Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Fourth Season

In season 3 of Grey's Anatomy everything fell apart. Everything that could go wrong did. George and Callie split, Izzie and George made a huge mistake (in my opinion) in trying to make things work out. Meredith feared commitment and Derek wanted to commit. And in the aftermath of Meredith's near death experience, she finally broke down. And then there is Burktina (Cristina and Burke)...which never happened. Like I said, everything that could go wrong did. Season 3 was about breaking the characters, exploring them and making all the mistakes. Season 4 is about mending and fixing those mistakes.

This season started slowly, painfully slow I shall say. The characters seemed stuck, all of them. And try as they might, they were unable and unwilling to change. Then, it happened, slowly, but surely, they started to evolve. They started to look beyond themselves and their problems and they started to grow and mature.

The first half of the season (pre-Writer's Strike) was slow and all consuming within itself; it refused to be bothered with the world around it. The first half of the season brought in a lot of change, but none of the characters were equipped or willing to deal with it. Cristina refused to confront her non-wedding, Meredith was still reeling from her near-death experience and her inability to commit with Derek. Nevermind the fact that she has to deal with a new sister! Izzie and George had to deal with a new relationship and a failed one. Alex had himself and Ava to deal with. We also saw some new characters and some characters leave. All in all the first half of the season was horrible, stale, and unable to foster change.

And then the strike happened, and the creative juices must have been at their peak because what we saw in those 5 last episodes was pure brilliance. The characters finally exploded into full blooded beings in our TVs, they were finally in route to who they are supposed to become and they are finally a testament to what Grey's Anatomy is supposed to be: great, emotional and captivating.

I mark the beginning of the change with the arrival of Addison, she came in waltzing in her Zen zone and her unwillingness to get stressed out and reminded everyone of who they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to be doing, all the meanwhile getting stressed herself. The show then became magnificent; my blasé viewing of the show went out the window and FINALLY I became engaged in it once more. The second half of the season was so good that I made every other crappy episode worth it. It even made season 3 worth it because we finally got to see our characters evolve. Thus, whereas Season 3 was the breaking apart of everything, this Season 4 was the mending and evolution of Grey's Anatomy.

Grey's is great...but the season premiere was pretty silly with that whole Izzie-deer thing, I mean, c'mon, I know it's TV and all, but let's have a little realism. I, too, felt she was pretty flat this whole season, but didn't we just learn that was because she is persuing more film roles (the reason she withdrew her name from the Emmy's).

Meredith and her progression with therapy was pretty cool; even with all her whininess (and her high pitched laughter), her future with Derek looks pretty promising. And who cares about Derek so long as he looks good!!

Callie and Hahn--I agree that's an interesting dynamic, but Grey's has been viewed as the multi-racial TV drama, so why not incorporate the whole lesbian thing too? It's not my cup of tea, but after what Callie's gone through (and Hahn never gave into Sloan's pursuit), that too was a natural progression.

Christina and the aftermath of Burke...you know, at the 3rd season finale, I thought the whole, "I'm free" thing was pretty powerful, but we haven't seen really anything more from Christina and how she wasn't herself when she was with Burke--but what HE made her. I think she will have some growth in the 5th season.

George is a bit of a geek--but whatever. Who didn't see him and Lexie getting together at some point?? Hasn't this show made sex with pretty much everyone standard??

Chief and Sloan--supporting characters with little weight this season (I think), but I do believe we will see Sloan's role grow more in the coming season. He doesn't do much but sleep with everyone, but that has to change at some point...?

Alex--I have yet to figure that one out, but Ava/Rebecca has to go away once and for all.

Bailey--our precious Bailey--who I think holds the show together--that was a big bummer about her and her husband, but she is trying to put her family first.

Overall, I believe the season was better after the strike was over and the writers and producers found once again what made Grey's so special in the first place. I believe they set up the end of season 4 for a great season 5....should be great to watch come the fall!!!

Season 4 suffered because of the strike, like many shows. Although, in Grey's the first episodes of the year were just...blah, a bit of a let down after the previous 3 entertaining and exciting seasons. But not to worry, it picks up in a BIG way once the writers ended the strike and the season ends solidly and you'll be thankful you hung in there with all the ups and downs.

I, like many fans, was getting sick of Meredith and her whining. Just when you thought she was going to grow up and stop sabatoging her life...she keeps it up. But stay tuned till the end of this season! Same for George and Izzy & Alex & Ava...it was a mess, but by the end things are figured out. I think part of the reason the first episodes were rough going, was the introduction of several new characters. By the end of the season we got to know them better and I enjoyed watching them on screen more. Overall this season started a bit sour, but ended on a high note.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 132 reviews  4.3 out of 5 stars