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Eli Stone fans are distraught that ABC canceled the show after this, its second season, with most blaming the network for failing to stand by it despite falling ratings. Their dismay is understandable; it might not have deserved a renewal (it could not capitalize on the fact that its lead-in was the blockbuster Dancing with the Stars), but these 13 episodes (on three discs) are just about as engaging, provocative, and simply entertaining as the first season's were. As the season begins, San Francisco lawyer Eli Stone (Jonny Lee Miller) is recovering from surgery to remove the brain aneurysm that was apparently responsible for the strange and prophetic visions that dogged him (and helped him save innocent folks from impending disasters) last year. But when he realizes that his doctor brother (Matt Letscher) has inherited the aneurysm, and the visions, instead, Eli arranges to get them back (this show is about nothing if not suspension of disbelief). The other major new development is that Eli, having also convinced his boss and mentor, Jordan Wethersby (Victor Garber), that there's more to life than winning huge cases for big, greedy corporations, follows Jordan when the latter opens a new firm devoted to pro bono cases. But while Eli is busily pursuing righteous "social justice" (when not defending a transgender priest who was fired by his parish or an accused terrorist who's actually a brilliant young scientist on the verge of discovering the secret of "cold fusion," he's trying to bring down the manufacturer of deadly lead-based paint--a case that Eli envisions will take him and Jordan all the way to the Supreme Court), he and everyone else are also dealing with a growing array of personal issues, not least of which are the various romantic entanglements that distract Eli from fellow attorney Maggie Dekker (Julie Gonzalo), whom everyone but him knows is his one true love. Most worrisome of all are Eli's adventures with a powerful and dangerous form of treatment known as "the dark truth," which may reveal the future but trash his brain in the process.
In the end, as good as the show is, Eli Stone's reach may have exceeded its grasp; in trying to be part fantasy, part family drama, part romantic comedy, part musical (although there are fewer big production numbers this time), and part law drama, it might have been done in by its own ambitions, which are admirable but definitely do not come cheap. Bonus features include bloopers, deleted scenes, and other nonessentials. --Sam Graham
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