Weeds Season Finale: ‘If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working?’
-
- September
- 16
It all finally caught up with Nancy Botwin, and she was finally ready to put her head on the block to atone for her sins.
True to form, bad karma eludes our heroine. And we fans are left wondering what changes – of locale, criminal behavior and familial makeup – the next nine months will bring. All in all, though, last night’s season 4 finale of Weeds redeemed an uneven, unsettled summer of a show that risked everything by taking things in a new and not always accepted direction.
I think I can conclude now that the move to Ren Mar was understandable and possibly necessary from a creative perspective. That said, I never felt that the show recovered from abandoning its suburban home base, which was so integral to its identity.
But rather than the story about the banality of suburban drug dealing, we were treated to the story of the inevitable downward spiral that results from dabbling in the truly venal.
Selling pot was a way to get by, Nancy rationalized. And who would tell a recent widow facing the loss of her home and lifestyle for trying to sustain some semblence of normalcy for her children? But that rationale long ago gave way to a craving for danger the suburbanite mom might never otherwise taste.
And that was a fun ride for three escalating seasons. Season 4, however, was the season when things went too far. And it came to head as soon as Nancy watched Guillermo lead those girls out of the tunnel and into a life Nancy couldn’t bear to imagine. Suddenly it wasn’t about living life on the risky side. Suddenly Nancy found herself complicit in the kinds of things she long told herself she’d never condone.
It wasn’t “just pot” anymore. Now she was effectively a human trafficker. And when Agent Till’s partner, in both senses of the word, turned up dead, faceless and hung from a border fence, Nancy’s actions had exacted a far greater cost than even the corruption of her sons.
Watching her drive down the highway to the border, calling in a birthday gift basket for Silas and trying to find the right words for the card, was excruciating. And the whole time I wondered why she was putting her head in the mouth of the lion instead of seeking the protection of Till and the DEA.
But that was never Nancy’s way. That’s not how she escaped U-Turn or her former DEA husband. She survives the way she lives, by gambling. And she gambled that the sight of an ultrasound image would move Esteban to spare her life and forgive her for squealing. In real life, she ends up on the same wall that Till’s partner did. But that’s not Nancy’s world.
A few reflections on some of the astonishing things we saw last night…
- Â Watching Doug put the noose around his neck as he narrated a goodbye letter to his wife was one of the darkest and saddest moments on this show. When it turned out to be an angry experiment in auto-erotic asphyxiation, I kind of wished Doug would slip and fall, putting an end to what has become one of the most unlikeable characters on TV. I can’t believe he had his Mermex deported.
- Andy realizing he’s in love with Nancy and then consoling her tub-side was actually pretty sweet. His likeability has followed the opposite arc to Doug’s. I also liked his child-like comment on Nancy’s exposed upper torso.
Silas seems like he might actually have grown up some. He’s got a business plan, albeit as stupid and poorly conceived a plan as his mother’s initial turn to drug dealing. Still, his romp with the cheese shop mom illustrated that maturity and age don’t always correlate.- Shane’s a schoolyard dealer, huh? And he’s got his “Wild Things”-like goth posse. Too bad. I never liked that kid.
- Celia’s reunion with her daughter was insincere yet strangely sweet. That her daughter would drug her and hold her ransom betrays a deep-seated hatred that’s pretty understandable for any offspring of Celia’s. Still, does she really think Dean’s going to pay to get Nancy back? He’d rather see her shipped home in pieces.
I’m a newcomer to this show, having devoured the first three seasons via Netflix between February and June, still watching last season’s final episodes after the just-concluded season began. That said, I’m a convert to the Mary Louise Parker fan club. Sure, she’s stunning, but her acting ability transcends her pretty face. A lesser actress could never pull this show off, and Nancy is this show.
I have a hard time imagining a Season 5 centered around her as the matriarch of a Mexican drug and smuggling cartel. But I guess a return to Agrestic just isn’t in the cards. You can’t go home again.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 at 10:19 am by Brian Howard.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Share and Enjoy: del.icio.us Digg Reddit Google StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! | 
Print
| 
Email
I truly hope that Nancy is not pregnant and is only using the pregnancy card as a sham to get away from Estoban.
i love this freakin show i just got into it when i bought season 1 and 2 at work i work at a pawn shop and i couldent quit hitting next to see what was going to happen next it truly is my new favorite show i paid 2 dollars each for season 1 and 2 but then i had to see what was going to happen on 3 and so i bought it for 30 at walmart i cant wait to buy 4 and hopefully so on and so on so keep up the great work and send your new biggest fan a free copy hopefully i watched all three seasons in like about 8 straight hours i just watched for hours but i fast foward past the song i like it but my girlfriend dosent i own about 500 dvds but this has got to be one of my favoriate i suggest anybody that dosent mind a little t and a to really check this show out the only other movie i have ever went out and paid full price for was fear and loathing in lasvegas got to check that one out too happy viewing your friends in arkansas…