What I’m Watching: Weeds

Weeds: Season 5, Episode 9 “Suck 'n' Spit” (B-)

Recent events on the show have made it so that not much can really occur at this point – things are sort of stalling and centralizing right now, to a somewhat repetitive and dull effect. Esteban’s rumblings at the start of the episode expressing his dismay over his son being raised as a Jew are humorous, but Esteban’s presence at this point feels increasingly tedious and irrelevant. Nancy’s moved on, and Esteban almost seems okay with letting Nancy go, and she sure isn’t buying his reason for wanting to come back to her. The bickering between Nancy and Andy is humorous, but not altogether convincing, and it would be nice to see Nancy get along with some man in her life for even a few minutes. Her grateful consumption of alcohol is an appropriate expression of how stressed out she’s been in her life recently and how her pregnancy has been just one of the many factors prohibiting her from enjoying a tranquil, somewhat normal life. Celia’s new enterprise seems like it may finally go her way, and it’s a brilliant plan. Dean’s involvement is amusing but unfortunate, since this likeable character keeps getting beat up by every person he encounters. It’s too bad that pretty much the only time we see Silas the entire episode, he’s punching Doug in the face, because he’s finally becoming a stable, intriguing anchor of a character, and now he’s hardly featured. Shane’s STD scare, coupled with the return of his two girlfriends, is one of the high points of the episode. His getting struck by a stray bullet at the close of the episode feels forced, though it’s about time that someone experienced some repercussions from Nancy’s reckless lifestyle. It’s tough to pinpoint exactly how “Weeds” got to this point and became such a crazy show, and near impossible to predict where it’s going next. I, for one, have no clue.