That of course is a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. As Grey's Anatomy wound down its third season, virtually all of the major characters were in relationship disarray, with marriages in tatters, marriages that never quite happened, new affairs and old affairs and everything in between. It seemed to relegate the actual medical setting of the series to the background, something that may be intentional, but which seems odd in the long run. Unfortunately Grey continues that trend well into this fourth season; so much time is needed tying up loose ends and getting various characters' interrelationships worked out that any given medical crisis gets a few intermittent minutes of screen time per episode, usually as a sort of counterpoint to the main character dramas unfolding. Perhaps not so strangely, it's when the character and medical elements intertwine that the series is at its emotional peak, as in an episode where Chief Surgeon Webber's niece, a cancer victim at the tender age of 14, is admitted for another round of treatment and Webber must decide whether to support her wish to just die peacefully. And in a continuing arc for this season, the show admirably mines the twisted relationship between half-sisters Meredith and Lexie Grey, thrust together as Lexie, a new intern at Grace, is paired, like it or not, with Meredith, a resident, despite the fact that Lexie personifies Meredith's abandonment issues, not exactly a great foundation for sibling love and affection.

Add into this mix your usual, if fleetingly handled, standard and exotic medical crises, pretty much de rigeur for this and every other medical show, and you get a sort of manic soap opera, albeit one mixed with occasional blood and guts and those fifty dollar words that only doctors can pronounce. What sets Grey's Anatomy apart, and is ultimately its redemptive quality, is its sort of peculiar, yet amiable, high wire act which tonally shifts between lightheartedness and gravitationally intense drama. Any given episode can lurch from a moment of extreme sadness to sudden hilarity, and it's not as disconcerting as it may sound. It's also to Grey's credit that the characters are shown progressing--the five major players still on the series (Kate Walsh has left for the spinoff Private Practice and Isaiah Washington has left, after several homophobic statements, to watch his career spin off down the drain) have weathered various personal and professional crises and, as the fourth season opens, are all picking up various pieces.

Four of the five have at least progressed to resident status, after starting the show as interns. The fifth, George (T.R. Knight), has to repeat his interning after having failed to achieve residency by a single point. These five, Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey, Sandra Oh as Christina, Justin Chambers as Alex, Katherine Heigl as Izzie, and Knight as George, form the core around which the show revolves. There are also the two "hunks" of the show, focus of a lot of the first three seasons' buzz, Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd, involved with Grey, and Eric Dane as Dr. Mark Sloane, involved with pretty much every other female in the series. All of the performers get their chance to shine in various episodes (despite Heigl's rather bizarre claim come Emmy time that the writers hadn't given her "nominee-worthy" writing). Oh's Christina is especially wonderful this season as she ping-pongs between tamped down rage and despair over her failed marriage plans. If Pompeo seems at times to be phoning it in during this fourth season, at least her subplot with Lexie (a charming Chyler Leigh) gives her a chance to show some chops, which she does in a very appealing, understated way. The supporting cast, notably Sara Ramirez as Callie, George's jilted wife, and Chandra Wilson as underling Miranda Bailey, do exceptional work in little moments throughout the season.

If the show is cloying and too cute for its own good at times, at least as the season progresses the writers seem to realize they can't have every character in the minefield of a major crisis and still be devoting time to the various medical predicaments that should at least be the foundation, if not the ultimate focus, of the show. As the season progresses toward its conclusion, various situations are finally resolved and the show at least fitfully returns to dealing with the doctors and their patients. If it leaves this fourth season seeming uneven and emotionally exhausting, it at least sets the show up for a more enjoyable fifth season, where perhaps the seemingly unending character dramas can be pushed to the background and the show can deal more with the interrelationships between the healers and their charges.

The Blu-ray

Video:
This 1.78:1 1080p AVC transfer looks very sharp indeed, though I really had to wonder if the visuals of the series really warrant the Blu-ray treatment. The image here is generally flawless, with excellent color, sharp detail and admirable depth. And, yet, it's your basic television show--aside from some nice establishing shots of Seattle, you don't get any jaw-dropping visual information here. My hunch is most people interested in the show are going to be more than happy with the SD release.

Sound:
Grey's Anatomy does a great job of utilizing music in each episode, and that helps boost its PCM 5.1 soundtrack up a notch. While rear channels are decidedly underutilized, the show presents a generally well realized soundscape, with clear directionality and excellent fidelity. Subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish.

Extras:
Aside from the two "expanded" episodes (each by just a couple of minutes), this Blu-ray offers three pretty lackluster commentaries featuring various cast members, as well as several middling to good featurettes (all in 1080p). The best of them is "Good Medicine," where various cast members choose their favorite scenes from the season. "New Docs on the Block" introduces the three new female characters in this season, and, in the pretty bad category, "On Set with Patrick and Eric" follows the two male pinup stars of the series around as various cast members enthuse about them in a pretty unappealing vanity piece. The blooper reel is fairly useless, although some of the brief 16 deleted scenes provide a moment or two of additional character information. Finally there's a brief promo piece called "One Quick Cut," which summarizes the first three seasons of the show (while plugging their DVD releases). Grey's Anatomy does have a nice "Season Play" feature, which remembers where you are as you move through the season and picks up your viewing where you left off. I experienced an annoying anomaly in using this feature on my Samsung Blu-ray player: if I simply turned the player off and restarted it, I had to go through the endless previews and other screens before I finally got to the Season Play "continue" screen. On the other hand, if I actually opened the tray and reinserted the disc, it started right up from where I left off, bypassing all the initial blather.

Final Thoughts:
This was a transitional season for Grey's Anatomy, with some major characters leaving and other new people arriving. If the show in its fourth year focused too much on the various trials and tribulations of its primary characters, by season's end things were returning to some semblance of normalcy. I'm not sure this Blu-ray, as a Blu-ray, offers enough of an upgrade for most fans of the show to want to spring close to $100 for it. I recommend that you Rent It to check it out first--you may be completely satisfied with the SD version if it's a show you want to have in your permanent collection.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet