TV Show Review: Eli Stone - Season 2

Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: Entertaining, light stories...

Cons: ...when they aren't trying to preach at you.

The Bottom Line:

Could be light, fun show

But then they decide to preach

Which ruins the fun

"I Forgot About George Michael's Hit 'Only I Know What to Do in a Crisis.'"

Despite my qualms about the politics of Eli Stone, I enjoyed the show enough to give the second season a chance.  And I was disappointed when it was canceled.  And yet, the liberal agenda of the show continued to irritate me while the show's on-going soap opera like stories kept me greedily coming back for more.

If you are among the millions who haven't seen the show, here's a quick recap.  Eli Stone (Jonny Lee Miller), a high successful lawyer, starts to see visions of fantastical places and people breaking out into song.  The first season used lots of George Michael, both the songs and the man in cameos, a plot device they got away from here.  His brother Nate (Matt Letscher) diagnosed the problem as a brain aneurysm, a condition their father had had as well.  These vision not only show Eli the future at times, they also help him pick and win cases.

As you can well imagine, this played havoc with her professional and personal life.  He broke up with his fiancee Taylor Wethersby (Natasha Henstridge) while her father Jordan Wethersby (Victor Garber) continued to defend him to the other partners in the firm.

This season picks up four months after the last season ended.  Eli's aneurysm and visions are gone.  But when complications ensue, he actually asks for them back.  And his life just gets weirder from there.

The other partners may have lost their original bid to wrestle the law firm away from Jordan, but a changed conscience gives them another chance.  And it isn't long before Eli and Jordan are heading a law firm devoted to helping the underprivileged with legitimate cases.  Unfortunately, the poor can't always pay for the services that are being provided.  Most surprising of all is that Maggie Decker (Julie Gonzalo) left the firm to join the other partners in their new firm.  Now, instead of being the only person who often believes in Eli, she and Eli often square off in court.

Eli's visions continue to complicate and help his life, often at the same time.  And he's got his father's diary to guide him; unless it makes things even more complicated.

Cases this season involve a family fighting over how to bury a fallen soldier, the wrongful termination of a news anchor, and an atheist who needs a heart transplant.  Where does it all lead?

I really feel like the producers were stymied in how to end the series.  Obviously, they weren't given much notice, so they left quite a few things dangling.  Heck, there was one revelation that contradicts last season's visions.  And several others made me wonder where they were going with some of the characters.

Speaking of the characters, they continue to keep me hooked on the show.  I just loved all of them.  Breaking things up this season kept it interesting, and watching these new dynamics unfold brought them to life in new ways.  I would easily watch them for seasons to come.

Which obviously means the cast did their job.  Besides the ones I mentioned, we had Loretta Devine as tell it like it is secretary Patti, Sam Jaeger as oiler lawyer and Taylor's new love interest Matt Dowd, Jason Winston George as lawyer Keith Bennett, and James Saito as acupuncturist Dr. Frank Chan.  There really wasn't a weak link in the bunch, and if one character played a small part in an episode or two because of the other plots, I was always disappointed.

George Michael may have been missing this season, but they started things off with a bang guest star wise.  Sigourney Weaver played a therapist in the season premier, and Katie Holmes show up in the second episode.

The showed moved quickly.  They always had some court case, but that case often played second fiddle to the story arcs involving the characters.  And each episode seemed to have two or three playing out.  Yet everything felt like it was developed enough we knew what the characters were thinking and feeling and always rooted for them to get what they wanted.

Yet the liberal agenda continued to bother me.  It wasn't obvious every episode, although we always knew which side we'd want to win in the court cases.  It usually is obvious in a show about fighting injustice.  However, whenever they decided to take on a political cause of the day, they always created straw men to tear down, never really presenting the other side of the argument.

I probably still would have given the set four stars if it hadn't been for the series finale.  In this one, a Christian couple fight to keep their daughter's heart from being used to save an atheist.  I was completely outraged by how this couple behaved.  As a Christian, I know quite a few, and I don't know anyone who would behave like those characters did.  It left a very sour taste in my mouth.  But I kept watching because I wanted to know how things ended, such as they did.

This set contains all 13 episodes from the season on three discs.  Once again, the picture is wide screen and the audio is full surround sound.  There are two behind the scene featurettes, one on a musical number and one with two of the cast members.  And yes, it does have the standard bloopers and deleted scenes.

It's a shame this show felt the need to preach as much as it did.  If it had just kept that in check, I would have enjoyed the second season of Eli Stone so much more than I did.

Season 2 Episodes:

1. The Path

2. Grace

3. Unwritten

4. Should I Stay or Should I Go?

5. The Humanitarian

6. Happy Birthday, Nate

7. Help!

8. Owner of a Lonely Heart

9. Two Ministers

10. Sonoma

11. Mortal Combat

12. Tailspin

13. Flight Path