You have a decision to make, according to Meredith, the most beautiful woman on TV with scarred lips. That opening motif in the third season of Grey's Anatomy carries through more than intern-doctor adultery, ferry-boat catastrophes and mothers with Alzheimer's. \nThis season is emotional, so emotional it's exhausting because the script always mirrors two characters' lives. Christina (Sandra Oh) is getting married while Izzie's (Katherine Heigl) fiance just died. George's (T.R. Knight) father is living through cancer at the same time that Meredith's (Ellen Pompeo) mom is slowly dying from Alzheimer's. \nEach episode -- particularly the four extended episodes -- reveal a depth of character that had never been reached until this third season. At the same time, the intensity wears you out. It leaves you with a temporary feeling and a sense of skepticism that it can't keep moving forward. Meredith has always been vapid and narcissistic, but she's bordering on annoying.\nThis season dwarfs the past two in episodic length. Though it has two fewer episodes than the second season there are four extended episodes with commentary, lasting over an hour a piece. It's a cool bonus feature to see the entire show, unabridged by TV, but sometimes it's just too long.\nThe camera shots get uncomfortable too. "Where the Boys Are" is an hour of suspenseful close-ups. In the episode, all the men of the hospital go on a camping trip, including Joe, the bartender, and his boyfriend. The story line just serves to fill their sexual diversity quota and plays like "the token gay episode." They use sexuality as a plot line and theme when it's only an aspect of character. The "open-hand combat" fight between George and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) is ridiculous. \nThe special features commentary for first episode "Time Has Come Today" explains the episode's flashback scenes that are otherwise confusing. Some of the flashbacks were from way back in Season One and even the diehard fans have forgotten plot subtleties from two seasons prior. The blooper reel is filled with inside jokes among the actors, making the viewers fee like the outsiders looking into an elite acting clique. Nonetheless, some of the bloopers are funny.\nOverall, for two seasons, Meredith's been struggling through misguided love affairs. In Season Three she makes a choice that makes her happy, but the audience bored and longing for her wild streak. Luckily, other doctors' sex-capades are enough to keep us tuning in.
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Grey's Anatomy - Season Three DVD Grade: B Extras: C+
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