DVD: Weeds Season 3

….and here is where the show suffered. The first two seasons of Weeds are excellent. Literally some of the best television created. Season 1 was a great intro and actually very calm and simple. Season 2 took season 1 and pushed it farther intertwining several storylines. It was like a chess game. Every episode worked perfectly together and you always wanted to see what happens next.

Season three kind of turned into a very sloppy chess game. It seems that the writers took what they thought worked well in season 2 and decided to make season three crazy to the point of unbelievability. It seems that the show strived for the excellent cliff hangers of season 2 except somehow they couldn’t pull them off. They tried and they failed. It looked like a desperate attempt to keep the viewers in. But they just screamed “Look at what happens now!” I don’t want crazy cliffhangers if they seem contrived. Plus the characters all kind of became extremely exaggerated forms of themselves. Nancy became a sex whore who would literally do anything. Gone were the days of her desperation as she tried to make ends meet. Now it was like don’t fuck with her. That was a nice little thing we saw come out of her every once and a while but now it seems like she just didn’t care anymore. Celia became a ridiculous caricature of her former self. She became even more bitchy then she was and all of her scenes seemed really fake. The great banter in the first two seasons with her family seemed like the most outrageous. Her ex-husband was hurt and she had zero compassion. I just didn’t buy it. Doug and Andy were pretty much the same but even their moments seemed silly and unbelievable.  I don’t know if this was supposed to be the “how far can we stretch” this year but I am glad to hear that they decided to revamp the show because it just became way to crazy and way to unbelievable.

Perhaps the only shining moment was Mary Kate Olsen. Yes I know. I probably won’t find a lot of people that agree with that but her character seemed the most believable in this crazy season. I bought her even at the end when she went to find the cross at Celia’s house turned grow house.

So burn it all down toss Conrad (sorry he was underused and then it just became ridiculous with the sex with Nancy, plus Heylia didn’t even care anymore) and anybody else that don’t matter and lets start again. Because this show still has potential.

DVD: Weeds Season 2

Wow I flew through this season. This second season is probably one of the best seasons for any television show ever. Every single episode I thought was great. Even better I think then the first season. I watched the first five episodes throughout this week and then today I just couldn’t stop watching. It is the television equivalent of crack. It is like getting a bag of peanut butter m&m’s and not being able to stop yourself. Each episode ends and you just want more.

Every character I had a problem with I kind of liked a little more. Andy Botwin was great and yes even Silas and Shane I’ve started to like (even a little bit). But what surprised me the most was how quickly I turned on Heylia. I loved her the first season and found her extremely frustrating to watch this second season.

Also I was liking Peter (the DEA guy) and found myself really hating him this season (for obvious reasons). Celia and her family are all excellent. The three of them have such good banter between all of them. The Huskaroos commercials were great (even in Spanish). I also think Kevin Neelon really steals the show a lot of the times. He is subtle and probably not as applauded as Mary Louise Parker or Elizabeth Perkins but he does a great job as city councilman Doug Wilson.

I also loved the surprising appearance of Zooey Deschanel. I had no idea she was in this show. I guess this must have been just right before she really started to hit it big. She was crazy in this show as well.

I think what I like about this show is that it is like a big chess game. You see a character make a big decision and then you want to see how everyone else reacts to it or how the game changes. Like Nancy got married to Peter. How does that affect everyone else? Celia decides to make Agrestic a drug free zone, how does that affect her husband, Doug, Conrad, Nancy, etc. That is what I like about the show. It is so carefully plotted out and some fun seeing this unravel. I was glued to my seat for the amazing finale and the amazing cliff hanger. The cliff hanger was pretty run off the mill until Silas got busted by Celia and the cop. I cannot wait to see how they pull themselves out of this one.

In fact I was so blown away that I had to call my friend I was borrowing the DVD from and get the third season from him tonight. I will be buying all of these seasons on DVD because this show is so fantastic. I am sad I missed this one, I usually can tell what the truly great shows are.

DVD: Weeds Season 1

What a great little gem. I’ve always been interested in this show and after watching the pilot a few months ago and when a friend wanted to borrow Heroes I said I wanted to borrow Weeds. It took me a week or two to actually watch it, but once I sat down last week (during Thanksgiving break) I flew through the remaining 8 episodes.

Very rarely are their shows where I fall completely in love with the main characters, but Mary Louise Parker is one of them. She plays the part so brilliantly with her frustration, desperation, comic timing, and how she plays off of other people. In fact I think she is a bit more desperate then any of the women on Desperate Housewives. She and Elizabeth Perkins really show suburbia for what it is. The whole exterior of trying to keep face but really being kind of depressed. However it is great with both of them slowly not giving a care about what the rest of the suburban women think of them. Kevin Neelon and Tonye Patano are also both great additions to the show both being different outlets for Nancy to vent to. Tonye Patano is hilarious as Heylia and is my favorite character along with Nancy and Celia.

I don’t care much for the boys or Andy Botwin. I’ve grown on them but they all just seem like such annoying problems to Nancy.

I flew through this series faster then anything so far…I think. It was great, short and sweet. Cannot wait to see where the show goes next.