i don't wanna be yours no more / not yours no more
...Yeah, this is another Weeds post. APOLOGIES. THERE WILL PROBABLY BE A LOT OF THOSE FOR A WHILE. But I decided to start rewatching the show right from the beginning, and it turned out to be an AWESOME DECISION, because IT IS SO GOOD. I started watching the show in January last year, and devoured the first few seasons in a week or something stupid, so it's all pretty hazy in my memory. Mostly, I remember not really getting it but still getting weirdly addicted anyway. And it's strange because I always thought it only got REALLY good in the later seasons, but it turns out IT WAS AMAZING ALL ALONG.
If you do not watch the show, I urge you to start. I don't do this a lot, but seriously - I'm starting to think Weeds might be my favourite show ever. And if you DO watch the show, and it's been a while since you saw the earlier seasons, I urge you to rewatch them! It's SO interesting to see how things started out, where the cracks in the foundations began to appear. The foreshadowing is genius and you can tell that certain things were planned for a long time.
First of all, LOL, Nancy used to be a member of the PTA! It's so weird that she used to be like an actual Mom. Everything about the family atmosphere of this season was odd to me, actually-like, obviously things are already falling apart right from the get-go, but the image of the Botwins as a happy normal family is still very fresh, whereas now it seems like so long ago that it's like this distant memory or a dream. Does that make sense?
When the PTA ladies are gossiping about Shane seeing his Dad die, one of them is like "That would fuck a kid up." NO KIDDING, LADY. Plus, advice for Nancy from Celia - "You know, from all the books I have read, you should really be encouraging Shane and Silas to talk about Judah's death, or down the road you're looking at two very dysfunctional adults, who will have trouble sustaining healthy relationships." ACCURATE.
Shane is violent in the very first episode, too, starting a fight with a bully, and then later on he shoots a mountain lion. (And they all think he shot a cat by mistake, which leads to Celia saying "You know, I read somewhere that killing animals is the first sign of psychotic behaviour.") AND THEN HE STARTS A FIRE. So that's like, 2/3 of MacDonald's signs of psychopathy. It's interesting, too, how all the stuff he does is really just to get Nancy's attention. I knew he was weird back then, but I forgot how early on the crazy stuff started-I kind of had it in my head that his violence was because of Nancy's influence, but it's almost like he was the crazy one first.
LOL, Doug thought Andy's name was Randy, and then who does Andy become in season 6? Randy Newman! Other fun foreshadowing: Andy's attorney says "Not unless you wanna go to jail. Or flee to Mexico. Or Canada." (Nancy goes to jail. Everybody lives in Mexico for a while. They do attempt to flee to Canada.) A truck that backfires(?) and freaks Nancy out has ESTEBAN written on the side. Andy refers to 'Team Botwin'! :D And Nancy had sex with a woman in college! (I thought the whole Zoya thing came out of nowhere and, as awesome as it is, it seemed like they just threw that in there like "women's prison = ~LESBIANS~" but I like that it's not new for her.) ALSO, when Andy shows up, Nancy asks "How long you planning on staying?" which made me crack up. Forever, Nancy, FOREVERRRR.
Bb!Shane shows far too much interest in/awareness of Silas's sex life. "They were making out. But nothing naked!" WHY WERE YOU WATCHING? "You're finally gonna do it? Thank god, he's been going crazy." HOW DO YOU KNOWWW. Actually, just from like, an incest fan's POV, it's kind of awesome how involved the Botwins are in each other's sex lives. Nancy walks in on Silas and Quinn in bed together, and immediately drops the laundry she's carrying and plonks herself down at the foot of the bed. Which is kind of a thing. Nancy and Silas's relationship is like one of the most interesting things about this rewatch, because so much of it is so similar to how it is now, and I didn't expect that.
Also, remember Megan? Silas and Megan were cute. And Nancy learned to say a few things in sign language for her, which is the sweetest-like, idk, I can't imagine her making that effort for her sons now. And ugh, when Silas starts hanging out more with Megan's parents than with Nancy, and going to them for comfort when there's trouble at home...it's just so sad, and Nancy doesn't know what to do about it, because she thinks she's already doing everything she can and no one recognises that.
CELIA FLASHED SILAS OH MY GOD I forgot about that. Nancy's reaction! "I don't give a flying fuck if you do have cancer, put your tits away in front of my kid."
Presented without commentary.
The best scene (possibly in the entire season) is when Silas, on ecstasy, shows up at the house accompanied by a policeman. It kind of manages to be hilarious and sweet and sad at the same time? When he sees Nancy and he's all "MOMMY!!" with the most ridiculous grin on his face, and he just throws himself at her and is snuggling her and stroking her hair. And then stroking her dressing gown because it's the softest thing he's ever felt, and she's like "enjoy it because when you come down I AM GOING TO KILL YOU." And the part of this that absolutely killed me was the camera panning away from the two of them like, petting each other, to show Shane sitting on the stairs and watching them jealously.
Auuuuuugh. It's such a tiny thing but it's so significant, it says so many things. Shane doesn't know what's going on, all he knows is that it's something that separates him from Nancy-and-Silas, and what he sees looks playful and intimate out of context, and he wants to understand and be a part of it.
Anyway, then then this adorable thing happens the next morning:
Also, when Silas confronts Nancy about selling weed (had forgotten it took so long for that to happen!), the way he bitches at her is SO similar to how it is now. It's kind of blowing my mind that they had this sort of relationship the entire time.
Nancy and Shane had some really cute moments (this gave me ALL THE FEELINGS), but I'm still weirded out by how tiny Shane was. I don't know how I managed to block that from my mind, that he was so young, but like-he was SO YOUNG. So I mean, none of it is particularly weird, except that Shane does basically try to sabotage Nancy's first date with Peter, and just seems really possessive of her in general. And Peter says "Shane seems like a good kid. He really adores you." And Nancy, cluelessly, is like "You think so? That's nice to hear." (ALSO: Nancy has a stuffed frog toy that says "I love you, Mommy" in Shane's voice, awwww.)
I didn't like Andy in the beginning so it was fun to watch this and actually appreciate his scenes. He used to call Nancy 'Pants'! And he BOUGHT HER A VIBRATOR. And he wanted in on the weed business right from the start. And he said that if anything ever happened to her, he would raise Silas and Shane as his own. (Which is basically what ends up happening in the three lost years.) Lol, Nancy's response to this is "Now I pledge never to die."
Just a random moment that I really loved for some reason.
Andy having cybersex with Megan while she believes she's talking to Silas-that is incredibly gross, and cannot be justified, of course, buuuut: it's interesting that Andy says he was basically warming her up for Silas. Like yeah, he was jerking off, but he was essentially trying to get Silas some sex, WHICH DOESN'T MAKE IT OKAY, but is interesting. (Justin Kirk says that this was Andy's intention, too.) Also I did not remember that Shane sees Andy's penis, like, their weird sexual stuff starts in the VERY FIRST SEASON. (I thought the boys' reactions to seeing him again were SO CUTE, though, when they go running up to him all "UNCLE ANDY!!" and he just swoops them up, awwww.)
Other random thoughts: OH MY GOD I forgot that Judah was played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. I actually forgot that we ever even saw him at all. I thought he was only mentioned and they never actually cast anyone, I DON'T KNOW HOW. Also: OH MY GOD WHAT JANE LYNCH. WHAT. JANE LYNCH WAS THE CANDYMAN. I HAVE NO MEMORY OF THIS. It was amazing, especially because she was basically playing Sue Sylvester there.
Nancy and Judah made a sex tape. WELL. I don't know why, but that's kind of a thing. I think I'm just imagining that Silas and/or Shane probably found it at some point and it fucked them up even further.
And finally, best quote:
(Andy and Doug are sitting in the living room, arguing about whether the word is 'taint' or 'runway'.)
Andy: Hey, Lupita. Settle an argument for us. What do you call the thing between the dick and the asshole?
Lupita: The coffee table.
Lupita was awesome.
I'm already starting season 3, so, I will probably do a post like this for each season. BECAUSE I'M A RIDICULOUS HUMAN BEING.
If you do not watch the show, I urge you to start. I don't do this a lot, but seriously - I'm starting to think Weeds might be my favourite show ever. And if you DO watch the show, and it's been a while since you saw the earlier seasons, I urge you to rewatch them! It's SO interesting to see how things started out, where the cracks in the foundations began to appear. The foreshadowing is genius and you can tell that certain things were planned for a long time.
First of all, LOL, Nancy used to be a member of the PTA! It's so weird that she used to be like an actual Mom. Everything about the family atmosphere of this season was odd to me, actually-like, obviously things are already falling apart right from the get-go, but the image of the Botwins as a happy normal family is still very fresh, whereas now it seems like so long ago that it's like this distant memory or a dream. Does that make sense?
When the PTA ladies are gossiping about Shane seeing his Dad die, one of them is like "That would fuck a kid up." NO KIDDING, LADY. Plus, advice for Nancy from Celia - "You know, from all the books I have read, you should really be encouraging Shane and Silas to talk about Judah's death, or down the road you're looking at two very dysfunctional adults, who will have trouble sustaining healthy relationships." ACCURATE.
Shane is violent in the very first episode, too, starting a fight with a bully, and then later on he shoots a mountain lion. (And they all think he shot a cat by mistake, which leads to Celia saying "You know, I read somewhere that killing animals is the first sign of psychotic behaviour.") AND THEN HE STARTS A FIRE. So that's like, 2/3 of MacDonald's signs of psychopathy. It's interesting, too, how all the stuff he does is really just to get Nancy's attention. I knew he was weird back then, but I forgot how early on the crazy stuff started-I kind of had it in my head that his violence was because of Nancy's influence, but it's almost like he was the crazy one first.
LOL, Doug thought Andy's name was Randy, and then who does Andy become in season 6? Randy Newman! Other fun foreshadowing: Andy's attorney says "Not unless you wanna go to jail. Or flee to Mexico. Or Canada." (Nancy goes to jail. Everybody lives in Mexico for a while. They do attempt to flee to Canada.) A truck that backfires(?) and freaks Nancy out has ESTEBAN written on the side. Andy refers to 'Team Botwin'! :D And Nancy had sex with a woman in college! (I thought the whole Zoya thing came out of nowhere and, as awesome as it is, it seemed like they just threw that in there like "women's prison = ~LESBIANS~" but I like that it's not new for her.) ALSO, when Andy shows up, Nancy asks "How long you planning on staying?" which made me crack up. Forever, Nancy, FOREVERRRR.
Bb!Shane shows far too much interest in/awareness of Silas's sex life. "They were making out. But nothing naked!" WHY WERE YOU WATCHING? "You're finally gonna do it? Thank god, he's been going crazy." HOW DO YOU KNOWWW. Actually, just from like, an incest fan's POV, it's kind of awesome how involved the Botwins are in each other's sex lives. Nancy walks in on Silas and Quinn in bed together, and immediately drops the laundry she's carrying and plonks herself down at the foot of the bed. Which is kind of a thing. Nancy and Silas's relationship is like one of the most interesting things about this rewatch, because so much of it is so similar to how it is now, and I didn't expect that.
Also, remember Megan? Silas and Megan were cute. And Nancy learned to say a few things in sign language for her, which is the sweetest-like, idk, I can't imagine her making that effort for her sons now. And ugh, when Silas starts hanging out more with Megan's parents than with Nancy, and going to them for comfort when there's trouble at home...it's just so sad, and Nancy doesn't know what to do about it, because she thinks she's already doing everything she can and no one recognises that.
CELIA FLASHED SILAS OH MY GOD I forgot about that. Nancy's reaction! "I don't give a flying fuck if you do have cancer, put your tits away in front of my kid."
Presented without commentary.
The best scene (possibly in the entire season) is when Silas, on ecstasy, shows up at the house accompanied by a policeman. It kind of manages to be hilarious and sweet and sad at the same time? When he sees Nancy and he's all "MOMMY!!" with the most ridiculous grin on his face, and he just throws himself at her and is snuggling her and stroking her hair. And then stroking her dressing gown because it's the softest thing he's ever felt, and she's like "enjoy it because when you come down I AM GOING TO KILL YOU." And the part of this that absolutely killed me was the camera panning away from the two of them like, petting each other, to show Shane sitting on the stairs and watching them jealously.
Auuuuuugh. It's such a tiny thing but it's so significant, it says so many things. Shane doesn't know what's going on, all he knows is that it's something that separates him from Nancy-and-Silas, and what he sees looks playful and intimate out of context, and he wants to understand and be a part of it.
Anyway, then then this adorable thing happens the next morning:
Also, when Silas confronts Nancy about selling weed (had forgotten it took so long for that to happen!), the way he bitches at her is SO similar to how it is now. It's kind of blowing my mind that they had this sort of relationship the entire time.
Nancy and Shane had some really cute moments (this gave me ALL THE FEELINGS), but I'm still weirded out by how tiny Shane was. I don't know how I managed to block that from my mind, that he was so young, but like-he was SO YOUNG. So I mean, none of it is particularly weird, except that Shane does basically try to sabotage Nancy's first date with Peter, and just seems really possessive of her in general. And Peter says "Shane seems like a good kid. He really adores you." And Nancy, cluelessly, is like "You think so? That's nice to hear." (ALSO: Nancy has a stuffed frog toy that says "I love you, Mommy" in Shane's voice, awwww.)
I didn't like Andy in the beginning so it was fun to watch this and actually appreciate his scenes. He used to call Nancy 'Pants'! And he BOUGHT HER A VIBRATOR. And he wanted in on the weed business right from the start. And he said that if anything ever happened to her, he would raise Silas and Shane as his own. (Which is basically what ends up happening in the three lost years.) Lol, Nancy's response to this is "Now I pledge never to die."
Just a random moment that I really loved for some reason.
Andy having cybersex with Megan while she believes she's talking to Silas-that is incredibly gross, and cannot be justified, of course, buuuut: it's interesting that Andy says he was basically warming her up for Silas. Like yeah, he was jerking off, but he was essentially trying to get Silas some sex, WHICH DOESN'T MAKE IT OKAY, but is interesting. (Justin Kirk says that this was Andy's intention, too.) Also I did not remember that Shane sees Andy's penis, like, their weird sexual stuff starts in the VERY FIRST SEASON. (I thought the boys' reactions to seeing him again were SO CUTE, though, when they go running up to him all "UNCLE ANDY!!" and he just swoops them up, awwww.)
Other random thoughts: OH MY GOD I forgot that Judah was played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. I actually forgot that we ever even saw him at all. I thought he was only mentioned and they never actually cast anyone, I DON'T KNOW HOW. Also: OH MY GOD WHAT JANE LYNCH. WHAT. JANE LYNCH WAS THE CANDYMAN. I HAVE NO MEMORY OF THIS. It was amazing, especially because she was basically playing Sue Sylvester there.
Nancy and Judah made a sex tape. WELL. I don't know why, but that's kind of a thing. I think I'm just imagining that Silas and/or Shane probably found it at some point and it fucked them up even further.
And finally, best quote:
(Andy and Doug are sitting in the living room, arguing about whether the word is 'taint' or 'runway'.)
Andy: Hey, Lupita. Settle an argument for us. What do you call the thing between the dick and the asshole?
Lupita: The coffee table.
Lupita was awesome.
I'm already starting season 3, so, I will probably do a post like this for each season. BECAUSE I'M A RIDICULOUS HUMAN BEING.