As he championed “the new journalism” in the late sixties, Tom Wolfe suggested no one ever would write anything truly compelling—fact or fiction—about the suburbs; he asserted, “There is no life there.” During the New Depression, however, the suburbs have gone ghetto, suddenly teeming with...
As he championed “the new journalism” in the late sixties, Tom Wolfe suggested no one ever would write anything truly compelling—fact or fiction—about the suburbs; he asserted, “There is no life there.” During the New Depression, however, the suburbs have gone ghetto, suddenly teeming with life and depravity; and television writers are producing all kinds of compelling stuff about what they have discovered beyond the white picket fences. Witness Showtime’s smash-hit “Weeds,” the life and times of a “proper” suburban widow keeping-up appearances while she deals more dope than a six-pack of Mexican cartels.
As in “The Office,” the basic premise for “Weeds” is an import from Great Britain, adapted from the British film Saving Grace which showed a widow and her gardener conspiring to maintain the widow’s lifestyle by supplying the locals with their favorite herbal refreshment. Critics frequently compare “Weeds” with American Beauty for its exploitation of the idea “Normal is the face we wear to cover how f***ed-up we are.” By contrast with “Desperate Housewives,” Nancy Botwin, our entrepreneurial heroine, has far more good reason for desperation than her difficulty achieving orgasm; she has a house, a mortgage, two sons, and a reputation.
Since Bonfire of the Vanities tanked and “Weeds” flourished, Tom Wolfe may have to consider the distinct possibility that there is no life in Manhattan.
Season:Episode
Title
Queue
S08:E12
It's Time
Complete Season
Season 8 Episode 12: It's Time
S08:E11
God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise
Complete Season
Season 8 Episode 11: God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise
S08:E10
Threshold
Complete Season
Season 8 Episode 10: Threshold
S08:E09
Saplings
Complete Season
Season 8 Episode 9: Saplings
S08:E08
Five Miles From Yetzer Hara
Complete Season
Season 8 Episode 8: Five Miles From Yetzer Hara
S08:E07
Unfreeze
Complete Season
Season 8 Episode 7: Unfreeze
S08:E06
Allosaurus Crush Castle
Complete Season
Season 8 Episode 6: Allosaurus Crush Castle
S08:E05
Red in Tooth and Claw
Complete Season
Season 8 Episode 5: Red in Tooth and Claw
S08:E04
Only Judy Can Judge
Complete Season
Season 8 Episode 4: Only Judy Can Judge
S08:E03
See Blue and Smell Cheese and Die
Complete Season
Season 8 Episode 3: See Blue and Smell Cheese and Die
S08:E02
A Beam of Sunshine
Complete Season
Season 8 Episode 2: A Beam of Sunshine
S08:E01
Messy
Complete Season
Season 8 Episode 1: Messy
S07:E13
Do her/Don't do her
Complete Season
Season 7 Episode 13: Do her/Don't do her
S07:E12
Qualitative Spatial Reasoning
Complete Season
Season 7 Episode 12: Qualitative Spatial Reasoning
