WEEDS

It seems there is an abundance of dysfunction within television series and serials these days. Since the days of Married with Children, The Simpsons and Malcolm in the Middle television has been filled with problematic households. Following in the recent tradition of Desperate Housewives, Weeds is a suburban tale of sex, death, the p.t.a., adultery, and pot.

Mary Louise Parker stars as Nancy Botwin, a recently widowed suburban pot dealer, making ends meet in a morally questionable profession. The show's story initially follows the grief that the Botwin family is dealing with, but as this progresses, so does Nancy's dealings along with the help of city councilman Doug Wilson (Kevin Nealon), brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk) and suppliers Conrad (Romany Malco) and Heylia (Tonye Patano).

At the heart of Weeds are its relationships within the central characters. Nancy's neighbour and closet thing to a female friend is Celia Hodes, played to perfection by Elizabeth Perkins. Celia deals with her own battles that include infidelity, illness, her eldest daughter's sexuality, and her youngest daughter's weight problems. It is within the character of Celia that we truly begin to question who is more morally sound: Celia or the pot dealing mum Nancy.

Weeds is an addictive and satirical take on the modern day American dream, and what it takes to sustain it. The brilliance of the title of 'Weeds' not only relates to the central conceit of the pot dealing Nancy, but to what is under the surface of all suburbia, the weeds that grow underneath the rose garden, and within time start to appear. Part of the brilliance of Weeds is that as a viewer, even an international viewer (aka us in Oz) can relate to the problems that the characters face, despite the usually suburban decadence of Agrestic (in true American-Desperate Housewives affluent style. It's shows like Roseanne, Malcolm in the Middle and Married with Children were the families do not live in mansions, but modest homes, which is a conceit that seems innovative and rare.)

Weeds deals with not only Nancy's financial problems, but also with the problems she suffers as being a single parent. Her two children Silas and Shane are changing as a result of not only adolescence, but also of knowledge of their own mother's secret dealings.

It is shows like Weeds that makes up appreciate how normal and healthy our lives usually are, but in this case especially, you can use Weeds as a template for your own suburb and wonder what is beneath the surface of your own neighbourhood. Like the age old question that is explicitly addressed in Desperate Housewives: "How much do we really know about our neighbours?"

This review is mainly based on the plot lines of season one. While season two is quite similar to season one in regards to style and plot, the show progresses to an interesting place and is currently screening it's fourth season in the US.