Weeds "Only Judy Can Judge"

Season 8 Episode 4 continues with the theme of one big happy family.  Nancy, her three sons (Silas, Shane and Stevie), her dead first husband’s brother (Andy) her sister (Jill), Jill’s daughters, and even a friend-of-the family* (Doug) are all living under one roof. Silas and Shane have even each invited a friend to join the dinner party on the patio. Nancy tempts fate by standing at the head of the table to repeat the toast she was in the midst of giving when she was shot. No one is shot..

[*I could also describe Doug as Nancy’s former employer (twice over), former sex partner, and former partner-in-crime, but friend of the family seems to best describe his current relationship to Nancy.]

Sweetest Moment of the Week:  Nancy and little Stevie go for a late night swim in the neighbor's pool. Stevie starts to emotionally reconnect with his mother after her long absence (prison, hospitalization, and for a time, Jill’s refusal to allow Nancy to see the boy who was in Jill’s care while Nancy was in prison.)

Dirtiest Moment of the Week: Doug gets into a war with a neighbor, and the excrement keeps escalating. It begins with the neighbor’s dog leaving a smelly token of his visit on the porch of the Nancy’s family’s home. It goes from bad to “oh-no, I can’t believe they did that.”

Coolest Moment of the Week: This is the coolest moment every week. The show opens with the song “Little Boxes” written by Malvina Reynolds.  (“Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky tacky, Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes all the same.”)  This was the theme music for the show’s first few seasons, but then it was dropped.  Now that Nancy and family are back in suburbia (Connecticut now; Agrestic, California before) the theme song is back. Each week it is sung by a different vocalist with a different arrangement which makes the song new each time. I look forward to seeing what they will do with the song each week. As the song plays, a fast–motion hand is drawing the history of the show, depicting all the places Nancy has lived since Season 1, Episode 1. (Even if you don’t watch the show, catch the opening credits and song.)  

This is still a great show.  Get the DVD and watch from the beginning.