(S03E12) To paraphrase George Costanza, worlds collided in this week's Weeds. The growers and the dealers set up shop in ultra-religious Majestic, which could mean all sorts of trouble. Andy remembered that Dean existed, Nancy and Conrad picked up where they left off (romantically speaking), and Isabel was in the same room with Heylia. Isn't that a sign of The Apocalypse?
Celia's Majestic house is the new base of operations for Aguatecture, and the transition made for some strange conversations. For me, the most bizarre part of the move was seeing Isabel talk to Heylia and Vaneeta. I would never have predicted that Isabel would cross paths with them, and now I can totally see them getting along.
I didn't realize that Marvin was still in the picture, either. I guess a job's a job, even if his takeover attempt failed. Clinique, Sanjay's baby mama, made an appearance as well. I didn't expect Clinique's pregnancy to be mentioned again, and I certainly didn't expect Sanjay to step up and try to marry his baby mama. Fortunately, she just wants money, not Sanjay. I'm officially done with this storyline; it can go away now.
What will it take for Doug's revenge on Sullivan Groff to be complete? Stealing an $80,000 cross from Absolute Truth Ministries (ATM, I just got that--another fun Weeds tidbit) wasn't enough. Is Doug's ultimate goal to ruin Sullivan, or to just get under his skin? I'm thinking that Celia will get to Sullivan first. She already confronted Nancy, and soon it will be Sullivan's turn to face her. Celia's idea to make the Majestic house (which is in Sullivan's name) the business' headquarters was brilliant. She can easily use that to blackmail or hurt Sullivan in some way. I hope she isn't just planning on punishing Nancy for the office fling; Sullivan had better get his comeuppance soon. How depressing is it that Celia called Sullivan the best man she'd ever known?
Andy's interest in Denise (Jericho's Sprague Grayden) led him to another rival pot operation. After U-Turn, this gang doesn't look all that threatening to me. I can see how the dog intimidated Andy, but I doubt that the new, strong Nancy will be doing any brick dances for these guys.
Heylia's remark about the cost of doing business definitely applied to Nancy. After months of dealing with threat after threat--Peter, U-Turn, Valerie's P.I., to name a few--Nancy realized that shakedowns and blackmail were among the occupational hazards of pot dealing. Isn't it a relief to have the tough, confident Nancy back? She's been a flaky victim all season, and she finally figured out that it takes more than dumb luck to get out of sticky situations. Sometimes you have to hold a knife to a friend's throat.
Nancy's newfound confidence was also visible in her interaction with Conrad. Conrad's joke about the role reversal was dead-on. For once, it was Nancy's turn to pick up the slack and find a new site for the grow house. It also seemed like Nancy had something other than rock-bottom desperation sex. Nancy told Valerie that she didn't need a friend, but she does need someone like Conrad in her life (especially now that she's beginning to wonder what kind of person she's become). She doesn't have to hide anything from Conrad, either, which must be refreshing for her. Since there are only a few more episodes left in the season, I can't help wondering where this relationship is going. Those two barely saw each other after their first kiss; will they return to their separate corners again?
Shane's short discussion with his mother about the business' effect on their lives was long overdue. We've known for a while that Shane isn't thrilled with the way that things are going, and it turns out that Nancy might be unhappy, too. It was sad to hear Nancy list off all the "normal" things that she hoped the family would do someday. I could tell that Nancy sincerely wanted to believe her own words, but knew that she had led the family down another path. With Silas on the pot-growing career track, Nancy isn't in a position to promise her younger son a normal life right now. Do you think that Nancy views her dealing as a temporary "dark time," or was she just trying to spare Shane's feelings?
This episode was a bit light on the quotable moments, but here are my faves:
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"What grown man has blonde hair?" --Doug, on Sullivan Groff
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"I'm not a gardener. I just like hos." Silas' shirt
Next week--Nancy does a little outsourcing, then immediately regrets her decision.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-30-2007 @ 12:40PM
Oreo said...
I love this show.
Nancy in the beginning of the episode has a knife to Celia's throat and then 10 minutes later gives her $15,000 to use her house for the drugs.
The show moves so fast but doesn't feel rushed, it's wonderful.
I also loved the part where Isabel was going "Good luck with your operation", it was perfect. She was completely in charter and a wonder "F You!" to everything people in this "perfect" town believe in.
The sex part was odd, just because some of the camera angles were weird. They really wanted to show off Conrad's ass.
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10-30-2007 @ 1:09PM
mikelite said...
I'm really getting bored with this show. It's starting to feel so formulaic - something increasingly gangsta happens to Nancy and then she ends up taking her panties off. I mean, really. Shane & Doug are the only fresh bits for me.
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10-30-2007 @ 1:32PM
nattyff said...
it's true that the show is turning a little repetitive, but still it's a great show that makes you laught many times (except for dean, too much), i don't mind the camera angles either!! LOL (there have to be something for the girls too!!)
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10-30-2007 @ 1:38PM
nattyff said...
love the show, a little repetitve but still makes you laugh (except you dean). I don't mind the camera angles at all...(there's have to be something your the ladies too!! LOL)
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10-31-2007 @ 10:16PM
Andrea said...
I realize that Nancy and Conrad have a history but when she made a move on him at the end I thought, "When the going gets tough, Nancy gets fucking." She uses sex to deal with stress. History with Conrad or not, she was using him to avoid life.
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11-02-2007 @ 11:16AM
bd_woodard said...
Nancy, is a SL#T. Granted I do like seeing her sexy legs from time to time. Does she have to drop her panties for every guy? Maybe I'm just jealous?
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11-05-2007 @ 6:21PM
rose said...
The Conrad-Nancy finally having sex thing should have been a relief, like "oh, we haven't forgot about our past and that kiss". But it just felt so ughhh, because Nancy has screwed so many sleazy assholes in this season that it almost doesn't matter, like "If he's got a dick, might as well put it to use...."
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11-04-2007 @ 12:52AM
Katatawnic said...
(1.) OK, so the guy whose name I forget (the one who left Nancy piles of pennies as a threat to her).... that was "frustration sex" which was clearly shown earlier in that episode in season one. (She'd been unsuccessful with vibrators as of late. lol)
(2.) Nancy was reluctant to get involved with Peter in season one because she was *afraid* of emotional intimacy when she wasn't yet over Judah's death, and she felt more than a physical attraction for Peter when their relationship was first developing. She finally came to him not only when she was lonely and needed comfort, but also because she decided to take the leap/risk on pursuing an actual intimate relationship.... emotional intimacy that is, not just physical. She didn't marry him so that she wouldn't get busted: she married him so that they could continue their relationship without either of them worrying about legalities and trust RE: their opposing lines of work. She was truly interested in him, and he proposed the marriage so that they could remain involved. Peter's protecting her was only a big "plus" to the marriage; she was with him because she initially genuinely cared about him. Had Peter not been such an increasing control freak with Nancy, she likely would have continued her involvement with him, in hopes of having a stable and caring relationship in her life; and she showed that she did care about him. Perhaps "true love" hadn't had time to develop yet, but they did care about each other all the same. Peter's last straw for Nancy was when he took over as "Dad" with Silas, knocked his elbow off of the dinner table, and told him how to behave.... right in front of Mom, as if she wasn't there. If that had been me in her place, I'd have decided to dump him, too.... no one messes with my kids, whether they're being brats or not! He didn't even know her kids beyond a couple of very brief greetings, and he stepped in on her "territory" as Mom without her permission first? She'd tolerated Peter's other controlling behaviors, but messing with her kid wasn't going to cut it with her. That is when she told Conrad over the phone (with Peter eavesdropping via illegal phone taps) that she would never love Peter. Had he been the "stand up guy" that he'd portrayed himself to be with Nancy, she'd have kept on with Peter; she was trying as much as he was for them to have alone time together, it was apparent that she thought she had something more with Peter than a "protector" with his job status.
(3.) Nancy's little fling with Sullivan was *not* during her "when the going gets tough" situations. Rather, both of their trysts were when she was feeling free and relief from recent major stressors, and she was looking to celebrate. Without any strings attached. He was there, she knew that he was a pig and wouldn't have to worry about him pursuing "happily ever after" with her, and they both got something out of it. Granted, when he asked her over the phone while she was at Peter's funeral when they'd have sex again, she replied when she was desperate again.... however, that was mostly her blowing him off, because she had no romantic interest in him to begin with.
(4.) Nancy & Conrad have had feelings for each other practically from day one. It was quite apparent very early on in season one that they were drawn to each other, and that sooner or later that would come into play. However, the more feelings Nancy had for Conrad, the more she resisted her attraction to him. She feels vulnerable with him, even though she also can feel safe to be herself and have no secrets between them, *because* of the depth of her feelings for him. Her life has been in a shambles since Judah died, and the thought of being fully vulnerable to love again, and possible loss of it all again, is terrifying to her. So she finally made a move on Conrad, it was about time for both of them. Sans foreplay or not, there was a tenderness between them in the sex scene, something that's never been seen with Nancy to date. She wasn't using Conrad to avoid her life.... she'd been avoiding a part of life by keeping a distance from him, and she finally decided to stop avoiding and simply go with her feelings rather than only her libido.
Now, whether or not their relationship will last is a good question. Most TV series don't work well when the characters with the most sexual/emotional tension hook up and stay together, because as much as the audience wants to see everyone happy, it takes away from the drama and the twists that were there before the tension turned to a relationship. However, the previews for the next episode show them about to kiss (tenderly, mind you), but Heylia walks in and they step away from each other. That right there shows that they're going to continue to explore this relationship, at least until the next monkey wrench is thrown into the situation.
So all of this makes Nancy a "slut".... how? If she were a man, she'd be cheered on. Double standards much? Women have wants and needs just as much as men. Most people make relationship and sexual encounter mistakes left and right, and/or seek out the "no strings attached" situations for myriads of reasons. Is she supposed to remain chaste because she's a widow, and never engage in sexual encounters until she's married again someday? And who hasn't had sex with someone only for comfort, or celebration, or release, or simple convenience that doesn't involve only one's hand or a sex toy?
I've read the comments to all of this season's reviews, and Nancy is getting a pretty bad wrap for everything she does and everything surrounding her. Sure, she's done a lot of flaky things, but think about it.... She was widowed with very little education and no job skills, and began drug dealing out of desperation to keep her family fed, clothed, housed, as well as other life expenses, as Judah wasn't good with investing and she was left with nothing. She wasn't exposed to this lifestyle before Judah died. Is she just supposed to instinctively know what other people in her "line of work" took many years of huge mistakes and poor judgement to learn? She's been overwhelmed with the sudden loss of her husband whom she obviously loved very deeply, is trying to raise two teenage boys who are going through the grief as well as the rebelling phase of adolescence (and having been a single mom of two boys who are now 17 & 20, on my own with them since I myself was 20, I can SO relate), and is now trying to figure out just who/what she is now that she's gone from Suburban Wife to a drug dealer. She's proud of herself when she accomplishes something successfully, but she still is scared of who/what she is becoming. Why, before pulling Conrad to her and kissing him, do you think she asked him if he thinks she's a bad person? Because she knew that he'd tell her exactly what he thought, straight up, no sugar coating. She trusts him.
Furthermore, all of these complaints I've read in comments throughout the season three reviews on this site about Weeds being less funny and more dramatic....
Weeds was never *just* a comedy, from day one. It is a comedic drama! Sure, the first season was probably the most comedic. However, the first season was setting up the profiles of all of the main characters, and building a plot. Before the plot could get up and going (which, IMNSHO, began in the second season), there was more focus on comedy than drama, as there wasn't enough plot yet to have much drama. This show was never written to be a pot-head comedy. It was written about life in suburbia and the drawbacks of such a life, dealing drugs and the drawbacks of such a life, losing a husband to early death and the effect it has on the family, politics and society and lifestyles and they it affect us.... and many other harsh realities of life. The comedy is there to offset the drama; not drama to offset comedy.
Also, for everyone saying that this season seems to be going nowhere, or that there's no plot, etc., you've gotta remember.... season two focused more on the growing of their pot and business than what seemed to be a plot building up. It wasn't until Peter blackmailed Nancy and Conrad that the real tension of the season truly began. So have a little patience. The writers have done a great job so far, and I'm sure they're building up to a season climax. Just because we don't know what that'll be just yet, as there *are* several story lines at this point, doesn't mean that it's going nowhere.
I've been enjoying this season as much as the previous two. And honestly, I think that the drama increase should be there. This isn't a show about the glories of growing/selling pot. It's about the repercussions that come with it. That's not comedy, it's drama. Which is why the comedy, as I said earlier, is there to offset the drama; make it more light-hearted so that we can giggle and laugh in between the harsh realities of life.
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