Smoking

Season 7, Episode 14, Aired

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8.6
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Eric tries to help Chandler after the young minister learns that his father is dying of lung cancer, but Chandler rejects Eric's aid and pushes him away. Lucy accepts a date with Chandler's chain-smoking tattooed brother Sid (guest-star Jason London) in order to make Kevin jealous enough to propose to her. Elsewhere, Annie is shocked when she finds a pack of cigarettes in Simon's bedroom. Lastly, Ruthie's friend Peter begs her to lie and not tell his mother that he smokes.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (3)

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  • Great episode!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By VGFreak8, May 05, 2007
    Chandler's twin brother comes to town. Eric learns that their father is dying of lung cancer and Chandler hasn't made peace with him. Ruthie learns that Peter smokes and she tells his mom even though she promised that she wouldn't. Ben's new girlfriend smokes and accidentally burns down her friend's house by a lit cigarette. Annie thinks Simon is smoking but it is really Kevin. The twins see him smoke and pretend to do it. Lucy goes on a date with Sid to make Kevin jealous. Eric buys Chandler a plane ticket for when he is ready to see his dad.

    I liked this episode a lot! For some reason, themed episode are great to me! I can't Peter smoked! He's only 12! I thought that Ben's girlfriend was really dumb! She didn't care about her health or her friend's house! Kevin smoking? What a shocker! I thought that it would more likely be Simon, but he's tried it twice already, both were bad experiences. I'm glad that Ruthie told Paris that Peter was smoking. That's what a true friend would do. I love it when Kevin makes that goofy smile on his face when Lucy is totally crazy! It's hilarious! I feel really bad for Chandler with his dad dying and all. This episode gets a 10!moreless

  • Smoking is bad for you. Rehashed plot lines from at least two previous episodes - comical (or not so much) misunderstandings, santacmonious preaching, thorougly unrealistic portrayal of how kids (or even ministers) talk, think, or behave. A typical epismoreless

    0.1
    "None"
    By JakobB, Sep 10, 2005
    Another family values episode with a theme so clunky and repeated no one (not even the target demographic) is going to miss it. Smoking is bad for you. Cutting edge stuff - dramatic story lines, heart-breaking in its courageous expose of yet another social ill. Or maybe not so much. Ruthie was the most priggish, Kevin the stupidest, Eric the nosiest.... Gossip, insults, breaking of promises, tattling...and my favourite one-episode-only character ever, Betty, Ben's new girlfriend. This is a woman who smokes, and who defends her right to smoke. She is portrayed as a selfish and rude, but compared to all the characters in this episode, she is definitely the coolest and the most memorable. And believe it or not, her house burned down because she left a lit cigarette lying around. What a coincidence!!! Little Miss Perfect Ruthie rats smoking Peter out to his mother, and the little wimp actually thanks her for it. In any universe that I lived in, this could not happen. There are sanctomonious little prigs like Ruthie, I suppose, but nobody ever thanks them for their priggishness. They usually get beat up on the way home from school.

    All this to say that the contrivance is really a little bit too much in this episode. While the premise that smoking is bad for you is a worthy one, it is so artlessly done that the average viewer's reaction would be to take up smoking instantly.moreless

  • What most regular "7th Heaven" viewers may know, it's that every week there is always a particular theme that surrounds the Camden's family. It's also quite evident of the viewer that every week some characters have a problem relating directly to the themmoreless

    10
    "Perfect"
    By TM56, Jun 04, 2005
    What most regular "7th Heaven" viewers may know, it's that every week there is always a particular theme that surrounds the Camden's family. It's also quite evident in the eyes of the viewer that every week some (if not all) characters have a problem relating directly to the theme, thereby showing different points of view. This week's episode was no exception, but this time it just felt a little too crowded and a little too unrealistic for the viewer to believe so many issues of smoking happening to the Camden's at the same time. There are many "7th Heaven" episodes with this same format, but this was a little over the top, but still with a good message and delivery overall.

    Let's take a look at each storyline:
    Ruthie and Peter: I really liked this smoking storyline as it was very realistic and the most relatable to viewers. Peter admitting to Ruthie that he smokes is not far-fetched at all. In today's America, teens (and even pre-teens) smoking is very real and has in fact become an epidemic. Peter smoking because he thinks it's cool and his friends thinks it's cool is true to life as what I've seen and heard through my friends. Ruthie not wanting to be his friend for his smoking was realistic as being how she's been brought up she doesn't want to be associated with kids who smoke, do drugs (a cigarette is a drug by the way) or who fall into peer pressure that easily. Also, her telling Peter's mom was understanble as she does care for the little guy anyway and wants him to stop. One thing though, why did Peter's mom not say goodbye to Ruthie on the phone, but just hung up on her? How rude.

    Simon and Kevin: This storyline was the one that really bothered me the most. First af all, Simon was in it. Writers, please, this is the third time you've used Simon in a smoking storyline. Do they not remember Simon and Ruthie smoking Guy's (foreign exchange student's) cigarettes back in season 2 or the experimentation of cigarettes for Simon and Nigel back in season 4? Please, give Simon a good storyline when Cecelia is not there! With Kevin, I found it odd that he was the one smoking when at the same time criticizing Ben's girlfriend, Betty, for her smoking. With that, mixed in with the Lucy contraversy with him feeling pressured that he has to propose to her soon, Kevin made no sense in this episode and was a complete hypocrite

    Eric and Chandler: Wow, now they are a good duo! This was the best smoking storyline in this episode as it was the best played out. Eric trying to reach out to Chandler over his father dying of lung cancer was understandable, that as a minister (He's going back!, viewers!) it's in his nature to want to help. But for Chandler to reject his help was also understandable as Eric hasn't been the nicest to him since his arrival to Glenoak. Chandler thinking that Eric is just doing this for the fact that it gives him pleasure and knowing his soft spots was harsh, but justified on Chandler's standpoint.

    Rev. Camden has made it quite clear that he feels threatened by him (but I couldn't go as far as to hating him) and has not made it easy for Chandler. All of the sudden when Chandler is vulnerable, then Eric comes to be on good terms with him is something justified of Chandler when he becomes frustrated with Eric over that. But the last scene of the show was very good and leading to a good friendship of ministers down the road for these two. Stephen and Jeremy are terrific actors. I look forward to them.

    Overall, even though this episode did break out some good points, all the smoking storylines packed into one episode was just a little too much for me. Having all the storylines about smoking makes the episode too singled-direct. I love it when characters stray to storylines completely different from other characters in the episode. It gives us, the viewers, more directions to go and digest more flavor instead of one straight line of the same topic. Variety is a better offering and more realistic. Another reason why I'm boggeled is that "7th Heaven" has addressed smoking before in past episodes and don't see why they did it again. Plus, we viewers are not dumb, smoking is bad for you. That was the main aspect of the show but we didn't need you to tell us that. We know. It's just that we do it anyway (not me though, I'm a non-smoker).

    Grade: **6.5 out of 10**

    Rants and Bits
    *It's great that the twins were more incorporated in this episode than usual, but can they both FINALLY get their own dialogue instead of always repeating each other words, writers? At age 4 they can fully talk and each can have a personality!

    *I'm finally becoming very fond of Roxanne and Chandler and I am glad that the cardboard character of Roxanne is finally being ripped off and becoming more multi-dimensional. Keep it up writers, you're on a roll.

    *It was great to see Jason and Jeremy London together side-by-side in this episode. For some reason though I found Jason London's character (Sid Hampton) a little more appealing even though I like Chandler. He was flawed yet very likeable which is hard to pull off. You're either one or the other to most.

    *Where's Happy? I really miss that dog in the family. She really needs to be part of the show more, or at least see her a few times in the episodes.

    No Cecelia this week? Too bad.moreless
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  • TRIVIA (7)

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    • Apprently, Kevin smokes to get his mind off things such as Lucy's nagging.

    • Response: To not caring about Matt smoking but caring about Kevin smoking (and there not being toddlers in season one): The twins were born in season 3- and this, being season 7, makes them 4 years old. While Ruthie's age in the show has been sped up to be too fast, in the first season Ruthie was learning her ABCs and started pre-kindergarten. This means that Ruthie was 4, just like the twins, when Matt was smoking in the series premiere.

    • Why would Annie be so upset about her family becoming exposed to Kevin's smoking when Matt smoked in season 1?

    • Response to Goof: Annie didn't make a big deal when Matt smoked in season 1 because there were no toddlers in the house like Sam and David finding them and pretending to smoke.

    • Betty is supposed to be a rude obnoxious person. She isn't supposed to care.

    • Would'nt Betty be more upset if she burned down someones house when she was house sitting, considering it wasn't her house?

    • Lucy tells Kevin she didn't wait all this time for a proposal over a hamburger at the promenade. Then Annie tells Kevin she isn't looking for some big proposal but she is waiting for it. Huh?

  • QUOTES (1)

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    • Sam and David to Lucy: "We like Kevin." Lucy to the twins: "I like Kevin too." David to Lucy: "Then marry him." Sam to Lucy: "Yeah marry him." Lucy to the twins: "He hasn't asked me yet." The twins (Answering Lucy but talking to Kevin): "Why?" Kevin to Lucy: "Did you pay them to say that?" Lucy to Kevin: "No I didn't pay them to say that! They're children. They're naturally curious. But since the boys brought it up..." Kevin to Lucy: "They're asking because you want to know!" Lucy to Kevin: "How do you know that?" Kevin to Lucy: "Everyone in this house is asking me when I'm going to ask you to be my wife. And after they ask me when I'm going to ask you. I ask them why they're asking because it's nobody's business except yours and mine. And they say they're asking because you're driving them nuts too! Won't you just throttle back and let me surprise you?!" Lucy to Kevin: "Fine. Surprise me. But whatever you're doing, better be fantastic. Because if I waited all this time for a proposal over a burger and a coke at the dairy shack. I'm going to be very upset!" Sid to Lucy: "Then I still have time." Lucy to Sid: "No, you're too late. I'm in love." Sid to Lucy: "You sure?" Lucy to Sid: "I'm sure that I'm almost engaged and I'm sure that I can't have dinner with you." Sam to Kevin: "You're in trouble." David to Kevin: "Big trouble." Simon to Kevin: "Very big trouble." Annie to Kevin: "Sam and David said they saw you smoking."

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