Silas punched Doug in the mouth on Weeds

I may be a bit warped, but I’m seriously enjoying the fifth season of Weeds. I think that the style of humor that the show employs is just fantastic. It’s dark, it’s off-center, and it sometimes verges on the insane, but it works for the Botwin family, and it definitely works for the show. Come back to us, Modwild!

There’s no right place to start, so let’s just dive right in.

I’ll repeat myself until I’m blue in the face, but Doug is just awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome. So much so, that I’m starting to begrudge the writers a bit for his misuse during some seasons of the show. I know it needed to make sense that he be around, but if the guy could follow the Botwins to grandma’s house, then he could have been anywhere. Just saying.

Doug’s a dope, but that’s what Kevin Nealon plays best. And I called Silas seeing Doug as somewhat of a father-figure! That fight that they had totally supported my theory. I mean, Doug’s more of an older brother gone awry, but it’s close enough. I’m grateful for his larger role this season, as well as for his pairing with Silas. Inspired direction for both characters.

Andy, meanwhile, is spinning off the Earth. What the hell kind of crazy is he getting himself involved with? His date with Margaret (Stephanie Erb) was so disturbing, it made Hank on Californication seem like a priest. What people will do for money.

It seems, however, that the writers aren’t quite sure how to keep both Andy and Doug floating in good material at the same time. Now that Doug’s back to form, Andy’s trolling in his early-series persona. When Andy was up somewhere in the middle, Doug was essentially MIA. Sure, they were paired up in season four, and that got some good laughs, but that storyline was like two ships passing in the night … at some point they have to be next to one another, but they’re going in opposite directions. Sue me; I was at the beach this weekend.

Shane’s evolution into total thug was not-unexpected, and it also wasn’t as distasteful as I imagined it would be. I think it was used perfectly as a breaking point for Nancy. How crazy was it when she showed her “Mom” side? All while choking Mr. Sandusky (Todd Robert Anderson)? And the way she cracked while she was talking to Andy later that night?

This was Nancy season one, struggling with the direction that her life had taken, trying to figure out how to keep her family safe. It was an unexpected moment of tenderness, that I think we all needed, in order to be reminded of Nancy’s humanity. Right before she left Andy and showed up at Esteban’s (Demian Bichir) door. And, in the moment, that one really caught me off guard.

Celia continues her ridiculous solo dance, while Alanis Morissette’s initial fling on the show did little to make an impression, one way or the other. With all that’s going on elsewhere, I’m not sure that either one of these characters (Morissette plays Dr. Audra Kitson, Nancy’s obstetrician), is really a necessary addition. Or, rather, distraction. Even three minutes less of Doug and Silas, for instance, is too much to give.

But, then again, the show has always skewed male, and it’s important to keep enough women in the mix on this female-led show (although, Allie Grant‘s Isabelle is a poor choice as well. And, what happened to her budding lesbianism?)  As long as the focus remains (did I mention Doug and Silas are fantastic?), I supposed I can manage.

Silas and Doug.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jul 07, 2009 @ 14:00 EST5EDT