Grid Effect

It looks like Weeds will continue this run of unevenness throughout the rest of the season. It has gone on for nine episodes now, if they are using fifteen like they did for season three, then there isn’t much hope that we lose episodes like this in the final six. No worries though, it might give us enough incentive to drop this show for good.

First off, lets start with Nancy’s first attempt at parenting since the premiere this season. Pretending like the two are related in any way is insane. This is when you can kind of tell that this series was created by a woman. Silas is sleeping with the cheese store owner because she’s about as attractive as a middle-aged woman can be, not because he has pent-up mommy issues. While a talk to stress emotional and physical safety might be in order, insinuating that he is only dating an older woman so he has a surrogate mother is fairly self-important. We will give her credit for threatening to sleep with cheese lady’s elementary school aged son when he gets older. That was classy. The only thing that could have made it better is if Silas turned around and said, “Trust me, I know my mom and she’s not kidding around. She will fuck him”.

Shane’s issue is an entire different bag, and probably evidence that he needs to be committed. Not in a jokey 12 Monkeys kind of way, but in a real One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest kind of way. Communicating with your dead father, then jerking off to naked pictures of your mom from twenty years ago is not just quirky adolescent behavior, it warrants serious psycho-analysis.

Not even nurse Ratched can keep Shane Botwin, the next Antoine Chigurh, in check.

One thing we can’t figure out with Shane is why he took the problem to Nancy. It seems he would either confront Shane himself (which we understand wanting to avoid), or throwing out the pictures all together, then let him bring it to either himself or Silas, something he probably won’t do. It seems like telling the mom — the person her son is masturbating too — about the situation doesn’t do either of them any good. To be honest, we were kind of hoping for a lecture similar to the one from season two about self-gratification. We’re hoping the attention he receives at school will bring him out of this series long funk, but then Shane wouldn’t be Shane.

We continue to love the El Andy storyline, but Doug seems tired of it. Why he doesn’t get more credit from the illegals is unbeknownst to me, but we shall see Mermex within the next two episodes. Hopefully it ends comically and we are confident that will happen, because this series takes some sort of sick pleasure in beating up on their characters. But the unequivocal highlight of this episode was the framed painting of Andy holding that giant cracker.

The entire storyline with Nancy dating the Esteban is just…dull. Its not interesting or profound or creative or funny or sexy. Just dull. Personally we could give a fuck if Nancy is happy, since everyone that comes into contact with her is absolutely miserable. Why would it make a difference to me if her and her murderous boyfriend’s schedules won’t coordinate? Conrad and Heylia are probably living high off the hog now that this bitch is out of their hair.

The ending was particularly nauseating with that spinning light fixture. What the fuck was that supposed to be any ways? And why were the two of them acting like it was so hypnotic? I’ve accused this series of being melodramatic and trying to evoke sympathy from its audience for a character that doesn’t deserve any, but this fade out took the cake. There is nothing about these two characters that makes us think, “just two crazy kids in a crazy world” level of innocence with their relationship. We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again, we are holding out for Guillermo to kill them both.

Basically, we are watching this series now for Andy/Doug and Shane. Because at least they are interesting, even if the latter is batshit crazy. Also, there is a reason we didn’t do any exposition on the Celia storyline: we couldn’t give a shit less about this tedious, drawn out arc. Bring Dean back in and give Isabelle more scenes, then we’ll talk.

Definitely another post today, we promise.