Weeds: Season One
by Burr Steers, Lee Rose
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DVD details
Actor: Mary-Louise ParkerDirector: Burr Steers, Lee Rose
Brand: Lions Gate
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 283 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-07-11
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Lionsgate
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Closed-captioned; Color; Dolby; DVD; Full Screen; Subtitled; NTSC
DVD Reviews of Weeds: Season One
DVD Review: Little Boxes & Ticky Tacky
Summary: 2 Stars
I feel that sometimes suburbia gets a bad rapport. Why wouldn't any American mind living in a safe neighborhood, with genuinely friendly people of middle-upper class representation, and sending their children to well endowed schools? At times I believe we, as a nation, mock what we already have to somehow make it seem like a bigger issue than it already is. Sure, it is easy to poke fun at identical houses, to soccer moms that drive SUVs, and the ability to believe that no evil occurs in these small pieces of the "American Dream", but in reality, don't we all wish we lived in some form of suburbia? That is maybe a different discussion for a different day. I recently had the opportunity to see what the television network Showtime felt about suburbia and their answers to the Soprano's (isn't every station trying to get a piece of this pie) popularity in the increasingly popular show Weeds.
Fried Green Tomatoes star Mary-Louise Parker headlines this show as a recent suburbia widow who has found the dutiful job of dealing to cover expenses and raise cash for her increasingly annoying family. Without any indication of how she found this profession, we are submerged headfirst into her choppy life of dealing, mothering, and coping with her newfound popularity. Through the course of the season she transforms her small town dealings to a true business with the groundlings of becoming a new Godfather of suburbia. She runs into issues with local dealers, with her supplier, and even her neighbors as Nancy Botwin slowly develops from small housewife to an eventual big leaguer.
So, why didn't this series immediately make me smile?
To begin, I loved the opening song by Malvina Reynolds! Her raspy voice introduced me to this series with eager eyes and ears. I loved her song about suburbia, yet was somewhat confused. Was this to be a series about suburbia or about dealing in the suburbs? What I eventually discovered was that it played upon the already overplayed clichés about suburbia, while giving Parker the opportunity to live in a big house, drive a nice car, and co-exist in a pre-planned community while she sold drugs to those living around her. Creator Jenji Kohan interestingly creates a counterpoint with Elizabeth Perkins, a great friend of Parker, who knows nothing of what is happening under her nose. Perkins represents what we are to think those in suburbia believe, that nothing bad is happening in their own backyard. I liked this juxtaposition, but what became increasingly annoying to me was the surrounding stories of our characters, and sometimes, the "lack of" stories that gave us nothing but tattered edges and jagged characters. To begin, Kohan needed to give us the story of how Parker got into her newly discovered world of drug dealing. While he will probably explore that further in other seasons, this would have been the one to do it. I needed to see a good transition from suburban housewife to dealer, but instead all I got was an immediate dealer who apparently had built enough trust with her supplier to be as buddy-buddy as the first episode showed them to be.
With that flash beginning, I found myself struggling through the next several episodes. I knew the characters, but never quite felt like I actually "knew" them. I wanted to know more about Nancy and her husband. I needed to see a stronger idea of their family life, especially Nancy's relationship with Silas and Shane pre-dealing. I think this would have set us up for a stronger grasp around the characters. I also felt that the stories were extremely cliché. Showtime had a brilliant premise here, but loaded it down with situations that I could see coming a mile away. The issues with her children, the move-in of the classic Six Feet Under crazy brother-in-law (played by Justin Kirk), and a very strange relationship with her dealer Conrad/neighbor Doug Wilson. I think I felt like I was rushed too quickly into this series. I needed more defined moments. I needed stronger connections. Also, how did Nancy, in the course of about five to eight episodes, build up such a big client base? Did anyone else think that this was just a bit too quick, even for television? With a stronger character driven stories, more reality on the business of drugs, and less comedy about suburbia, I think Showtime would have had a definite hit on their hands, but with these obvious problems, it just never seemed to congeal well together.
I must admit though, the last three episodes of this series did make me a bit eager to watch the next season. There is an obvious changing point in this first season, and for me it came with Nancy's interaction with the "penny" drug dealer. That episode felt like a sucker punch to the gut. What happened in that one episode did not seem to fit with the rest of the season. After that obvious icebreaker, we seemed to head into a world too similar to that of The Sopranos, and I felt that Showtime was just trying to obviously steal viewers. Maybe I went into this expecting too much, but it boasted itself as groundbreaking, but just like Huff, I felt like Weeds borrowed too much from the surrounding television shows. Perhaps that it the direction that our programs are headed, maybe not, all I know is that Weeds was decent, just not great. Parker didn't seem comfortable most of the time in her role, Perkins' big scare near the end felt enormously cliché, and Nealon's talent just seemed wasted. The only plus that I have about this show is the music. It has introduced me to some great new albums.
Overall, I don't think I could watch this season again. I think it will get better with age, but there needs to be a stronger push towards characters in the next season instead of just "shock". Drug dealers in suburbia are no different than New Jersey mob living in extremely ritzy neighborhoods. I felt a bit cheated watching this season, yet the cliffhanger ending left me wanting to see more. I have hope for Weeds, but I am not holding my breath.
Grade: ** out of *****
Description of Weeds: Season One
In order to care for her children and maintain her standard of living, a young woman becomes her wealthy neighborhood's pot dealer after her husband's sudden death.Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 9-JAN-2007
Media Type: DVD
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