Customer Reviews

Eli Stone Season 1

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

WARNING: SPOILERS!!

Because the nearest ABC station is over 100 miles away, and has been in a running spat with the two satellite/dish companies, up until I got my HD converter hadn't seen a ABC show in two years. (Life's too short to try to watch all the downloads) Wish I'd had the chance to see this show first run -- thank heaven for reruns.

Wildly funny with a lot of heart, this kind of series is very difficult to pull off. If the creators aren't careful it's easy to drown in syrup, and too hard an edge grinds down your characters. "Eli Stone" threads this needle with precision. Themes of belief, faith, whether higher powers are guiding Eli, and a not-so-subtle call for social justice. The first season's arc grows everyone, not just Eli, and Eli and Nate's father grows the most -- a sweet trick since he's been dead for ten years. Sliding relationships, office politics, courtroom drama and cases drawn from real life problems are balanced by the rowdy goofiness of his visions' musical numbers. It seems there's never a good time to have a full-on hallucination. ("Good Lovin'" from #4 and "I Feel the Earth Move" from #8 are favorites.)

The cast is consistently wonderful. Have loved Victor Garber for years, way before "Alias", and it's great to see him not only act but perform. Julie Gonzalo, Natasha Henstridge, Loretta Devine, Matt Letscher, and James Saito are all excellent, not a clunker in the bunch.

But the show hangs on Jonny Lee Miller, and I must admit, he's been amazing. Miller has an marvelously expressive face. From confusion and embarrassment to desperation, sympathy, sarcasm, cunning, panic, innocence and sometimes fury when he's defending his clients. You can always see what's passing in Eli's head. But Miller's voice is just as amazing, practically every line has an softness or an edge that pulls your attention, makes you listen. Full blown drama to light comedy, he's been incredible to watch.

(Warning: spoilers ahead!) Glad the show has been renewed. The creators have carefully planted a half-dozen story threads. Eli and Maggie are destined for each other, but she's currently engaged. His ex-fiancee, Taylor, still loves Eli, but can't believe in his visions. In episode 12, Eli both accurately predicted an earthquake and prevented a disaster. But the season's finale neatly sidestepped how the city will view him, Eli has to go public now. But the most intriguing question is: how has he changed? Has he changed? Eli had the aneurysm causing his visions removed. While the surgery was a success, a hemorrhage and heart attack so damaged his brain his brother was about to pull the plug. Odd thing though, even without the aneurysm, even while comatose, Eli was still fulfilling his mission and trying to convince a dying cancer patient to fight to live. Did the aneurysm give Eli his visions, or was it just a scientific excuse? Will the visions still come? And now Eli has brought himself back, out of the coma. A miracle that everyone will have to accept or deny.

Hope the suits at ABC keep their fingers off this show, Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim have proved they know what they're doing. Really looking forward to the fall.

Warning! Many, many spoilers! Do not read if you want to avoid spoilers!

The 2007-2008 television series has to go down as one of the most unfortunate in recent decades, not primarily because of the quality of the shows - there were, in fact, an unusually large number of very high quality shows - but because of the large number of truncated seasons that so many shows experienced. We also saw a smaller number of midseason series. For instance, the eagerly awaited new Joss Whedon series, DOLLHOUSE, starring Eliza Dushku, was initially planned to appear for seven episodes this spring before returning next fall for a new regular slate of shows. Now it has been postponed to the fall, where it will be the most eagerly anticipated new show of the 2008-2009 season.

But one thing the writers strike did mean was that the few new midseason shows had little or no competition. I was really looking forward to TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES, and was delighted when it didn't disappoint. But just before it debuted I started hearing about a new series called ELI STONE. To be very honest, under normal circumstances I would never have tried it. I would have had a full slate of shows that I was already committed to and I simply wouldn't have bothered to work it into my schedule. Furthermore, it was set at a law firm, and I generally detest shows set in law firms. But the early reviews by critics were positive if not ecstatic and I had virtually nothing to watch on TV until my favs began to crank out new episodes following the resolution of the WGA strike. So starved for new shows I decided to give it a shot.

From the very beginning ELI STONE was at least decent and fun. I wasn't blown away, but each episode was enjoyable enough to bring me back the next week. Jonny Lee Miller (who felt more "American" to me than any of the actors from Great Britain or Australia portraying one of my fellow countrymen) was instantly likable as an up and coming attorney who suddenly begins having strange visions as the result of a brain aneurism. His acupuncturist suggests that there might be a purpose to his aneurism, that he might, in fact, be called by his visions to be a modern day prophet. Credence is granted to this as his visions lead him to help people he had seen in his visions but whom he had never met in actual life. Gradually one person after another comes to have "faith" (Eli's first vision is of George Michael singing the song "Faith" while standing on his coffee table in his living room) in Eli, even the initially hard-hearted head of the law firm, played wonderfully by Victor Garber.

All of this would be well and good except for one thing: with each episode the series developed more and better layers. The show started off good, but by the end of its 13-episode run it was approaching something not far from great. The moment that illustrates ELI STONE at its best - OK, ONE MORE SPOILER ALERT! - was an episode from near the end of the season. Eli has a vision. He is on Time's Square in New York (made even more unusual in that the series takes place in San Francisco), tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people crowded about, holding signs that read "Live Brave!" Eli sees a platform with a podium and a young but charismatic black man take his place behind the podium and begin to speak, beginning with his name. Eli sees this as a vision that he is supposed to help him. Discovering that he is currently a prisoner in the California penal system Eli takes on his case, eventually leading to uncovering systematic civil rights abuses at the prison. The man he came to help was not released, but at least the possibility of his eventual release was created. You think perhaps at this point that this episode was over, that all the central points had been made. But as Eli leaves the office building his vision returns, the young man once again speaking on the podium. Eli is further astonished to see himself standing at the base of the platform, one of his coworkers standing near him holding what is obviously his and her child. And in the speaker's next words we understand that he wasn't the point of this great assembly, which is what Eli had assumed, but was there merely to introduce the central figure for the evening, Eli Stone himself. The episode fades out with an expression of shocked incredulity on Eli's face. The whole scene might be my favorite moment from any show of the entire 2007-2008 season so far (and that is saying a lot with shows like PUSHING DAISIES and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS out there).

The show is made even better by a very, very good cast. I've seen Jonny Lee Miller in a lot of things over the years, from HACKERS (where I believe he met Angelina Jolie, with whom he was long involved) to MANSFIELD PARK, but he's never been someone I thought of as someone who could anchor a show. But he certainly does here. I already mentioned Victor Garber. This show might center around Eli Stone, but without Victor Garber in his role, many of the vision scenes would not work. Many people may be aware that Garber, in addition to being a talented actor (most know him as Jack Bristow on ALIAS) is a phenomenally gifted Broadway musical performer. He puts his musical skills on display frequently on the show. Similarly, Loretta Devine, who plays Eli's assistant, is a ferociously talented singer and she gets her own opportunities to sing. The beautiful Natasha Henstridge plays Eli's former fiancé and Garber's daughter and brings a lot to the show as someone no longer with Eli, but someone who still cares a great deal for him. I could mention many others, but I'll stop with two. Matt Letscher has many wonderful moments as Eli's brother. One of the highpoints of the season occurs when Eli relives his father's death through the eyes of his brother. And I instantly loved Julie Gonzalo as the new and idealistic assistant who frequently takes second seat in Eli's cases. Her involvement on the show leads to one of the show's best shout outs. Eli and Maggie (played by Gonzalo) go to Hawaii in search of a key witness in a case. As they are walking along Maggie makes a suggestion about how they might locate him. In his mildly snappish reply Eli calls her "Veronica Mars." Gonzalo had, not coincidentally, played Parker on VERONICA MARS, the ditzily happy roommate of Veronica's friend Mac.

There are two things that I really loved about ELI STONE. First, I really appreciate the fact that it got better and better as the season went along. So if you give this a try and don't like it at first, just wait. It starts off OK but ends up a thing of beauty. Second, this is perhaps the finest "feel good" show on TV. I wouldn't rank it as one of the very, very best shows on TV (I'd group it in the next tier of shows). It isn't quite in the same category as FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, LOST, PUSHING DAISIES, or MAD MEN, but it is ultimately upbeat and hopeful to a degree that those are not. FNL has many, many dark moments as many characters perpetually struggle with their own demons. LOST is often dark, but BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is so much darker that it makes LOST look like HAPPY HOUR. MAD MEN deals with a bunch of cut throats. Even PUSHING DAISIES, perhaps the most magical series in the history of TV, mixes much of its magic with some genuine darkness. But ELI STONE is all about hope. With his vision on Times Square we even know -- more or less -- how this whole thing ends. We know who he will end up with romantically. We know that he will achieve great things. What we don't know is how things will progressive from here to there. But the happy ending has been put in at the beginning. And moreover the tone of each episode is very positive and upbeat. Like I said, a feel good show.

The only possible problem is that we do not yet know if ABC is going to renew ELI STONE. The ratings for the last few episodes were good if not stunning. The word is that execs in ABC like the show. And I believe that a buzz for it was building near the end of its run. I would be dishonest if I didn't say that I think the chances for its renewal are very good. In the meantime I recommend that anyone who likes good TV go out and watch this show. Either stream it off ABC.com or get these DVDs when they come out. Make yourself a fan. I promise it won't be difficult.

We watched this show, at first, with very guarded reservations. We are Victor Garbor fans and just wanted to see what the show was about. I must say, that after the first episode, we were hooked. Yes, it is quirky and not at all real-life, but it is very good. We highly recommend that you give this series a try. It has a lot of heart and feel good moments.

How many law shows do we need in this country, and don't they all simply run together? PerryLABostonthePraticeMcBealandOrder? I can understand the writer's interest in writing a law show; great episodic stories that you can immediately buy into for a week's episode supported by guest stars that easily come and go, inter-office romances, people who make a lot of money which usually means they make a lot of problems. But aren't they all basically the same?

I guess that's why I initially shied away from watching Eli Stone, despite some catchy promos that I was watching during my Lost-fest. All we needed was another law show like we need another medical show. However, being a legal show grouping, and still smarting after the cancellation and no-DVD release of Ally McBeal, my partner Shane became a quick fan.

So it was just a matter of time before I'd sit down in front of the tube to watch Eli Stone. And what I was, ultimately, was enjoyable! Why? First, the premise of the show is interesting, having a killer corporate lawyer Eli Stone (Jonny Lee Miller) discover he has a brain aneurysm which causes him to have visions that ultimately help out his cases and causes. The visions seemingly point Stone to take cases that normally wouldn't have appeared on his radar screen, much to the chagrin of law office partner Wethersby (Victor Garber) and his daughter and Stone's fiancee Taylor (Natasha Henstridge).

As each episode untangles, you get the sense of some larger pictures that Eli Stone can paint; issues of destiny, divine intervention, and sometimes having to appear to do wrong in order to do right. Stone is not afraid to address these issues, nor are the characters in the show willing to back away when confronted with them, as office assistant and svengali Patti (the amazing Loretta Devine) keeps Stone on his moral toes.

While in every sense, this is yet another legal show, with cases, and many law office scenes, one can sense something bigger and larger looming on the horizon with Eli Stone. For sheer entertainment value (when Eli has a vision, watch out!), and a chance to see George Michael appear on TV, Eli Stone will on my watch list this season.

There have been many wonderful television shows dealing with transpersonal themes over the years, including The Twilight Zone (Alternate Realities), Quantum Leap (Time Travel), The X-Files (Alien Encounters), Touched by an Angel (Angels), and Joan of Arcadia (Divine Guidance). These types of shows also appear to be growing in number recently with several superb transpersonal television shows showering the television airways within the past couple of years, including: Lost (Metaphysical Realities), Life (Zen), Life on Mars (Time Travel), The Event and V (Alien Encounters), Heroes, Kyle-XY, Chuck, No Ordinary Family, and Fringe (Exceptional Human Capacities), Merlin and Camelot (Magic and Alchemy), and Eli Stone (Divine Guidance).

While all of these shows are excellent transpersonal television journeys, I believe Eli Stone must be singled out as one of televisions transpersonal masterpieces. The reason I believe Eli Stone deserves this mantle, is that it not only explores a transpersonal topic with great depth, grace, wit, and integrity, it also has the capacity to give the viewing audience a powerful experience of higher and illusive states of being. How often does a TV show induce a deep sense of grace, hope and faith in the face of life's haunting mysteries? This is very rare...so I say, BRAVO to the creators of Eli Stone! But I also have to give a big BOO to the network (ABC) who never gave the show the chance it deserved and canceled this gem of television enlightentainment. Luckily we have the first and second season of this gem on DVD.

Eli Stone is the best show on TV right now!! There are some really good shows, but Eli is the best. I think it stole that title when it first hit the screen last season, and having Jonny Lee Mill and George Michael and the rest of the cast is just a Perfect mix!! This group of people make for the most entertaining hour of TV by far!! They work well as a cast, and look like they are having fun!! I hope that this show stays around for a long, long time!!!

Fun and easy to watch. Sensitive scenes were handled very well, without being too 'Kitch'. Exhibited a clear understanding of relationships at personal and professional levels.

Eli Stone is such a refreshing breath of fresh air! This series takes a new look at the question of "IS THERE SOMETHING MORE THAT I COULD DO?"! This series takes a successful lawyer who gets whacked with "visions" out of the blue. The visions however, are coming from an aneurysm. This is some what unbelievable for someone who seems to only have faith in ambition and success. So as the series progresses, even though he is plagued with these visions, he is becoming more confident in his faith but is constantly questioning it. At the season cliff hanger, he decides to have his aneurysm removed and the question is what's next! I LOVE this series and I think anyone who has ever dealt with a question of faith or even is there something more out there!

Eli Stone season one ranks among my favorite television programs of the last few decades. Perhaps what attracts me most to this series is how Eli Stone (the character) is so willing to sacrifice his status and reputation to do what he believes is right. His visions often take the form of his co-workers dancing and singing, and inevitably, he becomes swept up in the moment only to discover he is the only one actually dancing and singing when his vision ends. While these actions are involuntary, the decisions he makes when he is in control are what make him endearing. He would rather have his contemporaries think he is crazy than to risk the welfare of his friends or even a stranger.

The first season stands alone as a complete story. It starts slowly and builds gradually to a finale that is a true work of art. While I am glad they are making a second season, I must admit that I have mixed feelings. Sometimes the right thing to do is to recognize when a painting or musical composition or story is complete. Adding any more may detract from the whole. Perhaps I worry too much.

Regardless of how the second season turns out, the first season is well worth your time and money. Eli Stone puts a tenacious smile on your face, and as irrational as this sounds, you can't help but like everything and everyone a little bit more after each episode.

This series short though it was was both heartwarming and delightful, with great musical numbers, but best of all it told a great story, which made me alternate between laughing and crying. The acting, dancing and singing is superb, some of the actors you would never expect to see singing do a great job. Set in Law offices mostly, it is one of the most original shows I have seen in a long time. I bought both Seasons 1 and 2 at the end of Season 1 being aired in Australia.