“An enjoyable series that ended too soon but nevertheless a solid second season with a satisfying ending that should appeal to fans of ‘eli stone’!”
DVD TITLE: eli stone – The Complete Second and Final Season
DURATION: (13 episodes) 560 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Widescreen (1:78:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish
COMPANY: abc studios
RATED: PG DSLV
RELEASE DATE:Â August 25, 2009
Created by Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim
Directed by David Petrarca, Vincent Misiano, Michael Schultz, Perry Lang, Chris Misiano, Ron Underwood
Written by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, Leila Gerstein, Brett Mahoney, Alex Taub, Steve Lichtman, Wendy Mericle, Courtney Kemp, Oscar Balderrama, Dahvi Waller
Executive Producer: Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim,Chris Misiano
Co-Executive Producer: Alex Taub, Andrew Kreisberg, Andrew A. Ackerman
Co-Producer: Melissa Berman, Michael Cedar, Jennifer Lence, Leila Gerstein, Brett Mahoney, Dahvi Waller,
Associate Producer:Â Brian Wankum, Chris Cheramie
Music by Blake Neely
Cinematography by Michael D. O’Shea, Dennis Hall
Edited by Todd Desrosiers, Elena Maganini, Matthew Colonna, Anthony Scott, Monty DeGraff, Kristin Windell
Casting by Jeff Greenberg, Eric Dawson, Liz Dean, Carol Kritzer, Robert J. Ulrich
Series Production by Thomas Fichter
Series Art Diection by Anthony D. Parrillo
Series Set Decoration: Michele Poulik
Series Costume Design: Victoria J. Auth
Starring:
Jonny Lee Miller as Eli Stone
Natasha Henstridge as Taylor Wethersby
Loretta Devine as Patti Delacroix
Matt Letscher as Nathan Stone
Sam Jaeger as Matt Dowd
James Saito as Dr. Frank Chen
Victor Garber as Jordan Wethersby
Julie Gonzalo as Maggie Dekker
Jason Winston George as Keith Bennett
Tom Amandes as Martin Posner
Tom Cavanagh as Jeremy Stone
Jodi Long as Judge Marcia Phelps
Corporate litigator Eli Stone (Johnny Lee Miller) went from legal barracuda to cockeyed optimist overnight after suffering a brain aneurysm. Now instead of representing deep-pocketed corporations in court, he has musical visions that awaken a newfound social conscience. In Season Two of the most original legal drama on television, Eli convinces his hard-nosed boss Jordan Wethersby (Victor Garber) that pro bono is the way to go. But there’s no way Wethersby’s daughter (and Eli’s former fiancée) Taylor (Natasha Henstridge) is going to let her dad change the firm’s direction without a fight. Eli Stone: The Complete Second and Final Season features guest appearances by Katie Holmes, Taraji Henson, Sigourney Weaver, Katey Sagal and Seal.
In Jan. 2008, as a drama series that aired after the abc Network’s popular hit drama series “LOST”, millions of Americans had the chance to check out the new law drama series known as “eli stone”. With its commercials featuring George Michael singing “Faith” and dancing lawyers, needless to say, the series caught the attention of many people and was a big hit.
The series is created by Greg Berlanti (“Brothers & Sisters”, “Dirty Sexy Money”, “Everwood” and “Dawson’s Creek”) and Marc Guggenheim (“Brothers & Sisters”, “CSI: Miami” and “Law & Order”). The show features music composed by Blake Neely (“The Mentalist”, “Brothers & Sisters” and “Notes from the Underbelly”) and cinematography by Michael D. O’Shea (“Bones”, “Jack & Bobby” and “CSI: Miami”) and Dennis Hall (“Big Shots”, “The Cleaner” and “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”).
The series revolves around an attorney named Eli Stone (Jonny Lee Miller, “Smith”, “Aeon Flux”and “The Flying Scotsman”). In the first season, Eli Stone was experiencing dreams which he doesn’t quite understand but it appears those visions have a way of foretelling the future and has given him the ability to use these visions to help people. Of course, no one believes him but because his father had a similar situation and died of a brain aneurysm, Eli gets checked and he it is discovered that he has an inoperable brain aneurysm that is causing his hallucinations.
Eli’s personal life is even more confusing because due to his law career and his visions, it has led to a breakup with Taylor Weathersby (Natasha Henstridge, “She Spies”, “Commander in Chief”, “Species”), the daughter of his boss at the law firm, Jordan (Victor Garber, “Alias”, “Milk”, “Justice”). Before Jordan would run his law firm as a firm that took on big cases for the money but he and the law firm begin to become inspired by Eli. Eli was your typical corporate lawyer but since he started having these visions, he has become dedicated to helping people on pro bono cases which has put him at odds with the firm’s owners and some of his other attorneys.
Because Eli has these visions, he has grown closer to people that he works with such as his receptionist Patti Dellacroix (Loretta Devine, “Grey’s Anatomy”, “The PJ’s” and “Dreamgirls”) and also the rookie attorney Maggie Dekker (Julie Gonzalo, “Veronica Mars”) who he eventually has an off-an-on relationship with. Other characters that work for the firm are Keith Bennett (Jason Winston George, “What About Brian” and “Eve”) and Matt Dowd (Sam Jaeger, “Lucky Number Slevin”, “Girls Club”).
But for Eli, his personal confidants that he goes to in regards to his visions is his brother and surgeon Nathan (Matt Letscher, “Brothers & Sisters”, “The New Adventures of Old Christine” and “Joey”) and his father’s friend Dr. Frank Chen (James Saito) who works in alternative medicine and helps Eli continue his visions through acupuncture and other means.
In the first season, the series focused on Eli’s visions and how he is able to help people but also ended with Eli having surgery for his aneurysm.
For the second and final season of the series, with Eli now having his aneurysm removed and now doing OK. His brother Nate may have developed the aneurysm and now having the visions. Because his brother has much more to live for, helping people’s careers as a surgeon and the on most likely to have a family, Eli makes a deal with God to transfer the aneurysm back to him and thus, the series focuses on Eli now having to continue in helping people and the people close to him but also knowing that this time around, learn more about his father and how he did and knowing that he may not live a full life due to the aneurysm.
“eli stone – The Complete Second Season” comes with three discs. Here is a spoilerless summary of each episode:
DISC 1:
- EPISODE 14: The Path - Six months after Eli had his brain aneurysm successfully removed, now Nate is suffering from an aneurysm and having the visions. Eli must make a decision in order to help the people that are close to him.
- EPISODE 15: Grace – Eli meets a woman that he falls for named Grace (Katie Holmes) but like Eli, she also has a secret.
- EPISODE 16: Unwritten – Eli must now take on a case against a lead company that goes to the Supreme Court. Also, Eli’s law firm goes through major changes.
- EPISODE 17: Should I Stay or Should I Go? – Because of law firm changes, associates at the law firm decide to stay or go.
DISC 2:
- EPISODE 18: The Humanitarian -Â With Eli and Jordan now running their own law firm, they must keep retaining regular clientele to keep up with the costs.
- EPISODE 19: Happy Birthday Nate – Eli starts to have visions regarding his father and Taylor has a secret to tell to Matt.
- EPISODE 20: Help! - Patti’s daughter is arrested for drug abuse and Eli is trying to figure out his visions if she is truly innocent. Special guest: Seal
- EPISODE 21: Owner of a Lonely Heart – After dating Ashley, Eli decides to share his secret with her.
- EPISODE 22: Two Ministers – Eli is happy that his brother and his fiance Beth are getting married and selected him as minister but Eli discovers something about Nate’s fiance.
DISC 3:
- EPISODE 23: Sonoma - A news anchor from a huge media corporation loses his job which leads to Eli, Taylor, Matt and Maggie go on a ride to Sonoma. But Matt has reservations about going to Sonoma for a reason.
- EPISODE 24: Mortal Combat – Eli takes the case of the news anchor and realizes he must go to court against Maggie. Also, Matt must make a major career decision.
- EPISODE 25: Tailspin – The firm is suffering from the lack of money and the attorneys wonder if they will be unemployed. And now the Eli and Jordan takes on case of hundreds of employees who were terminated from their job.
- EPISODE 26: Flight Path – Eli’s visions have him concerned that someone close to him will die in a plane crash. He must now find out who it may be and try to prevent them from getting on the plane. Meanwhile, Eli takes on a case of a woman who needs a heart transplant.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“eli stone – The Complete Second Series” is featured in widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1:78:1, enhanced for 16×9 television. For the most part, the picture quality of “eli stone” is good as expect from a drama series on DVD. But one of the positives of the series is that there is quite a bit of outdoor shots and many musical scenes. Needless to say, the series had a pretty strong budget and production quality and cinematography was quite solid. Low light scenes don’t have high noise as some dramas on DVD have suffered from. But for the most part, picture quality for “eli stone” is solid.
As for the audio, the series is featured in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The series is primarily a dialogue driven series with front and center channels being the main source of audio distribution. Dialogue is clear and understandable. There are scenes during Eli’s visions that utilize surround sound but these are few. If anything, its the music of “eli stone” that comes alive. Music plays a big part of the drama series and sounds great.
Subtitles are presented in English SDH, French and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“eli stone – The Complete Second Season” includes the following special features:
- Dancin’ In The Streets – (11:38) The cast puts their dancing shoes on and gets ready to boogie at the legendary Capitol Records building, then takes their performance to the streets of Paramount Studios. A featurette on the recording and making of the “Dancin’ in the Streets” musical scene from the first episode.
- Good Morning with Sam & Julie – (6:00) Getting to know the youngest people in the cast: the spontaneous and hilarious Sam Jaeger (who plays Matt Dowd) and the sweet and sensitive Julie Gonzalo (the show’s’ Maggie Dekker).
- Deleted Scenes – Featuring three deleted scenes: Pattie Does the Right Thing, Not Taking the Deal, Matt Dowd’s Attempt at Romance
- Circular File: Bloopers from Season Two – (2:06) The cast of Eli Stone trips, slips, *bleeps* and falls through some of Season 2’s funniest impromptu moments.
“eli stone” was one of the more entertaining, humorous, spiritual and also inspiring drama series I have seen on network television for awhile.
It’s really a shame that the series really never caught on with many viewers. Sometimes I criticized the series time slot for its cancellation. With other newer series getting the time slot after “LOST”, “eli stone” seemed as if it was floating around on different days and times and after it was announced that the show was going to be canceled (along with several other abc shows), catching the second half of the series proved to be difficult. So, needless to say, unless you watched it on abc.com, personally I’ve been waiting for the series to come out on DVD.
The first season was highly enjoyable and it was not known if the series would come back for a second season. So, I was content by how the series ended. But when the commercials started coming out and promoting the second season, I was excited. Eli Stone with his style of helping people through his law firm and his visions, awkward as he maybe, its what makes him successful. Each character was fun to watch, as each has their own personal quirk about them but for the second season, we started to see more character development with all the supportive characters that were built around Eli Stone.
Also, with season 2, the series seemed to take on the suffering of people through the state of a weak economy and thus, a storyline that is affecting the hurt on law firms (which I hear quite frequently through friends who are lawyers), it was quite intriguing to see it become part of this series.
As for the DVD release, I wish that there was a significant send-off via its special features. Possibly a commentary audio track, more special features on the other talent, just a little more that would give fans who were supportive of the series a sort of closure of feeling wronged by the series cancellation.
But I really enjoyed both seasons of “eli stone”. The series was absolutely enjoyable, fun, well-written, well-acted and just entertaining. Some may feel a bit put off by its spirituality (ie. possibly Eli’s receiving messages courtesy of God) and thus this series was not for them but the series was unlike other drama series based on attorneys or law firms. This was about people willing to help people, people inspired by Eli Stone and things that didn’t seem possible, was made possible. A show that was based on “faith” and even “hope”.
But for all what is said and done, “eli stone” finishes with a solid season and for fans of the drama series, I highly recommend “eli stone – The Complete Second and Final Season”.