S7 is about as messy as I remember. The narrative is caught between "introduce a bunch of new lore before we run out of time" and "let's get back to basics" AND "keep Spike relevant at all costs" in a way that makes for very lumpy repetitive storytelling even before we merge into the Speeches And Potentials roundabout.
AtS S4 has reached the point where Charisma Carpenter is VERY visibly pregnant, but Cordelia's pregnancy hasn't yet been revealed (she slept with Connor about three days ago in show time) so she's spending a lot of time wearing extremely billowy blouses or sitting down with a pile of blankets in her lap.