«A few episodes are made out of the same "ticky-tacky" as the "little boxes" in the theme song»
You've heard the drill in these TV-on-DVD reviews: if you liked the first two seasons of Showtime's "Weeds", you should like the third. Having said that, season three isn't inspiring me to write a jump-for-joy, rave-filled review. For one thing, I can cut a break for a widowed soccer mom forced to deal drugs for a while to make ends meet, but Nancy has been doing this for going on three years now, if not longer. I know that one doesn't have to admire what a series character does to enjoy a particular show (I like "Dexter" and "The Sopranos", after all), but for some reason it's bugging me that Nancy continues to embrace criminal behavior. I know, I know... it's a silly criticism of a show that's not really meant to be taken seriously. It's probably because Nancy is cute and fun and an otherwise good mom that I want her to stop being a felon.
Also, the season-long story thread was a bit choppy this time, with plotlines starting up and then quickly abandoned, or left unsatisfyingly under-explored. In the case of the brief, pointless "Andy grabbed by the army" plotline, that one shouldn't have even started in the first place (though I admit it did have a laugh or two). Another missed opportunity was the presence of those usually-reliable-for-laughs cable comedy mainstays: loony evangelicals. But even here there were misfires. Oddly, in the episodes where the crazed born-agains appeared, they either weren't ridiculed enough or were ridiculed too much (which isn't easy, let me tell you). Never a happy medium. Weird, huh?
Good moments? Yep, still a lot of them. Celia's husband and Councilman Doug finding ways to work on a porn movie set, and their response to being there, are a riot. Good-looking women in those episodes, too. And speaking of good looking, Mary-Louise Parker remains cute as a button. But I think I said that already.
The "Weeds, Season Three" DVD delivers fifteen episodes (the longest season to date), some commentary tracks, and a few goofy extras of no real consequence. The episodes look and sound great.
I still like "Weeds", and will seek out the fourth season when it comes out on DVD (it helps that there's a pretty interesting close to the season, which genuinely makes us ask, "what will these characters do next?"), but I'm hoping that the show's junior year mild slump is only temporary. If season four gets fully back on track, mainly by delivering sharper, interesting storylines on a more consistent basis, I won't even mind if Nancy still keeps dealing drugs. Which is pretty much a given anyway, I'm guessing.
[Monday, November 10, 2008]
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