I devoured the first three seasons of Showtime’s “Weeds” as fast as I could get my hands on them. The tongue-in-cheek sendup of the prefab communities of Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Thousand Oaks, etc., was the perfect escape from reality for as long as those seasons lasted. And even though, at the end of season 3, the story started getting a little too outrageous, I eagerly awaited the new season that started a few weeks ago because I have a free 30-day trial of Showtime on my new AT&T U-verse TV service. Last night I watched the second episode, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
This season, Nancy has shed her suburban mom pot dealer persona and gone fully over to the dark side, becoming a drug courier for a violent Mexican gang chief. Her job is to successfully cross over the border to Tijuana and back with drugs. She greets this new duty with gusto, a little bit of excited light actually dawning on her blank face.
If that wasn’t enough, she continues to ignore her children who are obviously in great peril. Yes, it was funny to have them bumble along as the children of a drug dealer, blissfully ignorant of where the money for food on the table came from. But that’s not the story any longer. The older son grows pot in a van while he smokes it. The younger one changes the diapers of a dying grandmother. They are both unsupervised and unoccupied, and the younger one clearly yearns for the attention of his mother. This all on top of losing their father just a few years ago.
So, no. I’m not in it with you any longer, “Weeds.” Just this morning there was an article in the L.A. Times about an injunction placed on a gang, a Mexican gang, to keep them from harrassing the public. They shot a man who was babysitting his 1-year-old nephew at a park. They’re responsible for trafficking narcotics, marijuana, and methamphetamines into the country. They are the source of great misery and economic blight for the area of the injunction. How can I read something like that and then enjoy the new season of this show? I can suspend my disbelief and judgment for a spell, but not this much. I guess I won’t be ordering Showtime after all.
I agree with you – it’s now ugly and violent — not to mention they caused that fire.
No longer stoner Councilman Doug as the chief user
This is actually from Dad on Mom’s ID. I just read in the Times that a group of bloggers in Brooklyn succeeded in getting a crack house in their neighborhood simply by blogging about it . The cops read the blogs and closed the place.
How funny, I just watched the second episode and posted about it too. They have gone too far for me. Too bad it was good TV while it lasted.
OMG thank you for sparing me the money. As you know, I was also hooked on Weeds (LITTLE BOXES, people!) but I would not ever enjoy watching a show where a little kid was neglected. My heart can no longer handle the concept. Thanks – I’d been meaning to buy the series for a while but you saved me the $.
Also – i think my story about the lady at the car wash was poorly written. When I re-read it, i wasn’t sure what i meant. It landed awkwardly. I am eager to post again, and wash the memory of the current one away. 🙂