“Weeds” — A Pool and His Money
“I ran into a door”
I really appreciate Showtime running a lower-third during the opening song telling us that this week’s version of “Little Boxed†was being performed by Angelique Kidjo. Usually I’m totally opposed to screen clutter (especially on premium cable) but in this case it’s much more of a service since most fans of the show probably wonder who’s doing the theme each week, but probably not interested enough to dig through the closing credits thirty minutes later. Full recap after the break…
The best scene, in an otherwise mostly forgettable episode, happened early between U-Turn and Conrad in the kitchen. Perhaps it was great because it was really the first we’ve heard from Conrad this season. Now that “The Forty-Year-Old Virgin” is on cable constantly I’ve become far more interested in Romany Malco’s performance here on Weeds. Of everyone on the show, he seems to be the one person whose character is completely believable and not just a series of strung-together archetypal behaviors with cartoon flourish. Even our Heroine, Nancy, is a bit of a crayon drawing. Conrad brings levity to the scenes that require it. Unfortunately, the series as a whole has way more difficulty creating drama than comedy. I wish they’d fully embrace one or the other (the comedy), but the creators seem to still insist their series has greater social truths beneath the jokes (it doesn’t).
Take for example the Heylia character, who aside from her totally bizarre, though funny, fist fight with Nancy, is little more than a well worn black stereotype. Really, that whole side of the story is based upon (and draws most of its comedy from) the white idea of how this family lives. I’m always uneasy with the show’s frequent dipping into the black stereotype well. Maybe it’s because I have white guilt. (Yeah, that’s probably the reason.) Take for example U-Turn sending his “woman” into the other room un-gay Sanjay (did I forget something, or did this plot line come out of nowhere?). While the sequence did result in the line, “That boy gayer than a handbag full of rainbows,” it also felt like it sent back race relations a couple decades.
I’m not advocating for political correctness, I’m advocating for characters with multiple dimensions. This is why Conrad is crucial to the series.
Elsewhere, did anyone else find that whole story line with Andy getting jumped at a gas station incomplete? I wonder if there was some material that was trimmed for time? It felt like someone was setting up a really great joke, but forgot how to tell it. Here’s what I’ve learned from two seasons of Weeds: more Andy not less.
I was kind of down on the episode as a whole. The series still has some problems with unevenness. Just when I gear myself up to think that they’re going to deliver comedy gold, I’m given an episode without a lot of comedy. Then everything seems to be a let down, even if it isn’t.
Though I do have to give props to the episode’s end…Wow. Mary Louise Parker is hot.
August 21st, 2007 at 2:24 pm
I totally agree on some scenes seeming like they were missing something. Like was the joke that Sanjay was coming out of the closet when he was found hiding in there? That was the strangest most unneccesary side plot i think ive seen on a show that i enjoy so much. Although i have to say that as pretty much every review ive read about this season points out, Mary Louise Parkers reactions are worth a thousand words. The pool scene at the end was also kind of silly.
On another note, have you been watching “Californication”? I must say that the show is most definitely written from a mans point of view . . . I mean this guy just looks at a girl and she starts taking her clothes off for him. Its a bit ridiculous and gratuitous for the sake of being gratuitous, but since i like the cast im hoping it will get better. Best line ive heard this week though, “I won’t go down in history, but i will go down on your sister” (which after looking it up is aparently a David Lee Roth line)
August 21st, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Yeah, I bailed on Californication after the pilot. [READ] It’s one thing to have an anti-hero, it’s another to have a lead character that you’re actively rooting against. I guess in that way it’s a lot like Entourage.
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Didnt this show used to be funny…?