ELI STONE - Bullet points!

Today I’ve organized my thoughts about this week’s Eli Stone episode in easy-to-read bulletpoints. I love bulletpoints, they can lend the illusion of structure to a disorganized jumble of totally unrelated points. Bulletpoints: making people look smarter for centuries!  

Let’s begin, shall we? 

• The George Michael connection.  This week featured yet another appearance by singer George Michael, only this time it wasn’t Phantom George Michael but the real thing, live in concert. The title of this episode was “Heal the Pain,” which was a song on 1991’s Listen Without Prejudice, Vol 1. BTW, the smooth song George was singing was “Older,” which he released on an EP in 1997. Thanks Wikipedia! 
• Paging Dr. Chen!  I think this was the first episode that had no Dr. Chen at all. Maybe it was because Eli’s hallucinations were fairly straightforward (Dragon = Dr. Agon) and Eli didn’t require Dr. Chen’s West Coast Zen wisdom this time out. I missed him. 
• Maggie fu.  This was a Maggie-centric episode, and she actually got to kick a little butt this time out – with a heavy assist from Eli, of course. Maggie got some good lines, too, like when she told Eli, “Go find yourself another peon to pee on.” That cracked me up, I’m going to store that in the back of my mind because some day – and it may be 5 or 10 years from now – I will have the perfect opportunity to use that line. Some day...  
• Adult supervision?  Eli’s client this week is a 15 year old boy who seems wise beyond his years, but still: where was the kid’s grandma? It seems like any lawyer would refuse to meet with an underage kid without an adult guardian present. Am I wrong?  I'm no lawyer. 
• Different recap/intro.  They broke with the usual pattern of having Eli recap the story so far with a voiceover narration and went with a more conventional “previously on Eli Stone…” Here’s what I think: because they have the baseball player subplot and wanted to include it in the recap/intro, they couldn’t have Eli do the voiceover because as a character he has no reason to be involved in or care about the case. It would be weird if he was explaining his brain aneurysm and hallucinations to, say, a parking attendant and he just slipped in, “Oh, and by the way, my colleagues are defending this baseball player…” 
• Here be dragons.  Man, what is the special effects budget for this show? This episode had a giant computer-generated dragon strafing San Francisco and breathing flame and stuff.  This qualifies as cool in my book.  I vote for Godzilla next episode – although they’re promising an earthquake, which is just as good, really. Fake TV earthquakes, I mean. Real earthquakes are bad. 
• Nate’s dope bachelor pad.  We got to see Nate’s condo this episode, which looks pretty cool. I don’t have the interior design vocabulary to describe it, but it screamed, “I’m a wealthy young doctor with no kids.” You know, Nate should get a girlfriend. They should work that in somehow. 
• The kiss.  They ratcheted up the romantic tension between Maggie and Eli with that impromptu kiss. Who are we supposed to be rooting for here, Maggie or Taylor? Right now I’m leaning towards Maggie.  You?

--Dave Campbell

Comments

[cindy]

LUV the show..I watch it over and over each week. Rumor has it that Jennifer Aniston and Eli could have a brief thing..sure would make for great TV..hope so!!!!

[Janet A.]

It was good to hear and SEE George Michael, rather than simply oblique references to his influence on Eli. George's appearances enchance the effectiveness of the show.

[Kurt Onstad]

Definitely a Maggie man here, no contest...

[Norman Guertner]

We like the show Eli Stone very much. The last few weeks we have noticed more and more political and/or biblical references in the show all of which I feel are negative and should be left out. This has turned a great show into a show we will never watch again.

[kelly]

i'm not a blogger, but i just finished the dragon episode and have watched all the others too. This show just prompted me to send a message out hoping that someone who created this show or writes for this show will read. Eli Stone is the best thing on right now in TV Land and it appeals to so many different people on different levels. what a great job you all are doing.
thanks!

[Jenn]

"Dr. Agon. D-R-A-G-O-N, dragon!"
Best line of the whole show. I agree with Dave; the dragon was sweet.

[cheri]

Just watched April 13th episode and it's the best one yet. It just gets better with each one. It is so nice to watch an intelligent show that makes you think and really enjoy the metaphysical side of it especially....keep up the good work.....just an excellent show all around..acting and writing especially.

[SB]

Love the show. Please keep the new episodes coming.

[lisa]

My husband and I love this show. After watching Eli some other shows we watch weekly just didn't seem as good anymore. WE WANT MORE!!!!