Weeds – Season Four (2008/Lionsgate DVD)
Picture: B- Sound:
B- Extras: C Episodes: C
Season Four of Weeds brings viewers thick in the middle of marijuana dealer Nancy
Botwin’s shenanigans, bringing the viewer up-to-date by explaining where season
three left off.
Botwin, portrayed by Mary-Louise
Parker, continues to be a seriously flawed yet quirkily endearing mother of two
who attempts to balance the struggles of being a single mother with the
struggles of succeeding in a profession that is, for all intents and purposes,
illegal. Despite her chosen profession, the audience initially can relate to
her frustrations, whether they stem from a drug deal gone awry to the lack her
acceptance by any of her late husband’s Jewish family.
The major flaw in season four’s
plotline is that it attempts to outdo itself by losing focus of where viewers
want to be taken. In the beginning, season four appears to take viewers beyond
the microcosm of Nancy Botwin’s own personal problems, challenging viewers to think
about concepts of illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
However, halfway through, Nancy
Botwin becomes the sole focal point once again, and her own life proceeds,
along with the subsequent plotlines, with little explanation and increasingly
little continuity. Her own demise comes at the expense of her family’s demise,
with two sons engaging in the drug trade and other illicit behavior themselves,
creating a less appealing character and, essentially, a woman who viewers
question as being worthy of their attention on a regular basis.
More or less, Weeds does not demonstrate that it cares
about continuing with a plot, but rather makes obvious that its flimsy
plotlines will be supplemented by the unbelievable, and that this in and of
itself with continue to entice viewers to keep watching.
For more on the series, start
with our Blu-ray coverage of this season, which will tell you more about the
picture, sound & extras…
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8747/Weeds+%E2%80%93+Season+Four
The DVD is not bad in playback,
though the Blu-ray just outperforms in both ways.
Then go to our coverage of
previous season (and future ones) at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/new/viewer.cgi?search=weeds
- Christen Stroh
