Weeds returns for a fifth season Monday (and the best part is what becomes of Celia)
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I caught the season premiere of Weeds last night, thanks to an advance screener I was lucky enough to score.
I have to admit, I wasn’t that excited about the show’s June 8 return. Partly that’s because of the way the last season ended, with Nancy driving to Esteban’s lair and, in the face of certain death, revealing her pregnancy. I just couldn’t buy that she would take that chance or that it couldn’t end badly for her.
Since the show is indeed returning with Mary Louise Parker on Monday, it’s no great spoiler to say that in the season premiere he doesn’t shoot her on the spot. (And that’s about as spoilery as I plan to get here.)
The other reason I wasn’t giddy about the show’s return is that it’s gotten so far afield from its initial premise of a pot dealing suburban widow. Nancy Botwin has since gotten herself tangled in gun, drug and human trafficking not to mention organized crime. From the dealer down the street, she’s become something very different, both unfamiliar and unrelatable.
That’s too bad. Then again, there’s a reason I keep watching. It’s still a really well-written show with a mostly great cast of characters. (I can do without the Botwin boys.) I can not like what’s happening but still like how it’s playing out.
That’s been my take for about two seasons, and it’s my take after watching the debut of Season 5, “Wonderful Wonderful.”
So, no, Nancy isn’t joining her late husband any time soon, but there is a palpable sense of dread about her as she confronts her newly tenuous existence coupled with her pregnancy. That bit of news goes over rather poorly with the family, by the way.
Silas and Andy are still discussing their planned foray into pot farming, and Shane is looking to get in on the action. He’s still his middle school’s top-grossing pot dealer, and his goth girl groupies are still hanging around.
It’s Doug and Celia—Kevin Nealon and Elizabeth Perkins—who make this comedy comical for me, even if both can get annoying. We get to see Doug still in the grips of the worst life spiral ever and coping with not much more than the occasional one-liner. Celia, on the other hand, is off on an adventure.
Last we saw her she’d traveled to Mexico to make amends with her estranged daughter, who in turn drugged her and threatened her with all kinds of harm. Watching how that plays out was the highlight of the premiere, I’d say. There’s so many laughs to be had from vicious threats and family animosity, no? Actually, it’s this reformed and pretty sympathetic Celia that is most entertaining. She’s actually respectable, if you can believe it.
At the center of it all, though is Nancy, and the inner turmoil she’s created through a dizzying sequence of horrific life choices is pretty compelling to watch unfold.
The show’s been averaging about 12 episodes a season so far. That would put the Season 5 finale sometime in mid- to late-August. I’m down for that summer ride.
Last season brought us Albert Brooks in a hilariously cantankerous role that pretty much went nowhere. This season will bring a few more familiar faces guest starring, including Alanis Morissette (source: EW.com) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (source: ign.com).
Also, for those interested in additional reading, Mary-Louise Parker is ‘always naked.’
Photo courtesy Showtime
This entry was posted
on Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at 1:03 pm by Brian Howard.
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