Weeds: Season Five

In her starring role as widowed mother and suburban pot dealer Nancy Botwin, Mary-Louise Parker manages to be both supremely sexy and eminently watchable while making catastrophically poor decisions. Nancy begins the 13-episode 2009 fifth season of this Showtime original series carrying the child of possessive Tijuana drug kingpin Esteban Reyes (Demián Bichir), but her newfound glow may be due as much to relief that she's no longer being targeted for assassination by Reyes as to her pregnancy. Meanwhile, left to their own devices, elder son Silas (Hunter Parrish) partners up with the always irresponsible and perpetually stoned city councilman Doug Wilson (Kevin Nealon) to open a medicinal marijuana store (which brings its own set of headaches), while younger son Shane (Alexander Gould) becomes the school dealer. Meanwhile, Nancy's “frenemy” Celia (Elizabeth Perkins), the self-absorbed ice queen whose own daughter disowns her, continues to display her manipulative ways. Unfortunately, Weeds has been getting progressively more tiresome and repetitious, although its bent approach to social satire is still entertaining in its own twisted way. Jennifer Jason Leigh makes an appearance as Nancy's sister, and watch for Alanis Morissette as her obstetrician. DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary on select episodes by creator Jenji Kohan and others, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and bloopers. Optional. (S. Axmaker)