There were no weapons of mass destruction!

In this episode Andy gets a letter from the Army telling him that they’re sending him to Iraq. Just before this scene, Andy admits to Doug that he signed up for the Army Reserves to impress a girl a long time ago. This makes perfect sense, because we all know that Andy Botwin is no hero. Through out the episode Andy tries to find a way out of his predicament. First, he considers marrying a man. At one point, he asks Nancy to cut off his big toe (he chickens out when he realizes she’ll actually do it). Finally he decides to go to Rabi school. Apparently that exempts a person from service.
I like this particular clip because it’s hilarious and because it shows us a different, less shallow, side of Andy. He actually has some opinions about politics and he doesn’t want to fight in a war that is contributing to the “corporate take-over of America”.
In a scene later in the episode Andy is floating face down in the pool. Nancy hits him in the head with a beach ball and asks,
“What the hell are you doing?”
Andy- “Practicing to be dead in case I go to Iraq.”
Nancy- “There is very little water in Iraq.”
Andy- “Then I’ll float in a pool of blood. Or oil. Whatever they’ve got, I’m ready to float.”
I love Weeds because the writers aren’t afraid to make statements, take sides, or take risks. Usually it’s the shows on HBO and Showtime like Weeds that get a little more courageous with their political commentary. The only network show that comes to mind is Boston Legal (love that one too). This episode came out in 2005. This was right after Bush was re-elected and still relatively popular with at least half of the country. So, this little dialogue was a pretty bold statement. I see it as a reflection of the democrats’ frustration that Bush actually got elected to a second term.
In this scene Doug represents the stereotypical stupid American-blindly going along with whatever his government wants him to believe. He defends the war without actually knowing what the hell he’s talking about. There were tons of “Dougs” tricked into believing there were weapons of mass destruction and terrorists hidden in Iraq. Since finding out that neither one was true, people have just been accepting the new excuses. It’s not exactly popular to be into politics. Some people don’t concern themselves with it at all. To them, politics don’t matter until a policy directly affects them. Start a war-I don’t care, keep gays and lesbians from getting married-I don’t care, but you try to take away my gun and I will start a revolt! People like that absolutely infuriate me and I’m glad someone said something about it. Thanks Weeds :)

Lupita owns Doug and Andy

Lupita is a great character. I really miss her in the later seasons. This hilarious clip is an excellent representation of her. Even though Lupita is a housekeeper/nanny for the Botwins she is, in a way, so above them all. She's kind of the only sane one in the sea of idiots-Doug and Andy being prime examples.

It's pretty obvious that Lupita is living up to a stereotype. Housekeepers are typically minorities or foreigners in TV land. I'd say 50 percent of the time they are, in fact, Latina. The people they work for are also typically white. So why would a more liberal/unconventional show like weeds fall into this racist trap? Lupita is Mexican, she's cleaning a white woman's house, her cousin is a drug dealer, and she watches telenovela. You may think...come on Weeds! Not cool! But the way they present it all is actually kind of great. An intelligent audience member will recognize that the stereotypes surrounding Lupita are so in-your-face that they are meant to be a joke. It points out how ridiculous the stereotypes are. Her character is a satire in itself.

And, like I said, Lupita isn't just some cleaning lady running around in the background like we see in shows like the O.C. or Gossip Girl. She's a key character and shows everyone who's boss. Like when she finds out that Nancy is selling pot. She hands the stash over to Nancy and says, "I want a raise." And she doesn't clean a thing ever again. She just stays and watches the madness unfold :)

Weeds Intro

This video was the introduction to Weeds for the first 2 seasons. The video doesn't introduce any characters and it's not your typical montage of clips from the season. The intro simply introduces us to the town of Agrestic, where the Botwins live.

Agrestic is a fictional suburb of Los Angeles, where everyone is upper middle class, works out, drinks coffee, has a respectable job, drives an SUV, etc. It's funny to think of adults as wanting to fit in. It sounds so high school, but that desire to feel "normal" lasts a life time for some people. In fact, I can think of several towns that are just like Agrestic. Well maybe the intro is slightly exagerated. It's like conformity on steroids actually, but you get the point.

I might go as far as saying that Agrestic represents middle to upper-middle class America in general. If you listen to the lyrics, one of the lines reads "and the people in the houses all went to the university, where they were put in boxes and they came out all the same." I think that's a fairly accurate statement. You go to college and you're expected to graduate, get a good job, buy a home, start a family, put your kids in good schools blah blah blah. For an individualistic society, I think Americans have a generally narrow view of success. I like to feel that we've moved passed the whole white-picket fence ideal of society from the 1950's and 1960's (when this some was written) but based on towns like Agrestic, I'd say many people haven't.

The intro even comments on the smaller trends of modern day society. When all the business men are shown coming out of the"It's a Grind" coffee shop, who didn't instantly think of Starbucks? Maybe its just me, because I used to work there. But seriously, there are places where 2 Starbucks will be right across the street from each other and still do great business. We're obsessed.

Then there's the comment on America's obsession with body image. We see it when all the guys are running outside in the same workout gear. In another version of the intro they show the housewives out running too.

Then there's the Range Rovers, commenting on our obsession with luxury SUV's and America's addiction to oil...I could go on forever. Several of these trends will be addressed in actual epsiodes.

Anyway, my favorite part of the intro is the end when we see the shadow of a marijuana leaf on the sidewalk. It reminds me that although people may look the same on the outside, we all have our secrets. Obviously we're not all drug dealers like Nancy, but things do tend to get interesting behind closed doors.

My blog

Weeds is my favorite TV show of all time! Season 5 wrapped up at the end of the summer and Season 6 won’t start up until May. So, in the meantime, I’ve decided to analyze some of Weed’s commentary on contemporary society. If you haven't seen it already I'll give you a brief idea of the show’s premise. The main character is Nancy Botwin. When Nancy’s husband passes away and leaves her stranded with two boys in suburbia, Nancy starts selling weed to make money. The five seasons that follow include all of the shenanigans that she finds herself, her family, and her weed dealing/smoking friends getting into. The writers and producers of this show, in addition to being comedic geniuses, also make some interesting statements about pop culture today. For the next few months I plan on sharing some of my insights and criticisms with you. I may look at specific episodes, characters, quotes, and whatever else moves me. If anything, I hope I can inspire people to watch!