Grey’s Anatomy –
Season Four (Blu-ray) + Grey’s
Anatomy – Seasons Two – Four (DVD) + Private
Practice – Season One (DVD)
Picture: B (Blu-ray)/B- (DVDs)
Sound: B (Blu-ray)/B- (DVDs)
Extras: B- Episodes: B/B-/C+/C+
For a series that started off with so much heart and soul, Grey’s Anatomy has quickly within four
seasons been stripped down to a stereotypical skeleton of its former self. The
Third Season of the series treaded into questionable territory with its
drab, yet overly dramatic scripts that only emphasized the poor sense of
character development that has plagued the series for quite a while. The Fourth
Season only perpetuates the shortcomings that the Third Season brought to the surgical table. The audience can no longer pick out their favorite
characters, but rather decides who they hate less. As the seasons have progressed there has been
a weak and unfruitful attempt to make the characters more human through their
flaws, but in actuality it has been done in such a way that only made them seem
pathetic, whinny, and most of the time unbearable.
Private Practice is a spinoff of Grey’s Anatomy starring Kate Walsh as
Dr. Addison Montgomery who specializes in neonatal surgery and OB/GYN. Kate Walsh’s character was one of the most
loved on Grey’s Anatomy, so of
course network execs saw it fit to strike while the iron was hot and create a
spinoff. The story of the series is not
too complicated, but is better understood if the viewer followed Grey’s Anatomy prior to watching this
newer series. Dr. Addison Montgomery,
after being cheated on and thrown through emotional loop after emotional loop
by her now ex-husband (McDreamy), now is making the move from Seattle Grace
(the setting for Grey’s Anatomy) to
Los Angles to join a private practice. The
series is full of the same ups and downs as Grey’s, but is much more watered down. Whereas the obnoxious drama on Grey’s can be tiring at times, Private Practice all too often is
boring and acts as that “feel good,” boring, drama series that has love triangles,
lust, and witty little happenings that just end in nothingness. Kate Walsh is a great actress and is
absolutely beautiful, but this new series is just not shaping up to be anything
fantastic. It does not have the same
charisma that the fast paced Grey’s
Anatomy had at its origins and its light hearted “blah” dialogue is just
not good enough for Kate Walsh. And in
the end this series can not stand on its own two feet; the viewer base is
primarily people who loved Kate Walsh on Grey’s
and are now tuning in to see “what is happening in her life;” well let me tell
you, nothing much.
Following the release of the first season of Grey’s, the seasons moved on and as we both agree, started to slow
coast on the star quality of the actors instead of taking risks and the lack of
energy in the spin off shows this problem.
Yes, the actors are very likable and Dempsey was so long overdue for a
hit that even a dud like Made Of Honor
will not keep him down, but it also means that these actor are being under-challenged
and that is a loss for all of us but those who want to see a soap opera much
like what happened with Desperate Housewives.
Season Two had promise, but
by Season Three, the show was
wavering for the worst.
The Fourth Season of Grey’s Anatomy starts off where Season Three left off, with much of the
initial turmoil surrounding Sandra Oh’s character Christina Yang and Patrick
Dempsey’s Dr. Derek ‘McDreamy’ Shepard as they deal with the aftermath of
certain wedding events from Season Three. The
Fourth Season for the most part was the “overhaul season” for Grey’s. The garbage had to be taken out and new
fixtures installed in order to bring the series back on track. After certain comments made by Isaiah
Washington his contract was not renewed for a fourth season and actress Brooke
Smith (from Silence of the Lambs)
stepped into to fill his latex gloves as Dr. Erica Hahn, head of Cardiothoracic
Surgery. Whereas certain series players
were replaced, others were upgraded.
Meredith Grey’s half-sister Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) got promoted to a
full time part on the series and Eric Dane’s character Dr. Mark Sloan also
received a serious promotion in script viability. The series this season still has the highs
and lows that every previous season contained, but between the Writers Guild
Strike and the house cleaning the series that happened season the series
somehow seemed to slip. The storylines
all blend together into one jumbled mess and the ‘shocking moments’ aren’t so
shocking. The actors on some level are
less enthused about the parts they are playing, or it may just be that the
scripts are that bad or fame has gone to their heads. Who knows?
All that has to be said in the end is that this is not the Grey’s Anatomy that fans have come to
love and expect greatness from. Like
many other series, this particular season of Grey’s suffered because of the Writer’s Strike, but now in its Fifth Season it is time for these
doctors to show us what they are made of.
The 1080p 1,78 X 1 digital High Definition image on the Blu-ray set of
Grey’s Anatomy – Season Four of the
show is softer than expected by this point, with some softness and even some
motion blur more often than anyone would
want to see. I guess the cameramen are
feeling the malaise too. The PCM 16/48
5.1 sound mix is better than the Dolby Digital 5.1 on all the DVDs to date, but
is still dialogue-based and towards the front.
It is still much better than the all previous versions for the show,
including HD satellite/cable showings.
The technical features on both of these poppy but dramatic series as
far as the DVDs are concerned are adequate at best. The picture on both series is presented in a
1.78 X 1 Widescreen that is clean and crisp with solid blacks and vibrant
colors on all fronts. As just noted, the
sound is presented in an adequate Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround that uses all the
speakers, but not well enough. The
intense and booming moments on Grey’s
do have a certain ‘pop’ to them, but this reviewer was expecting a little more
from the series. Private Practice does not use the same amount of action that Grey’s does, but suffers from the same
type of lackluster sound performance.
One highlight that does project well in each series is the use of fun
and lively pop (amongst other genres) songs that heighten the atmosphere and
come cleanly from surround sound.
The extras on both sets fail to thrill this reviewer and those on Grey’s seem to be the series weakest on
DVD to date. Grey’s extras include Bloopers, Extended Scenes, Deleted Scenes, an
on-the-set featurette with Patrick Dempsey and Eric Dane, and a featurette
about all the new doctors this season.
Overall, nothing that holds very good rewatchable quality or added to
the series, so nothing big to report on the extras for Grey’s.
In a similar set of extras, Private
Practice offers fans a behind the scenes look with Kate Walsh, Deleted
Scenes, Extended Episodes, and some Outtakes.
But sadly in a similar manner the extras were bland and could be quickly
passed over.
In the end, if you are a fan of the Grey’s you will probably enjoy Private
Practice and these new releases are not something to miss; but do not be
surprised if you notice the series take a big dive this season. For newcomers there are many better series on
television or perhaps take a nap…have a little Mc-Dreamy.
- Michael P. Dougherty II &
Nicholas Sheffo
