Weeds (season 3)
Weeds (season 3) | |
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DVD cover art | |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes | 15 |
Release | |
Original network | Showtime |
Original release | August 13 – November 19, 2007 |
Season chronology | |
The third season of Weeds premiered on August 13, 2007, and consisted of 15 episodes. The third season of "Weeds" received universal praise and is often regarded as the best and most interesting season of the show. Metacritic gives the season a high score of 82, meaning universal acclaim. 82.[1]
Plot
The third season of Weeds begins with the fallout from the botched drug deal of the season 2 finale: Celia finds and destroys the entire harvest; U-Turn pays the mobsters to leave Nancy and him alone; Silas is arrested and sentenced to community service; Sanjay (Maulik Pancholy), comes out of the closet, but U-Turn forces him to have sex with a woman who becomes pregnant with his child. During season 3, Silas and Shane remain the same age, however, as the season proceeds Shane turns 12.
During the first half of the season, Nancy works to pay off her debt to U-Turn, owed because U-Turn saved her life, and because Celia destroyed an entire pot harvest. Nancy also gets a legitimate job working for Sullivan Groff (Matthew Modine), a crooked developer from the neighboring community of Majestic, and soon becomes his lover. Celia, who has also been intimate with Groff, resents Nancy for this.
Silas begins selling pot for his mother using the alias Judah and meets Tara (Mary-Kate Olsen), an evangelical Christian who enjoys smoking pot and helps him sell it. Shane and Isabelle become outcasts at the heavily-religious Majestic summer school and form a friendship. As familial stress increases, Shane begins having conversations with his dead father and insists Judah is really there. Nancy gets called in by the DEA and is terrified her arrest is imminent. It turns out that her marriage to Peter Scottson has been discovered, a hefty life insurance payment awaits.
At U-Turn's behest, Conrad and Heylia start a grow business. U-Turn sees talent in Nancy and trains her to be his lieutenant, while simultaneously starting a war with rival Mexican dealers. When U-Turn has a heart attack while jogging, Marvin suffocates him and becomes the new boss of U-Turn's crew. Marvin then botches an attempted truce with the Mexicans, allowing Nancy to clear all debts for her and Conrad and end the gang war.
Debt-free, but feeling lonely, Nancy attempts to befriend Peter's ex-wife, Valerie. The two bond over their troubled lives. Their friendship turns sour when Valerie demands Peter's life-insurance money. Valerie feels it is rightfully hers, due to her longer marriage to Peter and the child they had together. Nancy promises to give it to Valerie, but has to first use most of it to replace the money Doug "borrowed" from the Agrestic treasury to help Nancy get back in business, pay his divorce lawyer, and get laser eye surgery. Despite receiving several payments, Valerie believes that Nancy will never give her the full amount, and also believes Nancy knows the location of Peter's hypothetical secret stash of cash. She hires a private investigator to trail Nancy. The investigator discovers Nancy is a drug dealer and blackmails her for most of the remaining life-insurance money, in exchange for not telling Valerie or the DEA. Nancy pays him, then ensures the investigator won't come after her again by blackmailing him for blackmailing her. Nancy confronts Valerie, telling her that she would have gotten the money, despite Nancy having no obligation to give it to her, but that now Nancy no longer has any money, thanks to the sleazy investigator Valerie hired thus ending their brief friendship.
Meanwhile, the nearby Christian community of Majestic has been attempting a hostile takeover of Agrestic, with Doug leading the charge due to the large amount of money it will bring in. But Groff's gift—a new house in Majestic—to Celia leads to jealousy, and Doug begins sabotaging the Majestic city infrastructure, although it is already too late, as Celia brings it to a public referendum. To get back at Groff, Doug steals the giant cross from Majestic's megachurch, eventually putting it inside the grow house. Meanwhile, Dean has a motorcycle accident, which forces Celia to take care of him against her will. Heylia and Conrad are forced to move the grow operation and Nancy negotiates the use of Celia's off-the-books house in Majestic. Andy has a brief excursion into the pornographic film industry, also at Celia's off-the-books house, and later befriends a group of bikers while trying to score with one of its female members; they want him to start selling their weed. Nancy and Conrad become lovers while hanging out at the grow house, but Conrad realizes he has no future with her. Nancy turns to Guillermo—the leader of the Mexican dealers—to get protection when the bikers threaten her family after she refuses to sell their low-quality "ditch weed". Guillermo decides to burn down the bikers' marijuana field, causing a huge fire which spreads to the Agrestic area. At that time, thermal cameras spot the stolen cross and the DEA moves in.
Nancy, meanwhile, takes advantage of the fire and pours gasoline throughout her house and lights it with a match, ensuring that she and her family will be leaving and moving on, and there will be no evidence of their drug activities.
Cast
Main cast
- Mary-Louise Parker as Nancy Botwin
- Elizabeth Perkins as Celia Hodes
- Tonye Patano as Heylia James
- Romany Malco as Conrad Shepherd
- Hunter Parrish as Silas Botwin
- Alexander Gould as Shane Botwin
- Allie Grant as Isabelle Hodes
- Andy Milder as Dean Hodes
- Justin Kirk as Andy Botwin
- Kevin Nealon as Doug Wilson
Guest Stars
- Zooey Deschanel as Kat Wheeler
- Mary-Kate Olsen as Tara Lindman
- Matthew Modine as Sullivan Groff
- Becky Thyre as Pam Gruber
- Daryl Sabara as Tim Scottson
Recurring cast
- Patricia Harris-Smith as Sarah
Episodes
No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Theme song performance | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
23 | 1 | "Doing the Backstroke" | Craig Zisk | Jenji Kohan | Randy Newman | August 13, 2007 | 0.82[2] |
Silas is arrested for stealing surveillance cameras and vandalism to city property. U-turn releases Nancy under supervision to find the MILF weed. Celia takes Silas car and discovers the MILF weed in the trunk. For "Nancy's own good," Celia destroys all of the weed by dumping it in Nancy's pool. U-turn makes a deal with the Armenians to split the proceeds of the MILF weed heist equally; the Armenians leave. Kat abandons Shane in a diner; he tries to drive back to Agrestic in Andy's van. Andy and Abumchuck track Kat and Shane to the diner; Abumchuck then abandons Andy. Andy eventually finds the van, which now is under an Amber Alert. Dean and Doug have a fight that quickly ends when they discover a cache of narcotic drugs that they share. | |||||||
24 | 2 | "A Pool and His Money" | Craig Zisk | Jenji Kohan | Angelique Kidjo | August 20, 2007 | 0.74[3] |
U-turn finds Sanjay, who comes out of the closet, figuratively and literally. U-turn, outraged that Sanjay is gay, has Clinique "fuck the gay out" of him; she fails. Nancy fails to save the MILF weed after the THC dissolved into the pool water. Desperate, Nancy turns to Heylia for money. Heylia tries to bail out Conrad; however, U-turn turns down Heylia's offer. U-turn declares that Conrad will grow MILF weed for him and Nancy still owes him $150,000. After recovering the van that is flagged for an Amber Alert, Andy is mugged by a gang of vigilantes who mistakenly thought he kidnapped and molested Shane and turned into the police. After walking through Agrestic drunk, Celia passes out in Dean's house. The episode ends with Nancy jumping into the pot-stained pool and screaming underwater. | |||||||
25 | 3 | "The Brick Dance" | Lev L. Spiro | Roberto Benabib | Kinky | August 27, 2007 | N/A |
To save money, Nancy fires Lupita and mulls selling the Agrestic house. U-turn sends Nancy to pick up a package from Guillermo, who makes her perform a sexually suggestive "brick dance." With Celia's help, Silas is given a lenient community service sentence for vandalism. To win sole custody of her daughter, Celia tries to make nice with Isabelle. However, Isabelle turns her mother into child-protective services due to the unsatisfactory conditions in her hotel room. Dean wins sole custody. Having left rabbinical school, Andy is ordered to fulfill his Army Reserve obligation after being told his missing toes aren't enough to get him discharged. Dana has thrown Doug out of the Wilson house. Agent Fundis visits Nancy to talk to her about Peter's disappearance. | |||||||
26 | 4 | "Shit Highway" | Martha Coolidge | Roberto Benabib | Donovan | September 3, 2007 | 0.74[3] |
Sullivan Groff petitions the Agrestic city council to allow Majestic to transport sewage through Agrestic's sewer system. With Celia's help, Groff hires Nancy to be his executive assistant. Shane expresses his pride in Nancy taking "a real job." Groff makes a romantic move on Celia. After executing a political power play, Doug regains his seat on the Agrestic city-council. Andy is going through basic training and witnesses Private Rodriguez getting impaled by a tracking drone during a "special exercise;" Andy flees the scene with a cell phone recording of Rodriguez's death. After Agent Fundis starts surveillance of Nancy, Silas insinuates that he will deal pot, and Nancy is helpless to stop him. | |||||||
27 | 5 | "Bill Sussman" | Craig Zisk | Rolin Jones | Billy Bob Thornton | September 10, 2007 | N/A |
Groff bribes the Agrestic city council to win approval of his sewer scheme. Doug receives a golf membership; Celia receives a new house. Andy returns the recording of Rodriguez's death to the US Army in exchange for an honorable discharge. Shane attends a Christian-themed summer school in Majestic. Silas does well selling pot; however, Nancy still refuses to allow him to make dealing a career. "This is a family in crisis." Marvin is shot by Guillermo's gang; Nancy has to drive Marvin to the doctor while he bleeds over her car's upholstery. Along the way, U-turn retaliates by committing a drive-by shooting from Nancy's car. U-turn orders Nancy to guard a trunk of heroin stolen from Guillermo. | |||||||
28 | 6 | "Grasshopper" | Perry Lang | Devon K. Shepard | The Shins | September 17, 2007 | N/A |
Groff orders Nancy to throw a party to curry favor with some Agrestic leaders. Nancy orders Andy to cater. Groff refers Andy to a movie producer for a catering gig. Nancy and Celia reconcile. Groff takes Celia to the party as his date. Celia reveals her romantic interest in Groff. When Doug discovers that Celia got a better bribe than him, he prompts wildlife officials to shut down construction of the sewer line. Shane is depressed due to summer school and lack of maternal attention. Silas meets Tara while dealing pot at the Majestic community center. U-turn tells Nancy that he plans to groom her to replace Marvin. U-turn and Nancy visit Heylia's grow house. U-turn teaches Nancy how to threaten one's enemies. When she apologizes to Heylia, he instructs her, "Thug means never having to say you're sorry." Marvin becomes jealous of Nancy and murders U-turn while he is having a heart attack. | |||||||
29 | 7 | "He Taught Me How To Drive By" | Paul Feig | Matthew Salsberg | The Individuals | September 24, 2007 | 0.64[3] |
Marvin assumes leadership of U-turn's operation. Conrad pushes Marvin to directly confront Guillermo. At the meeting, Guillermo utterly routs Marvin. In exchange for her returning the heroin trunk, Guillermo orders Marvin to release Nancy and Conrad from his debt. Isabelle and Shane stir up trouble at summer school while competing for the romantic attention of a fundamentalist Christian girl. Nancy meets Tara and instantly approves of her after she declares her pledge to remain abstinent until marriage. After Groff fails to convince Agrestic's city-council to approve an Agrestic-Majestic merger, Celia suggests Groff call for a referendum on the issue. Groff assigns Nancy the task of "legalizing" his construction crew and collecting signatures for the referendum. Groff and Nancy start a sexual affair. Peter's body is exposed by a rain storm. | |||||||
30 | 8 | "The Two Mrs. Scottsons" | Craig Zisk | Rolin Jones | Man Man | October 1, 2007 | 0.58[3] |
After Peter's body is recovered, Capt. Till confronts Agent Fundis with a report of his criminal activity. At the burial, Nancy sees Peter's ex-wife, Valerie, and starts to stalk her. Nancy has Doug arrange to borrow $50,000 from Agrestic's public treasury so Nancy can buy MILF weed. Andy dips into the porn industry finding out that his foot is an asset to the dog-eat-dog world of hardcore porn. Celia has sex with Groff; he helps her overcome her self-consciousness relating to her breast removal. Isabelle and Shane become friends and share pot together. Andy performs in several "foot fuckers" porn shots. Nancy confronts Valerie at the radiology clinic where Valerie works. | |||||||
31 | 9 | "Release the Hounds" | Ernest Dickerson | Blair Singer | Joan Baez | October 8, 2007 | 0.52[3] |
Valerie and Nancy share an awkward conversation about Peter's death. Valerie is hostile to Nancy for stalking her; Nancy senses that Valerie "has a lot of anger." That evening, Valerie visits Nancy, and they agree to go out to dinner. Andy questions the wisdom of befriending Valerie. Nancy restarts her pot dealing operation. Silas suggests that Nancy allow Tara to sell. She begrudgingly agrees. Nancy turns Silas over to Conrad so Silas can learn how to grow pot. Dean is run off a cliff while driving his motorcycle and severely injured. Celia begrudgingly agrees to help Isabelle with Dean's recovery. After Majestic annexes Agrestic, Doug finds that his golf membership has been revoked. He retaliates by severely damaging Majestic's sewer pipe during the official annexation ceremony. | |||||||
32 | 10 | "Roy Till Called" | Craig Zisk | Victoria Morrow | Opening: The Decemberists Closing: Pink Martini | October 15, 2007 | N/A |
Nancy's pot selling proceeds swimmingly. Roy Till calls Nancy to his office. Although Nancy fears that she is going to be arrested, Till offers her a $119,000 life insurance benefit plus Peter's pension in exchange for her silence on her knowledge of Peter's illegal dealings. Valerie confronts Nancy over Peter's life insurance benefit that Nancy agrees to give to her. When Majestic's government arranges to audit Agrestic's books, Doug goes to Nancy for money. Nancy tries to "return" Peter's insurance benefit in small installments, but Valerie balks at that. Dean is discharged from the hospital. While Isabelle coordinates his care, Celia and Dean continue to spar. Celia discovers Groff and Nancy having sex. | |||||||
33 | 11 | "Cankles" | Julie Anne Robinson | Christina Kiang Booth | Michael Franti | October 22, 2007 | 0.61[3] |
Doug continues to clash with the Majestic city council. Tara reveals to Silas that she is dating someone else "for her cultural needs." Silas asks Nancy to cut Tara out of the business. As his boss, Nancy tells him to suck it up; as his mother, she comforts him. Valerie hires a private detective to investigate Nancy. Shane detects the PI using a home surveillance system that he installed. The PI, who claims to have documented Nancy's operation, blackmails her for $50,000. Nancy pays the blackmail but then refuses to give Valerie any more money, claiming she had to use the remainder of her insurance money to pay off the PI. Celia investigates Aguatecture, the front company for Heylia's grow house. She confronts Heylia, and they have a hostile conversation. Just as Celia turns to leave, Conrad walks into the front office, and they vaguely acknowledge each other. She then tortures Dean for information. Conrad delivers Nancy a message from Celia: "I know you fucked my boyfriend. I know you are dealing again. We'll be in touch." | |||||||
34 | 12 | "The Dark Time" | Ernest Dickerson | Victoria Morrow | Persephone's Bees | October 29, 2007 | 0.69[3] |
Celia confronts Nancy over "the many sins you have committed against me." When Celia threatens to turn Nancy into the police, Nancy pulls a knife to Celia's throat and threatens to kill her. Shane witnesses this incident and laments that criminality and violence are now a part of their lives. When a routine investigation by the fire marshal forces Conrad to move the grow house, Nancy makes a deal with Celia to re-establish the grow house in the building Groff gave to Celia. Doug plots revenge against Groff. While standing under a large painted Christian Cross art piece in Majestic, he declares, "Dumb name will know my wrath, the wrath of Doug. It's coming!" Groff later confronts Doug and accuses him of stealing the cross. Andy meets Chess who invites Nancy to buy pot from him. Conrad and Nancy reunite and have sex. He tells Nancy that Silas has a green thumb. | |||||||
35 | 13 | "Risk" | Paul Feig | Roberto Benabib & Rolin Jones & Matthew Salsberg | Laurie Berkner | November 5, 2007 | N/A |
Since many of the MILF plants died, Nancy agrees to buy pot from Chess. Unfortunately, Nancy's customers universally dislike his product. "They won't buy this at the manhole, and they smoke everything." Doug moves the "Majestic cross" to the grow house. Celia destroys furniture in Groff's office; Groff decides to leave town. Celia and Heylia reconcile while planting herbs outside the grow house. Silas and Tara reconcile. Nancy gets a tattoo of a U-turn sign to which Conrad takes offense. When Nancy refuses to buy more pot from Chess, he has Silas beaten up to threaten the Botwins. Shane starts speaking to Judah as if he were alive and living in the house. | |||||||
36 | 14 | "Protection" | Randy Zisk | Roberto Benabib | Linkin Park | November 12, 2007 | 0.68[3] |
Silas goes to the doctor; Andy and Nancy talk with Shane. "Judah" tells Andy that he is disappointed with the job Andy did while playing father. "Judah" tells Nancy that he is angry with her but still loves her. Nancy suggests that Shane is using the memory of Judah to vent at her. A DEA thermal imaging satellite finds the Majestic cross. Silas pushes Nancy to strike back at Chess so Nancy strikes a deal for protection with Guillermo. A wildfire starts when Guillermo sets Chess's grow field on fire. Nancy admits that she is a drug dealer. | |||||||
37 | 15 | "Go" | Craig Zisk | Jenji Kohan | Opening: Malvina Reynolds Closing: Pete Seeger | November 19, 2007 | 0.74[4] |
Majestic is evacuated. Heylia decides to establish a compassionate cannabis club. Conrad and Silas take MILF weed clones to grow elsewhere. Conrad and Nancy see each other for the last time. Shane refuses to leave their house because "Judah" refuses to leave. Nancy pretends to argue with Judah: "You both need to let go…of this pre-fab shit house." The police bust the grow house with the Majestic cross. A group of Majestic residents rush headlong into the fire to save the cross. The DEA interviews Groff who implicates Celia. Celia implicates Nancy. Nancy confronts Guillermo; he invites Nancy to traffic pot across the USA/Mexico border. Before driving south, Nancy returns to her house to burn it down herself. "Judah, if you are still here, I tried." The episode, and third season, end with a montage of a burning Agrestic/Majestic mirroring the opening credits. |
References
- ↑ "Weeds: Season 3". Metacritic. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
- ↑ Adalian, Josef (August 14, 2007). "'Weeds' sets ratings record". Variety. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Berman, Marc (March 2, 2010). "Weeds Ratings". Mediaweek. Archived from the original on April 18, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
- ↑ Nordyke, Kimberly (September 16, 2008). "Glossy finishes for 'Closer,' 'Weeds'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 20, 2008. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
External links
- List of Weeds episodes at the Internet Movie Database
- List of Weeds episodes at TV.com
- Weeds at epguides.com