Weeds Showtime Series

[AKA23]

Hey everyone. I recently finished watching this show. I'm a huge fan of "The West Wing" and I tend to like drug war themed entertainment vehicles, so this show, starring Mary Louise Parker, who played a political strategist in "The West Wing", appealed to me. I've recently finished "Weeds" and I think it's an entertaining show, but it did seem to become more over the top and outlandish as it went on, and I didn't like the last season at all and found the series finale to be underwhelming. Do we have any other fans of this show on the board? If so, what did you like most about it, and do you agree that it seemed to get worse as it went on? It felt to me like it was initially more grounded in reality, which I liked, but after Season 3 or so, upon leaving their small town, the plots became more and more ridiculous. It also seemed to suffer from not really having a cohesive story arc that was being built upon from season to season. It seemed like watching it there was no overall story they were driving towards culminating, and that it just kept getting renewed due to its popularity. Mary is really wonderful in the show. The role is a great fit for her. I think that lack of focus kind of harmed it as it went on for me. It almost felt like with each successive season the show kept reinventing itself, not quite knowing what it wanted itself to be. It is, however, wholly original. All the other shows that I've seen in this genre, like "Ozark" and "Breaking Bad", are much darker and less comedic. "The Mule," the Clint Eastwood film, comes closest to matching the tone of "Weeds", but this is lighter still, in my opinion.

Part of the reason I watched it is because Showtime recently announced, with Mary-Louise Parker onboard, that they're planning to bring it back for a new season. Would anyone be excited to see that? Are there interesting story possibilities now that recreational marijuana is increasingly being legalized at the state level that weren't explored during the original run, or do people feel this story has run its course?

[Gideon58]

As much as I enjoyed the first few seasons, Weeds became increasingly over the top as it entered its final season and they would have to do some serious overhauling of the show from where it ended to interest me in re-committing to it.

[AKA23]

Thanks Gideon. Seems like you agree with me. What about others? Holden Pike I seem to recall you being a fan of "Weeds". What are your thoughts on my post and your impression of the series?

[Holden Pike]

The first two and a half seasons or so are fun, sometimes bordering on brilliant...and from there I have never seen a series get so progressively bad so fast. It was damn near unwatchable the last season and a half or so. Can't think of another show that started out that good and then got that relentlessly bad.

[AKA23]

HBO's "Westworld" had the same kind of trajectory, in my opinion. The first season was wonderful, but then after that, it got progressively worse, and the last season in particular, I could often not even understand the plot or what was going on from episode to episode. It became inscrutable.

[beelzebubble]

I loved Weeds back in the day. I even enjoyed Mary Louise Parker, who I find annoying. She seems like one of those women who really thinks she is so cute. She can barely get over herself. But she is a good actress and she only made me cringe a few times in this series.

[AKA23]

TONGO, I saw an older thread recently that you watched this too. What are your impressions of the series and my post?

Also, it seems like of the people that have commented so far, we're all in agreement, "Weeds" started off promising, then kind of fell apart. Why do you think that happened? What caused this decline and what did they do wrong in the show? To me, it seemed like they didn't have a coherent story arc or an overall vision for the series and that was the main downfall of the show. After Season 3, it seemed like it departed further and further from the original premise of the show.

[GulfportDoc]

...
Part of the reason I watched it is because Showtime recently announced, with Mary-Louise Parker onboard, that they're planning to bring it back for a new season. Would anyone be excited to see that? Are there interesting story possibilities now that recreational marijuana is increasingly being legalized at the state level that weren't explored during the original run, or do people feel this story has run its course?
'Preciate the tip. I LOVE Mary-Louise Parker, so will definitely check out this series...... at least the first two seasons....:)

[AKA23]

So, for those of us who liked "Weeds", what are your thoughts on "Orange is the New Black", which is by the same creator? Is it worth watching, how do the tone and style differ, as it seems similarly crime-themed, and does it also start promising and then fall apart?