Eli Stone – Unwritten

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.

The Book: I’m very glad that Eli decided to throw his father’s book into the fire so it could never be used again. Having the book as a reference for Eli to glance at would have been like a high school kid who had access to the test answer book. Eli would have never been able to lead his own life and make his own decisions about the cases he takes on. He already has a problem with those decisions when it comes to his own visions. Adding that extra layer on would have really made him insane.

The Visions: There were an awful lot of them this week, even though most were connected to his potential appearance in front of the Supreme Court. I may be wrong here, but it looks like Jonny Lee Miller and Victor Garber were actually in DC for those Supreme Court scenes. Not the part on the subway, but definitely the part when they came out of the Metro station and looked at the Court building. Miller was even standing in front of Federal Triangle Metro sign (Blue/Orange line). Then again, with the magic they can work with green screens these days, they could have been standing in a Hollywood sound stage.

Sorry, I got distracted for a moment. Eli’s other interesting vision came during one of his treatments with Dr. Chen. It was a vision to throw both Eli and the viewers off as to what was to happen with Weathersby, Posner and Klein. Even from its brief appearance, the law firm seemed flashier and colder at the same time. The hustle and bustle normally seen in the current firm was gone. It was not a place for Eli to return to. And yet, it may be a vision that doesn’t come to pass in its current form.

Jordan’s Case: One of the shining moments for Victor Garber this season. His character of Jordan Weathersby went through so many emotions this week: cautious optimism, anger, frustration, reconciliation and, at the very end, elation. His best moments were on the stand and in the argument between Eli and himself. You could just feel the frustration pouring out of Jordan during that time. Here was a man who spent three decades building the law firm to what it is today and he was now seeing it all fall through is hands.

There was also a perceptible change in relationship between Jordan and Eli. While they had been getting closer since last season’s George Michael trial and the earthquake prediction, the relationship between the two was still boss to co-worker. Now, he really considers him a friend. It will be interesting to see how this pans out in the new era of the law firm. Speaking of which….

No More Posner and Klein: Convenient? Absolutely! But, certainly an interesting turning point in the history of Weathersby and… something. Maybe Weathersby, Weathersby and Stone? Or Weathersby and Associates. There will most likely be backlash to this decision and some personnel will probably leave. This may have been the Posner and Klein that Eli saw during his treatment. If that’s the case, what the hell is Maggie doing there? About Maggie….

Maggie 2.0: Is this the same person who many of us found incredibly annoying last season? Chalk it up to experience or the influence of Eli, but the Maggie we once knew is gone and has been replaced with a serious and determined lawyer. Maybe too serious, since Eli’s last vision showed her as part of the Posner and Klein team representing the lead paint manufacturers at the Supreme Court hearing. I wonder if Eli will make it a point to save Maggie from going to the, ahem, dark side in future episodes.

Next week on Eli Stone: Nothing, since the show will be postponed by that other entertaining program known as the Presidential Election. We’ll see you back here in two weeks.

Clacked by Richard Keller
on Oct 29, 2008 @ 11:00 EST5EDT