Thank you, ABC. Though you may be insensitive bastards who decided to cancel Eli Stone, you at least had the balls to finish the season and give fans some form of closure. Granted, it wasn’t what they really wanted – several successful years of quality storytelling, followed by a tearful, yet happy, ending. But, with television the way it is, they’ll take what they can get. Even if the ending is half-assed, like Bob mentioned in his post.

Since Mr. Degon so eloquently put my thoughts into his post (stop reading my mind, Bob!), I felt that the final review for Stone shouldn’t be about the ending as a whole, but about the characters that remained. Eli, Jordan, Taylor, Matt — over the last 26 episodes, these folks went through more emotional transformations than a normal human could handle. A majority of these transformations took place in the last three episodes, with the series finale being the place where they were completed.

Read the rest of this entry »

(Season 2, Episode 7 – “Help!”)

If you needed to chose one word that could describe this protracted season of Eli Stone it would be ‘change’. Since the first minute of the first hour of the second season, the lives of all of the show’s major players have changed in so many ways. Whether it be a move to a law firm, a promotion, or a relationship change, everyone’s lives have been affected.

This week the Change Fairy struck Patti on the head and continued to pound on Matt Dowd as he continued his transformation from suave, arrogant attorney to a slobbering love puppy. It also continued to tap on Jordan as his evolution continued. Come, let us journey to the world of Eli Stone to see what happened in the lives of these fine folks.

Read the rest of this entry »

Friends, I am pissed. Once again a network has closed its eyes, spun around three times, and randomly pointed to a series of shows that, while extreme fan favorites, they have decided to let go. In this particular case I talk about Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money and, my personal favorite and yours, Eli Stone. Okay, they haven’t said Eli was canceled outright but, by not ordering the remaining nine episodes for a full season, the writing is on the wall.

Thing is, the show was getting better. The changes that were taking place signaled a new chapter in the series that posed all sorts of potential storylines. The characters, who we thought we knew last season, were becoming more defined. In addition, the heart and spirituality of the show, Eli Stone’s cornerstone, were getting stronger each week.

To prove my point, let’s review some of the comings-and-goings that took place during the last two outings of the show.

Read the rest of this entry »

ABC

(Season 2, Episode 3)

The book. The journal of all the visions of Eli’s father – collected for the reading enjoyment of others. It was now in possession of Eli himself. Combined with his own visions, this made him a pretty powerful litigator. This is what began to worry me.

For a season plus three episodes we have journeyed with Eli in order to determine what his visions represented during his normal life. Now, with the book and his knowledge that he is a messenger for a higher power, it looked so simple. Eli Stone was on the verge of turning into an entirely different program that dealt with Eli’s journey across life using the book as his guide. That would have been a show I was not interested in seeing, at least in the format of a law procedural.

So, what happened? Well, I’m not going to tell you on the front page of the review! Jump forward and you’ll find out as we discuss five points from this week’s Eli Stone.

Read the rest of this entry »