Weeds - Season Five

When season four was somewhat less than exciting, I wondered if the series was heading downhill. I thought it might be the location/setting change that caused the problem, or maybe it's that Guillermo wasn't a very interesting foil for Nancy, but this season managed to be good again without Nancy having to move the family a second time. In comparison, I think the character development was also stronger this season, as we saw changes occur in almost everyone: Celia hit an even lower rock bottom, Doug got even dumber and is still in his own downward spiral (though a different one from Celia's in that he occasionally attempts to get out of it but keeps failing), Andy and Silas became more mature and responsible, and Nancy seemed to stop selling weed altogether because she was too busy dealing with Esteban and the baby. As crazy as it is, I think Shane and Isabelle have become the most grounded characters on the show because they might be the only ones not to have changed since the show began. I think my favourite transformation to watch was Andy sobering up at the realization that he is in love with Nancy. While I did enjoy him as the show's second biggest fool (especially when paired with the biggest fool, Doug), these new feelings add a whole bunch of layers to his scenes with Nancy that automatically make them more interesting to watch. One thing I found a little strange was the use of Esteban, in that the show was always bouncing him back and forth between being someone Nancy loves and an antagonist from whose oppression she must escape. I guess you could say he wasn't going back and forth at all, he's just both of those things, but it almost felt like the writers weren't sure which one they wanted him to be. Maybe I'm not used to watching things where two people who love each other are making moves against one another.

Some other thoughts:
- It was a really funny series of scenes - and a nice wake-up call for Celia - when literally nobody wanted to pay a ransom to save her life. It will be interesting next season to see if she can get out of her slump by imitating Nancy (she's already got the wide-eyed expressions, dark hair, slushees, and pot-selling team.)
-Also funny: Doug and Dean mangling each other's genitals out of revenge. They are now the two biggest idiots on the show.
-Andy's beard now joins Nathan's on Heroes and Jack's on Lost in the exclusive club for TV depression beards. I thought I had a cool mental list going, but UGO beat me to it with an impressive 25 beards.
-The finale ending was unexpected but very welcome, no matter the consequences.

Best episode: I think I would have to go with "Glue", in which Andy and Nancy have a lengthy discussion about love while taking a magazine quiz in a waiting room, Dean poses as a black cop to freak out Celia, Shane and Silas rescue Esteban's daughter from date-rapists, and Pilar gets Esteban back under her thumb.

Weeds - Season Four

After compelling second and third seasons, season four receded back to the quality of season one. This wasn't necessarily due to poor writing; it was more to do with the direction they chose to take the story. Having Nancy and her family skip town and go into hiding in a nice little beach town by the Mexican border just didn't offer much in the way of excitement, tension, danger, plot twists, or cliffhangers. In general it was still entertaining and funny, and they managed to keep most of the characters in the show (except for Conrad and Heylia, but I don't particularly miss them), but it feels like a let-down when the last two seasons were hitting their stride with constant cliffhangers. It may also be that Nancy's new boss, Guillermo, is not as intimidating as U-Turn was last season, and her relationship with Mayor/Kingpin Esteban didn't have the same sense of underlying danger as her secret marriage to the DEA agent in season two. I think the season picked up slightly after Albert Brooks's character left, because until then it focused too heavily on the Botwin family.

But there were still fun moments to enjoy. Nancy uncovering the secret tunnel under the maternity store (blurting "What the F?", which somehow was funnier than actually swearing) was a landmark moment, and Doug and Andy starting an immigrant-smuggling business was great because those two doofuses work well together comedically. And I was a fan of the title sequences this season (no more awful theme song covers!), from the classic one in the premiere shown one last time - but with everything in Agrestic now on fire - to the new format, which is to write the title on a significant object from the episode and have something in the image morph into a marijuana leaf. I'm a nerd for that kind of thing, so I actually looked forward to those titles each episode.

Best Episode: "No Man is Pudding", in which Celia comes to stay and the Botwins have a family dinner where everybody looks less than healthy, Andy realizes how poorly the illegal immigrants are treated, and Guillermo gives Nancy a seemingly boring and average job with more to it below the surface (literally).

Weeds - Season Three

This season of Weeds took the spirit of the previous season's finale - all conflicts crushing Nancy from all sides at once - and extended that throughout most of the season, as we see her under the thumb of scary drug dealer U-Turn and being blackmailed and threatened by several people for money she often doesn't have. But what makes Nancy so fun to watch is her ability to adapt. Somehow, she always makes it through these crazy and scary situations. Where season two improved on season one by writing better story arcs and cliffhangers, season three improved on season two by making the annoying characters less annoying. Heylia receded toward the background of the show as Nancy had less direct contact with her, and Silas was less of a rebellious, angsty, teenage douche once he started working with his mother instead of against her. As for Celia, she remains the antagonistic bitch that she is, and probably always will, but she is a very entertaining (and often funny) one, so she doesn't bother me too much.

Some other random thoughts: The Hodes' divorce, as well as Dean becoming severely injured, opened up a lot of funny stuff for Celia when she had to actually start taking care of her daughter and ex; Mary Kate Olsen is a slightly better actress than we all thought she was; I was actually looking forward to Nancy being friends with Peter's ex-wife, but I suppose that's out now; Andy starring in "foot porn" had just the right amount of weird hedonism in it to be the perfect storyline for him; Doug seemed somewhat underused this season in that he spent most of it complaining and protesting things; Shane seeing the ghost of his father (or pretending to, it's unclear which one) was really the only thing that didn't feel right to me. This show just didn't need that supernatural element, because while it does get wacky sometimes, ghosts are a whole different ballpark and that's not what Weeds is about.

Best Episode: "The Two Mrs. Scottsons", in which Isabelle and Shane become friends, Andy does foot porn, and Nancy stalks Peter's ex-wife.

Weeds - Season Two

While the first season of Weeds needed its time to set things up, season two was a welcome improvement. I liked season one, but this time around the show was both funnier and more gripping, ending almost every episode in some sort of cliffhanger.

I found Heylia to be one of the least interesting aspects of the show, so I liked this season revolving more around Nancy and Conrad branching off and growing their own marijuana supply. I don't know if she's in for the entire duration of the series, but I wouldn't mind if Heylia was gradually phased out of the show. Celia is also unlikable most of the time, and I was disappointed when she won the city council seat, but it did lead to her affair with Doug, which I somehow found very enjoyable to watch, because those two are polar opposites. Also a dick is Nancy's oldest son, Silas, not for his rebellious behaviour and disrespect for her, but more for the time he intentionally got his girlfriend pregnant in an attempt to make her stay with him in lieu of going off to college. That was an extremely slimy thing to do. But, hey, we also got Zooey Deschanel guest starring in a few episodes, and adding Zooey always improves things. For people who claim she always plays the same character, this one is a departure; Kat is crazy to the point of being a little scary, or as scary as someone like Zooey can be, anyway. Finally, the cliffhanger in the season finale was about ten times bigger than last season. All of Nancy's mistakes as a mother, wife, friend, and drug dealer came to a point at the exact same moment, and it was awesome.

The only thing I really hated about this season was all the covers of the show's theme song used each episode. Watching season one, I grew to like the original, and in my opinion it is a song that only works that one way, with its acoustic, simplistic sound. All other versions made my ears bleed.

Best Episode: The funniest one was "Mrs. Botwin's Neighborhood", in which Shane gets in trouble at school for telling everyone about his "happy ending", Silas has a falling out with his girlfriend's parents, Celia tries to force (literally) Nancy to be her friend, and Peter disposes of Nancy's competition.

Weeds - Season One

After watching this in close proximity to Suburgatory, I've decided that Suburgatory is Weeds without the weeds. Both have illustrated the weird, sterilized, conformism of suburbia, and they even share an actress in common - Allie Grant, who plays a plain-looking daughter in both. But I think Suburgatory plays up the quirkiness more for comedic effect, while Weeds uses it dramatically, even darkly, to show us how troubled, depressed, and bored these characters are with their lives. I mean it is considered a comedy, and it has its funny moments, but for me it played as if it should be a one-hour drama rather than a half-hour comedy, and most of the humour came more from the characters than their environment and its influence on them.

You could also say that Weeds is a lighter and faster version of Breaking Bad (a lot of the things that happened in one season of Weeds took 2 or 3 seasons to play out on Breaking Bad), with the parental figure dealing drugs to support their family, but trying to keep it a secret and thus becoming somewhat distant from them due to all of the unexplained absences. Even the drug itself is lighter, as weed is less dangerous than crystal meth. But maybe I should stop comparing it to other shows and just talk about it directly.

Nancy Botwin is likable because she's strong, smart, and adapts even when she makes mistakes, making her a capable heroine for the story. It's interesting watching her conduct business, because she is not who you'd expect to deal drugs, and therefore she doesn't always do things the same way that some shady thug might. Her sons and brother-in-law are douchey at times, as is her friend Celia, though by the end of the season I understood Celia better and am almost starting to like her. Kevin Nealon is also fun as Nancy's goofy accountant and pot customer.

I enjoyed the season, but I'm not sure if I can identify why. It's entertaining, but not addictive, and it's occasionally funny, but not super hilarious; it's weird, as suburban settings should be, and it has drive but not a lot of thick tension - though Mary-Louise Parker's performance alone almost brings it up to where it should be. I'm not saying this as a complaint, my feeling is just that a lot about this show seems...mild. Maybe it is a lack of cliffhangers, though they pulled out a nice one at the end of the finale. But it's only the first season, which for most shows is just an establishing season until things pick up steam, so I'll report back after I've watched season two.

Best Episode: "The Punishment Lighter", in which a college security guard confiscates Nancy's weed, Nancy confronts a competitor, and Celia loses and then regains her spot as head of the PTA in a loopholed power move.