- Disc Format: Box set, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Region: Region 1
- Number of discs: 3
- Studio: Lionsgate
- DVD Release Date: January 10, 2017
- Run Time: 598 minutes
Whether it is
dedication or compulsively obsessive behavior, I don’t ever like to join a
series anywhere but the beginning. Even when reviewing a title such as “Swamp
People,” a reality TV show with little continuous narrative from one season to
the next, I prefer to have that contextual background before forming an
opinion. I am spoiled with the wealth of options when it comes to finding old
seasons of a show online through streaming services, but I was forced to enter
the seventh season of “Swamp People” completely blind. By the end of the first
episode, it was quite clear that all I was likely to have missed was six
seasons of the same material, just as one episode is indistinguishable from
another in season seven.
Let me be clear;
I watched all 13 season seven episodes, and I was inexplicably addicted even
when I was aware that it was terrible TV. What makes it so bad? For one thing,
the series is horribly repetitious. Though it is called “Swamp People,” nearly
every person that the documentary crew follows around is involved in the practice
of alligator hunting. For many of the show’s participants, this is a family
practice, a way of making supplemental income during the alligator hunting
season each year. In that sense, this show is no different than “The Deadliest
Catch,” or any other number of shows that focus on a unique job. But it is only
unique for the first couple of episodes, and then the show is just business as
usual.
I kept expecting
something to happen which would alter the monotonous repetitious of the show,
but there was little other than a few minor changes in the human dynamic. At
times it seems as though they are just catching the same alligators over and
over again, because no matter how hard the editors try and amp up the suspense
with misleading commercial breaks, it almost always ends exactly the same way.
It isn’t that I wanted the hunters to get injured or to lose their catch, but
it just never really feels like much of a fair fight between man and beast. The
only excitement comes with the size of each gator that is caught.
I suppose the
other part of the show is the people, and they certainly are unique
individuals. There are many father/son teams, a couple pairs of friends, and
even a solo hunter, but the main focus seems to remain on Troy Landry and his
family. I’m sure specific characters returning will mean more to fans that have
followed the show through the seasons, though I had nothing invested beyond
mild amusement over their oddities. One participant hunts with his son and
grandson, who he calls “Dad” and “Pop.” Apparently he was so excited to be a
father that it never occurred to him that giving them the title he was proud of
was a weird choice. Then there is the interracial hunting team that brings salt
and pepper shakers with them, as some kind of strange symbolic ritual to let
people know how uncommon it is for a black man and a white man to work together
in the south.
Perhaps I am
being too harsh on this show, but even knowing how ridiculous much of the
content was, I somehow could not stop myself from continuing to watch. Those
who are adverse to the idea of watching animals being brutally hunted would be
wise to avoid this show, even with all of the efforts from the History Channel
to avoid actually showing the kill shots. Instead, there is a generic
slow-motion shot included during that moment, showing the water from the
shotgun blast spray up instead.
The 3-disc DVD
collection contains all thirteen episodes from season seven, as well as a
surprising collection of extras. There is plenty of additional footage which
was not aired on television, as well as some featurettes with more interviews
from the cast of real swamp-dwellers. It is more content likely to appease the
fans, while boring anyone not already interested in the show.
Entertainment Value:
5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 4.5/10
Historical
Significance: 3/10
Special Features: 6/10
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