Sometimes a series strays so far away from the original concept that it keeps you intrigued by its course more than entertained by its content. Weeds started out with a simple tale of a widow (Mary Louise Parker) making ends meet by dealing marijuana around her little suburban neighborhood. It was kinda like The Lucy Show on dope. Over the last five seasons, it has led to Nancy gets knocked up and marrying Esteban Reyes (Demian Bichir), a Mexican druglord and politician. The cliffhanger for season five was Shane (Alexander Gould) beating Esteban’s mistress Pilar to death a croquet mallet. She falls into the pool.
“Thwack” opens with credits on an empty orange juice concentrate container. There’s money inside. Pilar’s body remains floating the pool. Shane admires his handiwork. Nancy hits the automatic pool cover, grabs her sons and heads back home. Nancy packs while Shane explains to Silas (Hunter Parrish) about the killing. He’s rather taken back knowing his brother is the new Dexter. The woman was plotting how to kill the boys so it’s wasn’t completely cold blooded. Housekeeper Lupita (Renee Victor) snags the money stashed in the freezer. They squeeze all their vital belongings into the car and head over the border to the house in Remar.
Back at the party in Mexico, a couple drunks want their buddy to jump off the roof into the pool. He lands next to Pilar’s corpse. He’s shocked to find the hostess is dead. The light changing in the pool with the floating body is really great effect. It’s kinda like a danceclub version of Sunset Blvd.
Things aren’t calm in America. Dr. Audra Kitson (Alanis Morrisette) is still being held hostage by the abortion protest. Andy (Justin Kirk) hides outside and tells Nancy that it’s not a good time to go inside to get the keys to the van. Nancy plans to take the protester out since she needs to split pronto. The protestor wants to marry Dr. Audra because he loves her even with her bad job choice. Nancy enters the room to distract the guy so Andy can hit him with a broom. The guy pins Andy. Nancy has to knock him out with a vase. In the garage the boys have no idea where mom will take them. Silas wants to know if Shane ever has the killer impulse again. In the living room, Dr. Kitson has had enough with Andy. She thinks Nancy uses Andy as her tool. The relationship is over. Nancy tells Andy to come with them on the road. Andy wants to stay with the Dr. Kitson, but she doesn’t want him around. He does his best to change her mind. It doesn’t work out so he shuffles out to the garage. He’s going to be part of the road trip. Shane tells him that time doesn’t cure all wounds.
Alanis Morrisette was a fun guest star since she did keep Andy on his remaining toes. Elizabeth Perkins being written off the series doesn’t help the tension since Nancy no longer has a mother to compete against. It’s strange that the religious guy would use a crossbow since the Pope Innocent II banned them from being used against Christians.
Cesar (Enrique Castillo) looks at the security camera footage of the pool. He tells a guy that he didn’t see anything. Cesar returns to the party and gives a stare at Esteban.
The van filled with Botwins drives through the night. Her phone rings. Caller ID shows Esteban wants her. She avoids answering it. She tosses the croquet mallet out the window. She looks in the rearview mirror and sees Shane giving a creepy stare. How can this end with a happy family?
This will be the season when the Botwin family goes on the run to stay a step ahead of Esteban’s goons. Tonight’s episode was so dark and focused on wrapping up the cliffhangers while setting up this season’s theme that it wasn’t that funny. The humor was so grotesque that it didn’t illicit laughs so much as remind us this isn’t a serious soap opera. It doesn’t help that there’s little innocence left to the Botwins anymore. They’re a bit monstrous as they cruise to points unknown. They’re like a mini-Manson family without a Beatles soundtrack. There’s eleven more episodes to give us a sense where they’re really ending up on what appears to be a highway to hell.
