(S05E13) "Women are strong ... until they fall apart." - Nancy
It was zingers like the above quote that filled the season five finale of Weeds. I'm sure there were more, but I dozed off about three minutes into the show. Honestly, I'll check out the first few eps of next season, but at this point, I'm not committed to reviewing the entire season. It's no fun for me, and certainly no fun for you guys, if I'm covering a show I'm just not into. I really hope it improves enough to make me giddy, but I'm not holding my breath.
Nothing about this episode grabbed me, and for that, I'm sad. From the massage therapist that Pilar sent for Nancy ("Don't make me sit on you") to Doug's lame one-liners ("Wanna lick my crystal balls?"), it just wasn't there. I expect a season finale to be filled with eye openers, plot twists, and a fantastic ending that makes me cry that it's over and yearn until the day it starts again. Sorry, it simply wasn't there.
I really haven't known Adelita long enough to feel sorry (or anything) about her heroin addiction. Though I did appreciate that Silas tried to help by bringing Audra over, which resulted in Nancy sending her off to rehab in Arizona. I guess I'm fine with that, since ... I really don't care about her. The fact that Esteban's own daughter is a mess after he ran Nancy's sons down? Whatever.
And the fact that Andy proposed to Audra, who seemed only sorta kinda thrilled to be asked, really didn't do it for me either. And the fact (yes, there are lots of facts here) that he ran off when they came home to a gun pointed in their face ... what was that? Are we supposed to surmise that Andy's a big baby who ran off to cower in a corner? Or maybe hop in his car and go find Nancy?
All season long, I've been hoping for an Andy-Nancy pairing. Even up to the beginning of this episode, I was envisioning a finale where Andy and Nancy gather up the kids, pile into whatever vehicle is handy, and flee willy-nilly into a new adventure and a new chapter for Weeds.
But at this point, I'm not even sure I want them together. Nancy is such a stick-in-the-mud, and it irks me that she's no longer the no-holds-barred gal we once knew, the one who took control of her life (albeit recklessly), and certainly never bowed to any man. Now she's hooked up with a man who's such a wimp he's letting himself be controlled by a woman (Pilar) who's holding all of his indiscretions over him.
Other quotes included "Men are weak" and "We're all broken." Wow, those are some zippity-do-da lines, aren't they? Maybe some of my readers are right. Maybe Jenji Kohan HAS been nipping into the weed before writing some of these lines. I don't need Weeds to be either a drama OR a comedy. I just need for it to be good.
At any rate, it doesn't look like The Nancy Gang can go willy-nilly on the path they've been on, what with Shane whapping Pilar over the head with a croquet mallet. Any thoughts on where they might be headed next season?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-01-2009 @ 3:22AM
D-Bo said...
"Nothing about this episode grabbed me, and for that, I'm sad."
I don't see how the final scene didn't grab you.
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9-01-2009 @ 3:31AM
Jane Boursaw said...
D-Bo - You know, it really should have, but it didn't. Maybe it's because I'm not that shocked about anything Nancy or her kids do these days. I mean, they've killed people before ("Shane, get Mommy a pillow"), and Pilar had just threatened Nancy's kids, so I would assume that she (Pilar) would meet a tragic end one way or another. It's all par for the course for these people; Shane didn't seem at all conflicted about killing someone.
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9-01-2009 @ 7:53AM
DJ said...
"Sorry, it simply wasn't there."
I have to disagree with you. It was all there in this season, and especially the season finale. This show continues to be one of the best shows out there even with it's change of venue from the first three seasons to the last two.
What was so great about the finale, for me anyway, was that while Shane had some pretty dramatic moments during the season, we never really understood what he was going through. Of course Nancy would want revenge for her son being shot, but would Shane have wanted to kill Pilar as well?
Also, now it feels like when Shane gave the speech about pain to Silas, I guess he discovered physically what Nancy was going through emotionally. Jenji Kowan played with the idea well. Watching how Shane's situation will effect him in the long run, everyone thought he'd be an addict or get emo, but instead he became a calculating ("I was looking for a golf club...") killer. Just letting the whole situation at the end sink in was great. The shock on Nancy's face was great. Nancy had no problems with murderers and dealers, until they became her own children. My guess is Stevie Ray will grow up being overprotected.
I'm not sure exactly what people are expecting from this show. The storylines have been goodm, the buildup towards the end of the season was the most personal for Nancy. She could take dying for her mistakes, but her children dying for them was broke her. It has a nice mix of comedy and drama and sometimes one does outweigh the other. This season was all about moving characters forward through natural progression (Nancy's pregnancy) and outside forces (Doug and Silas' drug store, Shane getting shot). From the start of this season, everyone expected the season to stay dark. After the first two episodes it got considerably lighter, if you want to even call it that. After the jump of Nancy's pregnancy it got considerably "normal".
There were two things that stuck out for me this episode. The first was Esteban's annoyance of Nancy wearing his deoderant. At first it started off like a cute scene between the two, and then Esteban flips out at her. Does it have somehting to do with his pride and how two women seem to be controlling him? Or does it really just piss him off to have a woman wear men's deoderant? It was a random freakout I wasn't expecting and when it happened, it was a bit creepy.
The other thing that stuck out was Andy and Audra's last scene. I know Nancy told him he tends to run away when things got serious but something just seemed off about it. Maybe the storyline moved too quickly.
I find the show to be great when I'm unsure of where it's going. We began thinking Nancy was going to die. Then we find out about Esteban's other woman who is more ruthless than Esteban would ever be. Nancy orders a hit, but didn't do her research on who to hire for such a thing. And like last season, Nancy is saved by her own child, but this time there was a little more blood involved. While the build up to the last few minutes wasn't as tense as last season's, the cliffhanger itself was more of a shock. Much like when Nancy found out she was dating a DEA agent.
As for where season 6 goes, we now have Celia in the weed game so those who complained about there not being enough weed in the show will get that, along with some cast members from the first few seasons now. I wonder if Nancy now becomes Pilar's successor or she moves into the background.
All I know is that this season was great and I can't wait to see how the show ends things if it is the final season.
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9-01-2009 @ 9:39AM
bruce said...
DJ you're crazy, or you're in denial. Either way you're wrong. This season was pure crap, and last night's finale was absolutely miserable. I had go double check to make sure it WAS the finale... after it was over I thought maybe I was wrong and there must be one more episode this season ... how could THAT be the finale?
Whether something "stuck for you" isn't the test of whether an episode (let alone a season finale) is worthwhile. The fact that Mary-Louise Parker is really attractive "sticks" for most people and is why they keep watching the show. That's not enough for me. Especially when we're talking about a show that USED to be so well-written, clever, funny, and smart.
I have two theories about what's happened to the show.
(1) Jenji Kohan has STOPPED using whatever drugs she was using. No she hasn't started. Drug use increases the quality of art, not decreases it. Compare the music of the 60s and 70s (when everyone was on every drug imaginable) to the music of today, where our most popular musicians are big-titted little drug warriors proud of their virginity and happy to "just say no." Did Jenji get in trouble? Is she being subjected to mandatory drug screenings by some court-appointed probation officer or something?
(2) The government put pressure on Showtime because for 4 good seasons, Weeds has "glorified" pot. The drug warriors just can't have that, so maybe enough pressure was put on Showtime to the point where they caved in and told Jenji that Weeds would be "retooled" (it clearly was retooled regardless of the reason behind it). No more selling pot for nancy, and if anyone does sell drugs they have to get in trouble. No more MILF weed glorification. Notice how this season was clearly anti-drug? Even pot. Jenji probably protested, but was told the show can go on the way the government wants, you can still have funny characters, or you can find a new job. Jenji sold out.
Note that it doesn't have to be either 1 or 2, it could easily be both. Either way, the show has been destroyed and I will not be watching next season. If there is a next season. Most people are incapable of saying something sucks when they once liked it, no matter how much it changes. They feel some perverse, misguided sense of loyalty to a thing that no longer makes them happy.
And just because Weeds at its worst is still better than all the nonscripted reality dancing/eating/cooking/singing garbage doesn't mean its worthy of being watched. If "it's not a reality show" is your only litmus test for what you watch, I feel sorry for you. And that's never true anyway because there are plenty of non-reality shows on the Soap Network, channel 52548, that you're not watching.
I feel like I should be gloating, as I've been saying - unequivocally - that this season of Weeds is terrible and I was finally proven right with last night's miserable, pathetic, insipid finale. But I'm not gloating, I'm sad. I'm sad that a show that's been high on my favorites list is there no more. I've had so many of my favorite shows cancelled over the past year, to lose one more is heartbreaking. *sob*
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9-01-2009 @ 10:19AM
DJ said...
I feel sorry for you Bruce. You looked at my comments and made interesting, though ultimately incorrect assumptions about me. However, I'll avoid calling you silly names and just reply to your comments and correct you on the things you don't know about me personally.
Firs off Bruce, I'm not crazy. I'm less inclined to read anything else you say when you start off your comment in such an immature way. Moving on, your suggestion that I'm totally in love MLP that I fail to see the show has lost it's luster isn't the case. Granted she's a very beautiful woman, but she's not my cup of tea gender wise. Sorry to burst that bubble for you man. I know you were probably giddy with delight that you got me on that one, but you were wrong. Interestingly enough, I think you fall into this fanboy category since you could have stopped watching at any point and continued to watch. Guess you were waiting for nancy to show her breasts again huh?
I'm not sure how you got that "at least it's not a reality show" suggestion from my comments since that was not what i said. Then again you assumed I'm some sort of Mary Louise Parker fanboy and I'm not. I watch more scripted television than supposed unscripted reality tv, but I'm not someone who hates reality tv to the point of liking horribly written shows.
One thing we can agree on is that Weeds has changed, be it ouside influence, or maybe because it was where Jenji Kowan wanted to take it. Season 4 changed the landscape (literally and figuratively), and thus the show changed. Season 3 ended with her getting away with everything she did, and these last three seasons seem to be aimed at making Nancy pay for her sins. Some people, including yourself, seem to be under the assumption that because the show is called Weeds it has to be all weed all the time. Not only that, but that Nancy gets away without being arrested or killed because that wouldn't be funny. While it's not as prominent as it was before, weed never left the show completely. Now season 6 looks to make it a big again with Celia's team. I'm excited about it because there's no way that team will last.
My litmus test for a show is the same for all shows i like. Is it entertaining through writing, acting, and overall story/characterdevelopment. Weeds does it for me. Sorry you hate it so much that you have to sob in your comments. I'm nowhere near giving up on this show. I'm happy there is one more season.
Also, on a bad day Weeds is more interesting than a lot of shows. However, I found this to be a really strong season, with a really strong finale. My enjoyment of the show is based on its own merits an not by my comparison to other shows. Much like I enjoy 30 Rock, The office, Dexter, Damages, etc., I enjoy it for being what I wish all tv shows were. Damn good.
Please keep gloating about hating the show, and I'll continue to gloat about enjoying one of the best written and acted shows on television.
At some point people will understand that when you don't like a show, the best thing to do is change the channel. The fact that you watched a show in its entirety only to tell eveyrone else how crazy they are for liking it is silly. Just stop watching it, unless you are a professional tv critic who has to watch the show for their job.
9-01-2009 @ 10:45AM
Adam said...
Bruce, you are so wrong it isn't funny. I don't know anyone who watches "Weeds" for Mary Louise Parker's hotness. I'm not saying she isn't attractive, but lad mags aren't exactly running to throw her on their covers in provocative poses. Like Jane expressed, most people watch "Weeds" because it used to be one of the funniest and simultaneously most tragic shows on TV, and people hope it can ultimately reclaim the magic of the first few seasons.
9-01-2009 @ 9:46AM
P said...
DJ, I agree with you there and when I came to read about this episode I wasn't expecting to read an article about someone who just doesn't care about the show anymore. Jane Boursaw if you really feel this way about this show you really should quit writing about it. I know there was kinda a lackluster vibe in this episode but I still thought it was great. This show was about and will be about the subtleties, more than just the one liners but close. The whole "couldn't find a golf club" referenced back when he was horrified by the golf club beating he witnessed. DJ I really enjoyed reading your view on the show, Jane Boursaw not so much. For someone covering a show you just don't quite understand to the fullest you really should move on.
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9-01-2009 @ 10:27AM
DJ said...
Thanks P, but I'm all for respecting Jane and her views. Disagreements can lead to friendly debates. It's all fun.
And sometimes people get bored of a show. It's definitely not Jane's fault if she lost interest in the show she's required to write about. I've seen it happen with other critics/reviewers. If we disagree with what's being said, we can comment on it and we may in fact get more insight into why someone's opinion differs from our own.
It's all about respect.
9-01-2009 @ 10:38AM
bruce said...
DJ: Sorry you assumed my entire little rant there was entirely about you. It wasn't. It was in response to all the people who, like you, have been saying Weeds is still great, better than ever, love the new direction, etc. But yeah if you liked this past season I do think you are either crazy or in denial. Not meant as an insult, just an objective statement of fact. No reasonable person who liked the first 3 seasons of Weeds could possibly like season 5.
As for why I kept watching this season.... I feel I owe it to a show that I've loved for four seasons to watch more than one episode before I officially decide to give up on it. It's only a 12-ep season, after all. If it were 22 episodes like a network show, I would have stopped watching at some point before the finale. That said, watching this season of Weeds was a chore. After the first few episdoes, I'd Tivo it and procrastinate getting around to watching it. I happened to watch last night live because I thought it was the finale (though after the episode was over I wasn't sure - how could that be the season finale?) and because nothing else was on TV.
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9-01-2009 @ 10:56AM
DJ said...
It's cool Bruce. No Harm no Foul.
I still like the show, and I am a reasonable person who likes the show as much as I liked it when the first three seasons. I mean, you talk about Weeds as if it were Heroes.
As a sidenote i guess I should say that I didn't watch it on showtime until season 4. A friend of mine introduced me to the show before the fourth season started. Much like how I jumped on Lost in the later half of season 3, I like the show but I didn't watch for one reaosn or anothe. For Weeds, it was because I had cable. I watch the show, but I'm not tied down to it being set one way or another. If I like it, I watch, if not, I stop.
I know the seasons are short but still, If it's not doing it for you, just drop it if your job isn't to review it. We owe the show nothing but our time. I have a friend who watches tons of television but hates almost everything he watches. I don't know if it's some sort of completist mindset or he just likes annoying everyone by being a debbie downer. It gets tiring to hear someone complain when obviously their time can be spent doing something else.
Again, no problems here man. I wish you continued to enjoy the show, but it's fine if you don't.
9-01-2009 @ 10:42AM
bruce said...
Did you see where Jane wrote:
Honestly, I'll check out the first few eps of next season, but at this point, I'm not committed to reviewing the entire season. It's no fun for me, and certainly no fun for you guys, if I'm covering a show I'm just not into.
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9-01-2009 @ 10:53AM
bruce said...
Adam, go back and look through all the comments over the past few seasons of Weeds, and you'll see the most frequently noted thing about the show is that "Nancy is HOT!" or "Nancy is a MILF!" or "Mary-Louise is so hot!" and similar such comments.
Indeed, Weeds used to be a hilarious, funny, clever, brilliant show. But with that now gone, the only remaining common denominator is that Mary-Louise Parker is pleasing to the eyes. She was pretty when the show was great, and she's still pretty now that the show stinks. A pretty face is a bad reason to watch something... but between Ms. Parker's attractiveness and a misguided sense of loyalty to a show that's been very entertaining in the past, some people will continue to watch and defend Weeds even if the show devolves into nothing more than 28 minutes of Nancy Botwin sitting on a pile of horse manure wearing a raincoat and tophat. How clever! What a great new direction! Jenji is a genius! Love the manure! Weeds is better than ever!
Some people just don't know shit even when it's rubbed in their faces.
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9-01-2009 @ 11:34AM
bruce said...
DJ: Indeed, Heroes is another show I gave up watching. Couldn't take it anymore. Watching it reminded me of doing chemistry homework back in high school. Weeds has gotten that way too now.
I'd bet if you'd been watching Weeds from Season 1, you'd be more apt to agree with me about the extent of the show's decline.
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9-01-2009 @ 12:48PM
Will said...
I'm watching this show more out of loyalty/habit these days. I think next year should be the last.
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9-01-2009 @ 2:24PM
Leroy said...
I get so tired of people who insist that all shows must eternally remain exactly what they were during the first season. To me shows that change indicate that their creators are perceptive enough to know nothing in life stays the same. Sometimes I like the changes and other people don't (for example, a lot of people started hating Lost at various points past the first season, but there is no way that show could have stayed the same for even 2 years without being ridiculous). Sometimes almost everyone hates the changes (everything past Chapter 2 in Heroes). I can't think of a single show that went through major changes that everyone continued to like (even Buffy fans were too dim to see that season 6 was inevitable and necessary).
I know, you all keep repeating that it's not the changes you hate but that the show isn't as good as it once was. But it is obvious from your comments that what you perceive as being not good is the differences from the first seasons.
The only thing I've really found annoying this year is how Doug just keeps getting stupider and stupider to the point where someone should just shoot him and put us all out of our misery.
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9-01-2009 @ 5:05PM
bruce said...
You're setting up a straw man there Leroy. Nobody is saying shows can never change and that they have to stay the same. I'm saying good shows should not become bad shows. Smart shows should not become dumb shows.
Far too often people use the "real artist trying new things" excuse for when a good band releases a crappy album, a good author writes a crappy book, a good TV show has a crappy season, etc. Sorry, that's just a lame copout.
The Beatles could have released an album of nothing but 45 minutes of Ringo farting and coughing and 99% of Beatles fans would have raved over how brilliant it is, what a clever new direction the band has taken their art, how wonderfully, brilliantly artistic they are, etc. I'm in the minority of people who would dislike it because it's nothing but farts and coughs. The fact that it's different from their previous work isn't my gripe. My gripe is that it sucks.
If you insist on equating complaints about the quality of Weeds with complaints about the show's new direction, then fine - the show has changed direction from being good to sucking. That's a big, 180 degree change in direction.
9-02-2009 @ 8:02AM
JPN said...
I don't want the show to be the same, I just want it to be good!
9-01-2009 @ 3:31PM
Alex said...
As far as im concerned Weeds stopped being Weeds when they got rid of the original theme song "Little Boxes"
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9-01-2009 @ 3:51PM
sirkluz80 said...
The finale scene was something...
I didn't "betray" Weeds, yet, but I must say there are many things, parts of most episodes, that annoy me quite a lot.
So, I might look drastic to someone, but this is what I'd do:
CUT (I pray for):
-Celia (I don't care at all about the character and all the kind of stupid stories she can be put in)
-Doug (He was funny, sort of, the first seasons, now is just to stupid ad annoying)
-Dean and Isabell, Celia's ex husband and her daughter, and everybody on this "new" Celia Gang.
Just cut them all, PLEASEEEE! I never loved those caracters but now it's just enough. Enough is enough. Who cares about that storyline, anyway.
Maybe Cut:
-Alanis Morisette (I don't see her bringing much in. I don't care about her storyline with Andy. I'll be soft, and say maybe, because she's, sort of, new on the show, and I didn't get yet bored 100% with her character, even if we are on the road. Mostly I might keep her 'cause she is a doctor and that could be used in some plots)
-Andy (this one I think is not a popular statement. I enjoyed quite a bit Andy for some seasons, some of his lines were good, but I'm afraid he has much more to say. No need anymore for this Peter Pan.)
Not yet:
-Esteban (He's not one of those who started from the beginning, plus the storyline needs him, but I don't like him that much, he is boring me too. Probably I'd cut him at the middle of next season, but let's see what they writers can do with him, but his character doesn't seem to have a deep personality, so he might be already a the end of his, justified, business in the show)
-Adelita (the private school kid with an eroin addiction...I don't know, but at least she is new and really hot. For sure I'm more interested in her than those "up there". Keep her around, at least a bit more and we'll see).
-Guillermo (mixed feelings, let's see)
KEEP:
-Nancy (...)
-Shane (...)
-Silas (maybe not as much as the other 2 components of the Botwin family, but he needs to stay. He's cool and my girlfriends like him, so might be for the best)
Generally speaking, I'd say that weeds needs to stop usinging those characters that seem retarded. It might be entertaining a the beginning, but now it's not at all, since long time ago.
Beside Nancy, and 3-4 others, we need more "turn-over" in the Weeds cast (I would have said more or less like Dexter does, but onestly even that show has a couple of people I'd cut).
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9-01-2009 @ 3:55PM
kluz said...
The finale scene was something...
I didn't "betray" Weeds, yet, but I must say there are many things, parts of most episodes, that annoy me quite a lot.
So, I might look drastic to someone, but this is what I'd do:
CUT (I pray for):
-Celia (I don't care at all about the character and all the kind of stupid stories she can be put in)
-Doug (He was funny, sort of, the first seasons, now is just to stupid ad annoying)
-Dean and Isabell, Celia's ex husband and her daughter, and everybody on this "new" Celia Gang.
Just cut them all, PLEASEEEE! I never loved those caracters but now it's just enough. Enough is enough. Who cares about that storyline, anyway.
Maybe Cut:
-Alanis Morisette (I don't see her bringing much in. I don't care about her storyline with Andy. I'll be soft, and say maybe, because she's, sort of, new on the show, and I didn't get yet bored 100% with her character, even if we are on the road. Mostly I might keep her 'cause she is a doctor and that could be used in some plots)
-Andy (this one I think is not a popular statement. I enjoyed quite a bit Andy for some seasons, some of his lines were good, but I'm afraid he has much more to say. No need anymore for this Peter Pan.)
Not yet:
-Esteban (He's not one of those who started from the beginning, plus the storyline needs him, but I don't like him that much, he is boring me too. Probably I'd cut him at the middle of next season, but let's see what they writers can do with him, but his character doesn't seem to have a deep personality, so he might be already a the end of his, justified, business in the show)
-Adelita (the private school kid with an eroin addiction...I don't know, but at least she is new and really hot. For sure I'm more interested in her than those "up there". Keep her around, at least a bit more and we'll see).
-Guillermo (mixed feelings, let's see)
KEEP:
-Nancy (...)
-Shane (...)
-Silas (maybe not as much as the other 2 components of the Botwin family, but he needs to stay. He's cool and my girlfriends like him, so might be for the best)
Generally speaking, I'd say that weeds needs to stop usinging those characters that seem retarded. It might be entertaining a the beginning, but now it's not at all, since long time ago.
Beside Nancy, and 3-4 others, we need more "turn-over" in the Weeds cast (I would have said more or less like Dexter does, but onestly even that show has a couple of people I'd cut).
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