Stuck in the ‘Weeds’

The first three seasons of “Weeds” provided some of the funniest, most entertaining material on television. In Agrestic, California, the pot-dealing widow and mother of two, Nancy Botwin, played exceptionally by the beautiful Mary-Louise Parker (“The West Wing”), found a life in the drug world that was both exciting and dangerous.

The fourth season of the series was simply not on the same level as the previous three. Nancy, her sons Silas (Hunter Parrish, “Freedom Writers”) and Shane (Alexander Gould, “Finding Nemo” – he voiced Nemo), along with their ridiculous uncle, Nancy’s brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk, “Angels in America”), moved into Andy’s childhood home in Ren Mar, a town on the border of San Diego and Tijuana.

While the season suffered in the transition to a new life for the Botwin’s, as well as Nancy’s relationship with a drug lord/Mexican politician, the finale left viewers with a reason to watch season five this year. Following in the tradition of great finales ,which include Nancy realizing she’s dating a DEA agent (season one), being held at gunpoint looking for her weed, only to find that they had been stolen (season two) and watching their hometown of Agrestic go up in flames (season three), the finale of the fourth season saw Nancy, about to be killed by her drug kingpin beau for snitching, save herself by throwing down a picture of their unborn baby.

That’s good television.

Unfortunately, this past season didn’t pick up on the momentum the last one left for it. Marred by the disjointed plot line, season five didn’t seem to have any clear direction for the characters to advance. For most of the season, Nancy had two mindsets: Either she was terrified that Esteban (Demian Bichir, “Che”), the father of her baby, was going to kill her after the baby was born, or she was in love with him. This is partially explained by presence of Pilar (Kate del Castillo, “American Family”), who was pulling the strings behind Esteban’s actions.

Another problem with the storyline was that “Weeds” is supposed to be a comedy, and there aren’t many situations where the potential death of a pregnant woman is funny. Even Andy, who has been the primary source of comedy throughout the past four seasons, didn’t have as many opportunities to get a laugh as he did previously, and his courting of Dr. Audra Kitson (Alanis Morissette, “Dogma”) showed – some – maturity in character loved for his immaturity.

Thankfully, “Weeds” does have “SNL” alum Kevin Nealon on the payroll as Doug Wilson for laughs. Always ludicrous and always wanting to be high, Doug is man/child whose outrageous antics will leave you laughing, saying “Oh my God,” or more likely both.

When discussing “Weeds,” one character who has to be mentioned is Celia Hodes. Played by Elizabeth Perkins, Celia, along with Nancy, make for one of the best female combinations on television. After being kidnapped by her eldest daughter last year, her story as a hostage in the first few episodes is just annoying, but by the end of the season, she’s back to being the bitch you love to hate.

While the season surely could have been better, its greatest achievement was the growth of Shane Botwin. Unlike Silas, who has just always wanted to grow and sell his own weed, Shane has gone through a serious change throughout the series. As Nancy’s youngest son, we’ve seen Shane go from a young outcast who missed his father to doing whatever the hell he wants. In his first day at a new school last season, Shane asserted himself as the bad boy by smacking the coolest kid in school with a lunch tray for no reason. That got the attention of two goth girls, who in turn give Shane his first feeling of an STD this year. Skipping school and hanging out with one of Esteban’s goons had as big as an impact on his life as the continuing absence of his mother has .

When he finds himself in the middle of Nancy’s fight with Pilar, his transformation is complete, and when the final credits roll on the season, Shane will be your favorite character.

Although it isn’t as much fun as it was in the first three seasons, these last two years of “Weeds” have shown that even when it’s not at it’s best, it is still a good show with the potential to be great again. And even if you didn’t enjoy this season, the last scene leaves us with the best cliffhanger in recent memory. That scene alone is worth watching every episode.