Since, to this point, I had only seen the nine first season episodes I wasn't a seasoned veteran, but the writing on this show allows you to catch up quickly. I was introduced to Dr. McSteamy (Eric Dane) and had to get reacquainted with Dr. McDreamy's (Patrick Dempsey) ex-wife Addison as I had only seen a taste in the first season, but since "Grey's Anatomy" is such a relationship centered show I was easily able to catch on as past relationships bubble to the top, slowly letting new viewers in on secrets they may have missed. This is not to say you should just dive in at season three. I have been told that of the first three seasons, number two remains to be the best, but I think people would have a hard time falling in line with this show no matter when you start watching. However, don't delay, you wouldn't want to miss the boat and wait until it becomes the soapy mess that plagues NBC's "ER" now days.
As is common in all good television dramas, "Grey's Anatomy" has a fantastic writing team, and this is made evident in just how well drawn out the characters are and how they are able to sometimes make you like even some of the most hated of characters. However, "Grey's" did fall into the over used dramatic trap of the conflicting relationships a little too much in this season as George gets married to Callie in a shotgun Vegas wedding while Callie harbors jealousy for George's relationship with Izzie. Things that shouldn't happen happen, and things get messy to say the least.
The only other real distraction while watching was the knowledge of Isaiah Washington's off camera gay-bashing comments, which led to him not getting his contract renewed for the fourth season. This can only mean one thing for the season finale; it was just a matter of how it was going to happen. I do think it was a good idea to remove a negative member of the cast to improve morale, but it is a shame as Dr. Burke was an interesting character that certainly helped the show. Too bad Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) didn't get the heave-ho as well, I'll be damned if she isn't the most annoying character on this show.
As for the DVD itself you get all 25 season three episodes, four of them have been extended, but since I didn't see the originally aired episodes there is no chance of me telling you what was added. However, if you want to know the collection of nine new scenes that have been added can be found on the seventh disc. Along with the deleted scenes you also get three audio commentaries, which I have listed below since they aren't expressly mentioned anywhere to my knowledge.
- Episode One: Chandra Wilson and Kate Walsh
- Episode Fourteen: Ellen Pompeo and Kate Burton
- Episode Twenty-One: Sandra Oh
The featurettes on the seventh disc include a gag reel, a look at Patrick Dempsey and his love for car racing and a favorite scenes featurette looking at several of the favorite scenes of the cast and crew.
The best feature of the bunch is the "Prescription for Success" featurette that takes a look at one of the season's largest plot thread. Episode 15 begins an 11 episode story involving a character we initially come to know as Jane Doe. She is found at the scene of a major accident where a ferry has collided with a container ship on the Seattle waterfront. Jane Doe is saved from the water by Alex and she is looking rough, and that is putting it lightly. Over the course of the second half of the season Jane Doe played by Elizabeth Reaser soon becomes known as Ava, Shannon and finally Rebecca, this featurette looks at the transition and how they did the make-up work for the character.
I was impressed with this show and happy to see it live up to the hype I had been hearing for so long after watching the first season. I am now going to have to go out and buy the second season and I suggest you get on top of this one as well. As I said earlier, you never know when the plots will run dry and "Grey's" will become the next "ER", and no one wants to see that day.