Weeds: Mother Thinks The Birds Are After Her
By fred | June 17, 2008
(S04E01) Last night was the season four premiere of Weeds ! Yes, the great little show about drugs (sort of) is back as our favorite summer fix, and it’s about time ! And as everyone was aware of, I would assume, we’re in for lots of changes. Because the last time we saw Nancy, she was ensuring that her house would burned down during the fire that was taking over Agrestic/Majestic, spilling gas all over the place and moving on.
I have not hidden the fact that I was quite worried about this new season, which would see the loss of many, starting with Heylia and Conrad, or the oh-so perfect song from the opening credits, Little Boxes. Well, the actual opening credits is going away as well as a matter of fact, since the Botwins are moving away and not looking back.
So I had my worries, and then came this episode.
Now I’m not gonna say I changed my mind, because I have not, but this episode was a real delight. It flew by and was over after what certainly didn’t feel like half an hour to me. It was a really good episode, it was fresh, funny, and quite frankly I thought it had all of those little things that made me fall in love with the show in the first place, all those things I so terribly missed during the awfulness of last season.
Of course, Nancy and the boys just got to what maybe be their new home, at least for now, and we have still a bunch of people left in Agrestic/Majestic trying to deal with the whole mess they left behind, namely Doug, Dean, Sanjay, Roy and Isabelle blaming everything on Celia, now spending her time behind bars. I can’t say if this season will succeed in “reinventing” the show and make it good again, but I’m really curious, for instance, as what is going to happen to all those people. I’d say especially Celia, because things looks quite bad for her at the moment, and while in all honesty I’m quite fine with that, I do wonder how she’s gonna magically stay out of this miss — since I don’t think she is leaving the show, thus she will, somehow, get out of jail.
But so far things were really good, and we had the addition of Lenny (Albert Brooks) to the cast, and the history he has with his family, starting with his own son and with Nancy, couldn’t have felt more truthful. It was a great start, without a doubt, but you have to wonder about Nancy’s state of mind. I mean, is it me or is she a little crazy, for real ?
Looking back at was she’s leaving behind, when she ventures into the business of drugs, things weren’t so pretty. Never ever was she in charge, she was always looking out for help, for advices, for instructions, for a way out. She ended up involved in a drive-by shooting, being sold as somebody’s bitch, sitting on a pile of heroin in her own house, her kids got arrested, threats were made, and people actually died. (And also, the entire town got set on fire.)
I mean shall I remind anyone that her husband, the DEA agent, actually died because of Nancy’s implication in drugs’ business and her inability to handle things right. The simple fact that she managed to get out of this, with all her kids, and no one got killed, hurt or even arrested in a miracle ! So you would think that, given the chance, the girl would jump on the opportunity to have a clean, fresh new start and from now on, stay away from drugs, all kinds of drugs.
But no, the first thing she does is call back Guillermo to become his bitch again. (Remember, he was the one who had her to do that brick dance…) It’s like she never learns from her mistake, it’s like she refuses to grow and wants to keep in trouble, always, like an addiction or something. Of course, the show is Weeds and drugs have to be involved, but I can’t help but thinking that it does sound a bit “odd”.
Though to be fair, it’s Nancy we’re talking about, and it is true that at least she’s consistent with her failures : from day one she never really learned, she never knew how to step back, get out, or take control over her business, and her life. So the fact that she’s willing to go back there, attracted by the prospect of easy money, even after her kids asked her to stop & get a real job, even after the mess she’s been through, kinda makes sense - even if she has to know it won’t be a risk-free dream job, and her kids will, somehow, once again, be involved.
I have no idea how things will eventually turn out, but this episode (which also still featured Little Boxes, and I can’t tell you how good it felt to hear it again…) was very good and I can’t wait to see what’s coming next. As far as I’m concerned, while not fully back yet, if they can keep things up that good the show will eventually win me over. What about you, did you like this episode as well, are are you still mourning those we lost ?
Good start for the new Weeds ! @ TVoholic.com: Full episode reviews of your favorite TV shows & news about television