Saturday, January 17, 2009

Weed-Watching

Today saw the beginning of a new addiction-Weeds. I don't know why I hadn't tried it before. Just waiting for the right time, I guess. I just finished the fourth season of Six Feet Under and I love that show so much that I don't want to see it end after the fifth-but it's there. Looming. So, I'm putting it off and getting high on Weeds. Several people have told me I would like it. And I say to them-sorry I didn't get on it sooner! I'm catching up. I'm six episodes into the show and I immediately started taking a liking to it.

The most experience I had with Mary Louise Parker was through Angels In America in which she plays Harper Pitt, the Mormon/Valium-addict/wife of a closeted lawyer and she handles the chaotic facets of her character's life with such tenacity. The life of her Weeds character of Nancy Botwin, too, has been inundated with more than any one woman should have to handle. I think that Parker's talent lies in exhibiting those struggles in a very genuine manner as she plays women of strength while being open to express vulnerability and affliction that is readable on screen no matter how subtle the emotional subtext.

I can't wait to watch more and am pleased to read that this year the show was renewed for a 5th & 6th season.

2 comments:

Ryan said...

Weeds is, for lack of a better word, addicting. I tore through the first season two years ago and, for reasons I'm still unclear on, never continued into the second season. (Which is odd, because the first season ends with an awesome cliffhanger.)

The thing that I remember most about the show is that MLP's character would always drink her hot coffee with a straw - I've been doing the same thing ever since.

For another great MLP role, check out Jane Campion's 1996 film The Portrait of a Lady , starring Nicole Kidman, Viggo Mortensen and Christian Bale, among others. Her role is small, but it will again prove her versatility.

Nikki Stafford said...

I loved Weeds, but it sort of lost me midway through season 3, and I've never gone back. So when you get to that point, let me know if I should return. What started off as a wacky and hilarious show just got weird weird weird. But the uncle was worth the entire thing for me.

I still adore the theme song, though. :)