Episode Title: "Felling and Swamping"
Writer: Victoria Morrow
Director: Scott Ellis
Previously on "Weeds":
Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) was trapped in a marriage with the dangerous politician/drug smuggler Esteban (Demián Bichir) and at the mercy of his vicious campaign manager Pilar (Kate del Castillo) when her son Shane (Alexander Gould) ended the threat by striking Pilar with a croquet mallet which sent her sprawling into the pool. Initially dumbstruck by the turn of events, Nancy regained her wits and retreated with Shane and her oldest son Silas (Hunter Parrish) to collect her baby Stevie Ray (who is also Esteban's son). Silas was also stunned by Shane's actions and even more so by the fact that his brother seemingly had no remorse for what he had done.
Realizing that they needed a bigger vehicle, Nancy went to see her former brother-in-law Andy Botwin (Justin Kirk), who was in the middle of a hostage crisis with his fiancée Audra Kitson (Alanis Morissette). Nancy and Andy saved Audra, but she refused to forgive Andy for running away when she was in danger. Nancy offered Andy the chance to come with her and the rest of the family, which effectively killed his chances to reconcile with Audra.
Back at the estate, Esteban's men discovered Pilar's body and destroyed most of the video evidence linking it to Nancy and her son. Nancy ignored Esteban's attempts to call her about it and she was visibly unnerved by the sight of Shane in the backseat, staring forward without blinking in an almost "pure evil" manner.
Story:
As the family stops at a gas station, Andy notices that Nancy still can't quite acknowledge that Shane killed Pilar. Silas even tries to argue that Pilar might be alive until Shane tells him that Nancy closed the pool cover over her body. Disgusted, Silas tells the family that he wants to go off on his own. Nancy pulls over and gives him the chance to leave, but warns him that Esteban will be looking for him if Esteban can't find her. She warns him to never go back to San Diego, Los Angeles or Mexico and that he can never really live a normal life on his own with this over the family's head. After a moment of hesitation, he ultimately decides to stay with the family.
Realizing that their bank cards will have minimal uses with Esteban on their trail, Andy and Silas stock up on supplies at a superstore. Shortly thereafter, Nancy confronts Shane about killing Pilar. She slaps him twice and even spanks him once, but her parental skills still seem to be lacking. Without an effective way to punish him, she confiscates his candy as well. Back in the van, the family decides to flee to Canada. However, because they don't have a birth certificate for Stevie Ray, they can't go across the border.
Unable to get out of the country, the Botwins rechristen themselves the Newmans. Nancy becomes Nathalie, Andy becomes Randy, Shane becomes Shawn, Stevie Ray becomes Avi and Silas becomes Mike T. Newman. Andy gets the name of a good fake ID guy from a group of illegal restaurant workers. Tracking down "The Chinaman" — who turns out to be a gangly teenager — Andy and Silas haggle with him to get their fake IDs; finalizing the deal with batch of Hooters gift cards. In a private gathering, the Botwins symbolically burn their old IDs and officially rename themselves. Nancy also promises that the Newmans will succeed where the Botwins failed and live a normal life.
Back at their former home, Esteban is questioned by the authorities about Pilar's murder. The FBI is also looking for Nancy as well. Esteban tells them that she will be back tonight, but orders his men to track them down and bring back his son.
Breakdown:
I'm fairly new to "Weeds," so I don't know how long it's been like this. But this show is almost the perfect blend of drama and comedy. And it's well-executed too, which is something I always love to see.
After the way his life was basically destroyed in the previous episode, I was surprised by how eager Andy was about starting over completely. Changing the family name along with their first names was all his idea and he seems to love the idea of "going off the grid." He actually showed some competency by tracking down "The Chinaman" and pitching the idea that they should go on a wild spending spree with their bank cards while they could. Although Nancy nearly left him behind when he was flirting with a girl at the gas station.
Nancy still seems to be way over her head when it comes to dealing with Shane. She's obviously horrified by what he did, but she can't quite deal with it yet, even when she tried to confront him about it. And maybe Shane can't deal with it either, which is why he's covering with his kid psycho routine. Or maybe he really is psychotic, it's hard to tell. He did threaten his brother at one point with "don't make me go 'Pilar' on your ass."
As for Silas, he seems to be the only member of the family thinking clearly about the entire thing. Which is why his decision to stay worked, because he realized just how screwed they really are. He even had a fun moment in the superstore where he flirted with a Goth girl who sported vampire-like bite marks on her neck.
The kid playing "The Chinaman" was pretty funny too. He was sort of a cross between Napoleon Dynamite and Morpheus.
But what I'm really impressed by here is the serialized way the story is playing out. The new status quo hasn't even been set yet, but the writers have already set up two factions chasing the family: the FBI and Esteban. The question is: who will find them first?
I can't imagine what another season of "Weeds" will look like after this story plays out, but I'm fully on board to see where it goes.
Crave Online Rating: 8 out of 10.
