7th Heaven

Simon goes to see a therapist. He realizes that the accident links to his having sex. Eric lets Lucy write the sermon. Ruthie meets a boy in detention named Harry. Martin and Eric don't seem to like him, but Annie is willing to give him a chance. Sam and David say that they want to be baseball players.



This was a great episode! I loved the scene where Eric is crying because his daughter is going to be the associate pastor! I really enjoyed Simon's storyline. I wish that he hadn't had sex, but we all make mistakes. Harry and Ruthie are really cute together! This episode gets a 10!

Aaron Carter is really no stranger to acting, having engaged in plenty of theatrics in his many music videos. He has already acted on Broadway in \"Seussical the Musical.\" So getting a real \"acting\" project isn\'t that big a stretch for him.



I\'m glad he\'s expanding to acting. He looks great on screen, and given roles that are a good fit, he should do fine as an actor. My biggest fear was that people would try to typecast him as a popstar. But with the obvious exception of \"Popstar\" (the direct-to-video film that came out in November 2005), Aaron has been given parts that feature him as a regular kid. His first feature film, \"Fat Albert,\" he didn\'t even do any singing or dancing (even when he was in a school street dance scene).



Aaron would work fine with romantic roles, comedy, drama, and even action roles (he plays lots of sports and is quite athletic). Given the popularity of teen slasher films, I wouldn\'t be surprised if Aaron got cast in a horror film soon.



I think the orphan part in \"7th Heaven\" was perfect for him. He projects real innocence. I think I would\'ve preferred a little different dialogue, though; it sounded a bit artificial. But he did fine with what he was given.

Well, we're now into the third episode of the 9th season and this episode didn't disappoint what it was supposed to deliver. Even with a few mishaps this episode may have had, many things in this episode were done nicely. Simon found had a great revelation about himself that he too seemed surprised over in therapy and Lucy is growing up more into her father as a minister. (Also, I'm sorry for the very late review. It's been a very busy week.) Anyway, let's break it down...



Simon: As always David Gallagher (Simon Camden) shines as usual and is the brightest part in this episode. His scenes at first with Dr. Gibson in the therapy session(s) was comical at first. It was such a shock as David Gallagher had a lot of Barry Watson's mannerism as he was trying to be funny towards Dr. Gibson and then leaving the office. That scene blew me away of how much Matt is in Simon in regards to that scene. But as the show went on it got serious as Simon started to taking the session more seriously with Dr. Gibson. It was a shock to know that Simon feels he'll got to hell since he killed the kid Paul Smith last year. So why doesn't it even matter if he has sex now, since that is a bad thing to do? Simon still feels very guilty over the matter, which again I'm happy it was brought up again. It would've been preposterous that they left the "dead kid" storyline alone from last season. His breakdown scene in therapy was touching and just magnificent.



Simon really broke down in the therapy session finally admitting to himself what he's fearing over and why he feels so free to have sex. Although I still wish the writers left Simon wanting to having to have sex to "just have sex" storyline, I still like the execution of storyline due mostly to David Gallagher's performance. He didn't even know it himself till therapy. Of course after this revelation he could finally go and talk to his parents on "certain" matters. It was also great that the writers did not revert back to Simon going totally abstinent again because it wouldn't have been realistic. It's disappointing to Eric and Annie but it's realistic and something that they're gonna have to learn to deal with. It should be good enough though that they've raised a son who will be responsible about having sex next time when he's "emotionally" ready. In the end that's all that matters---when you are already.



Eric and Lucy: Lucy officially becomes the associate pastor at Eric's church. As much as I knew this was coming, I still think it was done the wrong way of how Lucy became associate pastor. It was only last week that Eric gave her the job to start a "teen sex talk" program, which hasn't even started yet. And now, this week Eric gives her the job of associate pastor without any good reason with only the fact he thought it was the "right time". I'm not too much into knowing about divinity students or how the church works in hiring qualified contenders, but I doubt what Eric did in hiring Lucy would happen in real life---even if she is his daughter. Plus, doesn't the church board need to approve Lucy as associate pastor? Lou (Alan Fudge) where are you?



Nonetheless Lucy's sermon was very good. She really does know how to speak to an audience as she has done previously in the Sunday episode. Although, I couldn't help but take a dig into what Lucy was saying about girls and sex and their wants. More in particular Lucy talks about girls needing a guy to complete them---you'd think that would be a shout out to the Camden kids---particularly Lucy. Nonetheless, that was the former Lucy who is now married, and less "crazy" so far this year than in the last few seasons. Lucy was another bright spot, as well as alter-ego Beverley Mitchell.



Also, I wonder if that was Beverley Mitchell singing in the beginning with that Coal Miner's Daughter's bit in Kevin's dream. It was hard to tell. If anyone knows please tell me.



Martin, Ruthie and Harry: Well, first of all it's great to see Ruthie (Mackenzie Rosman) being more likeable in this episode. I couldn't take her know-at-all, mean attitude that much longer. I can barely tolerate her when she's normanl. Anyway, we get introduced to Ruthie's new love interest she met in detention from last week—and Martin is not too happy about it. His scenes with Eric was quite comical as he was really trying to get in the "Camden grove" of handling things in "this" family. Martin has definately started to become the new Robbie.



I'll be honest, I'm not an Aaron Carter fan at all. In fact I despise his music as well as his older brother Nick's Backstreet Boys pop fame, but Aaron actually did OK on his first episode here as Ruthie's love interest. She has more chemistry with him than she did with Peter (Scotty Leavenworth) and I like the new Ruthie teenage look. His scenes with Eric was nice and comical in the dining room as Eric was getting the full story of Harry. Too bad that Harry is in a foster home though, but Aaron was actually an OK actor. Even better than Scotty Leavenworth's acting. Surprising, I know.



This episode definately introduced Martin (Tyler Hoechlin) as the "older brother" as it would seem likely as Ruthie and Martin have gotten close in that dynamic (I don't care what others say). It seemed pretty obvious that a foundation has been built between the two in the last few episodes as a brother/sister type. Simon is too much into his own life that he can't be with him and her anymore. She now has Martin. It would be only natural that as you become attached to people you want to protect them in a brother/sister way, in this case for Martin. Since Simon is unavailable these days for Ruthie, Martin (Tyler Hoechlin) is great to step in and he really did nicely.



The Others: Kevin (George Stults) really didn't do much in this episode, but just stand by supporting Lucy in his scenes with her as she's getting ready to give her first sermon. It was also a little funny for Kevin nerviously wanting to find out from Lucy how many kids she'd have with him after that nightmare dream he had. That was a nice way to start off the episode by the way. Some light comedy is needed in this show.



Kevin has been so supportive of Lucy and really there for her as a husband. It got me thinking if he was only this way when they were dating 2 years ago when he was a complete jerk. Remember, the Kevin-Lucy-Roxanne triangle of season 7? Anyway, he was good in this episode.



Despite her OWN lack of storyline, Annie (Catherine Hicks) was so refreshing in this episode, as finally one of the parents was the good voice of reason and making sense. She kept telling Eric (and literally reminding herself) that Simon needs to feel comfortable to come to them and need to be patient. Finally, they are starting to learn. Hopefully, both we'll remind themselves of this in future storylines instead of the preposterous stalking they do way too often to find the truth.



Overall, this was an enjoyable episode. David Gallagher (Simon Camden) blew it out the water though. He's definately tied with Jessica Biel (Mary Camden) as my favorite Camden. This episode continues to stay on track with a strong season so far. Please keep it up writers with a show really starting to improve in its ninth season after a very shaky at times 2 previous seasons. See ya next week!



Grade: **8.5 out of 10**



Rants and Bits:

*Looking at Mackenzie's Rosman (Ruthie Camden) in this episode she really is aging gracefully as a teenager, but then they pan back to show her height---and she's so small for her age. I hope she has a growth spirt soon.



*Why are the twins Sam and David here? Seriously? They add absolutely nothing to the show. If only we could go back in time, I'd wish the writers never wrote in Annie's pregnancy in season 3. They are just a sour spot in the show now.



*What happened to Matt? No goodbye to us viewers? Although he really didn't do anything in the last two episodes, but I still would've liked to see some kind of mentioned exit in the last episode. Quite frankly though I didn't miss him in this episode. Isn't that odd?