Grid Effect

For all the hype this series seems to get, it’s good to see their season premiere’s, particularly this one, are essentially like every season premiere for every TV series: 90% setup & recalibrating the past season, 10% plot development.

For this episode, and for a lot of Weeds episodes, it’s hard to tell when the plot is developing and when we are just listening to another throwaway conversation, because everything pivotal moment seems to be delivered with the same methodic and partly annoyed tone that a conversation about birds shitting all over the place would be. So the story kind of happens with everyone just casually sitting around discussing a dog barking doorbell or a terminally sick grandmother while Nancy sips an iced latte and everyone looks to her for answers.

This isn’t to say the episode didn’t have its moments. We love the change of location to a coastal city somewhere along the Mexican border called Ren Mar, we’re going to assume it is just as fictional as Agrestic and Majestic were, but if someone wants to enlighten us otherwise it would be much appreciated. If nothing else, it should give us a couple new characters in addition to Albert Brooks as Judah and Andy’s father who hates Nancy.

This series needs Doug Wilson like The Sopranos needs Tony.

Then again, one concern related to the move is how in the hell are they going to transplant Doug, Isabelle and Dean into the picture for the long haul. They could end up doing some sort of networking from whatever is left of Majestic, in which Nancy is supplying drugs to Doug, Sanjay or Celia for the entire city/suburb. Either way, they just need to make sure Doug is getting his reps.

Speaking of the selling of drugs, why is Nancy still so determined to commit illegal activity and put her family, particularly her sons in harms way? Is she still really indebted to Guillermo for anything? Probably in the drug trade she is, but she is actively seeking him out and is fully prepared to carry drugs across the border for a violent Latino gang. We understand there is no show without this, but how and why should I sympathize with her if she seems to actively enjoy selling drugs, whereas before it was depicted as a means to an end? Listening to her get excited for early retirement by way of becoming a drug mule was painful. You’re a pawn not a kingpin, Nancy. Haven’t you ever watched The Wire? Oh, that’s right, no one involved with this show has.

Still, we’re anticipating to see where they take this show. All that really happened in terms of forward progress was that Nancy & Andy decided to stay at his grandmother’s with his dad while they think of a more suitable venture. That’s it. If you watched the entire three seasons that preceded this episode but missed last night’s for whatever reason, then congratulations! You are now all caught up. Oh, and while Celia is under heavy interrogation for drug cultivation and distribution, everyone else is pinning the blame on her while she tries to pin it on Nancy. See, sometimes it doesn’t pay to be a heartless bitch.