'Go'
Season 3, Episode 15
Otherwise known as "Up in Smoke"?At the start of this season, Weeds creator Jenji Kohan told us the theme for the show would be Nancy learning how to be a gangster. Toward that end, we have seen her roll with rough crowds, shake her booty for a brick, all but wish U-turn dead, bring her sons into the biz, and now practically rubber-stamp the burning of Majestic.Where previous seasons made our jaws drop — Peter's a DEA agent, a half-dozen guns at Nance's temple — I appreciated how this one was a bit more "real." The pace of the episode was more leisurely, almost dreamlike (with Doug as our ersatz Greek chorus), and yet so much — or at least enough — happened.Mainly, Nancy realized that she wanted to be free of this excuse for a life, and for good. She saw the one rare chance she has had in all these years to actually own her destiny. That light went off the moment Guillermo said that if her house didn’t burn down, it'd be the status quo. That’s when she ...
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Protection
Season 3, Episode 14
Nancy deals with a triple hit of trouble when Silas gets injured, Shane shows signs of mental instability and the biker gang turns threatening; Doug's war with Sullivan intensifies; Heylia tutors Celia on the family business.
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"Risk"
Season 3, Episode 13
First off, my apologies for the recent "high-atus" from the blog. Now on with the show! I see that a lot has been going on in quiet Agrestic. Celia caught Sullivan diddling Nancy, and this week took out her anger with a few destructive swings of a baseball bat. (What did people do before The Untouchables?) Cowering in the corner of his office, Sully sought refuge in some herb, and even made a clumsy (if veiled) play for Mary-Kate. Um, eww. I'm a bit steamed that I missed Nancy and Conrad's long-in-the-coming coupling, but that's what the eventual Season 3 DVD set is for. Besides, we got some further flirty interplay, first as Nancy hinted at "another fill," then later when she got Conrad all jelly belly with her U-turn tattoo. "Now taste this," indeed. [Swoon] The biker gang? Too much greasy goon, not enough Sprague Grayden (the Jericho actress playing his sis). I love it when Andy homes in on a gal and goofily tries to play in her world. We saw that with the rabbinical school boss,...
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Nancy contemplates an unusual business partnership; Heylia and Conrad must flee the grow house; Dean tries to play murderball at Andy's insistence; Doug sinks to a new low.
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Cankles
Season 3, Episode 11
Valerie sends a private investigator after Nancy; Celia digs deeper into Aguatecture; Doug and the rest of the Agrestic city council get their walking papers; Silas discovers Tara is spending time with other guys; Shane installs a state-of-the-art security system.
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Nancy receives a surprise windfall from the DEA; Conrad takes Silas under his wing at the growhouse; Celia tends to an injured Dean; Doug runs into some problems with an investment.
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For a second just now, as I typed the above title, I was like, "What is that line in reference to...?" And then it hit me — that first scene, and Nancy's mammogram. Ha!OK, this was an "up" week in Weeds' Season 3 roller coaster. Dean's horrific/pathetic motorcycle crash seems like it will move some story along in that he looks destined for recuperation at Celia's new manse — and just as his ex is cozying up to Sullivan. Speaking of Modine's character, I have a very bad feeling he is purely playing Celia. Totally using her. And maybe, just maybe, Dean and Belly will be there to catch her when she falls. ("God protects the stupid," right, C?)Conrad's back! It was just one scene, but I hope we get to finish out the season (four more episodes to go...) by seeing him work Silas like his b--ch. Loved Conrad negotiating his "babysitting" fee based on the suburbs' going rate. (Note: My wife and I only pay $10/hour but are pretty good about "rounding up").I never thought these word...
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Hmmph. Given the title and in light of what Weeds creator Jenji Kohan teased preseason, I had "high" expectations for this face-off between Peter's pair of widows... but I guess I will have to wait for next week. But to (ex-wife) Mrs. Scottson's point, why the eff was Nancy stalking her?! Very odd. Now Mrs. S is in quite a position to put the "big squeeze" on Nance. Ouch! (PS: Good to see Peter's son is still a class-A brat. Man, I hated that punk.)This week confirmed what I lamented a few blogs ago: This season's Weeds is terribly uneven and utterly lacking in an overarching narrative. Plus, was anyone but me missing Mary Kate Olsen and Silas this week? I love Silas' romances, and MKO's character is a hoot of contradictions.Shane and Isabella were "cute," dabbling in Mama Botwin's bud, but to little effect. Just a gag or two about Shane's new BFF not being into penises, instead preferring beer. Ha. I like the "idea" of Sullivan, but what game is he playing and on whom? Celia is a h...
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OK, Weeds, you've got me back blogging, at least until this new DVD with Episodes 5-9 runs dry. Now speaking of dry, and by association wet... Be still my Mary-Louise Parker-lusting heart. That last scene? Forgetting for a moment that it came out of nowhere... Thud! Jeffrey Dean Morgan, if you were out there, watching... reminiscing... My condolences to you. That MLP — such a trouper!Yes, Nancy has much reason to celebrate. Though U-turn's sudden (and assisted) death did not clear her debt, Marvin's utter ineptitude as da new boss, coupled with Guillermo's need for his H, his smack, his heroin, finally put her in the clear. She's done with that nasty side of the bud biz... right?Then again, her other boss isn't 100 percent squeaky-clean either, with the illegal construction crew, under-the-table bribes and whatnot. I liked how he told party-planner Nancy to make her $5,000 look like 10, then she in turn tells caterer Andy to make $1,000 look like 5. At least Andy seemed to fare...
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Silas hits it off with a fundamentalist Christian (Mary-Kate Olsen) who has a penchant for pot; U-Turn drags Nancy to a showdown with Conrad and Heylia; Sullivan asks Nancy to host a cocktail party to bring together the town leaders of Agrestic and Majestic.
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Has Nancy gone from heroine to heroin? Hmm, the hands don't seem so steady anymore.I privately chuckled when Weeds creator Jenji Kohan told me that the theme of Season 3 was Nance learning to be a "gangster." And yet, look, here she is telling Andy — I mean, "Bill" — how she "rolls." What does get blood stains out of a car seat?Speaking of the car, what must Prius be thinking about their hybrid being touted as ideal for drive-bys due to its whisper-quiet engine? Ha!Too little Sullivan this week; just him sucking up to Celia and Doug. Wouldn't it have been better for Celia to solve her "housing crisis" by boarding with cash-strapped Nancy? What does putting her up in a new house gain us, story-wise?Funniest exchange out of nowhere:Religious mom: "Did [your Jewish husband] pass?"Nancy: "Most people thought he was Italian."Also liked "Bill" seeking sanctuary at Sanjay's house, thinking the lad's dad was engaging in conversation when he actually was bemoaning his kid's sexuali...
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What. Was. That ?! I'm talking, of course, about one of the most odd TV deaths I have seen in recent years. One second Andy's "battle buddy" is trying to light and fart and then... buzzzzzz-thwap! Impaled by a wayward drone. So very, very bizarre. Took me a moment to understand what the heck had happened.Does this mean we have seen the last of boot camp, and so soon? I suppose the drill sergeant was bound to run out of homophobic imagery sooner or later.Silas' B-story was rather lame, obviously just a means to set up his proposal that he unload Mom's "light" bags while doing his thoroughly unsupervised community service.Welcome to the neighborhood, Sullivan! I will admit I met the news of Matthew Modine's casting on Weeds with an "eh," but his character seems interesting in his duality: touting a belief-based development one moment, dismissing it as so much fal-de-rah the next (and using cuss words). He should be a nice bridge between our two grande dames, Nancy and Celia.Speaking o...
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The Closer (which I also blog about) followed by Weeds is a nice one-two punch. I highly recommend it. Chase your weekly dose of homicide with a bit of reefer madness. Not to mention, you get two Emmy nominees playing memorable, one-of-a-kind women.But whereas I don't like much zany with my crimesolving, I crave lunacy an hour later, and this week's Weeds delivered. I feel like this season's first two episodes were obligatory cliff-hanger resolutions, and only now have we really started the new stuff. Andy dragged into boot camp and paired with a hyper little "battle buddy"? Love it. Nancy was summoned to perform a "brick dance" for bad guy Guillermo "Don't Call Me Pedro"? Hot, hot, hot. I know — Mary-Louise tried to make Nancy seem a bit inept/unsure, but hell, that kind of unsure sure works for me! Wonder if Judah ever got such a show?Ah yes, Judah. Money magazine this week actually has a small story on the ways in which Nancy Botwin could have made ends meet other than by pe...
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Now this is the Weeds I love. As I opined in the new TV Guide Talk podcast, the season premiere of the Showtime series was missing something. It was "fine," just not manic. And it was lacking heart. This week's episode was chockablock with tension and pathos (as Nancy let it all out... while submerged), and much less of the zany antics.So after belting sassy Nancy with the smack heard 'round the world, Heylia gutted the easy chair and rode to the rescue, but only Conrad's rescue. Now Nancy owes U-Turn, as does Conrad, who seems deigned (yet hardly resigned) to be the big guy's "sharecropper." Let's take a moment here to give props to Page Kennedy (aka Housewives' original cellar dweller) for his turn as U. Dude does menacing well, yet with just a hint of dumb. I will have a fit if he dares taint my Nancy, on the kitchen island or anywhere.Marvin also endeared himself to me this week, like when Nancy said she wasn't a toker, and he replied, incredulously, "Seriously?" Or when he said...
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"To be continued," my aunt Fannie!And here we are, left with another cliff-hanger, having waited so many, many months for the resolution of the Season 2 finale. I must warn you that more cliff-hangers are to come, as indicated by TV Guide's Matt Roush when he guested on last Friday's podcast. (He's further ahead on his Weeds screeners than I am.)For starters, that opening scene came so out of left field, the family from Arizona hoping to visit Mom's childhood home — aka the house where Nancy is staring down the barrels of five big guns! I loved U-Turn's "subtle" threat: "You know a guy named Cold Blood? Maybe I can have him look you up...." And like that, the fam raced off.This episode had a lot of loose ends to tie up, so it can be forgiven for not having a cohesive, overarching narrative. (In turn, neither does this blog entry!) Instead, we got Nancy's saga interspersed with vignettes covering Shane's zany adventure, Andy's efforts to find his nephew and Silas' visit to the p...
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