I don't know if you've been ...
Question: I don't know if you've been watching
Eli Stone, but I have been, and while I am still not totally sold on the series, I am finding it enjoyable. At the least, I'm trying to give it a fair shake. I like most of the characters (at least the ones I'm supposed to like) except for one: Eli's secretary, Patty (played by
Loretta Devine). The main reason I don't like the character is her inexplicable hatred and malice towards Taylor, Eli's former fiancée
. From what we've seen so far, Taylor loves Eli, has his best interests at heart, is willing to do almost anything for him and wants to be with him. And, along the way, endures endless backbiting from Patty. In the last episode, the two characters had it out (to some extent) and it turns out that Patty thinks that Taylor's influence (perhaps unwittingly) has made Eli a much worse person and lawyer. This has something to do with the kind of cases that Eli was taking — I guess the big, money-making cases for evil corporations as opposed to the smaller, underdog-oriented cases he is taking now. As Taylor pointed out, this made little sense, as Eli had been with the firm for eight years and had been dating Taylor for only two. It was also established in the last episode that Eli was more than a bit of a jerk as a lawyer five years ago. I kind of wish that Patty would fall under a bus. Do you think that this is the effect that the writers are aiming for, or is the character being mismanaged?Answer: Until hearing my pal Maitland McDonagh's disdain for Loretta Devine during our March 7
podcast, I wasn't picking up on this backlash at all. I've always found Devine divine, dating back to her days as an original Broadway
Dreamgirl, and thought Patty's snippiness toward Taylor had as much to do with jealousy as anything, and found it rather funny. Devine plays Patty like a disapproving mother hen, and Taylor is a natural if at times undeserving foil. But it's true that when Patty refused to do work for Taylor in a recent episode, that did seem recklessly, rudely insubordinate, and Taylor was right to call her on it. Maybe Patty will soften up since learning Taylor saved her job when Eli got demoted, but now that she and Eli are working together again, who knows? I guess the writers just like going to this place of workplace conflict without considering how annoying it might become. (Personally, it's Julie Gonzalo's overly perky Maggie who puts me teeth on edge.)
