What I’m Watching: Weeds (Penultimate Episode)

Weeds: Season 8, Episode 11 “God Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise” (B+)

It’s always a blast to see long-forgotten characters from early in a show’s run when the show in question is ending, and this episode featured a handful of faces from long ago, before the show took its many wild turns to get its characters to where they are now. It was especially nice to see Conrad, who has found himself a wife but still isn’t able to resist Nancy’s charms, and Megan, who apparently was Silas’ only true love, which sorts of makes sense since his many romances since have been much more based on passion than actual affection. Seeing the likes of Lupita and Guillermo again was also fun, and now we just need to get Celia, Dean, and Isabelle back in the picture to complete the season one reunion. It was very disappointing to see Yael not recognize Andy, and it sent him to a very bad place of self-reflection and regret. I’d hope that he wouldn’t give up so quickly on his newfound teaching job, but Andy, as always, lets women guide him. After jumping into a marriage with Joanna, he immediately longed for Yael, and by episode’s end, he was getting nostalgic about Nancy. Their grassy encounter didn’t do much for him, and now he remains, as always, the unconnected thread that needs to be resolved in this coming week’s series finale. Even Doug has it together, forming a cult in order to most easily launder money. And, despite some trickery, Shane’s doing just fine too. I’m sure that the finale is going to be memorable, and this penultimate episode sets things mostly in order. I’d suspect that there are a few surprises yet to come.

Also, just in time for the series finale, check out the latest edition of Network Jews, written by yours truly, featuring Andy Botwin, over at Jewcy!