Weeds Session: Is Episode “Van Nuys” The Nice Calm Before Another Botwin Storm? Monday’s Episode Is Set Six Months Later
The previous three episodes ofWeedswere the breeziest of the season and decidedly welcome after the brick-cold start. However, by now viewers are conditioned to expect another hellish crescendo to fall upon the resilient Botwins. It’s like dysfunctional clockwork. And these days, even the lighthearted eps dance inside an atmosphere of widespread murder and violent threat. So, before things get all gloomy again, let’s take a look at last week’s ep,“Van Nuys.“The ep introduced viewers to a bit of gross, titular, pregnancy-related slang courtesy of a veryexperiencedAndy. It also marked the introduction ofDr. Audra Kitson, a seemingly open-minded, open-eared obstetrician, in a recurring guest role forAlanis Morissette(Dogma, movie theaters).
Plan A)ndy: He’ll use the newly acquired, hard-won funds to escape with Nancy—her criminal underworld baby on board—to drug-friendlyCopenhagen. The writing in the episode attempts to convince us that Nancy will choose Andy and his brash, if smart, decision to flee. But while Andy’s new role as a doting, responsible family-man is affable, it’s also become eerie.Weedsis a show that loves to flirt with borderline incest and sex-in-the-family and Andy’s become a willing pillar for the trend. After banging his aforementioned brother’s old fling—and obeying her request to deflower heras Judahall over again, ew—Andy doesn’t realize that he continues to embody Jonah after the bout of cosplay has ceased.
Instead of becoming his own man, the threat of death and violence has cornered Andy into taking over his brother’s life almost verbatim. His latest plea to Nancy as a surrogate Judah isn’t convincing; it earns him nothing more than a handwritten love note. Instead, Nancy chooses Plan B)abydaddy and the ep ends with her and Shane walking into, and thus moving into,Esteban’s manse. But to us, the scene didn’t have the impact of permanency that would signal a completely new direction for the show. Andy and Nancy: it’s almostmeant to be.(Note: Monday night’s episode takes placesix monthsafter “Van Nuys,” so apparently an abortion didn’t take place. Does that mean a fat suit is finally in the cards?!Click herefor a preview synopsis.)
What do you make of Shane’s ridiculous thug retaliation on his former teacher? Even though Nancy makes Shane return his teacher’sThereminand Ray Bans—and hilariously offers the dude an iguana to replace the bird Shane blew up—this is not a break from the looming darkside for Shane. Nancy’s bat-to-the-throat reaction even supports the kid’s growing belief that thuggish acts are badass. Moreover, just as his older brotherSilasis seeking a hug-giving father figure inDoug(nice c**k-nose portrait), Shane seeks stronger-willed guidance fromIgnacio, a cold-blooded, if good-humored, henchman.No big deal.Moving into Esteban’s luxurious manse, one partially built on drug money, will only give Shane a panoramic view thatScarface-like organized crime pays.
We also finally discover the fate, if not the cause (WTF?), of Esteban’s missing goon. He’s a piece of dead storage on Nancy’s property. Of course, good ol’Celiahas returned from her detour in Mexico to witness the corpse get an acid bath courtesy of Esteban’s endless clean-up crew. Celia makes sure to take camera phone pics of the crime scene so as to force Nancy into letting her crash in the garage and enjoy complimentary showers. It’s amusing to see the once-rosy, still resourceful Celia confront Nancy about gruesome murder in such a casual, exhausted fashion. Many of the characters onWeedsare so financially distraught and semi-desensitized to the intensifying horrors around them that even murder has become the tame subject of stiff cocktails and stiffer blackmail. And it’s worth noting that Celia’s daughter,Isabelle, has quietly become the most far out chick on the show. We remain hopeful that her preference for sunglasses indoors hasn’t changed this Monday/six months later. It’s a good look for a summer of carnage.
Weedsairs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime. For /Film’s previous articles on the fifth seasonclick here.If this ep sparked interest in the instrument, check out the acclaimed 1994 documentary,Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey.Hunter Stephenson can be reached at h.attila[@]gmail.com and onTwitter.
