The Tease: 'Weeds' Season Finale

Before discussing the fantastic second season finale of Weeds, I have a little business that must be taken care of...

Dear Showtime,
Please pick up a third season of Weeds. Not in two months or three months, but tomorrow. Thank you.
Love and rockets,
Daniel

Weeds ends a superlative second season with a slew of cliffhangers so precarious that I'm already frustrated by the inevitable need to wait at least six months for more episodes. If Showtime's two-seasons-and-out curse -- high profile victims have included Street Time, Huff and Dead Like Me -- rears its ugly head again, I'm going to be one ticked off critic.

In its second season, Jenji Kohan's comedy went from a one-joke (suburban mom sells pot) laffer fueled by a few good performances to a show so packed with both laughs and genuine dramatic stakes that 25 minutes per-episode has rarely seemed like enough.

The transition was hinted at in the season one finale, when dealer-on-the-rise Nancy Botwin (the splendid Mary-Louise Parker) discovered that her new boyfriend (Martin Donovan) was a DEA agent. That twist set off a season in which most of the show's core relationships deepened and darkened, including Nancy's ties to partner-in-crime Conrad (Romany Malco) and former hook-up Heylia (Tonye Potano). Meanwhile, Nancy's eldest son Silas (Hunter Parrish) became increasingly rebellious, her youngest son Shane (the cast's most improved player Alexander Gould) found a productive outlet for his eccentricity and brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk) explored becoming a rabbi and lost two toes. On the side, we've also been treated to Celia's (Elizabeth Perkins) descent into politics, voyeurism and, worst of all, an affair with Kevin Nealon's Doug.

Everything comes to a head in the finale, titled "Pittsburgh" and written by Kohan. The episode features an elementary school graduation, a Mexican (or Armenian) stand-off, some sex, some death and a Snakes on a Plane joke so satisfying it deserves to be the last one ever filmed. It also includes what I hope won't be Zooey Deschanel's last appearance as Kat, a wacky free-spirit who once stabbed Andy for stepping on her spirit turtle and thinks nothing of cat-fighting with a 12-year-old girl.

The one real problem with the finale is just how many plotlines end in limbo. The only place we get actual resolution is with the sham marriage between Nancy and her DEA beau and even that is likely to cause both legal and emotional complications in the future. And would it have killed them to bring back Meital Dohan's Yael for one last appearance?

Last year, Showtime made fans wait until mid-December (in the aftermath of three Golden Globe nominations) for renewal. Please don't do that again.

Thoughts on the finale, the season or the state of Weeds?

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