For those of you who know me, you’ll know that I am not exactly a big television watcher. Hell, rare are the occasions that you will actually find me sitting down on a couch and watching TV in the first place! Sure, I do watch a lot of anime, but I’m talking about real TV here – live-action shows if you must.
So if you do know me, then you’ll be forgiven for thinking that the world has come to an end following the fact that I am actually writing this post in praise of a live-action television show that I actually thoroughly enjoyed and want to highly recommend to everyone around me.
The show in question is Eli Stone, and I think it has just started airing recently on MNET here in South Africa. Now as the background to the story goes, Chantelle caught the preview advert for the show, and asked me if I could get hold of it for her. Naturally, as nicely a developed DC++ network as UCT’s hub has become, I had no difficulty in laying my grubby paws on all 13 episodes making up the first season, and happily delivered it to my bokkie’s eager hands. So all par for the course so far, except…
…except for the fact that I sat down and watched it with her. And not just for three minutes like I usually do, no I sat down and watched whole episodes with her. And despite the fact that I absolutely abhor these new format, almost hour long television shows, when it came to the last couple of episodes in the series, I actually sat down and watched THREE 40 minute long episodes one after the other!
So now you might have an idea of just how much I actually enjoyed this non-animated piece of work! :)
As I mentioned before, Eli Stone is a 13 episode long show that details the life of one Eli Stone (played by English actor Jonny Lee Miller), a successful corporate lawyer for one of the biggest and most successful law agencies in the United States.
Engaged to his beautiful lawyer fiancé, earning the big bucks and winning case after case, life in the fast lane is good to Eli… that is until the visions begin. Visions that include George Michael in his living room, a church choir in his offices and even the effects of a devastating earthquake that destroys the Golden Gate Bridge.
Convinced that there is something seriously wrong with him, it is discovered that he actually suffers from an inoperable brain aneurysm that is seemingly the source of his hallucinatory visions and outbursts. However, these visions all seem to have a purpose, all tying into real life scenarios and as Eli soon finds out thanks to the input of his local acupuncturist, these visions could really be messages from some higher power, which would very well then make Eli a modern day prophet!
And so we are left with a very confused corporate lawyer trying his best to solve the riddles behind his visions that are slowly but surely turning his life into a nightmare, all while in a highly hostile environment that is just waiting to chew him up and spit him out. But maybe, just maybe, these ‘tests’ may just be what Eli needs to turn his life around just that little bit in order to make the world a better place for all. Who knows? ;)
Similar to a lot of shows that are breaking ground on television these days, Eli Stone plays out as a ‘dramedy’, containing a copious amount of comedy but at the same time coming across as a really heartfelt drama series that really does serve to inspire and delight you. It is extremely well written and plotted out, and as the show progresses at just the right pace, you’ll slowly learn how all the threads pull together and may just point in that divine direction that we all search for at some point in time during our lives.
Honestly, there are very few television shows I enjoy, let alone watch, but Eli Stone is definitely one of those, and so if you get the opportunity to watch it, make sure you don’t miss this brilliant piece of television work!
Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Stone