The second season of Weeds follows much the same formula as the first, and incase you haven’t seen the first season I suggest you do so beforehand. But for your benefit I’ll quickly run over what you’ve missed. Nancy (Mary Louise Parker) has recently lost her husband and the only way she sees to raise her children in the affluent neighborhood they’ve become accustom too is by dealing weed. Most of her customers are parents, most notably the town councilman Doug Wilson (Kevin Nealon, Saturday Night Live). While dealing with problems at home and on the streets Nancy goes through life the best way she can, which is rather comedic for the rest of us.
Season 2 picks up with Nancy getting in over her head with the narcotics business as she begins growing her own product. But with the help of several members of the community things seem to be playing out rather nicely, even with Nancy dating a DEA agent. Her son’s eventually find out just how their mother keeps paying the bills, and both deal with it in their own ways. But even that’s not the last of Nancy’s problems as Celia heads up an anti drug committee in the community, promising to make Agrestic a drug free community.
Season 1 seemed dark to me, but this season goes beyond that, especially for a show dubbed to be a comedy. But even so, it did provide quite a few laughs once again, and I really enjoyed the dramatic side of it. Ultimately I found this season to be on par with the first and with a climatic conclusion to the season I look forward to watching the third season. Of course this set is a worthy purchase for fans of the show, but as always use your discretion when making a purchase, and definitely check out the first season if you haven’t already.
Video
Presented in 1.78:1 Widescreen, Weeds looks pretty much what you’ve come to expect from a TV show on DVD. Softness is the transfer main problem; the lack of detail missed is astounding when compared to the Blu-ray release. Blacks can also look a bit washed out, especially when lighting conditions are low. However, with realistic flesh tones, hues, and vibrant looking colors the transfer is far from looking poor. Although Weeds Season 2 isn’t the best looking TV show on DVD, Lionsgate has still provided something that is visually pleasing and it will sure please fans of the show.
Audio
Lionsgate has included 5.1 Dolby Digital EX and 2.0 Dolby Digital tracks with the release of Weeds, both do a decent job presenting the shows material. As expected, dialogue is focused from the front channels with minimal support from the rear and sub. When these channels are in use they sound weak in comparison to the dialogue track, which makes the audio sound awfully flat at times. Luckily dialogue sounds good at all times, with no dropouts or echoing. The tracks both do a good job replicating the shows material on DVD, just don’t expect a better sounding track than the one heard on TV.
Special Features
Lionsgate has included an impressive amount of features for this release. Fans of the show will enjoy them all as they give a lot of information on the show.
- Audio Commentary – Commentary with cast and crew, including Mary-Louise Parker.
- MILF Gag Reel – 2 minutes of bloopers.
- Trivia Tracks – A trivia track that is available for 6 episodes. The track includes tidbits on the show as well as just everyday general information.
- Huskeroos Commercial – A 21 second Huskeroo commercial.
- 4 Exclusive Featurettes – One feature merely shows the “tools†of the trade with a series of photo stills while another displays the terminology used in the line of business. A 10 minute inside look Conrad’s grow op including an in depth look on how growing Marijuana works. Finally there is a 5 minute discussion on the 5 best type of bud.
- Little Boxes Montages – 4 different montages of the song Little Boxes totaling 4 minutes, none are really worth watching.
- “Jammin’ Nation†Extended Performance – A 5 minute extended version of Jammin’ Nation.
Final Thoughts
Weeds Season 2 didn’t exceed Season 1 in laughter or quality; it did however manage to stay on par with it, which is still an impressive feat. The DVD provides a good video transfer and a decent audio track which is enough to recommend this box set for fans of the show. However, as I’ve said before, if you haven’t seen it before check it out on TV first.
