Weeds – Netflix/Showtime Review

I have never done an illegal drug in my life. Nope nada never once. Never even smoked. My father put the fear of God into me. I didn’t drink till I was 21 and I didn’t lose my virginity till I was 20. He was an ex CHIP, and ex Air Force. He knew how to tell if I or any of my friends was under the influence of anything. So to say that I was less than enthused to watch Weeds was a understatement. In fact, the first couple of times I heard about the show I thought it was a reality show about gardening. That I could get into. But weed like weed weed? Marijuana? Ehhhh…..my dad really instilled how horrible Weed was. In fact, if Weed every becomes legal in Wisconsin I don’t know what I’ll do. Even if we ever drive through Colorado. I’ll be that one person standing in the dispensary just staring and hearing my dad’s voice in my head. “DON’T YOU DARE! JUST CA– USE IT’S LEGAL IT DOESN’T MEAN I APPROVE!!!” Not like my husband. Last time he rolled through Colorado he ate an entire bag of gummy bears and then cried as he lamented about the beauty of the world we lived in. Really? That’s what weed does to you? Why would I want to take that? But anyway I digress. My husband wanted to watch it and since I forced him to start Game of Thrones I felt I owed it to him. So, I gave in and watched it, trying to be as open as possible.

For those of you who have never seen nor heard of Weeds here is a little info.

Weeds was a dark comedy drama tv shown on Showtime that was created by Jenji Kohan. The main character was Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) who suddenly became a widowed mother of two boys (Silas (Hunter Parrish) and Shane (Alexander Gould).  The show opens with Nancy already selling marijuana trying to support her family. This activity progresses her family in a tangled web of deceit, danger and illegal activities.

The show debuted in 05 and ended in 12. The show received a lot of awards but I am a little confused why.

When my husband and I watched Dexter we were up night after night all night long watching the show. This one we could turn off at any time. We just were not that engaged. I don’t want to tell you too much about the show in case you do want to watch it but here is the good and the bad.

First throughout the 8 seasons there are 5 characters that are always there

Nancy – Silas – Shane – Andy – and Doug

Everyone else moves in an out but you can be sure these five are in each episode. Ceclia Hodes (Elizabeth Perkins – by the way I know will never be able to watch Miracle on 34th without seeing Elizabeth Perkins naked and barking like a dog – it was slightly disturbing) was pretty much a mainstay character for 5 seasons and then dropped off the show. The last thing she says before you never see her again is “I have a team.” and that’s it. No explanation to whatever happened to her. Her daughter Isabella Hodes also disappears but you get an explanation of her story on the last episode.  However, apparently if you watch the bonus material for the series DVD it will explain what happens to her.

Likes about the show –

• I like how they change the intro to the show all the time. It makes it enjoyable
• The multiple storylines going on – got me away from the Nancy drama
• I liked that Albert Brooks was in there for a bit (Love that guy)
• Loved the Guillermo and Nancy dynamic
• Although annoying I did like how Nancy refused to be bullied and was fierce when someone threatened or came after someone she loved
• The continued love for their mother despite the many faults that she has including the many times she has endangered their lives.

Dislikes –

• I really hate that Nancy constantly has to have a damn iced coffee in her freaking hands with that freaking straw in the side of her mouth. It made me want to hit her.
• I also really hated how completely clueless and unable to see how she was the cause of her and her families own destruction and learn from it. After season 6 I wanted to punch her and Doug every single time I saw them. But by that time I was too invested to stop watching I had to see what happened
• Her inability to commit to Andy until she was alone irritated me. I knew from season 1 he was the right one for her.
• Here is one that has bothered me for a bit. She had two children and after a very important key incident they all drive home in order to retrieve items in order to flee. Instead of packing up items of her children’s so that they have clothes to wear and things that are important to them she focused on only herself and packed an obscene amount of crap that was just hers. She didn’t pack anything for anyone else.

Conclusion

The show is highly rated

8/10IMDb      8.8/10TV.com      77%Rotten Tomatoes

I watched it. It gave us something to do on nights when nothing else was on but am I itching for another season. Hell no. In fact, I probably wouldn’t watch the series again and there are series I would watch again. Like Dexter. Dexter I would watch again.

But maybe it’s just because I’m not into Weed. Maybe that’s why.

Comment and share with us what you thought of the show or whether you’ll watch it!

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