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SYNOPSIS:
Critical conditions are plentiful in the not-to-be-missed
Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Third Season - Seriously Extended.
They are doctors, lovers and friends. Join the staff of Seattle
Grace Hospital as they learn there are no easy cures for life's
challenges and that each choice comes in shades of grey.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Can
I just say this first: I am not the biggest fan of Grey’s
Anatomy. And a lot of it has to do with Grey herself.
Granted,
Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) is a well-fleshed-out character,
with this season in particular doing an excellent job of explaining
her intimacy issues. But she remains largely unsympathetic,
coming across as self-absorbed, self-indulgent and just plain
whiney. And Meredith remains as annoying as ever in Season
3, with her breathy, little-girl-lost voiceover constantly
marring the (mostly) excellent dialogue. Case in point: she
gets caught between two dream men and still she’s complaining
about how she wants to be pursued, damn it!
Anyway,
Season 3 picks up where it left off, with the death of Izzy’s
(Katherine Heigl) fiance Denny. She is left so traumatized
that the opening shot of the first episode sees her almost
catatonic on her bathroom floor in a prom dress. But we get
over that by episode 2, so we can all focus on the really
important stuff: the sex. Fans will be glad to know that there’s
still plenty of people sleeping with other people, in the
almost consequences-free universe that is GA (and television
in general, for that matter).
One
thing about the show is that there is never a shortage of
eye candy for the women. Ladies will surely appreciate the
dream team of McSteamy and McDreamy, not to mention the fantasy
sequence where McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) and Finn (a still
boyish-looking Chris O’Donnell) court Meredith, shall
we say, simultaneously. And then we come to the pièce
de resistance: McSteamy coming out of the shower with but
a towel barely covering his family jewels. The now-departed
Dr Burke (Isaiah Washington) is also a magnetic presence,
and plays a pivotal role in the shocker of a season ending
(which actually makes sense in light of real-life events).
The
scripwriters once again come up with some great lines, especially
for Cristina (Sandra Oh) (“I miss philandering whore
Meredith. She was trashy and much less idyllic.”) The
delicious Kate Walsh is also very good as McDreamy’s
ex-wife Addison, who sadly has now been lost to the Grey’s
Anatomy spin-off Private Practice. And Ellis Grey (Kate Burton)
adds a real note of pathos to the show with her struggle with
Alzheimer’s and her troubled relationship with Meredith.
But the standout storyline has to be the introduction of Jane
Doe (Elizabeth Reaser), a pregnant, disfigured woman with
amnesia whom Alex (Justin Chambers) rescues from a ferry disaster.
The
plotline does test the limits of your suspension of disbelief
though. How much emotional upheaval can these characters take?
Izzie, in particular, goes from suffering the death of her
fiancé, to re-discovering her 11-year-old daughter
to falling in love with the most unexpected of men. The sequence
where Meredith has a near-death encounter is also a little
OTT, exploring a fair number of clichés in the portrayal
of the afterlife. And wait till you see what happens between
George (T.R. Knight) and Callie (Sara Ramirez).
SPECIAL
FEATURES :
The extras consist of the usual lovefest. Everybody
is “extraordinary” and “phenomenal”
and “staggeringly talented”. Every decision that
the producers and writers makes is “inspired”.
And shamefully, there is no mention at all of the Isaiah Washington
controversy that eventually led to his being fired from the
show (for the uninformed, he called the openly gay Knight
a word that starts with ‘f’ and ends with ‘t’).
Now that he’s gone, what’s wrong with discussing
his contribution to the show?
Instead,
we have an entire featurette “Prescription for
Success: Introducing Jane Doe” dedicated to
Elizabeth Reaser which raises interesting questions about
how appearance is related to identity and how others relate
to us a la Nip/Tuck. It’s fascinating to note that because
she first appears as a disfigured individual, she would actually
show up early on set and sneak into the makeup trailer so
that her real face would not be seen by the other cast members.
“Shades
of Grey: One-On-One with Ellen Pompeo” also
tells the story of how Ellen Pompeo had heart palpitations
from excessive CPR in the scenes where the other doctors are
attempting to revive her. She then had to wear plastic chest
plates designed for Charlie’s Angels in order to reduce
the impact on her heart (if you must know, she wore Demi Moore’s).
“Good Medicine: Favourite Scenes” summarises
key moments in Season 3, while the deleted scenes and outtakes
are pretty much ho-hum. And “Making Rounds with
Patrick Dempsey” tells us all about how McDreamy
just loves racing around in his car on a track when he isn’t
pretending to be a doctor.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
For all you Thai, Bahasa, Chinese, Malay, Spanish, Portugese
and Korean speakers out there (God knows we probably have
plenty of all of them in Singapore these days), Season 3 has
you well-covered. The digital transfer is also sharp and crystal
clear, making McDreamy look even McDreamier than usual. And
surgery looks so good, you’ll be applying for medical
school by the time you’re through with disc 7.
PARTING THOUGHTS:
All in all, an absorbing show with pretty good acting and
decent extras that is well worth getting. Plus, it ends on
a (kind of) cliffhanger that leaves you wanting more. Not
to mention the introduction of a major new character.
SERIES RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Nicholas Yong
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