We have Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), the wishy-washy sourpuss who (for some amazing reason) we can’t stop rooting for. There’s Patrick Dempsey’s McDreamy (a positively inspired nickname) who can’t choose between Meredith and his on-again-off-again wife (Kate Walsh). Izzy (Katherine Heigl) and Alex (Justin Chambers) and their hot-and-heavy relationship that gets super-complicated when Izzy falls head-over-heels for Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). A supporting character who carries the show’s final four or five episodes . . .
 
See, this all sounds like All My Children-grade soap opera tripe on paper, but Grey’s Anatomy – when it really gets moving – is undeniable. It has gravitas that can’t be ignored. And this second season box set features the major twisted and can’t-look-away post-Super Bowl episode that is really one of the most suspenseful episodes of television this writer’s ever seen.

And through all this, my cousin remains an even more steadfast GA aficionado than myself. I asked her to contribute some thoughts to this review, and her response was: “If love were enough (anybody catch the reference??), I would never have to leave my couch and Grey’s Anatomy The Complete Second Season would be on a continual DVD loop. Work, boyfriend, gym be damned. GA season two is more than enough for me. Yes, the floor would be covered in snotty tissues and Lean Cuisine containers, but I can’t imagine a more perfect way to spend my days than reliving the traumas and dramas of my own life by watching Meredith Grey and company experience them in concentrate for 45 minutes at a time (I’ve only removed a metal pole from someone’s midsection once, but I don’t want to talk about it right now).

“Yet the best way to assess the fantasticness of GA season 2 is to look at what season 3 is already missing: the juxtaposition of fast-paced medical miracles/traumas with real-life (air quote if you must) melodramas, underpinned by deftly crafted morals-of-the-story and illustrated by timeless heartbreaking, gut-wrenching realities (moms with cancer, dog euthanasia, fiancé death, and being called a whore, etc.).”
 
And Katherine has something there. As great as GA’s second season is, it is positively floundering in its third time around. The Meredith/Derek/Sultry Vet (Chris O’Donnell) love triangle is almost groaningly inane, and unless Shonda and her team get back to massive O.R. nail-biting drama soon, Grey’s Anatomy – as solid as it may be – might just lose its pull.
 
But this second season is damned close to being airtight. Only start it if you’re willing to get sucked into the vortex. It happened to my cousin and me, and we now live to tell the tale.
 
The Video: How Does The Disc Look?
 
These 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers are rock-solid. There’s a lot of blue and grey in the visual scope of GA, and they’re represented on DVD with acute clarity and wonderful, punchy contrast. Black levels are also exceptionally well maintained, and finely grained detail is top-notch. It’s a wonderful sign of exemplary video transfers that the outdoor and non-hospital sequences have the same kind of visual finesse that the majority of the series has. Exceptional.
 
The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Ditto with the Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes here. Rivaling Lost as truly enveloping and panoramic aural representations are concerned. These audio mixes showcase wondrously clear dialogue and exceptional (and multi-layered) atmospherics and sound effects. Although the soft-rock tendencies of the show’s Lilith Fairesque musical underscore sometimes gets a bit overdramatic, the cues’ placement is never overbearing. And during the show’s more intense moments, the .1 LFE channel really kicks into high gear. This is a very fine set of mixes.

Included are English subtitles.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
 
I never saw the episodes during their original airings, so I can’t compare, but four episodes are extended by just a couple minutes or so. Those episodes are: Thanks for the Memories, What Have I Done To Deserve This?, It’s the End of the World and Losing My Religion.
 
The other bonuses on this set aren’t stellar, but there are enough of them to make for a wonderful appendix for GA lovers new and old. Five of the twenty-seven episodes have screen-specific audio commentaries – director Jeff Melman and writer Krista Vernoff discuss Into You Like a Train; Shonda Rhimes and editor Susan Vaill discuss Thanks for the Memories; director Peter Horton and Sandra Oh talk about Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer; and Rhimes, Horton and editor Edward Omelas discuss It’s the End of the World as We Know It. A handful of the commentaries are really revealing. I’m biased – Susan Vaill was one of my T.A.s at USC – but I found Rhimes and her Thanks For the Memories commentary both informative and anecdotal (in all the right ways). Some of the others get a little bland, but overall, these are a nice crop of commentary tracks.
 
Next up are some featurettes. The Doctors Are In (13:45) is a goofy featurette where a few cast members answer questions sent in by viewers (if you want to know what these actors’ favorite outfits on the show are, this bonus is for you). The Softer Side of Dr. Bailey (7:30) takes a long look at Chandra Wilson’s extraordinary character (affectionately referred to as “The Nazi” in the series). Creating Pink Mist (5:30) looks at the special effects construction for the Super Bowl episode’s atomic finale. And James Pickens (Richard Webber) leads us around the hospital at GA’s center in A Set Tour of Seattle Grace Hospital (8:00).
 
Next are twenty deleted scenes that are almost across-the-board excellent, so no self-respecting GA fan should skim through these babies. Last is an excerpt from Jimmy Kimmel Live in which Pickens, Heigl, and Wilson participate in some loony skits and live banter (for diehards only).

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.
 
Final Thoughts
 
Once you start, you won’t stop. This second season of Grey’s Anatomy is a wondrous piece of television, and if you’re one of the three people in America who haven’t checked it out, it’s time. And even if the third season doesn’t improve, we have this DVD set with gorgeous transfers and mixes, and a batch of worthy extras. Get your money ready. Highly recommended.
(Mike Restaino)

For more reviews like this visit DVDFile.