From the very first season this show really has been hitting its marks and it is perhaps not unreasonable to find one season where it appears a little off target. I've always found the show to be a real delight in how solid its plots are but just how much simple fun is derived from the characters, the interplay and generally the sense that everyone is relaxed and nobody is taking it too seriously. Last season had a few moments where it didn't work but the seventh season was the first where I felt something was definitely off and too many episodes were only "OK" with only a couple of the season standing out as being as good as the best of the previous seasons.
Part of the problem is that there is a bit more of a "drama" feel to the plots, with relationship dramas and the like coming to the fore, which is not in itself a problem, but it does push the fun to one side. There are also some episodes where we focus on secondary characters and see less of Shawn and Gus, which is never a good thing. There are also some, frankly, silly episodes where they do try and be fun and flippant but they don't really pull it off. Unfortunately of the 14 episodes in this season, this makes up the majority of them and there were only 4 or 5 where I really enjoyed them. This isn't to say that the others were bad episodes, just that they were below the high bar that this show has set for itself.
The problem isn't with the cast but with the material – because the actors are all still good and deliver the fun when they can. Roday and Hill remain excellent together and it is only when they are asked to do more than enjoy themselves that they are less convincing. Most of their references and in-jokes work thanks to their delivery. Omundson and Bernsen continue to be good value but in this season Lawson has hard work to carry her subplot – one that never really goes anywhere and seems to just occur for the sake of occurring – certainly she struggles to sell it.
Season 7 is still a solid piece of light entertainment, but it is hard not to view it as consistently weaker than the previous seasons. It mostly doesn't get the spark and fresh sense of fun that the show has made look so easy for some time now, and too many episodes are just not funny or fun enough. Hopefully the final season (which I think the eighth will be) can recapture that, play to its strengths and go out on a real high (and finally doing a musical special offers me hope that it will do just that).
Part of the problem is that there is a bit more of a "drama" feel to the plots, with relationship dramas and the like coming to the fore, which is not in itself a problem, but it does push the fun to one side. There are also some episodes where we focus on secondary characters and see less of Shawn and Gus, which is never a good thing. There are also some, frankly, silly episodes where they do try and be fun and flippant but they don't really pull it off. Unfortunately of the 14 episodes in this season, this makes up the majority of them and there were only 4 or 5 where I really enjoyed them. This isn't to say that the others were bad episodes, just that they were below the high bar that this show has set for itself.
The problem isn't with the cast but with the material – because the actors are all still good and deliver the fun when they can. Roday and Hill remain excellent together and it is only when they are asked to do more than enjoy themselves that they are less convincing. Most of their references and in-jokes work thanks to their delivery. Omundson and Bernsen continue to be good value but in this season Lawson has hard work to carry her subplot – one that never really goes anywhere and seems to just occur for the sake of occurring – certainly she struggles to sell it.
Season 7 is still a solid piece of light entertainment, but it is hard not to view it as consistently weaker than the previous seasons. It mostly doesn't get the spark and fresh sense of fun that the show has made look so easy for some time now, and too many episodes are just not funny or fun enough. Hopefully the final season (which I think the eighth will be) can recapture that, play to its strengths and go out on a real high (and finally doing a musical special offers me hope that it will do just that).
