I’m still a little bitter after our breakup. It was totally my decision – I accept that – but I just can’t look at Grey’s Anatomy quite the same since I walked away from it. The show can’t really believe it’s all my fault, either… it’s just hard sometimes.

Let me explain my insane ramblings…

I loved Grey’s Anatomy’s second season, with all the clichés and dramatic rip-offs of other (perhaps better) shows. The show’s sophomore season followed everybody’s favorite group of co-workers at a Seattle hospital as they deal with the trials and tribulations of everyday life with the added urgency of life-and-death surgical situations (call it M*A*S*H meets St. Elsewhere). It was not only addictive TV, it was completely emotionally resonant. Upon the show’s initial airings, my roommate and cousin Krymz and I would plan our TV lives around GA on Thursday nights.

But then the third season happened.

Sure, there was the behind-the-scenes free-for-all involving actors Isaiah Washington and T.R. Knight and a certain epitaph that was exchanged between them (this ruckus will probably be remembered far longer than the actual show), but that’s no excuse. While the third season focused on our favorite characters (that’s good), it presented plot devices and character decisions that were downright stupid (that’s bad).

The big one for me was the love-play between George (T.R. Knight) and Izzie (Katherine Heigl). Izzie was still reeling from the loss of her soul mate (ah, Denny…), and George was knee-deep in a new marriage to fellow surgeon Callie (Sara Ramirez) – it was just wrong. At that point, I walked away from the relationship that the show and I had cultivated together – I felt betrayed and taken advantage of.

So it was with a bit of a grudge that I popped in disc one of this Complete Fourth Season box set. My BFF Rebecca had told me that the show was definitely better this time around, but I just didn’t want to believe it. Somehow I wanted the show to have turned to complete crap since I gave it up (I’m telling you – I am a fickle and stubborn TV-head).

Having finished this newest season, though, I must say that Rebecca was right – it’s definitely a step up from the disastrous third go-round. That being said, though, the magic is still nowhere near as palpable as it was in earlier seasons. The painfully on-and-off relationship between Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) is awful enough to make you reach for the fast-scan button any time they’re in a room alone together, and the addition of Chyler Leigh to the cast as both surgeon and half-sister to Meredith (snooze) is convenient and unexciting.

There are highlights, though. Brooke Smith (The Silence of the Lambs) gets a much larger role here than in seasons past. As Dr. Erica Hahn, her ass-kicking sensibilities and no-nonsense demeanor separate her from the pack of relatively pushover surgeons who work with her. And while the Derek/Meredith thing is a tired ol’ dog of a narrative drive, the addition of Lauren Stamile as a sultry nurse with her eyes on Derek makes for a cheesy (though effective) love triangle.

Do I believe that Grey’s Anatomy will ever return to the consistent glories it showcased in its second season? No. As much as it pains me to say it, I believe that this ship has sailed. Sure, there are a couple of moments in this fourth season box set that spark up a desire for me to reconcile with the show and welcome it back into my heart, but it’s just not enough.

The breakup still stands… well, at least until season five comes out on DVD.
 
The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The show may be hollow now, but GA continues to be a solid overachiever in the video presentation department. As with the 1.78:1 transfers on the second- and third-season box sets, there is a lot of blue and grey in the visual scope, and they’re represented with acute clarity and wonderful, punchy contrast. Black levels are also exceptionally well maintained, and finely grained detail is top-notch. It’s a wonderful sign of exemplary video transfers that the outdoor and non-hospital sequences have the same kind of visual finesse that the majority of the series has. These episodes look great.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Ditto with the Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Rivaling Lost as truly enveloping and with panoramic aural representations, these audio mixes showcase wondrously clear dialogue and exceptional (and multi-layered) atmospherics and sound effects. Although the soft-rock tendencies of the show’s musical underscore sometimes gets a bit overdramatic (get these guys some songs that aren’t totally alterna-easy-listening crap, guys!), the cues’ placement is never overbearing. And during the show’s more intense moments, the bass really kicks into high gear.

Included are English, Spanish and French subtitles and English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Things are thinner as far as bonuses go this time around for GA. First up are some featurettes: New Docs on the Block (8:00) is a look at the show’s newest cast additions; On Set With Patrick and Eric (6:00) has McDreamy and McSteamy talking about their characters and how they’ve developed over the past four years; Good Medicine: Favorite Scenes (14:00) has cast members offering their choices for the best moments of the season; and, One Quick Cut (5:00) is basically the season in a nutshell (it’s a fast-paced montage covering all the events of the year). 

We also have about twelve minutes’ worth of deleted scenes, a blooper reel, and some trailers for other Buena Vista TV-on-DVD titles.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.

Final Thoughts

This show looks and sounds amazing on DVD, so if you have been able to successfully keep up with Grey’s Anatomy, this fourth season box set will keep you occupied with excellent presentations. Bonus features are slim, though, even compared to past seasons. For mega-GA fans only.