This batch of episodes goes way better for me than the first. The focus shifts off of Nancy just being a straight-up idiot, and more onto how the characters interact with each other. Plus, in episode six, we jump ahead and get yet another mini-reboot of a show that’s constantly changing what it is. After I got through the first half of the season, I actually started looking forward to the second half, so that’s pretty exciting.
Season 5, Episode 4 “Super Lucky Happy”
Unfortunately, Jennifer Jason Leigh didn’t stick around to give Nancy more shit, but we do have Celia back, so at least there’s some familiarity there. Celia’s pretty amazing, because even though she’s broke, homeless, and everyone hates her, her hair still manages to look so much better than mine at any given time in her life.
Shane is in full-blown puberty, as evidenced by the constant cracks in his voice, and this has apparently made him into a total dumb-ass. He agrees to sell his English teacher $4,000 worth of weed, and is surprised when it goes badly for him. Although, the trick that the teacher pulls of having Shane load the drugs into the trunk of his car and then totally taking off was pretty hilarious.
I got all of the positive stuff out of the way before I could even bring myself to mention Nancy. Her latest trick? Being complicit in the murder of a federal agent. Way to go, Botwin. Clearly the idea you had after the unexpected passing of your husband of selling weed to bored suburbanites was a good one. Just look at you now!
Season 5, Episode 5 “Van Nuys”
Weeds is looking up for me, you guys. I know that may come as a shock to some of you, considering the amount of time I spend ragging on the main character, but I’m a sucker for shows that are self-aware. So when Nancy went all, “Why me?” and whiny, and Andy immediately shot her down with, “You know it’s you, right? You bring this on yourself,” I started to love the show a little bit again.
I even enjoyed it when Nancy followed this resolution with making yet another completely stupid decision. What possible reason does she have for moving in with Esteban? It can’t be self-preservation, right? Because Andy’s idea of leaving the country is a much better idea than that. So what is it? She’s not in love with him, is she? Is it constantly opposite day when she makes decisions? This woman continues to confound me.
Ignacio continues to be a strong male influence in Shane’s life, as he takes him to hold up his English teacher and shake him down for everything he stole. Shane also shoots his bird, which is I guess just par for the course for Shane right about now. To her credit, Nancy did make Shane return the stuff and apologize, so … there’s that.
Season 5, Episode 6 “A Modest Proposal”
It’s the future! Six months have passed, and and Isabella is helping Doug apply a very toxic-looking spray tan. His big idea is to live his life like George Hamilton, and I have to say, I’m for it. Of course, like many of Doug’s plans, this one goes awry as his Hamilton-inspired altercation with the cop who’s shaking them down leads to said cop sustaining a pretty severe-looking head injury. My guess is that this is not going to fare well for ye olde medical marijuana shoppe.
Esteban seems to have grown a sense of humor during the past six months, which is slightly unsettling. He proposes to Nancy with a soccer championship ring, but then comes back with an obscenely large diamond. Nancy goes to tell Andy, and oh, poor Andy.
The past six months have not been kind to him. He’s grown a mountain man beard, gained about 20 lbs., and decorated the house as if he were Ricky Schroeder in Silver Spoons. He eventually goes to see Nancy and give his blessing, but in the end it doesn’t matter, as an angry Mexican woman, who I’m assuming is Esteban’s (ex?) wife, comes and yells at Esteban a lot. The end result? He and Nancy are not getting married anymore. Season 5 was starting to look up for me before, but now it’s getting really interesting.
Clacked by Kona Gallagher 
on Jul 04, 2010 @ 14:00 EST5EDT
Don’t worry about hating Nancy, everyone I know and everythnig I have read online hates her. It’s amazing how such a great show can go down the drain, it’s amazing how dumb Nancy can be and yet people still watch the show. I used to watch the show to see how she would make it out, now I watch hoping she will die and the show will “Well she deserved it a long time ago” and just move on.
I HATED season 5 and only watched it because it was a train wreck that I had to see the end to. The end of season 5 is actually really, really awesome! :)
Don’t paint all of us with your hate brush! :)
Really? I thought even you hated it. :-p
Seasons 4 and 5 are just a huge mess and to me Weeds ended after season 3.
We had this argument all last season. I thought it was hilarious, for the most part.
I thought you thought it was hilariously bad, because it was. It was so bad it was funny.
Kona, cover your ears (and eyes) — Doug and Silas were fantastic this season. I loved them in a “they were hilariously good and I loved them” way. The only parts I didn’t like were Celia’s.