‘Weeds’ Review: “Unfreeze”

What's the old saying? Take one step forward, take two steps back? Everyone on 'Weeds' is just trying to do the right thing, but maybe they're not wired that way -- and maybe it's time they (and more importantly, we) accept that.

Nancy and Silas have joined the Big Pharma corporation, with Nancy becoming a sales rep whose first assignment is shilling the faux-weed drug Meritor to doctors. Nancy meets one of her new coworkers, a caricature of a woman who kisses ass with the higher-ups and lays on the passive-aggression real thick with newcomer Nancy. 'Weeds' has always had an issue with cartoonish supporting characters, but this woman definitely wins the award for the most horrible.

Nancy heads off to her first office to speak to Dr. Cornish, a stand-offish type who refuses to play ball with pharmaceutical sales reps like Nancy -- he's a man with a really strong moral compass (as indicated by his crappy old car parked next to the sleek, stylish sports cars of all the other docs in his building) until Nancy gets her paws on him. She buys him lunch, gets his car washed, and tries to talk shop in his car, but that aforementioned compass doesn't so much inform her as it does turn her on in a way we've become very familiar with over the years. There's no gray area when it comes to the men Nancy's attracted to. It's always either highly dangerous, immoral criminals or good men with strong morals and ethics. And depending on who she's hopping in bed with each season, we're able to suss out where Nancy's head is at -- and right now, she wants to be a good person. Someone should teach her that morality isn't an STD.

So Nancy has a legitimate job and a career path selling (kind of) marijuana legally and trying to apply her old knowledge in new ways, but that's not quite working out for her. Silas isn't doing much better, working in the marijuana lab with a group of weirdos (also total caricatures), including a hyper-excited guy and a guy who thinks breathing too close to the plants will ruin them. Silas inadvertently flirts a little with the girlfriend of the latter in a disappointing turn of events that once again reinforces that the writers don't know what to do with him unless he's interacting with a woman. It's understandable, given the relationship with his mother and the way that informs his decisions, but his character has never truly felt whole. As we come to the conclusion of the series, it might be nice to see Silas find some peace without the help of a lady.

Andy might be the only person with his head screwed on correctly in this family, as he goes to visit their Rabbi neighbor to ask for a job at the temple. Andy is sent to lead an afternoon Torah discussion group for tween boys, and he obviously fits right in, charming the crap out of the snot-nosed kids with his ability to relate to their worldview and speak to them on a level they understand. If anyone has truly grown, it's Andy, even with his still-obvious complex feelings regarding Nancy, which might still come back to the surface by the end of this series, much to Jill's chagrin.

Still only existing as comic relief, Doug spends this week bidding on a space suit at a NASA auction with all his "charity" money, only to discover that there's been a freeze placed on his company's account. Unless Doug puts his money where his mouth is and actually starts using some of that money to help the homeless, he risks losing everything. It's a bit obvious where this is going, but Doug needed something humane to ground his arc, given his shady and selfish past.

Shane has graduated from the police academy, but that's not impressing his girlfriend's snobby mother. Unable to head into work as a real officer until his next birthday due to the age restriction, he heads off with his mentor to assist with the seedier side of police work, but the look on his face by the end of the episode seems to indicate that he'd much rather be straight than continue family tradition.

Quotable:

"Well praise the lord and pass the stretch mark cream. I'm still fresh on the inside."

"Bureaucratic Holocaust."

This week's "Little Boxes" theme is a blast from the past -- a 1960s cover by The Womenfolk: