(S02E12) Weeds went the way of Tarantino last night with an old-school Mexican stand-off by way of Armenia. The slowly crumbling wall between Nancy's home and work life came down with a mighty thud in a finale that left us with a quasi-kidnapped Shane, a busted Silas and a very dead Peter. There are, to quote Shane's genius commencement speech, "motherfucking snakes on the motherfucking plane" that is Agrestic. Before beginning this review in earnest, let us take a moment to mourn the passing of Peter. No one really cared about Peter. It was never clear if Nancy really did or not, and frankly, it seems like the writers had backed themselves into a corner so they off-ed him. This is all well and good in that it shows us just how far Heylia is willing to go in her wheeling and dealing, but the TV landscape is now without Hal Hartley regular Martin Donovan. Sigh.
Alright, moment over. On with the review.
There was nothing ostensibly wrong with the season two finale of Weeds. We got a hilarious Doug-Dean face-off, Celia macking on Andy, Heylia back in action, Isabelle making with the Harry Potter analogies, Shane throwing down revolutionary style at his elementary school graduation and Silas getting in on the family biz. Suburban dystopia has come to a head, and the hypocrisy has got to stop.
The problem for me was that the joy I take in Weeds is in the little moments. I like the sly commentary on acceptable drugs that comes with Celia's high-strung alcohol binges and Nancy's ever-present latte. The emotional resonance of Nancy's predicaments come from the fact that everything is always just on the verge of breaking down. She has walked a high-wire act for two seasons that, more often than not, has landed her in the fetal position, alone and in tears, but so far, hasn't landed her in prison or staring down the barrel of a shotgun. Nancy's inadequacies and struggles were relatable for me as an audience member until last night - until she married a man in order to prevent him from testifying against her, until her drug deal went horribly awry and until her youngest son ended up sucking down Cactus Coolers while on the lam.
Where does the show go from here? We'll have to wait and see. I trust the writers enough to follow them down the path of whatever comes next -- unless, of course, that path leads to Pittsburgh. Lovely city, but I hear the weeds grow taller in Agrestic.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-31-2006 @ 8:50PM
Wilhem said...
finally! a Weeds review on TVSquad! its about time, guys.
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10-31-2006 @ 9:13PM
ooda said...
Other than the final ten minutes of Six Feet Under, no death has been more shocking to me than that of Peter's. I mean, he did go bad at the end, but he was a good guy, and one that we've bonded with over the course of the season. It was more that I could see myself in his position that made it all the more worse.
And yeah, I get what you're saying about it being Tarantino-esk. I actually said that out loud during the last five minutes of the show. The situation, and the music, just seemed classic Quentin.
That said, personally, I loved the finale, and for better or worse, it seemed very short, considering what was in it, and it does what Weeds does best - leaves you with your jaw wide open waiting for the next season. It was also nice to see the original song used for the finale, though while I always thought I loved the song, after all the covers I realize that it's a bit rougher than I remember it being. Though there does seem to be two distinct parties - those who love the song and those who hate it, and for some reason, it seems that it's more the female viewers that hate it.
Though I wouldn't mind seeing Zooey Deschanel back again next season.
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10-31-2006 @ 9:03PM
Tom said...
Has this show been renewed for a third season?
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10-31-2006 @ 9:16PM
ooda said...
Tom: Yes and no. No press release, but after the episode, it said "Weeds Returns in 2007".
But like Wilhem said, yeah, it's good that there's finally a review of Weeds up on here. One of the better shows at the moment, and it was disappointing not to see it get the attention it deserves.
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10-31-2006 @ 9:21PM
SJ said...
Weeds is definitely one of the most entertaining shows on TV. The finale was definitely shocking and entertaining, but it was such a huge cliffhanger that I was annoyed. Plus it's an idiotic act to kill anyone involved in the law. I guess I have been watching too much "The Wire".
At least we'll get to see Zooey Deschanel again. She is so cute and her character was very amusing.
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11-02-2006 @ 11:46AM
chris said...
I enjoyed it, but it really seems like this is writing into a corner...I guess that's why they call it a cliffhanger.
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11-01-2006 @ 6:58AM
Beth said...
As a Soap watcher (over 20 years) I can tell you... there hasn't been a body. We do NOT know if Peter is dead!! If Peter is dead I imagine that the new season will start with his will and the fact that Nancy mailed the marriage cert. she will get everything. If he isn't dead WATCH OUT!
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11-01-2006 @ 8:16AM
TuckerKatt said...
Yes, finally a Weeds review! I started asking for this a while ago and even offered to write them myself but got no reply from the Squad.
Anyways, despite a lot happening, I wasn't wowed by the finale. The Celia/Voldemort parallel was great. Peter being killed was no surprise, it wraps up that story line. Silas stealing the entire inventory was hard to believe...he was able to find out where the house is, get into the house, open the safe, and load everything into his car without detection? Conrad is so uber-on-top-of-things when it comes to their growing setup but didn't bother to install a security system or have someone there at all times? Seems like a stretch.
I'm glad to see Nancy finally looking like she's awake and back to her season 1 form. The first 6-8 episodes of season 2 she was in a perma-trance and acting all slow and dopey and it was very annoying.
One thing they need to change on this show is the fact that you almost never see Nancy selling weed (only time I can remember was in the studio with Snoop). The situation from last night where U-Turn tried to rob her and Conrad is probably common when you're a druglord. She's not hanging on a streetcorner selling dimebags...she only deals in large quantities. So how has she been dealing with this up until now? What the heck does she do all day other than drink lattes and get their business in trouble while Conrad dutifully grows?
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11-01-2006 @ 8:25AM
biggs said...
I seriously can't stand Silus and the crap he gets into. I do wonder how he knew the safe combination though?
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11-01-2006 @ 9:07AM
TuckerKatt said...
In the episode where they got the safe, Nancy suggests 6-2-6-2-9 for the combination ("NANCY" spelled out on the phone). Conrad gets mad at her saying it's a bad idea and tells her not to use anything like her kids' birthdays either because people can just look that up. I don't believe we ever found out what she decided on. I guess that will be something we'll learn early in season 3. How about JUDAH?
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11-01-2006 @ 9:44AM
tanawana said...
Would they actually kill Peter without money in hand though??
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11-01-2006 @ 9:47AM
Rich said...
Ummmm.....the first thing I said to my wife when we finished watching this episode was "Peter's not dead." We didn't hear a gun shot, and we didn't see a body. All we saw was some blood on someone's shirt. That could have been anyone's blood. I don't buy it.
After the season premier, when we see Peter very much alive, everyone come back to this post and give me my props.
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11-01-2006 @ 9:55AM
Gordy said...
Weeds, like Big Love, I caught on Comcast OnDemand. This was s great show, but...well, it's a good show.
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11-01-2006 @ 10:01AM
Gordy said...
Rich, if American Cinema has taught us anything, the Armenian mob has no issues with killing. The Russian Mob, maybe. But not those Armenians.
I don't think they showed the killing because this show is really trying to downplay the inherent violence in the drug business. It's the only drug related show I've seen where the all violence involves the government in some way. I think we see what's going on here.
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11-02-2006 @ 2:00PM
Michael said...
I wondered if anyone else was tearing up when Melvina started singing the theme song. It totally brought things back to season one. I did not enjoy the most of the episodes of season 2 nearly as much as season 1, but I did enjoy the finale. I feel like peter is dead. I feel maybe they shot the dog that ran in and missed Peter, or shot him but he is still alive. Reguardless of Peter's mortal status, does anyone feel like Sanje is going to burn down the grow house to save the day again?
Also I feel like Celia somehow might bail Nancy out. She is obviously desparate for Nancy's friendship, and maybe Silus and Celia can bypass the cop and deliver. If Celia gets shot in the process she will just come back, according to Isabelle, and probably have another revalation in the Hospital.
Thoughts?
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11-04-2006 @ 3:30AM
Jonte said...
Hello all weeds fans.
I NEED to know what the song is called, the one they play when they "waste" peter.
Die motherfucker die , i wanna see you cry
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11-04-2006 @ 4:15AM
thebestofthebestic said...
I think sanje is going to burn the house, that was a genius thought. As far as silus figuring out where the grow room is, well my thoughts are as follows! Remember when Andy gets burned by nancy when the envelopes were being passed out. Well him and silus bonded in the pool, both sharing the fact they want "in". Andy was in a spot he would have broke the info to silus. But the combination thing i got no clue. maybe they werent alone when they were discussing the combination, there are a lot of closets, Andy could have been there too, in a closet! and then boom hook up with silus when you are most pissed, when you get no envelope
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11-06-2006 @ 4:34PM
Grant said...
Peter may have lost some toes but I doubt he's dead (anyone see the armenian pit bull run into the garage?)
Martin Donovan rocks. Check out Hal Hartley's early movies.
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11-07-2006 @ 2:47AM
Nason said...
After watching all the Weeds in a day, I hope I can safely say that the writing style doesn't lend itself well to the kind of twist required to allow Peter to be alive ... sure, there was no body and no gunshot .. maybe I'm just naïve in assuming when everyone screams "YES!" at Nancy that they weren't lying .. don't you think the writers have enough plot fodder to deal with without needing a kidnapped but very much alive Peter? They've managed to pickle every other major character .. I'd actually be pretty upset if Peter's still alive. This is Showtime's "Weeds" .. not "As My Stomach Turns" ..
I had the same feeling you did, Beth .. that one of the first couple episodes from the newest season will involve the reading of Peter's will, considering Nancy mailed the certificate before the deal went down .. I'm assuming we have to wait until August, considering each of the first two seasons began in August. Dammit!
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11-14-2006 @ 10:25AM
Robert said...
Gotta love Weeds! I have been watching since episode 1; and I can't say whether or not Peter is dead. Silus cracking the safe...doubtful, but a great twist at the end. I love the writing; lmfao everytime I watch. Who is going to end up with 38 pounds of magical Milf? I can't wait for season 3. So what's the actual episode count per season? 10 episodes first season, 12 episodes second season. I can't tell. It would be nice to see 20 or more episodes per season. Spark up and enjoy! This show deserves more exposure. I think it's every bit as good as Two and a Half Men or War at Home. Keep'm comin'!
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