[420 Girl]

Summer is a notoriously bad season for television. During this time of year, networks turn to reruns and reality shows to fill the time slots left vacant by vacationing scripted programs. This may be fulfilling to some, but for the people out there who still crave superbly executed programming, written by actual writers, performed by talented actors Showtime is the place to go. The show is called Weeds, created by Jenji Kohan, and yes the title does refer to marijuana, but the show is much more than a nod to stoners everywhere.

For those readers unfamiliar with the show, it centers on recently widowed soccer mom Nancy Botwin, played by Mary Louise Parker, who is in the business of selling marijuana in order to support her family. It all starts innocently enough, but soon she finds herself entangled in a much bigger web of drug trafficking along side Mexican Mafia members. Despite this rather heavy sounding description, the show brilliantly manages to keep its comedic edge.

Over the course of the last five seasons the show’s title has taken on a double meaning. Obviously there is the drug reference, but it is also a metaphor for Nancy’s trouble filled life in the sense that weeds grow uncontrollably, they keep coming back, and they are difficult to remove once they have taken hold. In this latest season, Nancy has blood on her hands, and with the pending birth of another child, this time to a drug kingpin, her life is quickly spinning out of control. Nothing is as she expected; her children have taken to the family business; and her simple plan to make quick cash has turned into a deadly enterprise where no one is safe, least of all herself. So for the readers out there tired of game shows and predictable pretend reality television, Nancy Botwin and her cohorts are worth checking out. Weeds airs Mondays at 10pm ET/PT on Showtime.

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