Grey's Anatomy Season 1-5 [DVD]

Greys Anatomy: Season 1
Just when you wanted to say "Oh no, not another hospital drama," Grey's Anatomy turns into one of the most addicting series on television. With no big stars and no hype, the ABC series debuted as a mid-season replacement and became a bonafide smash in its nine-episode season. The series, a hybrid of House's medical detectives and Dawson's Creek's hormones and catchy pop-rock soundtrack, follows five competitive surgical interns at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital. There's optimistic ex-model Izzie (Katherine Heigl), bumbling do-gooder George (T.R. Knight), competitive glacier Cristina (Sandra Oh), cocky womanizer Alex (Justin Chambers), and the show's namesake, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), whose medical career is complicated by her famous surgeon mother who now lives with Alzheimer's, and her frowned-upon relationship with another surgeon, Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey, enjoying the best career revival since Rob Lowe). The doctors juggle romance and foster friendships while trying not to stab each other in the back over surgeries. Grey's Anatomy's first season, while entertaining, went a little far trying to find its groove, overdosing on Meredith's overly simplistic voice-overs ("At the end of the day... faith is a funny thing"), and musical montages. It has the usual trappings of a hospital drama (unusual cases, such as the patient with the 70-pound tumor, and trysts in the on-call room), but with more warm fuzzies and light touches. Pompeo, who can sound just like Renee Zellweger if you close your eyes, is likeable but not strong enough of a presence compared to her co-stars. Luckily the quirky dialogue and stellar acting by the ethnically diverse cast, particularly by Chandra Wilson (Dr. Bailey, aka "the Nazi") and Oh, who won a Golden Globe for best supporting actress, more than make up for it. --Ellen A. Kim

Greys Anatomy: Season 2
For viewers bored or distressed by the constant gore and breakneck speed of hospital dramas like ER, Grey's Anatomy comes as a breath of fresh air. Unlike other shows set in the world of medicine, this series is just as concerned with its characters' personal lives as with their medical careers, and thrives by stressing the way in which the two intertwine. After all, for surgical interns who have chosen to dedicate their lives to medicine, the hospital largely becomes their home. Extremely well-written, the series mixes serious issues like mortality with funny storylines and wit. Each character is well developed and individualized, coming off as real rather than stereotypical.

Rather than standing on its own, each medical challenge sheds some light on the doctors' personal experiences, bringing the hospital environment to a refreshingly relevant level. While the series may not be the most realistic medical drama on television, it is certainly the most compelling and entertaining, containing such juicy plotlines as love triangles, affairs between co-workers, and secret romances. This release contains every episode from the show's well received second season, picking up right where the first left off, with Meredith discovering that her boyfriend, Derek, has been hiding the fact that he's married. Shocked and betrayed, Meredith embarks on a messy healing process that involves angry shouting matches and a string of one-night stands. As usual, the show avoids taking itself too seriously by interjecting serious themes with light-hearted dialogue and humorous medical emergencies. Rounding out the already impressive ensemble cast are new characters like Derek's wife (Kate Walsh) and new love interests for most of the cast. While the season contains plenty of laughs, it keeps the intensity up as well, and ends on a decidedly sombre note.

Greys Anatomy: Season 3
In the third season of Grey's Anatomy, one medical intern will get married to a superior while another is left standing at the altar. Two interns will lose their parents. And one main character will try to commit suicide--or not fight very hard to save her own life. There will be multiple hook-ups, infidelity, and trust issues. In between the soap opera-style drama that attracts millions of viewers in the US each week, interns Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), and George O'Malley (T.R. Knight) will also perform some medical miracles. At the end of season 2, Izzie was distraught over the death of her fiancé, Denny. Now she finds that her very rich boyfriend has left her millions of dollars. Instead of putting the money into the bank and allowing it to accrue interest until she decides what she wants to do with it--as sensible Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) suggests--Izzie mopes around the house in an irritating stupor. Actually, irritating is an apt description for several of the main characters. It takes a leap of faith to believe that sexy, spectacular, and rich orthopedic surgeon Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) would be even vaguely interested in wishy-washy George. Previously, he'd convinced himself that he was in love with Meredith. Now he's pining for his other roommate, Izzie, even though he's already got Callie. And rather than welcoming her into their fold, Izzie and Meredith (and to a lesser extent Cristina) give Callie the mean-girls treatment. They may have rebuffed him at one point, but they don't want Callie to have him, either. There is something very needy about this group of interns who have no one to turn to but each other when a crisis occurs.

Viewers get some insight into "dark and twisty" Meredith's upbringing, as she spends more time with her cold and demanding mother, who is suffering from Alzheimer's, and her milquetoast father, who didn't fight very hard to have contact with her as a child after her mum kicked him out of their house. It's no wonder Meredith ended up emotionally damaged and unwilling to completely open up to Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) ... a.k.a. McDreamy. Though the show's title implies that Meredith is the most important character, it's not true. The ensemble cast, which also includes James Pickens Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber (who had a long and complicated affair with Meredith's mother) and Kate Walsh as Derek's ex-wife Addison, is fantastic. And it's difficult to outshine Oh, who has some of this season's funniest and emotional moments as she navigates a relationship with Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington), who is far more romantic and traditional than she is. Though not as compelling as the show's debut season, this third year still packs a strong emotional punch. --Jae-Ha Kim

Greys Anatomy: Season 4
Season four of the hit ABC medical drama was on shaky ground from the season premiere, which left Cristina (Sandra Oh) at the altar by Burke (Isaiah Washington, fired after the press-frenzied third season); Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) downgraded to no-relationship-just-sex status; and George (T.R. Knight) pondering divorce from Callie (Sara Ramirez) to pursue love with his best friend, Izzie (Katherine Heigl). That last pairing made for one of the worst decisions in the series thus far; George and Izzie always worked so well as friends without the will-they-won't-they element, but suddenly throwing them into bed and watching them fumble their way to coupledom (an attempt that mercifully doesn't last) was painful to watch, in particular because Heigl, who had won an Emmy for the previous season, was reduced to a lot of whining and fretting. Meanwhile, Meredith's family issues come to a head when her half-sister Lexie (Chyler Leigh) begins her internship at Seattle Grace and instantly tries too hard to bond. And as she once again drives away Derek with her trust issues, Meredith finally gets smart and enters therapy (one of the redeeming elements of the season, with Amy Madigan as the hard-nosed counselor) to "get healed." The writers' strike became a welcome blessing for the show, which had seriously derailed before its hiatus; during the strike, creator Shonda Rimes has said she reexamined the direction of the show, making for an ultimately satisfying second half of the season. Standout episodes include "Forever Young," in which a high school bus crash leaves the staff pontificating their own adolescent cliques; "Lay Your Hands on Me," with a standout performance by Chandra Wilson as Bailey, whose crumbling marriage comes front and center when her toddler gets in an accident; and the season finale "Freedom," in which Meredith and Derek save two brain-tumor patients in love (Jurnee Smollett and Marshall Allman), leading to their own (lasting?) reunion, Bailey heads up an effort to rescue a guy who lay in concrete to impress a girl; and Callie finds herself attracted to the new cardiac surgeon, Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith). --Ellen A. Kim

Greys Anatomy: Season 5
Season 5 is a pivotal one for the riveting Grey's Anatomy. The doctors at Seattle Grace Hospital bloom and show new layers, the drama meets and exceeds that of previous seasons, and the show marks an important milestone--its 100th episode--with developments that, as with all the great Grey's episodes, brim with belly laughs and moving tears.

The season gets off to a slow start, with perhaps a bit more relationship angst than even diehard fans would prefer. Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek "McDreamy" (Patrick Dempsey) start out with the familiar push-pull of their love affair--but a resolution, at last, is in their future. Callie (the excellent, and newly glamorous, Sara Ramirez) wrestles with her sexual orientation. Cristina (Sandra Oh, never better) is still picking up the pieces from her ruined engagement to the departed Burke (Isaiah Washington). To help her, or maybe to throw her for another loop, the series introduces the gruff, macho military doc, Owen (one of TV's sexiest hunks, Kevin McKidd).

Yet series creator and still active writer Shonda Rhimes unveils story arcs about midway through the season which have the surgeons' operating room dramas intersecting with the characters' private lives--with waves of heartbreaking results. Fans may take issue with "Dead Denny" (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his endless visitations--complete with sex--with Izzie (Katherine Heigl)--but as the season builds, Izzie's mystery illness, and her deep love for Alex (Justin Chambers) are treated with delicacy and respect, and Denny's character both reacts and ultimately supports. There's a wedding--a fairy-tale one--celebrating the show's 100th episode, and the love of the characters, and the pain they've overcome to get there--are equal parts of the very human, very lovely, result. The season finale is among the show's best ever, with the fate of two beloved characters, George (T.R. Knight) and Izzie, left unknown and laden with sorrow. --A.T. Hurley

Grey's Antomy revolves around the personal and professional lives of the doctors at Seattle's Grace Hospital, and examines the complex relationships involving Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), the bumbling George O'Malley (T.R. Knight), Addison Forbes Montgomery (Kate Walsh), and the arrogant Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington). GREY'S ANATOMY also stars Sandra Oh, Justin Chambers, and Chandra Wilson. The show's successful formula relies on mixing intense medical procedures with its characters' emotional struggles. This collection includes series 1 to 5 of the hit medical show.