Weeds
Showtime
There’s no bore like a drugs bore and no drug does this apply to more than marijuana. Among its many harmful effects are memory loss, raised blood pressure, cancer and mental illness. YES fuckheads it is bad for you – it’s a poisonous carcinogenic tar-filled shit stick and anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar or a cabbage. Then there’s the fact that the people who regularly smoke it are the most tedious shower of lower-middle class flatulent suburban fucks you will ever encounter. So the prospect of a show based in a prosperous suburb depicting the growth and distribution of weed by a recently widowed hausfrau and her buddies is not something to stir the loins. As it happens, Weeds is a glorious triumph and one of the best shows on the telebox. About how likely was that?
“The people who regularly smoke weed are the most tedious shower of lower-middle class flatulent suburban fucks you will ever encounter.”
As all of y’all know California is the sunshine state where the bomb ass hemp be. And in Agrestic, LA single mom Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) slings sticky-icky to the jaded professionals, poker games and friends who rely on her for their regular supply. Her best friend Celia Hodes (Elizabeth Perkins) is unaware of her business though. Celia is a conservative soccer mom who likes to think she knows everything that goes on in Agrestic but she misses the biggest game in town taking place right under her upturned nose. Nancy has the hook-up with Heylia James (Tonye Patano), an old-school veteran of the game, fiercely protective of her business which she runs with the help of her nephew Conrad (Romany Malco) who is hot for Nancy’s honey. This is not surprising as Nancy is a lovely little long legged milf with sensitive eyes and an elegant neck. Mmmmmm milfy pie.
“Celia misses the biggest game in town taking place right under her upturned nose.”
She balances her dope dealing with raising her annoying adolescent son Silas (Hunter Parrish) and her charmingly precocious 11 year-old Shane (Alexander Gould). Having recently had her husband drop dead while out jogging, Nancy is now the head of two families, the second being her cosa nostra familia. Feckless brother-in-law Andy Botwin (Justin Kirk) provides a certain knowledge of the drug trade due to a shady past as well as being a dubious surrogate father for the two boys; Sanjay (Maulik Pancholy) an Indian student at the local university hooks Nancy up with the lucrative campus stoner market, councilman Doug Wilson (Kevin Nealon) is both customer and financial advisor and Celia’s lawyer husband Dean Hodes (Andy Milder) holds down the legal side.
“Nancy sure makes her share of wrong turns. But it’s the squeal of brakes, handbrake turn and zoom out of trouble that makes it worth the ride.”
Nancy finds her cottage industry growing and starts getting into weed crops and wholesale production and this is where things become a whole lot trickier. She doesn’t help things by getting involved with DEA agent Peter Scottson (Martin Donovan). For an effective criminal mastermind Nancy sure makes her share of wrong turns. But it’s the squeal of brakes, handbrake turn and zoom out of trouble that makes it worth the ride.
From the exuberant pilot episode to the awesome cliffhanger at the end of season two, Weeds has been just fantastic. Jenji Kohan has come up with a truly original, darkly subversive and funny comedy drama. There are some fascinating insights into the technicalities of drug production and distribution – all the while doubling as a study in the frustrations and joys of being in way over your head and still managing to tread water. It’s obvious that Nancy is a danger junkie. She doesn’t get high on her own supply so she escapes the oppressive tedium of the town by making their enterprise ever more daring. Above all Weeds is about family. It’s closest in spirit to something like Malcolm in the Middle. That Aerial Telly even mentions it in the same breath as Malcolm gives you an idea of just how good this show is.
The best thing about it: Mary-Louise Parker’s Golden Globe winning performance as Nancy
The worst thing about it: It could encourage the use of marijuana.
The verdict on Weeds: It’s tha chronic.
Marks out of 10: 8.5