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Weeds: Season One
Directed by: Jenji Kohan (Creator)
Starring: Mary-Louise Parker
Genre:
Comedy/Drama
Run Time: 30
min./ episode
Release Date:
August 2005
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
WEEDS is a complicated series currently
airing on the cable network SHOWTIME, the same corp. that brought us
DEAD LIKE ME
and other controversial story lines. And Weeds certainly is
wonderfully bizarre.
Mary-Louise Parker (THE
ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES...) stars as Nancy Botwin, a recent widow
with two children and a cash flow problem. She lives in the fictitious
town of Agrestic in Anywhere Suburbia, America. In fact, the shows
lead-in goes through great pains to show us how common an area she and
her family live in. This is vital since most of today's drug culture
tends to live right under our proverbial noses. And the drug, as the
title intends, is marijuana, often considered shameful by some to be
considered "illegal" while others throw tantrums about its gateway
significance. But Nancy has to feed her family and she'll do whatever it
takes to ensure their survival.
In the midst of this seemingly benign town we have a troop of old and
new pot smokers. The older generation is exhibited by none other than
Kevin Nealon (GET SMART) whose character, Doug Wilson, is a bored
and immature accountant. Self-centered and completely useless in terms
of assisting his neighbors, his character is absolutely fantastic. You
could easily picture him still in high school if it weren't for his
extremely receding hairline and the family minivan he drives. The newer
generation is brought to light by Nancy Botwin's brother-in-law, Andy,
played by the excellent Justin Kirk (OPERATION
HOMECOMING). He has no
direction in life and is now firmly entrenched in Nancy's home. His
failings at life are mirrored through his careless attitudes toward
women or growing in any meaningful way. But once in a while — just
occasionally — he'll make a remark of wonderful profoundness that blows
Nancy away. He also is a much needed father-figure (although a
very screwed up one) for Nancy's two boys, Shane (Alexander
Gould) and Silas (Hunter Parrish,
DOWN IN THE VALLEY). It is Silas, the high schooler,
whom we get to see experiment with the emerging drug culture that
surrounds his household. Although initially unaware of his mother's
"business", he quickly reveals to the viewer that he's "not stupid"
about what's happening under his own roof.
Nancy's friends are a mixed bag. Celia (Elizabeth Perkins), is a
member of the PTA, has a child who suffers with being overweight, and
recently found out her husband had an affair with the local, and
beautiful, Asian tennis instructor. As the series progresses, we learn
that Celia has breast cancer and this comes as devastating news for
someone so infatuated with one's appearance (as seen through the
mother-daughter relationships). The Shepard's, a black family that live
in a "bad part of town", act as Nancy's suppliers of the green leaf.
They battle finances versus keeping their business strictly business
whenever Nancy comes around (which fluctuates as her business expands
and contracts).
The wonderful thing about this series is that it puts a mess of moral
material in the viewer's lap. What is wrong with marijuana when Percocet
and other heavy narcotics are readily available via a doctor's
prescription? Is it wrong for a person to support their family by
dealing in something as shady as drug trafficking? Can a woman be both a
loving and compassionate mother while at the same time selling something
potentially addicting? Is it hypocritical for someone to sell "the
stuff" while at the same time punishing their kids when they catch them
doing some of it? Quite a moral quagmire, I'd say.
The other thing that makes this series work is it's sexy. Mary-Louise
Parker has that ...something about her that makes her both a respectable
looking woman and just a tad slutty. She's a sexual being who struggles
with life in the shadow of her husband's death and has to decide what's
best for her, her kids, and her husband's memory; most times these
things are in direct opposition of each other. Elizabeth Perkins mirrors
much of Parker's character in that she too has that respectable/slutty
look but also some uppityness ...until her cancer rears up. Then she
becomes more introspective and the slut takes over, for a while.
The series producers also put in a deaf and sexually promiscuous
girlfriend for Nancy's son, Silas. This added an entirely new dimension
to Silas' character as he's forced to grow-up without a father to guide
him through this teenage sexual minefield and he finds solace with the
deaf girl's household more than with his own whenever internal family
problems arise.
This first season took about two episodes to get rolling, but once it
did there was no stopping it. You really need to open your mind to the
possibilities surrounding this show. It's not just about
drugs. It's about the people that are shoved into this niche group for
the sake of survival, and it's captivating to watch how their flawed
lives intermingle. Pot smoker or not, these characters are headed for
interesting days. Season two has already been purchased by SHOWTIME,
which would indicate Weeds might be picking up speed and continue smokin'
for some time.
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Image from Weeds: Season
One
DVD cost: $21.98
Purchase:
Tower.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
A running sound gag is
heard whenever anyone (especially Nancy) is sipping a drink through a
straw. The noise heard is what one would hear when a drink has gotten so
low that air begins to go up the straw. This will occur in Weeds,
however, regardless of the level of the liquid.
Movie Quote: "People
got stoned for The Passion of the Christ? That's disturbing."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Weeds: Season One
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