Writers: Various
Director: Various
Cast: Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl, Justin Chambers, Chandra Wilson, James Pickens Jr., Patrick Dempsey, T.R. Knight, Sara Ramirez, Eric Dane, Chyler Leigh
Rating: Na
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: March 17, 2005 – Present
DVD Release Date: September 15, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $35.99

I have been hooked on Grey’s Anatomy for the past few years. Admittedly, I did not pick it up when the series first began. When my mother followed me around the entire first (and part of the second) season badgering me about why I wasn’t watching it, I ignored her. I don’t know why, all I can think is that I had given myself into ER and at some point things there just went all wrong and I couldn’t handle the thought of that happening again.

So, I did my best to avoid this show despite obvious signs from previews and involved actors that I would like it. However, at some point, around the third season, I gave in and began watching it. It’s just as well because that’s when we started reviewing the series for LI Reviews anyway. Even if I hadn’t picked it up on it’s regular night, I would have watched it come the release of the box set anyway.

As I stated we have reviewed the third and fourth season box sets. If you are new to the show or need a refresher about the basics that would be a good place to start. Otherwise, the important thing to know is that Grey’s Anatomy is a medical drama that focuses on the interns, residents, and doctors of the once esteemed Seattle Grace Hospital. The story is generally told through the occasional voice-over and perspective of the lead character, Meredith Grey.

The fifth season offers some strong storylines that include delusions, cancer, love, commitment, PTSD, relationships, friendships, and a lot of medical successes and failures in between. Fans of the series should enjoy much of the fifth season, including the powerful season finale. However, there are some changes afoot for the coming season and the fifth season lays the groundwork for these changes to occur. For some, the changes will be welcome and interesting. Others may not like them as much. In any case, the fifth season shows a Grey’s that is still going strong in all of the important ways. If you’re new, I can’t stress how much you should start with season one, but veterans of the show should be a perfect fit for this new box set.

The Grey’s Anatomy Episode List
The Fifth Season of Grey’s features 23 episodes. Here is a brief synopsis of each episode.

“Dream a Little Dream of Me, Part 1 and 2″: It is a new morning and despite Meredith and Derek’s pledge to one another (or hers to him, rather) it is time to get back to work. The Chief is less than thrilled to learn that Seattle Grace’s teaching rank has dropped all the way to 12, making Seattle Grace appear to be a joke. A military doctor, Owen (Kevin McKidd), arrives at the hospital and Christina notices him from the get go. She manages to save his life and he ends up doing the same for her. A deadly weather situation makes for a dangerous day at Seattle Grace. Meanwhile, Derek is stabbed in the hand by a disgruntled ex.

“Here Comes the Flood”: Seattle Grace has a plumbing leak that leads to a major flood in the hospital. The Chief attempts to impart new teaching strategies to bump up the rating of the hospital. Derek attempts to find a way to get Alex and Izzie out of Meredith’s house. Meanwhile, George takes his exam over again.

“Brave New World”: Derek finds Meredith’s mom’s diary in the house and she freaks out, but later calms down and reads it with Christina. Callie plans for her first date with Erica. Christina is shocked when she discovers a section of the hospital that appears to be anything like the Seattle Grace she knows. George dumps Lexie for his resident chums, causing some hurt feelings. Alex finally apologizes to Izzie.

“There’s No “I” in Team”: Derek ends up getting the entire amount of credit for a study on brain tumors that he did with Meredith. Bailey leads a set of surgeries that work in a domino effect. Despite George dismissing her, Lexie attempts to get George to notice her and her feelings towards him. McSteamy talks to Callie about women and romance.

“Life During Wartime”: Bailey is given more responsibility thanks to the Chief. Along with the responsibility comes a surgery concerning a young girl and an inoperable tumor. Owen has been hired on as the new trauma chief. He takes it as his job to challenge the current methods of the staff to make them better and more compassionate doctors.

“Rise Up”: The Chief lets the residents know that one of them will be getting a surgery on their own. This information causes a collective frenzy amongst the residents. Derek feels like Christina is causing a rift in his relationship with Meredith, so he goes to Bailey for advice.

“These Ties That Bind”: Sadie (Melissa George), an old friend of Meredith’s, pops up as an intern at the hospital. Meredith tries to be cordial, but the other residents are not as welcoming. The new surgeon on call, Virginia Dixon, has some obvious issues, including a need to have order and rules in the operating room. Still, she manages to get the job done sans social skills. Lexie risks more than she realizes when she rounds the interns up to practice surgical techniques on one another.

“In the Midnight Hour”: Lexie and Sadie are involved in a surgery that should have been routine, but gave them more than they bargained for. This leads Meredith, Cristina, and Bailey to have to come to the rescue. Owen and Derek have the task of healing a man that suffered severe injuries during a bout of sleepwalking.

“All By Myself”: Cristina wins the first solo surgery, but it means little when she has to give it to her chosen replacement. Lexie catches Steamy’s eye when he performs a surgery to repair a patient’s speech. Callie struggles to determine whether someone is flirting with her or if it’s just friendliness that she’s picking up.

“Wish You Were Here”: Bailey begins working with a new peds surgeon, Dr. Arizona Robbins in order to help a long term patient. Meanwhile, a death row inmate is brought to the hospital as a patient for Derek that could be a cure for the child that needs his life saved. Callie and Steamy team up to avoid Sadie and Lexie. Meanwhile, Izzie comes clean to Alex about seeing Denny.

“Sympathy for the Devil”: Derek’s mom, Carolyn is in Seattle and while she is around she plans to meet Meredith. While she is there, Mark tries to make sure that she does not find out about him and Little Grey. Owen and Cristina get set to go on their first date, though it doesn’t go exactly as planned. The death row inmate makes the decision to offer his organs to Bailey’s patient.

“Stairway to Heaven”: Bailey fights to find an answer for her patient as his condition becomes worse. Meredith contemplates allowing the death row patient to die to provide the organs that Bailey’s patient needs to live, while everyone else tries to find acceptable organs for the child. Steamy is injured in a compromising way and Callie needs to help him as a result. Izzie finally understands why Denny is back.

“Beat Your Heart Out”: Derek tries to find the perfect way to propose to Meredith. Mark contemplates going public with his relationship with Lexie, at her nudging request. Bailey takes a long hard look at what she wants out of her career and whether or not she wants it to include pediatrics.

“Before and After”: This is one of two crossover episodes with Private Practice. Addison brings her brother Archer to Seattle Grace looking for help from Derek to save his life. Izzie gets to play games with the interns to teach them some things. Owen finds a ghost from his past.

“An Honest Mistake”: Derek and Addison have some issues over the best way to treat a pregnant patient that is dying. Bailey decides to go through with a fellowship in peds. Cristina points the finger at a surgeon that failed to get the job done correctly, despite her years on the job.

“I Will Follow You in the Dark”: Derek makes the decision to quit when he learns that he has had more patients die rather than survive. Meredith fights for Derek even when he refuses to do the same. Izzie’s interns find out some horrible news that could change her life.

“Stand by Me”: Meredith continues to try and find a way to get Derek to come back to work. Mark heads up a rare transplant surgery. Meanwhile, Cristina finally gets her shot at a surgery on her own and is more worried about everyone else. Izzie determines that she does not want treatment for her medical problem.

“Elevator Love Letter”: Derek comes back and performs his first surgery since returning. Owen injures Cristina in a PTSD haze and it leads to both of them being confused and unsure of their relationship. Izzie goes through a surgery that is far beyond the norm.

“Sweet Surrender”: Izzie helps to plan Meredith and Derek’s wedding as a way to take her mind off of her problems. Alex cannot handle the problems of Izzie and it causes him to have problems of his own where work is concerned. Callie’s dad is not thrilled to meet her girlfriend.

“No Good at Saying Sorry”: The parents of the residents arrive at the hospital as Meredith and Derek’s wedding nears, including Izzie’s mom who arrives out of the blue. Despite the excitement about the wedding, the Chief and Meredith still find time to disagree about a case.

“What a Difference a Day Makes”: A group of graduating college students end up in the ER courtesy of a car crash. Izzie begins experiencing cancer-related symptoms that have her worried about what’s to come.

“Here’s To Future Days (Part 1)”: Izzie debates whether or not a risky surgery is what she wants to do. To help her make this decision she spends time with another cancer patient. Owen takes a harder look at his career decisions and Mark decides it’s time to man up where Lexie and their relationship is concerned.

“Now or Never (Part 2)”: George makes a shocking decision about what he wants to do with his life. Izzie comes out of surgery and everyone waits to see her fate. Bailey is accepted into the peds program, but she does not seem as happy there as she thought she would be. A car accident has several of the doctors working together to save lives.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
Grey’s looks great in part because the seasons are coming out as soon as they are over. What you see on these DVDs is going to be very similar to what you would see on television each week when the show airs. Technically speaking you are greeted with a very nice 1.78:1 aspect ratio and anamorphic widescreen presentation. The video offers a consistently clear picture that is filled with detail. The colors pass the test and there are no visual errors that come to mind. It would be hard to find a better put together presentation on DVD than the one that Greys offers here.

The audio sound is handled by a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Dialogue is consistent and easy to understand from start to finish. The music sounds fine and the background noise is certainly what you would hear in any hospital. There are no issues with the audio and no need to toggle the volume. In addition to standard audio, subtitles are available in both English and Spanish.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
While many television shows shy away from bonuses, those who put together these Box Sets for Grey’s do what they can to offer a nice selection for fans. There isn’t a huge amount here, but it’s nice to see what has been made available. Fans should enjoy the various bonuses here. A few of the bonuses do the whole back patting thing, but that’s generally the case with all bonuses on every DVD.

Probably the best feature here is “100th Episode: Tales from the OR.” This feature lasts for close to twenty minutes and serves somewhat as a featurette. It feels pretty general in some ways and is not necessarily specific to the fact that its a milestone episode for any show. Still, you get to see shots from the 100th episode party, and see interviews and clips with the majority of the cast and crew. Back patting is kept to a minimum here and there is a lot of nice information.

“Heaven Sent” deals with Jeffrey Dean Morgan and his character Denny. You get a chance to see the ups and downs of Denny from both of the seasons that he was in. You also hear how writers had always intended to bring him back. There is more congratulatory speak here, which feels unnecessary based on the way the whole Denny thing was handled. While his performance was good, this is hardly comparable to the storylines of season two. Still, Morgan fans should enjoy this.

Twenty minutes of deleted scenes offer some added bits and pieces to the stories that you watched all season and there is a smaller set of outtakes, as well. The deleted scenes are interesting to watch because commentary is included. Other than these scenes, commentaries have been left out of this season.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
This is really a no-brainer. Fans of the series, especially those that own the other four seasons of Grey’s Anatomy are going to want to pick this up immediately. This season offers plenty of drama, some interesting patients, and a lot of tissue-worthy shockers, especially towards the end of the season. The addition of Chyler Leigh manages to complete the cast in ways that it was lacking before. If you’re new to the show you should start with earlier seasons. Otherwise, you need to pick this one up.

Overall Rating:

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