A Severe Case of Contact High

As much as a tv fanatic I claim to be, there are still very few shows I can watch non-stop for hours without becoming slightly bored. It's seldom that I find a show which makes me sit in on a Friday night and sit alone in my room watching for hours. I can only think of a handful of series that are so fantastically engaging that they squash any traces of my ADD (Buffy, How I Met Your Mother, and Six Feet Under being my prime examples). There is one show I never added to this list because I always have to watch it on DVD and once it's finally released, the new season starts...thus, I'm never fully caught up and can't have the same crazed fan feelings.

Luckily for me, last night I caught up. Adding to the list of page-turning shows (is there a name for this book phrase when it concerns television?) is a little comedy I've loved for years: Weeds.

Now, our lovely Rachael did quite the thorough recap of Season 4 so I won't go into the details much. Instead, I want to take a moment to discuss the new fifth season and how amazing things are getting. First off, Celia is one of the greatest characters in television history. She is probably at the top of the love to hate her list and she deserves an interesting storyline. Season 5 has yet to find one for Celia. Granted, she was kidnapped by her crazy daughter, but that was swept under the rug and Celia managed to return back to Renmar with few repercussions; however, Celia did finally realize that she is loved by no one. Hopefully this new found realization will create a new shift in her character...something fresh. Doug and Silas meanwhile are in the midst of their medicinal marijuana business, and the storyline could not be more boring. Silas has clearly grown up but the juxtaposition of his mature self with Doug's idiotic, immature self just makes me hate Doug all that much more. Shane probably has one of the most interesting storylines this season. He is now dealing pot old school ala Mommy dearest. Shane has already dealt to his English teacher and been ripped off because of it. Seeing little badass Shane try to be the new Silas is kind of entertaining and I look forward to watching him in the future.

Now even though the subplots are less than par this season, Weeds is still as amazing as ever because of one relationship: Nancy and Andy. Andy truly loves Nancy. This entire season revolves around his new discovery of aforementioned love and his quest to make things right for Nancy and her children. In an endearing episode, Andy tells Nancy he got ahold of a large amount of money and the family can now run away together and escape Esteban. Andy assures Nancy he will help her raise the baby should she choose to keep it. And in an important moment, he tells Nancy to leave Esteban a note saying goodbye because if he truly loves her he would understand. Cut to the end of the episode where Andy is all packed and ready to go but finds a note addressed to him from Nancy who is seen moving into Esteban's house with Shane.

In the most recent episode, the writer's took a huge risk and flashed forward six months after Andy and Nancy's departure. Every character is essentially in the same place they left up (minus a huge growth in Nancy's tummy). The only character whose life has changed is the heart stricken Andy's. He now has a full-on beard and spends his days playing video game. Andy refuses to return Nancy's phone calls or speak to her until he hears Esteban proposed. In Andy's parting words at the end of the episode, he tells Nancy that Uncle Andy won't be around when she her third (future) husband dies to pick up the pieces.

Stop right there. I may have been weary of the Andy loves Nancy storyline originally. I may have believe it was a bit too obvious of a direction to go in. I may also have thought that Andy was a little bit too good for Nancy. But, lately....I'm hooked. When Andy realizes he may love Nancy at the end of Season 4 it comes to the audience in the same way that it came to Andy...as a shock. What the writers have done so well though is have Andy realize he must love her while simultaneously convincing the audience that clearly he has loved her all along. Their relationship did not need to be drawn out with sexual tension or timid smiles at one another because it just makes sense for him to fall for her. Here's this guy who has essentially been a fatherlike (ok, maybe older brother) to her children for the past few years. He was so involved in their lives that this womanizer had really no love interest in the past two and half seasons (I won't include the brief sex with Maria or with Nancy's sister, because obviously that was all about substitution). Andy lives for the Botwin family. Everything he does revolves around their happiness. Sure putting Andy and Nancy together could spell the end of the series, but we've had 5 amazing years so far and if we're heading toward the end then this is where I want to see it go.

Does Nancy love him back? Absolutely. I don't think she realizes it yet, but she must. If Andy was smart enough he would understand why she left him for Esteban. Really, Nancy took Andy's advice in the end. She left a man a letter who she knew would understand because he loves her. Nancy merely substituted Andy for Esteban. She couldn't leave Esteban by simply saying goodbye in a letter because Esteban does not love her...he's only invested because of their not-yet-born son. Nancy knew that leaving Esteban would mean hiding her family forever while leaving Andy in the end would not do much...because Andy loves her and he will understand.

Well, I understand too...and this is one relationship I cannot wait to see play out. I only wish I didn't have to wait til Monday.