Greek has become ABC FAMILY’s longest running original television series. It has been renewed for a fourth season, which is one after season three, which is currently airing. Like other ABC FAMILY DVD releases, though, they break up seasons into volumes or “chapters” in the case of Greek. Greek: Chapter Four a.k.a. part two of season two arrived on DVD a couple of weeks back just in time for season three premiere.
In the beginning, Greek centered on Rusty Cartwright (Jacob Zachar), a freshman in college, attending Cyprus-Rhodes University alongside big sister Casey (Spencer Grammer). At first, Casey insisted that Rusty remain low-profile, in hopes that he would not ruin her chances to be elected president of the Zeta Beta Zeta sorority. In an effort to make nice with the family, Casey’s boyfriend, Evan (Jake McDorman), offers Rusty a spot in the Omega Chi Delta fraternity, which he declines after finding Evan cheating on Casey with Rebecca Logan (Dilshad Vadsaria), the Senator’s daughter who was the sorority’s main target during rush. In turn, Rusty accepts an offer from Cappie (Scott Foster), Casey’s ex-boyfriend and the current president of Kappa Tau Gamma, the black sheep of the Greek system.
Greek: Chapter 4 takes place after summer vacation. Despite it actually being part two of season two, this turns out to be the start of a brand new school year for everyone attending Cyprus-Rhodes University. Rusty is no longer a pledge at the Kappa Tau Gamma fraternity house. He is now a full-fledged member, which means he no longer has to do all of the humiliating pledge hazing activities. In fact, Rusty has now moved into an apartment with his anti-fraternity pal Dale (Clark Duke). Along the way he falls in love with a new transfer student named Jordan (Johanna Braddy). Unfortunately for Rusty, the newest star football stud freshman, Andy (Jesse McCartney) arrives on the scene and begins to like Jordan as well. Andy is the most sought after new pledge for the rival Omega Chi Delta house as well. Meanwhile, Casey and Max (Michael Rady) are still in love but she’s still friends with her ex-boyfriend Cappie (Michael Foster), who still can’t get rid of old feelings for her. Max actually gives up a full scholarship at another school to stay with Casey. But then Max goes on a month-long fellowship in London and that allows Casey and Cappie to start hanging out even more. Other storylines from this season include Evan and Cappie joining a secret society, Ashleigh dealing with her leadership at ZBZ but also finding new love; Frannie wanting to get back at her former ZBZ sisters while running the IKI sorority; and openly gay Calvin (Paul James) challenging Dale to reconsider his black and white views.
Thankfully the writing is much stronger in this part of the season that it was in Chapter 3. There is a lot more character-developing storylines this time around. The comedy also plays a larger role, and it’s not all juvenile gags and frat antics, although there is still plenty of that. Of course, all of the dramatic storylines do start to feel a little “seen that before in other teen dramas.” But what makes these storylines work better in this series is the great acting. Michael Foster still steals the show, but overall the characters are even more likable in this chapter than they have been in past chapters.
Fortunately for all of the fans of Greek, Chapter Three was a small roadblock in quality. Chapter Four returns the series to the great quality that was the first season of this show. The writers seemed to wake up and provide a lot of interesting storylines this time around. The humor is still laugh-out-loud funny. The only downside is that some of the standard teen drama storylines do become predictable. Still the acting from the entire cast is great, and makes this show worth watching. If you want a taste of what Greek is truly all about, Chapter Four is not a bad place to start.
Episodes:
Disc One:
Episode 1 – Take Me Home, Cyprus-Rhodes
After her trip to Washington, Casey rethinks her life and considers moving out of ZBZ. Having moved into the KT house, Rusty has difficulty adjusting to their off-kilter scheduling.
Episode 2 – From Rushing with Love
New freshman Andy (a prominently-advertised Jesse McCartney) is sought by both Rusty and Calvin as a pledge for their respective houses. Rebecca (Dilshad Vadsaria) spies on the IKI house for ZBZ, but Casey remains suspicious of her loyalties.
Episode 3 – Engendered Species
When a shared class with Cappie causes Casey to spend more time with him, she tries to calm the growing tension between him and Max (Michael Rady). Rusty falls for new transfer student Jordan (Johanna Braddy), but she only has eyes for Andy.
Episode 4 – Big Littles & Jumbo Shrimp
Andy elects Rusty as his KT brother, but Rusty is reluctant after seeing how close he and Jordan have been getting. Evan’s brother Patrick (Step Up 2’s Robert Hoffman) comes into town and reminds him of the good times the two of them used to have with Cappie.
Disc Two:
Episode 5 – Evasive Actions
The ZBZ and IKI rivalry escalates into a dodgeball game that doubles as a way to make Jordan feel more at home. With Dale (Clark Duke) never leaving the apartment, Rusty grows agitated, enlisting the help of his KT brothers to scare Dale off.
Episode 6 – Dearly Beloved
When a former ZBZ leader returns for an on-campus wedding, Jordan is left with handling the flowers and turns to Rusty for help. Rebecca begins to wonder if she’s a lesbian after a stunt pulled at the bachelorette party.
Episode 7 – Guilty Treasures
Casey sneaks Max into a staff party in hopes of landing him an internship. Meanwhile, the KT house scrambles to return all of their stolen goods before Evan can send security after them.
Episode 8 – Divine Secrets and the ZBZ Sisterhood
In an effort to get back on Cappie’s good graces, Rusty searches for a secret society that Cappie had once done extensive research on. Rebecca goes on her first date with another woman but is left confused by the end of it.
Disc Three:
Episode 9 – Social Studies
With midterms looming, everyone pulls individual all-nighters. Casey and Cappie can’t get through their studies together without feeling awkward, and Rusty isn’t able to focus with Jordan as a study partner.
Episode 10 – Isn’t It Bro-mantic
Casey pines over Max while he’s gone for an internship, so she crashes Rusty’s first date with Jordan to keep herself occupied. Cappie and Evan fight over a girl in their society, unaware of her peculiar habits.
Episode 11 – Tailgate Expectations
In honor of homecoming week, a float competition is held. When the KT and ZBZ houses are paired up, Casey and Cappie try to collaborate without actually interacting. Evan’s parents arrive to discuss the future of his trust fund.
Episode 12 – At World’s End
The KT house throws their biggest party yet, before they go on a two-week suspension. Casey is torn between her feelings for both Cappie and Max while Rusty has trouble balancing his academics with his newfound relationship.
The video is given in widescreen color with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The transfer is great with colors generally looking bright and vivid details everywhere. No major or minor problems at all here, and on par with previous chapters.
The audio included is in English 5.1 Surround sound. There are subtitles available in English, Spanish, and French as well. The dialogue and music come out loud and clear. No major problems here either, and the same good quality as previous seasons.
Audio Commentaries – There are 2 full-length commentaries for two different episodes this season. Patrick Sean Smith (creator/executive Producer), Matt Whitney (writer), Scott Michael Foster (actor), Amber Stevens (actress), Dilshad Vadsaria (actress), and Jacob Zachar (actor) all comment on the “From Rushing with Love” episode.
Jessica O’Toole (writers/co-producer), Amy Rardin (writers/co-producer), Scott Michael Foster (actor), Spencer Grammer (actress), and Tiffany Dupont (actress) all comment on the “Divine Secrets and the ZBZ Sisterhood” episode. Overall, the second commentary is more entertainment than the first one. The cast mostly gets too involved in watching these episode instead of commenting on them, so these are really disappointing.
“Greek Recap” Featurette – This is a 3 minute summary of the first three chapters of the series to get viewers caught up going into this set’s first episode. If you are new to the series, it might be a good introduction to the show, but goes by too fast to really give you all the dirty details. Fans of the show who don’t exactly remember everything will probably find some benefit from this reminder. But you have to watch this either way, since it automatically plays when you select the first episode.
“At World’s End” Featurette – This runs 8 minutes and it takes a look at Chapter Four’s final episode. We get cast and crew interviews about making this episode. But we also hear what everyone would do, if it was their last day on Earth. That part is pretty entertaining.
Blooper Reel – This is 5 minutes worth of the usual gags and mistakes from filming this season. Some of it is funny, but most of it is not.
“How Do You Sleep?” Music Video – This is a 4 minute music video for the song “How Do You Sleep?” by Jesse McCartney. The song takes various concert footage from him and mixes them together. Jesse has a recurring guest role in this chapter, which is the only reason this music video is added here.
This chapter of Greek is much better than chapter three. It’s almost as strong as the first chapter of the show, which is a good thing since we are starting to get halfway through the run of this series. So if you are new to the show, you can start with this season and probably get addicted to it. Of course, chapter one is the best to start with, but you can’t go wrong here. Fans of the series will want to add this set to their collection for sure, despite the lack of some lackluster extras.
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment presents Greek: Chapter Four. Created by Patrick Sean Smith. Starring Jacob Zachar, Spencer Grammer, Jake McDorman, Scott Foster, Paul James, Clark Duke, Amber Stevens, Dilshad Vadsaria, Tiffany Dupont, Jessica Rose, and Aaron Hill. Running time: 522 minutes. NOT RATED. Released on DVD: March 9, 2009. Available at Amazon.com.
