The Show
This collection of 13 episodes from Season Five of Weeds lives up to the standards of its predecessors, serving up many of the absurd moments we've come to expect from this utterly messed up clan of friends and family. (A personal favorite: when a painfully lactating mother asks a grown male friend for help, and then the rest really needs to be seen.)
Suburban drug dealer Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) begins the season pregnant with her Mexican Mafia kingpin boyfriend's baby, and before long it seems as though almost the entire extended-and-growing family is somehow involved in the illicit business too, with new ventures, and new consequences, because this show has always been more than just fun and games. The overall story arc is reminiscent of Season Four, with many of the same beats and twists and turns, leading to a major finale that will no doubt have a profound influence on Season Six.
The Picture
Shot digitally, the 1.78:1 image does unfortunately show aliasing on fine patterns like the texture of a backpack strap and twitch on the weave of a shirt. The picture is also compromised by definite noise fairly frequently, sometimes quite severely. Backgrounds can appear unnaturally compressed, and while blacks can contain some details, some of the time, often they are unsatisfactorily vague. Overlooking these issues however, fine detail can actually be better than on some recent Blu-rays.
The Sound
I try to give credit where it's due, and Lionsgate's choice to release yet another TV-on-Blu-ray title in state-of-the-art DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 is admirable. But apart from a few aggressive moments spread across six hours (gunshots, etc.), the mix here is not really worthy of the star treatment. It's almost all dialogue, which is always spot-on, and the usual incidental effects. The highlights here are the DTS and Showtime logos, both of which offer a punchy (if brief) multichannel mix.
The Extras
Audio commentaries are supplied for a total of seven episodes, two with creator Jenji Kohan, one with writer Roberto Benabib and producer Matthew Salsberg, another with this duo plus actor Kevin Nealon, one with Nealon and actor Hunter Parrish, one with actors Justin Kirk and Alanis Morissette, and one with actors Elizabeth Perkins, Allie Grant and Andy Milder. "Little Titles" is a Jenji Kohan-narrated montage of all the Season Five show openers (three minutes), while "Really Backstage with Kevin Nealon" (eleven minutes) collects a lot of goofy behind-the-scenes footage shot by the actor.
"Crazy Love: A Guide to the Dysfunctional Relationships of Weeds" (12 minutes) is assembled from clips and recent interviews. Eleven minutes of bloopers are also included, along with "A Brief History of Weed," a highly stylized two-minute series promo clip full of startling marijuana facts. All of these video extras are presented in high definition. In standard definition are a second promo, this one themed around the 2008 presidential election (one minute), and "University of Andy" (34 minutes), an in-character (Justin Kirk's lovable Andy Botwin) guide to life on a dozen important topics.
Final Thoughts
Much like a hand-rolled fatty and a party-sized bag of Doritos (not that this site condones drug usage or junk food consumption), Weeds satisfies in a manner all its own. We can indulge in the lives of its characters, even overindulge in the bonuses, and not get cotton mouth, although the lack of surround activity might make us a little paranoid.
Product Details
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