Visions of Silliness

I am not going to compare Eli Stone to Ally McBeal. That is way too easy a comparison and I like to think I am above it. There were some obvious similarities, what with the show centering on a young lawyer who starts having hallucinations. However, the Ally similarities were not why I didn't like this show. I actually DID like Ally McBeal for the first few seasons, but I was not impressed with Eli Stone.

The problem was that the show didn't seem to know what side of the fence it was on. It spent a great deal of time establishing that Eli's visions had some kind of meaning and were guiding him on what case to take. But only halfway through the pilot, they throw in his medical diagnosis of the aneurysm. I know they did that whole thing with the acupuncturist talking about how there are two reasons for everything, the scientific and the divine, but the whole thing felt rushed to make a point. The concept may have worked better if Eli was having visions and others suggesting he was a prophet for several episodes, and THEN get the aneurysm diagnosis. It would make him questioning the cause of his visions more powerful.

My second problem with the show was the trial itself. There was all sorts of press about the medical community protesting the case the show was presenting - about how vaccine's can cause autism. This is apparently something that is medically unproven. But aside from that, I had an issue with how Eli tried the case. He actually said in his closing that the jury should decide the verdict based on their faith even though he didn't prove anything. That seems like something that should not be said on a lawyer show.

There were some positive moments. I enjoyed the mother's joke about how the autistic boy was Eli's son - "Yeah, I was pregnant for eight years." Plus, anything with Victor Garbor is worth watching. However, I will never be able to see him without thinking of SpyDaddy - not that that's such a bad thing.

I'll probably keep watching, simply because there is not a whole lot to look forward to on television these days. If it improves, it could become an enjoyable show. If not, it will be my first sacrifice once the writers' strike is over and my usual shows are back on.