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Premierewatch: 'Eli Stone'
This is Eli Stone. He's a lawyer in a schmancy
Shoutin' it from the mountaintop… spoilers ahead...
Yeah, I know. George Michael. And it's fanciful, and you're being asked to suspend disbelief, and Pushing Daisies already kind of has a monopoly on the quirky/fun-loving thing. So what? Go along with it. A show that's this charmingly acted and snappily written is worth giving a shot.
Eli (Jonny Lee Miller) is representing a big pharmaceutical company that's
being sued by a woman who contends that a preservative in its flu shot caused
her son's autism. He pushes the original $60,000 settlement offer to $90,000
and urges her to take it -– all the while hearing the more talented half of
Wham! singing in his head. The song follows him, driving him to distraction
while in flagrante with his fiancée, Taylor (Natasha Henstridge). He goes to
the living room, sees George Michael dancing around on his coffee table, and
promptly passes out. Of course you expected that. But if I get up tonight and
find Simon LeBon swiveling his hips on my coffee table and singing "
He goes to the doctor –- his brother, in fact -– for an MRI, which comes up empty. Meanwhile, Beth, the plaintiff in his lawsuit (Laura Benanti), shows up at his office, asking him to represent her. Big, fat conflict of interest. He turns her down. Then, after a visit to acupuncturist Dr. Chen (James Saito), it dawns on him who this woman is: his First. From college -– UCLA, 1991; she was Lizzie then. He confronts her at home. Their interaction is quick and believable as she's 'fessing up to being The One and reasoning that it wasn't a big deal because they were stoned on pot brownies. He meets her son, Ben, who's stacking hundreds of wooden letter blocks in the living room –- in which Eli sees a message: "Make peace George Michael." Words to live by.
Eli works hard to convince his boss/father-in-law to be (Victor Garber, one
of the hardest-workin' men in showbiz) that he should take the case and
represent the plaintiff –- it'll make them rich, and the firm can reap both the
public relations and financial rewards. Next hallucination, which begins during
this conversation: a cable car in the lobby. Eli flashes back to riding a cable
car with his father (Tom Cavanaugh), an unreliable alcoholic whom the entire
Stone family (Eli and the Family Stone?) has resented for 20 years. Pops gives
young Eli a postcard of mountain peaks in
The upshot: Eli goes back to the doctor, and finds out he has an inoperable
brain aneurysm, which may be the cause of his hallucinations –- and inherited
from his father. Along with feeling the ensuing guilt about his dad, Eli starts
reexamining his life. And being confused by
In court, Eli may be a shark of a litigator, but he does have ethics and a heart. He refuses to use, even though he knows about, an internal study by the company acknowledging that the vaccine preservative could be dangerous –- obtained by his assistant, Patti (Loretta Devine), with whom he has a plucky, West Wingy relationship that brings some of the show's best lines (see below).
The plaintiff triumphs after Eli gets the CEO to admit he requested that his child not receive his company's vaccine, and after he gives a great summation, all about –- you guessed it –- faith. As in, having faith that a big enough judgment against Big Pharma will make them do the right thing and take the chemical out of their vaccine -– and faith that the jury will find for the plaintiff. They do, to the tune of $5.2 million, and the company agrees to remove the preservative.
Taylor comes back and apologizes for her
shaky reaction, and in the end, a now properly parka-ed up Eli goes to
A lot happens in this episode –- there's a lot to establish. But there's also a lot in there –- including some very relatable performances, particularly by Miller, and just enough quirk.
A little flavor:
"Not to be a prude, Eli, but I've got a deposition at 8 tomorrow
morning, so could we forego the role playing this one time?" -–
"Stress can give you premature grays, it doesn't make legendary British
pop stars sing their greatest hits from your couch." –- Eli to his brother
when they're trying to diagnose his hallucinations.
"Who is it this time? Cyndi Lauper? Billy Joel? The Go-Go's?" –-
Patti, when Eli hears the cable car.
"Don't whisper yell at me!" –- Patti, when an appalled Eli refuses
to use the pharmaceutical company's study.
"You wouldn't happen to have any needles for my inoperable brain
aneurism that I inherited from my alcoholic father who I wrongly hated for 20
years?" -– Eli to Dr. Chen after the conclusive diagnosis
"Oh, that totally blows bro." –- Dr. Chen in response.
What did you think? Would you take a George Michael vision seriously, or would it have to be someone else? Did you find this a relief after "reality"?
Can anyone say "Ally McBeal 2"???
Never has a series bored me so quickly. Is he a prophet? Is he insane? Do I care?
Art Carnage | Jan 31, 2008 9:08:53 PM | #Why post on a show you dont like? much less read the review
everyone | Feb 1, 2008 6:10:26 AM | #Why post on a show you dont like? much less read the review.
everyone | Feb 1, 2008 6:10:37 AM | #I hope this episode won't give people the wrong idea about the actual case mothers have against a pharmaceutical company, claiming the vaccine made their children autistic. The fact is this: those children where were vaccinated without this preservative in it showed the same rate of autism as those children who were vaccinated with the preservative.
That aside: interesting episode.
Another great line: "Are you dumping me? Because you know I was just diagnosed with an aneurysm and it would be really bad timing for me."
Yossarian | Feb 1, 2008 6:27:26 AM | #Over all I liked the show, except now I have the song "Faith" stuck in my head. Does that mean I might be a prophet, too?
SG | Feb 1, 2008 7:28:27 AM | #Considering I watched the first episode with my hubbie, who is the most cynical man in the world, and it made him laugh out loud more than once, we'll give it another try.
But don't you "whisper yell" at me came from Friday Night Lights, and that disappointed me. Unless I'm totally mistaken?
ragdoll | Feb 1, 2008 7:32:38 AM | #My first thought when I saw the episode was that it was pushing that FALSE idea that vaccines cause autism and how dangerous and crappy that was. Liked the rest of it though...
himespau | Feb 1, 2008 8:14:48 AM | #My first thought when I saw the episode was that it was pushing that FALSE idea that vaccines cause autism and how dangerous and crappy that was. Liked the rest of it though...
himespau | Feb 1, 2008 8:14:55 AM | #Did Matt Letscher look a little strange - like he was wearing too much make-up or had work done around the eyes or something? Anyway, I really liked the show and I definitely enjoyed Jonny Lee Miller.
Dani | Feb 1, 2008 10:17:49 AM | #I liked the show - definite improvement over the reality shows. I liked the funny interactions bet Eli & his
secretary, Patti, the most.
Isn't Jonny Lee Miller Angelina
Jolie's first husband?
I enjoyed the show and look forward to the next episode.
DaisyRose | Feb 1, 2008 11:11:18 AM | #Promising debut episode… good writing, snappy direction, some genuine laugh-out-loud lines.
I'll be back next week to see how it goes.
Dean Speir | Feb 1, 2008 12:31:55 PM | #Fine beginning for a show that will probably go the Ally McBeal route and get ridiculous after a few seasons. My only major problem with the show is that if they use legal cases to cement the episodes together, then Eli Stone will likely just become another Boston Legal, and one of those is already too many. Good enough to give it a go, but not sure it has staying power beyond its being behind Lost. And to "everyone" (heavy sigh, heavy sigh), for the 1266th time that I've probably said this on this site and elsewhere, the point of a blog like this is for people to share their opinions. If everyone who watched the show liked it and said so, this entire website would be little more than a boring praise-fest frequented by people who would just be preaching to the choir, so to speak. Picking apart shows like this is what lets everyone else know what works and what doesn't on network programming (whether or not the people reading it agree). Sometimes, as with shows like Jericho, that kind of feedback actually works to bring back a program that had already been canceled (would like to think the same thing will happen to Journeyman, but I ain't holding my breath). This is the Internet, not Communist Russia in the 1970s. At least until the Chinese take over the planet, there is still freedom to speak our minds on sites like this. That is why people who might not like a show like Eli Stone say so: because they can. So lighten up a bit, eh? Note: as an aside, I intentionally left my own personal opinions about the autism-being-caused-by-vaccine storyline out of this post, because it would open up and entire can of worms that has no place on a site about TV shows. Suffice it to say I don't agree and leave it at that.
Dark Disciple | Feb 1, 2008 12:39:58 PM | #I have been looking forward to the premiere of this show and I really enjoyed it last night. I think it would be a really great 9:00 lead-in to Big Shots at 10:00!
william | Feb 1, 2008 12:46:18 PM | #I really enjoyed the show! It's funny because I just saw the movie Trainspotting for the first time last weekend and looked up info on the main actors (Kevin McKidd of Journeyman was in it) and Jonny Lee Miller's name and face were familiar so I looked him up. Yes, he was Angelina Jole's first husband. All of a sudden, just a few days later, there was a TV ad for a new show with him in it and it piqued my interest. I thought it was very good on it's own merit and a great follow up to Lost. George Michael looked great, too!
EL | Feb 1, 2008 7:16:21 PM | #I was pleasantly surprised by the show. Johnny Lee Miller was perfect, as was Loretta Devine (his secretary). And it's not another cookie-cutter crime show, which is always nice.
Angie | Feb 1, 2008 9:25:02 PM | #I've like Johnny Lee Miller since "Trainspotting" and "Hackers," so thought I'd check out the series. Not sold on it yet, but am intrigued enough to return next week.
KayDee | Feb 1, 2008 10:03:16 PM | #I don't think anyone mentioned my favorite quote-
When Eli asks if Ben is his son, Beth answers (very seriouly) "Yes, I was pregnant for 8 years."
Overall, I liked this show.
Everyone has been comparing this show to "Pushing Daisies", but I like "Eli Stone" better. I admit that "Pushing Daisies" is a well-made series, but it's too much like a fairy tale for my tastes (which is what most people love about it).
"Eli Stone" had the right combination of reality (the conversations with his assistant, his fiancee, his boss) and the fantasy (George Michael in his living room, his co-workers dancing in the lobby, etc.). I was pleasantly surprised that I actually liked both Taylor and Beth. In most TV shows, the protagonist's girlfriend/ wife is usually so annoying!
By the way, Jonny Lee Miller has been in many good films, so I'm always disappointed when people refer to him as the 'first Mr. Angelina Jolie'. He was great in "Trainspotting", "Hackers" and in the film adaptation of "Mansfield Park". Kudos to Miller for his very convincing American accent! ;-)
Paige | Feb 4, 2008 8:50:59 AM | #I loved that his father's ashes were in a Chock Full O Nuts coffee can.
Coco | Feb 4, 2008 10:52:40 AM | #I loved this show! It was quirky, fast paced, witty, I really really hope it gets a chance to stay on the air. Its so hard to get involved with a show these days because of how quickly they pull them off the air. I hope this one lasts. Chock full o nuts, was a great touch!!
JO | Feb 9, 2008 10:58:50 AM | #
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