"GREY’S ANATOMY: COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: ** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Ellen Pompeo as MEREDITH GREY Sandra Oh as CHRITINA YANG Katherine Heigl as ISOBEL “IZZIE” STEVENS Justin Chambers as ALEX KAREV T.R. Knight as GEORGE O’MALLEY Paul Adelstein as COOPER FREEDMAN Chandra Wilson as MIRANDA BAILEY Patrick Dempsey as DEREK SHEPHERD Sara Ramirez as CALLIE TORRES Eric Dane as MARK SLOAN Chyler Leigh as LEXIE GREY Rated TV-14 Studio: ABC Studios Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
This hit medical drama on ABC continues with its fifth season. This year, there’s a rotating door of new characters, including Meredith’s friend from medical school Sadie (Melissa George) and a new pediatrician (Jessica Capshaw) to capture Dr. Torres’ eyes after an affair with Dr. Hahn (Brooke Smith). Christina starts a fling with the PTSD-afflicted Dr. Hunt (Kevin McKidd) while Izzie has all-too-realistic visions of Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Finally, there’s wedding bells to be heard at Seattle Grace, but the bride and groom are not obvious.
WHAT I LIKED
When “Grey’s Anatomy” started, I thought the show was decent. I like a good medical drama, and the soap opera of the characters was interesting to a degree. However, over the course of five seasons, I have really gotten tired of the show. More on that later, but here’s what I do still like about it.
Some of the characters are pretty interesting, though they aren’t always on the forefront of things. The “other” Dr. Grey (Chyler Leigh) has a nice story arc and has tamed Dr. McSteamy (Eric Dane) nicely, though he had to go through some rocky times.
For the soap opera fanatic who wants to see beautiful people who just can’t get their personal lives in order, this is a winner of a show. I just don’t count myself in that demographic.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Whenever I watch this show, my wife chuckles (and is often irritated) at how much I talk back to the screen like a guy watching a tense football game. I’ll admit that the series bothers me, though not nearly as much as its spin-off “Private Practice” does.
The problem with Shonda Rimes as a showrunner is that she mistakes bellyaching with a good character arc. Interesting characters like Dr. Bailey (Chandra Wilson) have been ruined by trying to give them a good storyline. Instead, she comes across as preachy, unrealistic and ultimately weak.
This is exemplified no better than with the characters of Dr. Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl). After Heigl had a public bitch-session about how she doesn’t have a good story arc, she’s given a brain tumor and oddles of scenes for her to act morose, wring her hands and suffer from hallucinations. The same thing happened to Dr. Karev (Justin Chambers) in a previous season when he fell in love with a patient.
And don’t get me started with the whole Grey-Shepherd storyline, which is on-and-off more times than a light switch in a public restroom. Patrick Dempsey is afforded his own shot to chew the scenery when Dr. Shepherd accidentally lobotomizes a patient, and he’s left to brood at his trailer for days on end. Boring, weepy, irritating and weak.
Watching this show has become a chore, though the rest of American seems to disagree with me.
DVD FEATURES
For a fifth season DVD, there are still a nice assortment of special features. In addition to an extended episode and unaired scenes from throughout the season, there’s a tribute to the 100th episode (which is lost on the casual viewer since #100 is a rallying point for the crew because that makes the show eligible for standard syndication and means big bucks for them).
Additional features include season five outtakes and the featurette “Heaven Sent,” which spotlights Jeffrey Dean Morgan, talking about his character Denny Duquette who got the best storylines (and most screen time) after he was dead.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Prime time soap opera fans and anyone who gives a rat’s patootie any more about Meredith and Derek.
