(S02E11) Beneath the surface, there were emotional land mines all around the friends at Fort Marshall in this episode. There were also some interesting revelations. It started with the arrival, out of the blue, of Charlotte, Claudia Joy's mom. Played by Marsha Mason, famous for The Goodbye Girl, Charlotte has always been hard on her daughter.

Fortunately, the way it was written and the way she played it, she wasn't there just to scrutinize her daughter's housekeeping. It was surprising to hear that she hadn't even called Claudia Joy since Amanda's death. Could there be a more clear indication that there's a gap between mother and daughter?

There was a lot of subtext, things unsaid between them, and that made their scenes all the better. Her visit was more about what's wrong in her life and therefore how it'll impact on Claudia Joy and Michael's. Watch for Mother to move in for a while.

There will be some major star power in the new season of Eli Stone. No, I'm not referring to Katie Holmes' stunt casting. I'm talking big-time star wattage. Sigourney Weaver will guest on Eli Stone as a psychologist. Eli, who is in desperate need of figuring out what he's been experiencing is the result of the brain ailment he's suffering from or something else.

Since he had brain surgery -- or so we think -- at season's end, will Eli still have the visions? Will he fulfill the imperative to Live Brave and become a leader -- prophet -- or was that not a look at the future but something else?

It's all very mysterious, and just the fact that he's going to see a shrink is positive development. Casting Sigourney Weaver is a positive as well. She's a three-time Oscar nominee and carries with her innate integrity and class.

After placing an order for Army Wives, a new drama about wives living on an Army base, Lifetime has picked up its second drama series, also slated for a 2007 premiere. State of Mind will star Lili Taylor as a therapist whose problems are often much worse than those of her patients. The pilot was written by Amy Bloom, an author and psycho-therapist. Bloom is also a teacher at Yale University and has written for The New York Times, Vogue, Salon, Slate and The Atlantic Monthly. Taylor was last seen in the HBO series Six Feet Under as Lisa, Nate's (dead) first wife. The new series will also feature Lolita Davidovich, Derek Riddell, Levin Chamberlin, Devon Gummersall and Mido Hamada.

These two new pilots are part of an effort on the part of Lifetime's president of entertainment services Susanne Daniels to bring more scripted series back to the network. The network does not currently air any new scripted series in its primetime schedule.