Eli Stone, RIP

I realize this isn’t the timeliest of topics. Long story short, my TiVo worked its magic on the first two episodes of Eli Stone‘s second season; it recorded them in full, and self-deleted them upon completion. Before you recommend to me how to solve the problem, yes, it was set to save all episodes, and yes, it was set to delete only when I manually deleted. It’s a problem I’ve had with my TiVo box since the beginning, and one of the major reasons I dislike DirecTV; their DVR boxes suck. They often don’t automatically update their software, so if your version is outdated, you’ll encounter countless recording problems until you manually update. Real high quality.

Anyway, my wife and I also missed the ball on the tiny window ABC provides for viewing their shows online, so we decided to gamble by waiting for the re-runs to air. In the meantime, we dutifully recorded episodes three through nine.

Well, this past weekend I came to grips with reality: Eli Stone is gone, never to return. Of course, I knew it’d been canceled, but in my heart-of-hearts I held out hope that ABC might see the error in its ways. I mean, my God, shows like (I’m hiding underneath the table here) According to Jim, America’s Funniest Home Videos, The Bachelor, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Supernanny, Ugly Betty and Wife Swap have all been given longer lives than Eli Stone. Leaves me speechless, too.

So, as I was saying, this past weekend we finally started watching season two. For all intents and purposes, this was a futile exercise, because we already know that the show won’t end. So why bother? Because Eli Stone is that good.

I watched the same promos that you saw last winter, and there was no way I was ever going to watch a show where the main character (Jonny Lee Miller is absolutely fantastic) saw prophetic musical visions. Not to mention the fact that I’m male and under thirty, so George Michael is not exactly a member of my iPod family. But I’m a big fan of Victor Garber, so one day a few weeks into the season I watched the pilot online. I couldn’t believe I was missing it! I sat my wife down that same night to watch the premiere episode with me, and we had season passed the show before the hour was up.

The truth is that the premise aggravates me a bit. Prophetic visions, in modern-day San Francisco? And better yet, ones that tell a lawyer who he should and should not represent? Probably the reason audiences weren’t interested. But Eli Stone isn’t really about prophecy, or God, or fate, or anything spiritual in any way. The show, when it comes down to it, is about finding your way. It’s about taking your broken past (in this case an alcoholic father who it turns out was really suffering from his own prophetic abilities) and utilizing the good and the beauty within to forge a new future for yourself.

In the first season, Eli spends his time getting beaten down by the judicial system. Everyone, from the partners in his firm to the officers of the bar association, question his sanity and his ability to dutifully and competently represent his clients. It was a bit tedious, but nothing more than was necessary to set him up as the perennial do-gooder who bucks the system. By season two, Eli is a named partner in a new firm with his former boss and mentor, Jordan Wethersby (Garber). So far we’ve only seen through episode six, but I am so into the new narrative!

Seeing Eli as managing partner (a role he appears to be filling) is like watching (excuse the tired analogy) an eagle soar. Miller is great at authentically portraying a “real” person, in this case the kind of boss that we all wish we had. His handling of the mole was simple yet brilliant, in that we never see the right move being made on television today; the disgruntled ex-employee always becomes the vindictive nemesis in the long-run. But a true boss forewarns and is then magnanimous; you save the sinner, who then becomes your most loyal of followers. So simple, yet generally not dramatic enough for our entertainment needs. In addition, Miller’s overall acting abilities continue to improve; Jonny Lee is a giant who should move on to real stardom, if only he can find a network that will trust him.

Like I said before, the prophetic theme is irritating. The whole back and forth with Eli’s brother Nate (Matt Letscher), Eli’s guru and friend Frank (James Saito) and the notebook full of prophecies that Eli’s father (Thomas Cavanagh’s back!) left is just stupid. Was the idea that Cavanagh could save the show, or to make the premise even more far-fetched? That mess notwithstanding, season two makes some great moves. Jason Winston George (lawyer Keith Bennett) was a tremendous addition last year, and kudos for expanding his role. Taraji P. Henson’s guest-spot was perfect casting as well; it’s a shame she didn’t become a more permanent addition. Also, good work shuttling Julie Gonzalo and Sam Jaeger to the other firm, although Jaeger’s Matt Dowd is inordinately more tolerable than Gonzalo’s Maggie Dekker. She (as well as Natasha Henstridge’s Taylor Wethersby) was definitely the wrong choice for a love interest for Eli. What ever happened to Laura Benanti from episode one?

I don’t yet know what transpires in the last few episodes, but unless it takes some kind of sick, twisted nosedive, I personally can’t imagine why this show doesn’t make the cut. The shame of it is that eventually, we’ll lose anything and everything that dared to be original. Sometimes it’s for the better (see, or rather don’t see, Viva Laughlin). But, every once in a while, we lose something that was on its way to being really great. It’s too bad.

At least you and I care enough now that it’s over; it’s shame on us once for ignoring quality when it’s readily available to us … it’d be shame on us again if we simply let it drift away.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Feb 25, 2009 @ 12:00 EST5EDT