Weeds - Season 7

I've managed to enjoy Weeds since it left suburban California a few years ago more than many people, but I could tell that my patience for it was running thin when I could barely even enjoy the episodes this season that other people said were actually pretty good. It's hard to say what it is that turned me against the show,  because it's pretty much what it was last year. The Botwins are more centrally confined to one location, as they all go to New York once Nancy is let out of prison and put in a halfway house there (a few years after last season ended). But it felt similar to me, like how the Agrestic seasons and then the Ren Mar seasons felt like discrete parts of a larger story. Still something was missing, or wrong. I didn't care about the plot anymore. When the show ignored its plot, I couldn't laugh at any of the jokes. None of the new characters were interesting, and none of the old characters were capable of surprising me anymore. The show was stuck in a rut, and the news that they weren't really planning on making it the final season, even though they had hinted at that previously, really drained a lot of the hope out of me.

There's a difference between a show that can last a long time and a show that can't, and unfortunately Showtime doesn't seem to realize this. Weeds was finishing its seventh season right as Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia was beginning its seventh, and though I'm bored to death of the former, I love the latter as much as ever. The difference is that Weeds is trying to tell a story, and Sunny just wants to be funny. Most stories don't stay interesting after seven years, especially when it's the kind of story with a plot that seems naturally inclined to end in half that time. A suburban mom turning to selling weed to make ends meet just doesn't sound like something that could end up taking nearly a decade to fully play out. Why does she continue to deal drugs, even though the authorities know about her now and it's clearly a practice that has not brought her sustained success in the past? Why do her sons and brother-in-law and Doug of all people stick around her when she's clearly a terrible influence in their lives? Because dealing drugs is what the show is about, and because these are the main characters, and it's easier to write a show when the cast stays together. Nothing about the show feels real anymore, especially when the attempts at broader comedy get more and more out of sync with the general mood. It's Always Sunny could probably get away with a scene where Muslims who are supposed to be shipping weed to America accidentally blow themselves up. A show about a woman who was recently released from jail after her husband was murdered trying to get custody of her son cannot.

And so the show isn't really funny when it tries to be, and the story doesn't work because I don't believe in these characters anymore. It doesn't help that all of the new subplots this year end up being basically meaningless. Nancy's supposed to have to worry about her parole and the conditions of her release, but that turns out to be a lot of nothing before it's swept aside. New dealers and suppliers pop up that the family has to deal with, but they're all pretty much gone by the end. A potentially devastating schism in the family is thrown out the window with a silly last-minute solution. And then the terrible cliffhanger, easily one of the laziest things I've seen a show do to try to keep its audience hooked. The craziest part is that I'm not even sure I won't watch season eight, if they end up making it. But that's mostly just because seven seems like a silly number to quit something on.

Weeds - Season 6

I don't understand why some publications review seasons of television series and not just episodes before they've actually seen the finale, or even more than a handful of episodes. How can you really pass judgment on the quality of something before you've seen the whole thing? That's like if Roger Ebert walked out of movies after the first hour because he'd seen enough to write his review. Obviously if a show is completely episodic it's more justifiable, because while the quality may ebb and flow slightly from week to week, you pretty much know what you're getting. But with a heavily plotted and character-based show like Weeds, you really need to see the whole thing to know if what came before was worth it.

While I enjoyed the last couple years of Weeds, I have to agree that it seemed like the show lost its way at least a bit during that time. Things were happening just because they needed to keep happening. And for a lot of this season I found myself wondering what the point was, and if the story was actually going anywhere. But by the end I was convinced that it was worth it, and while I still don't know how much longer it can or should last, we should maybe give the creators a bit more credit that we have been. This season actually took a lot of risks by having the Botwins traveling all over America instead of sticking to one location as we finally saw what the world of Weeds is like outside California. We spend time in Seattle, Detroit, and in various other places, never letting one location and set of supporting actors get stale before moving on. It wasn't the show's most exciting or funniest season, but it was competently entertaining, and had one of the best finales in the show's run. I was considering whether I would stick with the show for another year most of the time, but in the end the decision was made for me. I'll be there next year.

Also, here are my recaps for the last four episodes of the season:
Dearborn-Again
Viking Pride
Fran Tarkenton
Theoretical Love is Not Dead

Weeds - Season 5

After the first three season arc of Weeds, the fourth year changed things up dramatically with a shift in setting and tone. Season five continues along the same path, as the second part of the show's second trilogy. There's at least one more batch of episodes coming, and it could easily either wrap things up or begin a new saga. It's come quite a ways from "suburban widow sells weed", and I'd actually be interested in where they could go next. The broad strokes this time are Nancy's pregnancy and engagement to Esteban, Silas and Doug's attempt at a (mostly) legitimate business, Andy's attempts to move on from his affections, Shane's continued to development into a pretty unusual kid, and Celia's latest attempt to replicate Nancy's success. Not everything goes well, and it's fun to watch how everything they do connects and forces them to make tough decisions.

Weeds has always seemed a bit odd to me, especially these last two years, because it's remarkably plot-focused for a half hour comedy. It's not like there aren't hour long dramas that are just as funny. I currently have a vague inkling that I've brought this point up before. Oh well. The fact that it's so short though lends a strong, really quick pace as twists and events come hurtling through at breakneck speed. They could probably work it into an hour long show, but it would be a more placid one not in tune with the series' wacky and frenetic style. You never have time to get used to a gag or concept which could easily be milked for more humor before they're already on to the next one. There are several shows running I'd probably call funnier right now, but Weeds is its own unique brand of dark comedy that is always welcome.

Weeds - Season 4

Weeds is way different in its fourth season, almost to the point of feeling like a new show. And it pretty much is, if you consider the original premise of a soccer mom that sells weed. Now it's a show about a family living on the run and lots of wacky situations involving Mexicans. Immigration is really the focus of the season, as Nancy becomes involved with some drug runners, who also deal in some seedier crimes. At first she lives with it because the money is good, but she becomes more conflicted as it gets worse, despite getting closer to the man at the top. The finale has enough twists to be satisfying, although for some reason it didn't leave me that desperate for more. The ends of the first two seasons especially were great, this time not as much. The show's creative spark might have faded a bit, as some characters turn into jokes of themselves and it feels a bit more like they're continuing it just because. They said they will make two more seasons, which should be plenty to take care of everything.

The show's still funny though, make no mistake. The dark humor is as sharp as ever in some parts, and seems to branch into different topics more. The beginning of the season is dominated by Al Brooks as Nancy's father-in-law, and everything with him and his outlook on life is simultaneously comic gold and highly depressing. The two brothers sort of flip-flopped in my mind. Silas was much more tolerable, and even sympathetic at times, although he's occasionally still irritating. Shane, on the other hand, had some pretty creepy/terrible plot moments, and he's maturing into kind of a jerk. Andy and Doug are still great though, and their time as nice coyotes was pretty fun. I still like the show, just not as much as I used to. I wonder how the formula will continue to evolve as the story draws to a close in the next couple years.

Weeds - Season 3

Continuing directly from the last, season three is 15 more episodes of quality television. Nancy's world continues to spin out of control as everything that can go wrong basically does. Her business expands, which also increases the amount of trouble she can get into. She also gets a real job as secretary to a manipulative businessman who goes around building up religious suburbs, whose current project is Majestic, the town quickly enveloping the main setting of Agrestic. He's not really a likable character, but he helps provide lots of intriguing plot turns. The secondary characters are pretty good this season, including more of the awesome U-Turn, thug drug dealer extraordinaire, and one of the Olsen twins playing a hyper-Christian pot user.

There's been some changes in her two kids. Silas seems like less of a complete tool, although that might be because he's getting more of what he wants. Shane is visibly older than he was when the show started, and has now become obsessed with facts, something that hasn't seemed too interesting yet. He kind of gets the short end of the stick the whole season, and a development near the end of the season shows how he might be regressing. The finale's another good one, not as dramatic as the first two, but enough to make me wonder not just what happens next but where it's going to happen. It's a pretty cynical show, but quite enjoyable nonetheless.

Weeds - Season 2

The second season builds off the first perfectly, and by the end you can't help but be impressed by the skill with which they balance the humor and the twisting plot. The first season at least had vestiges of a sitcom, as Nancy dealt pot while balancing everything else in her life. But the story in season two makes it a full blown serial. In order to branch out, she decides to make a grow house with her friends she's made in the business. She also has to figure out how to manage a boyfriend in an inconvenient line of work. There's more family trouble, and Silas reveals himself to be not just a jerk but also a horrible, selfish bastard. Andy has multiple schemes to get out of his military obligation, and Shane sees a change in his public image.

One thing in the series that deserves mention that I haven't brought up yet is the choice of music. When I was getting used to it it seemed a bit annoying like the selections in Juno, but I grew to like all the obscure songs they found that fit the scene perfectly. Most of them are enjoyable to listen to as well. Another thing is Kevin Nealon. He only plays a secondary character, but like he always is, he's usually pretty funny, and the developments in his feud subplot with Celia are great. I've already jumped into the third season, because this is one addicting show.

Weeds - Season 1

I guess Showtime has a thing for good shows with one-word titles starring sympathetic criminals. Weeds is about a woman in the suburbs who has resorted to dealing pot to keep her family afloat after her husband unexpectedly died. It's usually pretty funny, although the primary appeal of it to me is the story and main character, named Nancy, played excellently by the extremely cute Mary-Louise Parker. It seems like the only actual difference in definition between "comedy" and "drama" in television is that the former is 30 minutes while the latter is an hour, because this feels pretty much the same as a lot of those shows, just shorter and funny more often.

While she's dealing, Nancy has to keep her children under control as well, with both situations causing problems. Her younger son, Shane, is good-natured but frequently gets in trouble for acting out. The older one, Silas, mostly gets involved with girls and drugs, and is kind of a dick. As far as the show goes, they both provide fine family conundrums for Nancy, but at least Shane is humorous once in a while. Helping out with the business and also giving the kids some usually specious advice, brother-in-law Andy is probably my favorite character. I wasn't sure about him at first, but he's consistently the most entertaining guy in the room even if he's not the greatest person. The drug side of the show is usually more interesting, as she deals with expanding her business, running into competitors, and keeping the whole thing a secret, which she's really not good at. The plot's definitely more gripping than I expected going in, and the season ends on a terrific cliffhanger.