7th Heaven was one of those shows that did reasonably well for several seasons, even as the plots became old and the characters harder to keep up with (there were so many of them coming and going by the time Season 6 came along). Halfway through it's run, it was your regular soap opera, only with a Christian angle and characters who couldn't possibly believe half of the things that came out of their mouths. And then, after the 9th season, it was supposed to end. But then some genius decided that this religious cow could be milked for a few more episodes. A few more episodes turned into two more seasons.
I'm not going to review the entire series. I will, instead, focus on Season 10, the beginning of the (very long) end. I'm of the opinion that goodbyes should be quick and sweet. Apparently the writers of this show thought they should be painfully drawn out and characters the viewers had grown to love should be dragged through the mud so that you won't care anymore when they disappear from the screen. Apparently the phrase "quit while you're ahead" has no meaning to some people.
I must preface this review with a quick explanation of who everyone is so that those who aren't familiar with the series or the later seasons will know what I'm talking about.
The Camdens consist of Reverend Camden, his wife Annie and his children Matt, Mary, Lucy, Simon, Ruthie, Sam and David. In Seasons 8 and 9, the son of a soldier---Martin Brewer---lived with the Camdens while his father was in Iraq. His father returned at the end of Season 9, and by Season 10, he and his father are living across the street. Simon Camden spends all of Season 9 sleeping with countless girls, and then, at the end of Season 9, he has an STD scare and decides to change his ways. He can no longer engage in casual sex, so when he meets a girl he wants to sleep with, he decides to get engaged to her to make it OK. This girl is Rose. In the beginning of Season 10, Simon and Rose are engaged. None of the Camdens like her.
Anyway, I think that gets everyone up to speed.
The 10th Season begins with a shocker. We learn that the honorable Martin Brewer (Tyler Hoechlin), who wore his virginity on his sleeve throughout Season 9, knocked up some girl named Sandy (Haylie Duff) the summer before. Simon Camden is horrified. After all, he was the one who invited Martin to visit the college campus where said knocking up occurred, and if it weren’t for his big brotherly goodwill, none of this would have happened.
Pretty much the rest of the season follows this basic plotline. Sandy wants to keep the baby. Martin would like it very much if she got lost. Even before he found out about the baby, he wasn’t all too interested in her, and yet he inexplicably had sex with her during a post-pizza campus tour. Must have been one hell of a pizza.
Ruthie falls in love with a senior named Jack (Garrett Strommen). Ruthie is a sophomore. Reverend Camden isn't thrilled with the idea of his daughter dating an older guy.
Jack was the summer boyfriend of Meredith (Megan Henning). Meredith is willing to trade Ruthie one Jack for one Martin Brewer. Ruthie isn't dating Martin, but they're friends. In case you’re wondering who Meredith is, she’s the foster daughter of the Smiths. The Smiths are the parents of Cecilia. Cecilia is Martin Brewer’s, and Simon Camden’s, ex-girlfriend. The sordidness of this whole affair is not lost on Mrs. Camden, who points out to Ruthie in the first episode that maybe Martin shouldn‘t be dating his ex-girlfriend‘s “sister". Ruthie brushes it off in true Camden fashion. Cecilia has been informed. The convoluted plotting may proceed.
The first episode also introduces the concept of Lucy as an associate pastor. She gives a sermon that puts the whole congregation to sleep.
Rose (Sarah Thompson) and Simon are still engaged. Rose is Sandy’s best friend, and she bristles at the thought that Martin and Sandy might get married before she and Simon do, never mind the fact that Martin can’t even stand being in the same pew as Sandy, let alone the same house for the rest of his life.
With this recap of the first episode complete, you now know how the rest of the season will go.
Never above a little good old-fashioned spying, the members of the Camden household slowly find out the truth about Martin and Sandy, and for a short time after that (an ever so brief period of time, you can be sure) they are put in the difficult position of trying to help Martin without letting him know they know he needs the help.
Meanwhile, Sandy nurtures the fantasy that she and Martin will one day marry and live happily ever after. This fantasy is cruelly shattered on a cold winter night when she wishes Martin a Merry Christmas and he has the temerity to not respond back with a similar well-wishing. She has a bonafide meltdown in Lucy and husband Kevin’s living room, and I have to say that this is the first time I’ve encountered, in a TV show or movie, a character cry over the fact that someone didn’t wish them a Merry Christmas. I’m sure it happens in real life all the time, so I appreciate the fact that we actually get to see such a reaction validated on the screen.
Ruthie wins Jack’s heart, then realizes it’s really Martin she wants after all. Simon is smitten with Rose. His days of alley catting around with the girls are gone. And Rose is as annoying as ever. That’s about all.
This season is certainly a guilty pleasure, but I am a bit disappointed in the way they ruined Martin’s character. In my opinion, the only thing that made his scenes interesting in the past was watching him go out with one slutty tramp after another and then not sleep with them. Apparently the “not sleeping with them” part got old.
Buy Season 10 if you are a diehard 7th Heaven fan. Don’t buy it, though, for the consistency.
See some of the trailers for Season 10 here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MXFMMKwCcY
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