Previewing Weeds: The Final Season

It seems like every season since the gang left the suburbs, people have been ready for Weeds to end. But then we got the beach season. And then the Mexico season. And then the road trip season. And then the road trip season. And then there was the New York City season. And then finally they announced the eighth season, which was set up in the previous season finale as the Connecticut season, will be its last.

Of course the season finale ended with a bang. Quite literally as a sniper took aim at Nancy before the screen went to black. Naturally Showtime is not very keen on me sharing who got shot (so do not assume Nancy was the one that ended up getting shot just because she was in the crosshairs) or who did the shooting (there is a hilarious discussion about the number of enemies the family has) so I really cannot speak of any character specifically as not to spoil who took the bullet (if it actually hit anyone at all, which is a possibility). I guess I can say that before I watched the episode I was hoping that Isabelle Hodes took a short drive up from Chatswin to settle an old score or two.

If it did turn out to be Isabelle, she would not be the only one returning after a long hiatus, no I cannot say a different character is back, but Little Boxes returns as the theme song for the final season along with a new title sequences which redraws the Botwins’ trip these past eight years (and may actually be more entertaining than some of the seasons itself). And if Ben Folds is not the one who sings the song in the second episode, is sounds like someone exactly like him.

Maybe it is because the end is in sight or the family is back in the suburbs (albeit a much more upper class suburbs) for the first time since Agrestic burnt to the ground, the show feels fresher early in the season. There is plenty of funny bits early on despite (and mostly because) of someone getting shot. There are some noisy neighbors, someone accidentally finds religion, and someone who is known for being hilariously offensive may have outdone themselves in the premiere on the offensively hilarious scale. And for those fearing that finding out the identity of the shooter will last all season, after watching the first two episodes, I already who the shooter is though I cannot confirm nor deny that any of the Botwin’s find out in that timeframe.

Weeds airs Sundays at 10:00 on Showtime.