz aboard for "Eli Stone," which could use a little more darkness.