WEEDS

Darker & darker!

Once it was a wickedly naughty show about a quirky mom who sells a bit o' pot to make ends meet.

Now, on the new season opener of Weeds, we've already had two quick (very cold blooded) murders, a (different) mother kidnapped and nearly murdered so her daughter could cut her up and sell her organs for cash (see * below), and Mary Louise Parker, the first mom (aka Nancy Botwin -- or the "Hemptress" as she's called in promos) now pregnant with the baby of a drug lord who knows she ratted him out and seemed (in a segment played in Spanish with no translation) to be, perhaps, planning to somehow extract the baby by force.

In the last few seasons there have been many murders, the arson of an entire town, young boys (Parker's character's boys) planting, harvesting and dealing weed, hard drug trafficking, forced prostitution and the whole amusing situation just getting really out of hand!

(* This kidnap situation was resolved all too neatly: mom's cancer chemotherapy rendered her organs unfit for harvesting. And her daughter's boyfriend, who had been trying unsuccessfully to raise ransom for the kidnapping -- nobody would pay any money to save her -- got fed up with his nasty girlfriend and kicked the would-be momicidal daughter out.)

This show has always had a different way of looking at people and plots. In normal television the simplest way to resolve a situation like this -- the Hemptress getting deeper and deeper in trouble -- would be to kill off all the bad guys in one big drug raid. I'd guess they'll find a better way to resolve the plot lines.

All in all, the acting, plotting, dialog, characters, and situations are top notch television: humorous, inventive, compelling, and entertaining!

Mondays at 10 on ShowTime.