Weeds is an interesting beast to talk about. Constantly evolving, this show was once simply about the concept of a housewife in the suburbs dealing marijuana to her neighbors. Not content to sit on their laurels, the creator and writers constantly up the ante for the Botwin family and that is no more apparent then in season four.

The Season

Fresh from their relocation at the end of the last season Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) and her family arrive at Andy’s (Justin Kirk) father’s house in a town on the border between California and Mexico. The father, Lenny Botwin (Albert Brooks), has never liked his daughter-in-law and very reluctantly allows them to stay. The house is in fact his mother’s, but she is in a coma, kept alive by machines.

Adjusting to the new environment and constraints, Nancy finds herself drawn back into the drug business. This time she is not dealing, but instead trafficking as she is brought into a cartel by Guillermo (Guillermo Díaz). He introduces Nancy to the concept by testing her a few times before bringing her in fully. Of course Nancy attracts the attention of the head of the cartel, Esteban Reyes (Demián Bichir), who becomes her love interest throughout the series.

The rest of the family and associated ‘friends’ are not sitting idle of course. Andy decides to become a kinder, gentler ‘coyote,’ someone who helps Mexicans illegally immigrate to America. Doug Wilson (Kevin Nealon), still always a showstopper, works with Andy in the hopes of finding a Mexican woman he met by chance. Silas (Hunter Parrish) becomes involved with an older woman and continues to grow his own marijuana. Shane (Alexander Gould) is deeply entering puberty and struggles to find himself as a mature person in a boy's body. Celia (Elizabeth Perkins), having taken the fall for Nancy last season, finds herself embroiled in challenge after challenge while still being the shrew you love to hate.

The season in particular and the show in general have become something surreal and it is hard to take it seriously. Once you stop viewing the series as being about real people and real situations it is immensely enjoyable and fun to lose yourself in. The situations each of the family get into are bigger, crazier, and more diverse week to week and you cannot help but smile at the sheer pageantry of it.

Article Author: Michael Prince

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