Weeds – Nancy chose well

Logic screamed that Nancy had made another of her legendary mistakes when she chose Silas over Shane as a character witness for Stevie’s custody hearing. But I think anyone who’s really been following Weeds all these years knew she’d made the right choice. Sure Shane’s still in the puppy dog phase with his mommy, but it’s Silas who truly sees the big picture.

Silas remembers Nancy being a typical — read: non-pot dealing — mom for more years than the younger Shane does, while his age also gives him a better perspective on why she became who and what she did. Everything Nancy’s done has a root in caring for her family, even if plenty of her decisions have seemed to be selfish or short-sighted. At the end of the day she was a sudden widow who, scared and alone, did anything she could to make sure her fatherless kids had a fighting chance. Even as she’s getting the next generation of kids hooked on drugs, you have to recognize her motherly love.

And Silas was awesome with Judge Franklin (Andy Umberger). He didn’t lie or embellish, yet he managed to push away all the noise that’s been the basis for his battles with Nancy, instead focusing on better examples than “became a pot dealer to pay the bills” to establish her credentials as a mother. I don’t know if Stevie’s better off with her, but certainly his mother deserves a chance to be his mother.

Despite his “kindness” in the end, I can’t believe how complicit Scott (Mel Fair) seems to be in what Jill’s doing. Actually, I can’t believe that Jill even has the legal right to keep Nancy from seeing Stevie. While she can attempt to manipulate the legal system all she wants, at this point Nancy is Stevie’s only legal guardian; how can Jill keep him from her?

I’m a little disappointed in where Doug’s story is headed. Obviously (I hope) we’re going to be taken through a whole long ride before Doug finally does the right thing, but I’m not sure I want to see more scenes along the lines of Doug and Whit (Bruce Nozick) getting “massages” with happy endings. Cooking the books is so city council Doug; pothead Doug should be doing a whole different thing. Unless he manages to manipulate the scam at Vehement like some genius puppet master … maybe somehow connecting the skimming to Nancy’s new drug business? Maybe.

I’m glad Andy finally shaped up and broke things off with Maxine (Lindsay Sloane). Talk about too weird … and that’s saying something for this show. But maybe he and Charles (David Clennon) can be pen pals.

I’m glad Shane’s signing up for college courses, but criminal justice? That was not only predictable, but also kind of dull. Make something of your life! Going down this route, he either wants to win his way back into mommy’s heart by becoming her lawyer — I loved when Nancy said, “Shane, feel free to pretend there are multiple rooms here.” — or he wants to learn how to be a better, less detectable serial killer. On second thought, maybe a crossover with Dexter’s in the works.

And let’s not forget how awesome the last scene was. With the judge’s words ringing in her head — “Go back to that Nancy Botwin … return to the ones who helped you succeed….” — Nancy and Silas pulled up to a house where they hoped to stock up on weed. Heylia (Tonye Patano) was both the last person I expected to see, and also a sight for sore eyes. Could that mean that Conrad (Romany Malco) and Vaneeta (Indigo) aren’t far behind?

Reunion!

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jul 26, 2011 @ 17:00 EST5EDT