7th Heaven – The Seventh Season

One of the hardest parts of reviewing DVD’s for this site is getting dropped in to the middle of a show I neither followed nor cared to follow and being told to judge fairly and objectively. Getting one’s bearings can be the toughest part of such a task, but this I will attempt to do with Seventh Heaven – The Seventh Season. As if playing catch-up with only one season to go on isn’t enough, the series hurls character after character at the unsuspecting viewer at a furious pace. It’s the type of show one should really get in on at the ground floor to get the most out of it, and I am keeping this in mind as I say most of these characters are profoundly obnoxious.

I am not opposed to pro-faith entertainment. The recent Luke Perry vehicle Henry Poole Is Here was a terrific example of lacing a message into lighter subtext.  Unfortunately, the writers of Seventh Heaven didn’t have that wonderful little movie to go on, nor did they watch any better examples available to them at the time.  As a result, their efforts bludgeon viewers on the head with each major “issue of the week,” and ultimately, the show feels like Days of Our Lives for Christians.

Low points of the seventh season: the twins speak; Lucy and her supermodel/police officer boyfriend are simply too disgusting for elaboration; same deal with Matt and Sarah and their (possible) pregnancy; Simon has the misfortune of dating Cecilia, a most unreasonable woman, whose refusal to attend the prom drives him unknowingly into the arms of a hooker; Ruthie stumbles her way toward womanhood, almost taking her new boyfriend’s head off along the way; and again, the twins speak. Along the way are many moments where characters must talk to other characters alone, and each one seems to be smuggling a secret against their better judgment before finally realizing the only solution is in leaning on the strength of each other.

Nice in theory, but nails-across-a-chalkboard execution…

Video

Paramount has once again turned in an excellent transfer, crisp and clean with strong colors and accurate flesh tones.  Blacks seldom have a chance to shine, but such is the show’s nature rather than any glaring technical mishaps. Of course, this season isn’t even ten years old, so anything less would be unacceptable.

Audio

The Dolby Digital soundtrack is a little soft, but we’re not blowing up buildings here; we’re watching the Camden family’s struggles. What we get is more than adequate for the needs of the program, balancing music and dialog chores with near perfection. It’s never an overpowering track, and that’s a good thing as it never drowns out the storytelling.

Special Features

Isn’t over sixteen hours of this mess enough? In all seriousness, fans of the show could have gotten more for their money… a lot more. Not a single supplement accompanies the 22 episodes, and if you’re a paying customer, that’s more than a little disappointing.

Final Thoughts

I will fully acknowledge that perhaps my ill will towards this series could stem from the circumstances in which I discovered it. With that said, the seventh season does nothing to win me over. My introduction to these characters was shaky from the first, and they failed to capture my curiosity for even one of these 22 outings. It’s so hard to care when you’re choking on the sappiness of it all. Nevertheless, fans of the show do exist, and to those people, I ask what are you waiting for? It’s a good value, if you’re into this sort of thing.