I'm just glad that Eli Stone: The Second and Final Season does an okay job of actually wrapping up the show. While a lot was hinted at for future events and seasons, the final episodes seem to do an okay job of making a break point for the show. I just wish those last episodes had aired at a reasonable time. Instead, when the show just stopped airing last December, I got pretty mad at what I thought was an uneventful ending. But it seems last month, ABC aired the final four episodes, they just did it on a night and time that only the most dutiful DVR'ers would know about it. But I guess that's okay since it's all here in this DVD.
So what happens this season? Well, when we last left Eli (Jonny Lee Miller), he had gotten his aneurysm removed, and he has been vision-free for six months now. But when his brother, Nate (Matt Letscher) gets a vision of his own, Eli must choose whether he wants to take on the responsibility again or let his brother carry the deadly disease. It wouldn't be a very good show if Eli didn't make the right choice, and since this season wasn't called Nate Stone, I think we can safely assume how this season premier ends.
But Nate's vision actually has pretty lasting effects. Not only does Nate completely believe in his brother now, but in the vision, Eli's boss, Jordan Wethersby (Victor Garber) decides to make some radical changes around his firm. And those changes start with a culling of the clients who aren't of the moral fiber that should be met by his law firm. Of course his partners, Posner (Tom Amandes) and Klein (Katey Segal) find that dropping some 80% of their clientele isn't something they want to do. In an ensuing legal battle between the three partners, the Wethersby of Wethersby, Posner and Klein leaves and the law firm we grew to love (love to hate, that is) in the first season splits up. Jordan's new firm, Wethersby, Stone and Associates, starts off a bit rocky as they work to not only convince their clients to stay with Jordan, but many of the staff as well, and considering the amount of financial backing that is still behind Posner & Klein, it's a rough few episodes as the different employees fall where they do.
But of course, Eli also has to deal with his regular visions that guide him to (or in some cases away from) various cases. While not a two-part episode in the strictest since, there are two episodes, "The Humanitarian" and "Happy Birthday Nate" which are closely tied to one another like we haven't really seen before in the series. In these episodes, Eli fights for a scientist who is trying to obtain medicinal marijuana for private scientific studies so that he can help his son's M.S., and the consequences of that trial spill over into the next episode where the same client's son wants to be emancipated.
As a side plot that bubbles into the foreground, Patti's (Loretta Devine) daughter, Angela (Taraji Henson) gets arrested for a D.U.I., but Keith (Jason Winston George) starts to fall for the girl when he gets her out of trouble. But when he finds out that she might not have been as innocent as he thought, and gets arrested again for drug trafficking, his faith in her starts to shake. Of course, a vision about Patti's daughter convinces Eli she is innocent, so when he takes up the case, he not only has to convince a judge, but Keith as well.
That's not all either - side stories involving Maggie (Julie Gonzalo) as well as Taylor (Natasha Henstridge) and Matt Dowd (Sam Jaeger) fill in the gaps between Eli's song and dance numbers (though there are noticeably fewer this season ... and no George Michael at all) while Eli's acupuncturist and friend, Frank (James Saito) helps provide the necessary guidance. But Eli's relationship with Frank gets a bit stressed when Frank refuses to perform an acupuncture technique on Eli that can cause serious bodily damage, so Eli goes to a rival acupuncturist to get the job done.
This season also revealed a good bit about Eli and Nathan's dad, as Eli at one point has a vision of being their father, and Eli, Nate and Frank learn that he had written a journal about all of his visions and how most of them dealt with Eli and the life that he would lead.
As for Eli Stone: The Second and Final Season's special features, there are a couple of featurettes that are bound to interest most fans of the show. The one about the season's opening dance number is nice because you get a good idea of the logistics that went into Eli's visions, while "Good Morning Eli with Sam & Julie" is just a nice "day in the life of" type featurette of the show's youngest cast members, Jaeger and Gonzalo (Matt and Maggie respectively).
So while I would have liked to see the show go on further, and to see the future Eli has in front of him (something hinted at in both the previous and this season), the show could have ended a lot worse. Some relationships get solidified, others get strengthened, we get a better understanding of Eli's father and his visions (as well as the real events that lead up to his death), and of course, there are a few nice song-and-dance numbers. Fans who enjoyed how the show started and got a chance to see some (if not all) of this season, should definitely look into picking up this DVD to get those last few bits of insight.
