Weeds: Series Finale

I'm going to do my best to keep this as spoiler-free as possible as I realize most people don't have Showtime and probably won't see this for another year. 

I started watching "Weeds," probably around season 4 mostly out of curiosity. The first few seasons were filmed in my hometown and actually, in my friend's neighborhood. I enjoyed getting to point out local landmarks and what they really are. That "It's a Grind" coffee shop? Totally real. Right across the street from the Punishment Light and I think that coffee shop actually put the Starbucks in the same parking lot out of business. But I digress. For me, "Weeds" was a great escapism show. I always thought it should be called, "Who Will Nancy Fuck to Solve Her Problems Now?" but I guess that's a little bit long-winded. No matter what the problem, Nancy almost always found a way out. Except for dating... Her boyfriends/husbands always seemed to end up dead. Nancy is a chameleon. She kept everyone guessing all the time. No one person who thought they were close to her ever had all of the pieces to the Nancy puzzle and I really loved that about her. 

As for her boys, Shane, Silas and Stevie, you always kind of knew one of those kids was going to get royally screwed in the head. I mean, with mom dealing drugs and father figures dying all over the place? I don't think anyone was surprised to see which one of the boys went kookie.

The finale showed what I picture to be the healthiest of all possible situations when it comes to the Botwin family. No, things aren't perfect for them but I really feel like they're as good as they could possibly be. The show is over. For real this time. Not like last season when I just thought it was over and then I found out that even what appears to be death is never really final. This time it is for good and I am able to leave these characters behind without any sort of resentment or regret. I am satisfied with the trajectory of their lives and the knowledge that they are all imperfect but trying. That's what matters.

Weeds

I currently have a complicated relationship with "Weeds." This is a show that I have loved for a long, long time. Last season, I heard a rumor that that was going to be the very last season forever and ever amen. At the end of season 7, The Botwin/Graves/Prices all came together, were a family, la-dee-dah and Nancy got shot in the head. I was perfectly content with the thought that Nancy was now dead and the rest of the family would be better off without her.

Two or three months ago I discovered that an all new season of "Weeds" would be starting on Showtime this summer and Nancy isn't dead. Great! Now we're off on another wild Nancy adventure in which she tries to be a good person and be close to her family. Awesome! While she has made it clear to everyone that she is no longer interested in being in the drug business, her family and associates are all very much still in the drug business in some way or another (Shane as a cop, Silas as a drug... dealer? I don't know... all I care about are those hot scenes between him and Kiku.)

I was first drawn to this show because it was filmed in the town where I grew up. Santa Clarita, CA IS Agrestic. Not just, it looks like it or it happens to be the setting, they are one in the same place. That season where the town burned down? They didn't have to do CGI for a lot of that stuff. Those hills burn every year. So of course I was hooked by the attractive, smart lady drug lord who "lived" in my town, did deals on my community college campus and used sex to get out of awkward situations.

In my opinion, the show began to run into problems once they left Agrestic and Nancy started dealing in things other than small-time pot. The heroin, Mexican gangs and excessive number of deaths was a little bit of an overkill. The entire season The Botwins spent on the run, utterly missable. The way it goes in my head, is that the Showtime people sat down with Jenji Kohan and said, "Why can't we just go back to this show's roots? Why can't we give Nancy a clean slate again?" and that was season 7! And it was awesome. I couldn't have been happier. But then it was supposed to end. Nancy was supposed to be dead, Jill and Andy would have beautiful, stupid babies, Silas would be a model/Dom and Shane would get rejected from the police academy because HE FREAKING KILLED SOMEONE. (People who kill people, even as minors, don't get to become cops. Sorry.) The past was supposed to stay in the past and the future should have been bright and shiny. SHINY!

All that being said, I have been enjoying this current season. Watching Nancy struggle so utterly to lead a normal life and to try to connect with little Stevie is amazing because you know she can't last like that. Nancy hasn't sat still and just enjoyed life once since her husband died. She is a hustler. It is in her blood now. It may take her awhile to lash out, but when she does, it is going to be spectacular.