The series centers on ambitious but fairly decent attorney Eli Stone (Johnny Lee Miller), a fast talker with all the trappings of success, including a fiancee (Natsha Henstridge) who also happens to be the daughter of his boss (the always great Victor Garber of "Alias," once again playing a less-awful-than-he-seems sourpuss).
Things are going well for Eli, until he begins hearing music -- specifically, the song "Faith" by George Micheal (and yes, the cheeky 80s pop icon made a fun cameo as himself in the show's pilot). Why is having these hallucinations? Are the result of a brain aneurysm, with which he was recently diagnosed? Or are they prophetic visions, meant to propel Eli on to great things? The show interestingly suggests that it could be both.
The series has been compared to "Ally McBeal," I guess due to the fantasy sequences and the legal setting. But it actually reminded me more of the short-lived Fox series "Wonderfalls," in which a disaffected young woman received messages from the knick knacks she sold at a Niagara Falls gift store.
Both protagonists resist the idea that they might be messangers of God, yet find that their new roles give them a purpose they never had before.
It's a difficult type of show to do, and the "Stone" does threaten to become heavy-handed at times (especially when Eli takes a gushy young female associate under his wing in the second episode). Yet the show works, mainly due to the witty dialogue and the excellent acting. Miller is a wide-eyed delight as Eli, a former nerd who wants so badly to be a master of the universe, only to find that the universe has other plans. But it's Garber who once again proves that he's as essential to the TV universe as the remote control.
He never failed to break your heart as Sydney's ruthless yet vulnerable dad on "Alias," and here he's just as good and he gets to show off his musical theater pedigree. In the episode that airs this week, we actually get to see him sing another George Michael song, "Freedom" ("So," quips Eli's neurologist brother upon hearing of this latest hallucination. "You're no longer being stalked by George Michael. Just his catalogue."). Garber is nothing less than awesome singing and dancing his heart out.
It's one of many moments that makes "Stone" worth checking out.