Finally arriving on DVD after what seems like an eternity since it's cancellation - falling through the cracks of the WB/UPN merger into what is now the CW - season three of Everwood stands as a time capsule to days gone by. Still anchored around the practice of renowned big-city neurosurgeon-turned-local-doctor, Andy Brown, Everwood remains a picturesque smalltown retreat high in the Colorado mountains, where simple, God fearing folk hark back to the bygone era of Americana like the anti-Blue Velvet.
Picking up on last season's various cliffhangers, season three finds Andy in receipt of a letter from Madison, who states she no longer wants anything to do with him. Now in Denver she fails to disclose her decision over their unborn child, leaving Andy helpless and in the dark. Elsewhere, Ephram returns to Everwood under a cloud of disappointment, having failed to make sufficient grade at Julliard. Amy, who sacrificed much to maintain their relationship long-distance finds herself shunted down Ephram's list of priorities as he looks to rededicate himself to the piano.
Finally realizing the error of his lothario ways, Bright undergoes a shift in attitudes towards women after a young lady at the County Clerk's office accuses him of sexual harassment, the final straw for his long-suffering mother, Rose. The arrival of a new doctor in down causes friction for Andy, but nothing compares to the torturous feelings he begins to develop for Amanda, the wife of a patient he is attempting to help recover from a debilitating stroke.
Back in New York Ephram's last-gasp Julliard hopes are cast into doubt as a chance meeting with Madison leads him to discover his father's secret, and learn the fate of the child. Back in Everwood Rose develops a malignant tumor, while Jake and Nina contemplate their future as a live-in couple and business partners in a new restaurant venture.
Built on a foundation of simple, unapologetic melodrama, Everwood is a deceptively seductive proposition, with it's straight-laced sincerity. Soothing in it's simplicity, and while it never beats you over the head with it like, say, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, there is a subtle undercurrent that strong Christian values will safely sail you through life's choppy waters. Andy, in particular this season, undergoes a series of testing trials - bleeding ulcers instead of boils - the likes of which would make Job throw up his hands in surrender.
DVD Bonus Features
Still annoyingly sparse, comprising nothing more than a handful of selected outtakes.
"Everwood: The Complete Third Season" is on sale June 15, 2010 and is not rated. Television. Directed by David Petrarca, Michael Lange, Michael Schultz, Perry Lang. Written by Dave Hudgins and Michael Green and Sherri Cooper and John E. Pogue . Starring Chris Pratt, Emily VanCamp, Gregory Smith, Marcia Cross, Merrilyn Gann, Scott Wolf, Tom Amandes, Treat Williams.
