Weeds – Nancy should remember that her new room has no walls

Not a lot of Stability House — or its limitations — were visible on last night’s episode of Weeds. The show shouldn’t spend thirty minutes there a week, but a) Nancy’s roommate seems a potential goldmine for great entertainment, and b) Nancy is still serving out the rest of her prison sentence for murder in a halfway house. That fact provides the structure for season seven, and so it should provide some of the substance as well. Just a friendly reminder.

Nancy’s sister Jill (Jennifer Jason Leigh) was never a pleasant person — and I was never a fan — but her manipulation of the situation with Stevie is horrible. Nancy’s not a good human being, but Shane loved and cared for that kid all of last season, and while it’s an unorthodox living situation I can’t believe that Stevie would want for anything living with his brothers and his uncle. Jill’s making a call that’s not hers to make, and worse, she’s attempting to emotionally supplant Nancy as Stevie’s mother. That’s low … plus, it’s not like she worked wonders with her own two kids. I love how different her twin girls turned out, but the punk’s a bit like a mini Shane.

I’m excited by the prospect of a Doug-centric story this season. With Nancy working as Doug’s assistant — and working his building as its weed supplier, if she can ever get a new shipment in — all signs point to more time with Doug. Now the writers just need to make his story as substantive as when he battled Celia for control of the council board. And I tip my imaginary tiny cap to Nancy for how she exposed the neighborhood’s dealer, but if he’s showing up twice daily all week long in one building, how many people are left that don’t know who he is?

I’m not a Martin Short fan. I know he recently turned in a blockbuster performance on Damages, but I don’t particularly find him funny when he does comedy, and I don’t find him appealing when he’s zany. I suppose he’s harmless as long as he’s standing on the sidelines as Nancy’s offbeat attorney who enjoys catastrophic tales of woe — I love the trapper keeper of broken dreams — but how likely is that to happen when Short’s been cast in the role? Not utilizing him would be a waste, so I expect him to make more noise than he did last night … that’s what I’m afraid of.

On the other hand, Aidan Quinn as Nancy’s — and Doug’s — boss was introduced in a pretty subtle way … but is it just me, or did he give off a strong “Esteban” vibe? I could just see him throwing Nancy over his lap and spanking her. Esteban’s aggressive side was his most unappealing trait, so here’s hoping that Quinn’s not on the show to recreate that.

And of course Dmitri’s (Pablo Schreiber) still around … is Nancy going to juggle multiple sexual partners this season, or is someone going to play a never-before-seen role in Nancy’s life?

I couldn’t get comfortable with Andy’s poly-amorous love story with Maxeen (Lindsay Sloane). Maybe that’s the point, but I think it’s a waste of Andy’s time. Her husband really has to be in the bed reading while they’re having sex?

I’m not sure how down I am with the new Silas. His level of “I don’t care” in some ways surpasses even Shane’s past indifference — despite vastly different manifestations — and it’s not a suit that fits him well. I don’t want him to go back to Silas of seasons one and two, but his hostility toward Nancy — which is fine — is coloring way too much of everything else that he does. And in no way is he business savvy enough to be calling himself business savvy. Hopefully he won’t harp on that too much.

I’m not surprised that Shane’s scamming student loans, but a) I was hoping he’d experience college, something that would have benefited Silas tremendously as well, and b) the loans will eventually have to be repaid. Has he thought of that?

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jul 19, 2011 @ 19:38 EST5EDT