I’ve got to admit; this season is an uphill battle for me. I actually watched this episode months ago, and just wasn’t interested enough to continue until now. Nancy Botwin is one of the most unlikeable characters on TV, and the storyline is getting darker and darker as the seasons progress. It’s not the darkness that bothers me per se, but more the fact that I no longer feel as though I’m watching the same show for which I signed up. So now we begin, and see if this Virgin Diary actually makes it to the upcoming sixth season of Weeds.
Season 5, Episode 1: “Wonderful Wonderful”
I’ve managed to stay relatively spoiler-free going into this season, but I did know ahead of time that Nancy’s drug lord baby plays a large role in the story arc, as does Andy’s inexplicable love for Nancy (he could really do so much better). We get both right off the bat in the season premiere, as Nancy both casually and callously tells Andy of her pregnancy, sending him into a deep depression.
While I doubt you’ll see me defending Nancy very often, I will give her this: She saw the cold-blooded murder of two men who were standing no more than 10 feet away from her and narrowly escaped with her own life only a few hours previously, so she can probably be given a pass for not being completely sensitive about the situation. I will just ignore the fact that I’m sure Nancy would react the same way regardless of the circumstances.
We also learned an important thing about kidnapping: if you don’t give a sh r comedic effect, but it was pretty unrealistic, even for a show that stretches the boundaries of realism on a regular basis.
Season 5, Episode 2: “Machetes Up Top”
Hey, you know what’s not funny? A weird, dehumanizing quasi-rape scene involving a pregnant woman. Do you know what is funny? The fact that this show is always up in the Comedy category at award shows. Oy. On a happier note, Jennifer Jason Leigh is guest-starring as my inner monologue and Nancy’s sister. “She plays the victim, but she always has time to put on mascara.” I think that pretty much sums up Nancy Botwin as well as anyone possibly could.
She and Andy wind up bonding (in a naked sense) over their mutual frustration with Nancy, and it’s kind of awesome. Unfortunately, poor Shane gets a little bit more of his childhood stripped away in the process, as he’s a witness to their laundry room escapades.
I really don’t want to keep on talking about how terrible of a mother Nancy is, but when she’s off getting drunk at a sushi bar, her oldest son is nearly murdered by a roving gang of drug lords in a national forest, with only her former accountant by his side. Just sayin’.
Season 5, Episode 3: “Su-Su-Sucio”
Luckily for Nancy, Silas is beyond holding a grudge, so he doesn’t bother making a big deal of his brush with death or his mother’s mysterious pregnancy. Instead, he focuses on the next phase of his career– selling weed legally. I actually love this idea. He’s clearly a talented grower, so he’s figuring out ways to parlay his talents in a way that will not only make him money, but hopefully help him avoid getting raped by Mexican drug lords. You’ve got to admire that.
Jennifer Jason Leigh is along for the ride, and it’s nice to have someone who will actually call Nancy out on her bullshit. I’m hoping that’s still going to happen, since they kind of made up at the end of the episode. I hope she sticks around instead of going back home to her creepy husband and Children of the Corn.
Even if she doesn’t hang around, Celia is back, having been kicked out of Mexico by her kidnappers. She’s kind of outliving her usefulness on the show, so it’ll be interesting to see what the writers decide to do with her in the upcoming episodes.
Clacked by Kona Gallagher 
on Jun 27, 2010 @ 17:52 EST5EDT
Well, Kona, you have more patience than I do. I couldn’t even get to season 5. Its stopped being fun after she got involved with the Mexican drug cartel. I really don’t know what the show is trying to do, where it’s going. There ceased to be any funny once Albert Brooks left, and he was barely able to bring it.
After season one I was a virgin. Gobbled up one, two and three, and hit the wall into four. Throw it at the wall to see if it sticks? Yep – it stuck. No more Weeds for me.
Seasons 1-3 are Weeds, seasons 4 and 5 are Weeds: Mexico. It is really amazing just how bad the show is, it’s like a train wreck hitting a jumping shark that is inside a fridge as a nuke goes off.