Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006
Weeds: Season 1
Of the various television series devoted to suburban dystopia, Weeds is perhaps the most incisive at revealing what bubbles behind the closed doors of America's identical suburban homes. (A lot of bongs, it turns out.) Starring Mary-Louise Parker as Nancy Botwin, a morally ambiguous soccer mom-cum-pot-dealer, the show goes beyond the obvious gags about marijuana in the 'burbs. Weeds is about a woman who is struggling to hold herself and her family together in a community where the illusion of doing well is much more important than the real thing. It is this quality, ultimately, that keeps the program so addictive.