Weeds – Season 3, Episode 13 – “Risk”

Only 2 episodes left! Noooooo! If there’s any consolation, it’s that last night’s ep set us up for a terrific final two episodes. All the characters have finally come together in one big, intertwined central plot. The stakes are high, the drama is exciting and tense, and the comedy is, as always, sharp yet subtle. Let’s take a closer look:

1. Celia/Heylia/Vaneeta – Terrific, terrific stuff here. There’s nothing like a great new pairing, and Heylia/Celia promises to be an excellent one. It seems so natural that the two of them should become friends, as both are brazen, bold women who have lived through a lot and give a shit about what anyone else says or does.  Plus, its nice to have the two crazies on Nancy’s side again.  Alone, they are formidable opponents, but you’d sure as hell want them both on your team, right?  Toss in the younger Vaneeta and you have got yourself a pretty dope trifecta of badass ladies.

2. Conrad/Nancy — It’s about time these two hooked up.  Nice.  If there’s anyone who is manly, yet also intelligent and sensitive enough to handle the wild, fragile Nancy, it’s Conrad.  Also, I dig that U-turn ass tat.  Though he threatened her family and made her life hell, U-Turn did teach Nancy a lot about what it takes to be true drug lord, a role which Nancy has increasingly embraced.

3. Andy/Silas — For the first time all season, Andy is actually involved with Nancy and the family business. This is vintage season one here: due to Andy’s lustful meddling, Nancy and the boys are in serious danger.  The biker gang with the schwag weed is pissed that Nancy won’t do business with them, a situation that never would’ve arisen if it weren’t for Andy’s lecherous advances.  Poor Silas gets the crap beat out of him, to the point where he can’t even stand up straight.  This kid has the most f’ed up childhood.  Oh, wait no he doesn’t.

4. Shane — THIS kid has the most f’ed up childhood ever.  The kid is an uber-genius, but no one pays him a minute’s notice.  He wakes up to the alarm going off at his house only to find that there isn’t a single adult there.  He’s been so consistently ignored that the only person he feels he can talk to now is his imaginary dead father.  Heartbreaking.  This poor kid is so smart he can memorize some ridiculous list of Pittsburgh related facts, and all he wants is the love and attention of his family, yet he gets none.  It’s going to be interesting to see which conflict takes precedence in Nancy’s heart, the physical well-being of her family and business, or the mental/emotional well-being of her young, fatherless child.

5. Sanjay — Ridiculous leather outfit.  Ridiculous exchange with Nancy.  Ridiculous line: “They smoke everything at the Manhole.”  Hilarious.

6. Doug/Dean — I understand there was too much important plot stuff going on this week to have these two knuckleheads around, but I do hope they make an appearance next week and become twisted up in the big conflict as we push to the finale.

7. Sullivan/Tara — It was nice to Sullivan reap what he sewed, as Celia took a bat to his office and his big cross got converted into sweet grow lights.  It seems like Sullivan’s use on the show has worn out, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t see anymore on the series.  Take note other shows: this is how you phase out a character once he’s no longer useful (cough Heroes cough).  And good lord is Mary Kate terrible.  I mean, I haven’t seen acting this consistently horrendous since I was in “The Odd Potato” in 4th grade.  She might honestly be the single worst actress in the world.  #1 worst.  I wish the bikers had beat her up instead of Silas.  That would’ve been awesome.

7. Biker gang — Are these the same bikers that drove Dean off a mountain?  It would be a pretty coincidence to have two evil biker gangs on one show…

We are in excellent shape moving into the next two weeks.  Next week should be explosive– I’m calling a fast paced, tension-filled episode as we race towards the finale.  If there’s one thing Weeds loves, its a nice jaw-dropping finale, so don’t be surprised when they pull all the stops out.  Can’t wait for next week!

Grade: B+