episodes: weeds, secret diary of a call girl

Weeds: First of all, I miss the opening theme song. I understand that the "little boxes" are no longer relevant, but now there's nothing. No song. No hook or catch. Just clever images that somehow incorporates pot into it. And wow. This season is ridiculous, and not in a good way. More like a writers-went-with-their-first-drafts kind of way. I like that Silas has started a relationship with an older woman (played by Julie Bowen), but I don't like that her character was not given a reason for being with a seventeen-year-old boy. All we know about her is that she works at a cheese shop and has a ten-year-old son. And, although I don't like gratuitous female nudity, I don't think the proper response is for equal gratuitous male nudity. Hunter Parrish has a beautiful body, but did I need to see his butt as he went to third base with his new friend? Even though the actor is twenty-one, his character is underage and it makes me feel gross. (And we'll get to jaw-droppingly disgusting in a moment...)

I enjoyed Albert Brooks's cranky gambling grandfather, and although I thought his exit was unrealistic, I do think he had to leave. But why is the entire gang back? Celia's integration into her new life was a complete waste (not to mention implausible and uninspired), and why is Doug still around? He's a fantastic character to have around (it's hilarious that a brief encounter with a Mexican refugee has turned him into a coyote), but the reason for him being there was ridiculously lame. And why does Nancy allow men to use her for sex? And why is sexuality her only weapon? Flashbacks of her and Judah made her seem like a good person at one point, but she's a terrible mess of a person. And on to the most disgusting thing I've ever seen on TV... and I've seen a lot of TV... Nancy's son, Shane, is masturbating to pictures of his naked mother. Umm, what? And why are the naked pictures done by a professional photographer? If I didn't enjoy Justin Kirk so much, I would've given up on this show a long time ago.

P.S. Hunter Parrish is set to star as Melchior in Spring Awakening in September. It's a crazy good show (the music/synopsis, anyway), and I'm surprised to learn that Parrish can sing. Kind of hot.


Secret Diary of a Call Girl: The show is now 85% sex, 15% character development. If only we can scale it back to 60-40, I'd be happy. The character Ben is growing on me, but it's really irritating that Hannah's character only grows when she's around him. I understand that the show requires her to discuss her career (like a diary), but aren't these confessions/acknowledgements also about her? If the episode's storylines are metaphors, they're not very strong ones. One of her clients is into S&M; she's not. What does that mean for her? It just tells us, the viewers, that she's not a fetishistic prostitute. She's classy. And I don't quite understand how Ben can engage in a couples session with Hannah and strangers and not feel weird about it, especially since he's getting married to Vanessa (who, as far as I know, we've never seen). The 85-15 setup isn't working for me, but Hannah's character is slowly starting to grow, so I'll stick around for a bit longer. And I still don't think Billie Piper is very attractive.