SYNOPSIS
This season, love is in the clear mountain air of Everwood. Back from a troubled summer at Juilliard, Ephram commits himself to his music and to Amy. Andy is drawn to a patient’s wife--and into an ethical dilemma. Dr. Jake Hartman moves to town and starts eating a lot of pancakes, as long as Nina’s serving ’em up. And mousey Hannah Rogers flips over Bright. But don’t expect love to conquer all, especially when the secret Andy kept from Ephram last season comes spilling out. Suddenly, trust is destroyed, lives are turned upside down and the bonds of love--romantic and father-son--are stretched to the breaking point. Andy wanted Everwood to be his family’s home. Now it may be just another place they used to live.
CRITIQUE
Before the WB/UPN merger which formed The CW (and ultimately, Everwood being canceled), the critically acclaimed series was airing its third season. Two new characters were introduced, including Party of Five’s very own Scott Wolf. It also had many funny moments as well as a few tearjerkers, which are spread out throughout the season. There was a lot of promise, and yet, the season doesn’t quite measure up to the solid first two seasons.
The series in itself is very dramatic, and comes off as a family affair, but it’s clear from the start of the third season that it plays more as a soap; I didn’t quite enjoy it as thoroughly for the simple fact that it’s a bit bittersweet. The relationship between Ephram and Amy is bit underwhelming, while the love triangle of Dr. Brown, Dr. Hartman, and Nina is overwhelming. Further, the big ‘secret’ Dr. Brown has is what really kills the integrity of the show, which is unfortunate. After the emotional aftermath of the second season, the question became where do they go from there? And that’s the issue.
Another reason why this season disappoints is that having three doctors is a bit of an overkill (mind the pun!) Yes, it worked in season 2, but it just seems desperate this time around. Nothing against Scott Wolf, but he doesn’t quite fit in (literally). His role exists purely to fuel conflict for everyone else without the payoff (which later leads to the fourth season). Also, I really enjoyed Madison in the second season, but wasn’t pleased by how the writers treated her. As well, I expected Dr. Linda Abbott to leave by the tail end of that season, but I had wished that Marcia Cross stayed a little while longer (although things worked out fine for her when she got cast in Desperate Housewives).
Despite my reservations above, I still love this show! Watching the season again reminded me of how much of a capable actor Treat Williams is. The entire show rode on his charisma, much like House M.D. rides on Hugh Laurie now. Williams is much underrated for his craft, and this show gave him the opportunity to showcase it. Despite a weak season, he is still what makes me love this show many years later.
My very first column for MovieFreak was called “A Retrospective – The WB.” Since then, the WB became the CW and 7th Heaven finally ended (!), plus the majority of the shows I was into ran their course, ended or simply got canceled. Since I wrote that piece, I grew up a little; I don’t watch half of the shows and programs I did back in 2003, but one of the selective few I go back to is Everwood. Its replay value, exploring both teen and adult themes in an emotionally invested way, and strong acting from Treat Williams is what allows it to stay relevant.
THE VIDEO
The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation looks sleek. Colors look good.
THE AUDIO
It’s an average track, with music queues that fill the speakers and dialogue that’s clear to understand.
THE EXTRAS
Warner wasn’t too eager to release the remaining seasons on DVD after the first season, which was released during the show’s peak, had an excellent amount of bonus material, such as a featurette, a few commentaries, and deleted scenes. The second season was pretty much a dump-release, with only deleted scenes.
With season 3, we unfortunately only get selected outtakes.
This is a bit disappointing of course, since the show was fairly successful at the time of its initial broadcast. The core fans deserve better in terms of extras, but then again, Warner was very confident years ago that the remaining seasons would never see the light of DVD-day. (Correct me if I am wrong, but it isn’t even syndicating on other networks, although you can watch streaming episodes on The WB website).
Perhaps we should be grateful that we even have this release at all…
FINAL THOUGHT
A weak season for a solid underrated gem of a show, it is worth a gander to newcomers and worth picking up for those that want to revisit Everwood. The lack of bonus material is disappointing, but expected. Let’s hope the fourth and final season will get its release next year (if not sooner) with some added material that fans can enjoy. Sometimes, one shouldn’t stop dreaming.
