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Grey's Anatomy on DVD: Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5
"Grey's Anatomy": Complete Fifth Season - More Moments DVD Review
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"The end of Season Five? Pitched. I'm not teasing you by saying that. Not teasing by saying Season Five will be the most exciting, fly by the seat of your pants/skirts, 'Oh My God Did That Just Happen???!' Season of 'Grey's Anatomy' EVER."
So wrote Shonda Rhimes, creator of "Grey's Anatomy", on the writer's blog at the end of Season Four. When I read this, it gave me hope. Despite a rocky finish to its third season that bled into an inconsistent fourth season, things were looking up. The infamous 2007-08 writer's strike, which arguably led to the premature demise of so many great shows ("Pushing Daisies", "Eli Stone" R.I.P.), actually seemed to benefit "Grey's". Well, now it's a year later. Season Five has left the airwaves and come to DVD, where we can now judge Rhimes' above statement. Yes, there were some really great things in Season 5 that kept me tuning in week after week. But there were also too many underdeveloped new characters taking screentime from our old favorites and several storylines with great potential that were squandered in the middle of this mess.
Worst of all, poor execution resulted in the now-infamous posthumous return of Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) becoming an all-time low point for the series. It saddens me that I can no longer call the show "among the very best dramatic stories ever told in any medium," as I did when I reviewed the all-around superior second season. I said then, "If the series so far is any indication -- and I think it is -- the best is still yet to come." Unfortunately, I was wrong in that assessment. While there is still enough interesting drama in the hallways of Seattle Grace Hospital to justify tuning in, I now believe that Season Two represents the pinnacle of the show's creative success, which they are unlikely to ever again sustain on a long-term basis.
Before harping on Season Five's failures too much, let's remember its triumphs (and there were triumphs, sometimes contrary to popular opinion). First and foremost in significance is the successful addition of Kevin McKidd (late of HBO's "Rome" and NBC's short-lived "Journeyman") to the cast as trauma surgeon Owen Hunt. Also, after four long seasons of back and forth, we are finally done with Meredith and Derek's "will they or won't they" commitment drama. In the latter half of the season, some fantastic story points come up to test their relationship without resorting to another breakup, proving they can be written effectively while they are together. Lastly, the cast as a whole continues to do terrific work, and sometimes sell ridiculous storylines better than they deserve, particularly Katherine Heigl.
Now, the bad: The show's recent knack for attracting gossip headlines off-screen seems to have bled into the actual show. It is hard to believe Rhimes' assertion that the ending of the season was pitched exactly a year ago. There are elements in the season premiere which do foreshadow elements of the finale, but the idea that everything is as planned a year ago is a bit much to believe.
Despite George (T.R. Knight) passing his intern exam near the beginning of the season, he does not get a new arc as he transitions to life as a resident. Instead, he nearly disappears from the mix, receiving very little screentime throughout most of the season (and actually sitting out an episode or two). This fueled gossip that Knight asked to be released from his contract, or perhaps asking led to the screentime loss. Another possibility is that bad feelings linger over his regrettable 2006 incident with Isaiah Washington. Either way, Knight/George's banishment to the sidelines is a significant missed opportunity, especially because his likeable underdog personality drew many fans to the show in the first place.
Rumors that Heigl's public displeasure with the writing for her character Izzie inspired Rhimes to write an arc that would kill her off are hard to ignore when the storyline plays out as it does. I will go so far as to say that using her dead fiancι Denny to represent "death" for Izzie is both logical and a good idea. It allows her to wrestle with the guilt that was brushed aside in Season 3 (when Izzie quickly fell in love with George, the show's first major wrong turn). However, the execution of this idea is significantly beneath what "Grey's" is capable of. There is no need for this to be dragged out for half a season and definitely no need for Izzie and her ghostly vision to consummate their relationship.
While Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a wonderful actor, his continued presence three seasons after his character's death makes Denny more annoying than enduring and cheapens the impact of his original storyline, a hallmark of Season 2's brilliance. On the writer's blog at the end of Season 2, Rhimes wrote, "Denny was always going to die. His character was created to die. I knew it. Jeffrey Dean Morgan knew it. And as much as I wanted Denny NOT to die when the time came..., it was his time. He had a stroke. He died. I had nothing to do with it. It was his time. People die. Suddenly. Without warning. When you least expect it. People die. And it's horrible and painful and utterly shocking but... it happens. And I wanted to present that on the show." She would do well to remember her sentiments at that time.
Another perhaps less discussed problem with this season is the sudden influx of new characters. In previous seasons, the show has been able to integrate new doctors into the ensemble so successfully that you start to think they've been around longer than they have and care about them like you would a member of the original cast. (Mark, Callie, Lexie and especially Addison fit this bill, so much so that Kate Walsh now has her own spin-off series, "Private Practice".) Introducing Meredith's "pre-Cristina Cristina" best friend Sadie (Melissa George) offers the writers a unique opportunity to explore Meredith between her troubled childhood and her current residency at Seattle Grace, the period of her life that viewers know least about. However, almost nothing comes of this intriguing possibility and Sadie departs eight episodes later with next to no character development, despite having claimed more screentime in those episodes than George. Highly-regarded "Battlestar Galactica" veteran Mary McDonnell also makes an appearance as Dr. Virginia Dixon, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome. The writers clearly don't know what to do with her, and the characterization comes off more slapstick than it should, surprising because "Grey's" uses subtlety to great effect on Owen and others. The new intern characters whom our residents mentor this season also fail to make significant impressions or story contributions.
Lastly and most significantly, the abrupt midseason dismissal of Brooke Smith's Dr. Erica Hahn perplexes because it comes just as viewers are beginning to get to know her after three seasons of recurring appearances. Though her lesbian storyline with Callie is at times awkwardly written, I still feel like there was potential for Dr. Hahn to be explored further than her early exit ultimately allowed.
It has recently been reported that "Grey's" is adding more new doctors to its cast in Season Six, likely to compensate for the temporary absences of the very-pregnant Ellen Pompeo (Meredith) and busily moviemaking Heigl. Although the inconsistency of screentime in Season Five demonstrates that the cast is already overloaded, one can only hope that the new additions weave into ongoing storylines and contribute more than most of their immediate predecessors did.
Despite all the shortcomings, to dismiss The Complete Fifth Season as a complete misfire would be a mistake. It does merit a look on DVD, on which it arrived as a 7-disc set with the somewhat nonsensical subtitle "More Moments." Note that due to the serialized nature of the show, it sometimes becomes impossible to discuss an episode without revealing spoilers for episodes which preceded it, so if you are considering buying this season blindly, I recommend skipping to the presentation quality section of this review.
Disc 1
4. Brave New World (43:03) (Originally aired October 16, 2008)
Disc 2
8. These Ties That Bind (42:58) (Originally aired November 13, 2008)
Disc 3
9. In the Midnight Hour (43:03) (Originally aired November 20, 2008)
10. All By Myself (43:01) (Originally aired December 4, 2008)
11. Wish You Were Here (42:56) (Originally aired January 8, 2009)
12. Sympathy for the Devil (43:02) (Originally aired January 15, 2009)
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Page 1: Show Discussion, Discs 1-3
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Reviewed September 23, 2009.
Text copyright 2009 DVDizzy.com. Images copyright 2008-09 ShondaLand, The Mark Gordon Company, and ABC Studios, 2009 Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
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