‘Weeds’: Nancy Does a Drive-By

Instead of getting all tangled up in the disappointing ludicrousness that Weeds has been spiraling into these past couple of weeks, let’s focus on a few delightful and hope-giving moments: Last night’s episode featured a stellar scene between Mary Louise Parker and Justin Kirk and, in the absence of any discernible plot development, some of the season’s niftiest writing to distract us.

“I think I am okay,� says Nancy, her glossy hair in pigtails as she scrubs blood from the back seat of her Prius, parked in her driveway. “Stuff keeps piling on and piling on and piling on … I really think I’m finding myself.� The blood is from a drive-by shooting, Nancy in the driver’s seat, U-Turn pulling the trigger. It is one of the show’s most preposterous moments, but it led to Nancy’s delectable breakdown or, as Uncle Andy (now somewhat inexplicably in disguise, wearing a bronze wig from Rite Aid and going by the name of Bill Sussman) put it: “You are clearly going through a slow, psychotic breakdown.�

Crouching in the back seat, Nancy just keeps on scrubbing. “Oh, those?� she says, pointing manically to the bullet holes near the back wheel. “I was in a drive-by shooting yesterday. I may be a murderer … Actually, I think they only clipped him, you know. Hit him in the leg.� As the Agrestic sun shines on her For Sale sign, Nancy grits her soapy teeth, brandishes the cleaning liquid like a lion playing with a lizard, then squeals and says: “I have a seat full of blood; I have two license plates that I need to remove; I have an assistant’s job that a monkey could do; I have a death wish.�

“I like this new you,� says Andy/Bill, applying sunglasses and hoodie. Lips squeezed, back to scrubbing, Nancy concedes: “She’s a winner.� —Emma Pearse