1877 - Orange is the New Black: season one

Right from the trailer I was super excited about this.  I enjoyed Jenji Kohan's Weeds enough, so wanted to see what she was up to next.  It was fun to see some of the actors that appeared in the last seasons of that series show up here - and now it explains why Natasha Lyonne was in the Weeds finale!
The best television series give us a window into a world we don't know, and present us with some form of unique family unit - this does both in spades.  They could have gone really cliched with the fish-out-of-water stuff - but Piper, as she states, learns about becoming herself in prison - and that's part of the point of the show, I think.  The tone here works quite well, it's light in moments, but it's always grounded in a little bit of a harsh reality.  The more the series goes along the more layers of relationships we get and it's really really worth investing the time in.
I'm a fan of the way that Netflix releases their series.  There's some beauty in waiting for another episode, but it's nice to also go through a story at your own pace.
So if you've got Netflix and you haven't started on this series then you've got absolutely no excuse.  It could very well be my favorite of their originals so far.  Do yourself a favor and check it out ASAP.

1762 - Weeds: season eight

It has been a long-ass ride to the end of this series.  Regardless of quality it's one of the more unique series in it's willingness to completely re-invent itself and it did so in some pretty amusing ways.  I was ridiculously impressed when the series actually sent Nancy off to prison and forced her to pay for her crimes.  This season was all about coming full circle, getting back to the suburbs and the heart of the story, and it did so in kind of a clunky way.  What comes now will be SPOILER RIDDEN, so proceed with caution…

As previously mentioned, this series has never had an issue re-inventing itself, jumping ahead in time, etc… so it wasn't a huge shock that the finale would jump ahead…. eight years?  Is that right?  And looking at the other jumps in time, and the seasons themselves it seems as if the entire series takes place over… what 13-15 years?  That's kind of amazing, really.  It almost felt like they re-watched the first season of the series to see what they should revisit here…. Scotson.  Check!  Shane's fascination with Pittsburg - check!  Silas and Megan - check!  Andy and the Rabbi chick - check!  Doug and his gay son - check!  Jumping ahead so far for the finale also meant forcing a lot of focus on a new actor as Stevie, the character who was probably given the least amount of focus for the rest of the series.  Am I happy that they all found peace at the end?  Sure - and I like that it left Nancy feeling pretty fucked up, and that Andy never gave in.  Their relationship was always the highlight for me.  Both Mary-Louise Parker and Justin Kirk are absolutely phenomenal, and their chemistry has been a huge plus to the show, and probably the chief reason that I always returned to it.  Their scene on the spot where her first husband died was a thing of beauty and pain and was easily one of the shows finest moments. 

So farewell to this show - I can't say I'll miss it terribly as I watched it more to see how it would end up - it ceased being the must-watch show that it started out as.  Kind of like an ex-girlfriend whom you have an amicable break-up with.  You still like them but you don't love them anymore, and don't think much about them when they're away. 

1626 - Weeds: season seven

Weeds has never been shy about showing Mary-Louise Parker off as a sexual object - especially in it's press material as seen above.  And who are we kidding?  She's pretty damn sexy in this show - and not only that but other characters consistently call her on her bullshit, which keeps you from hating the hell out of the character.
One thing Weeds does that no other show does is re-invent itself.  It's first three seasons took place in the 'burbs, but then it boldly shifted, and continued and continued to shift, until last season ended with Nancy being taken off to jail.  And now, it's three years later, and she's out on parole.  If you don't want to know any more I suggest you stop reading here.  There will be SPOILERS AHEAD.

So.  It's a fairly common trend these days for shows that have been on for awhile to do a time jump.  Mad Men did it, as did Desperate Housewives and most recently, True Blood.  It's a nice way to reset the cast and give them new things to do.  I liked the idea of shifting the series to New York and giving as a completely different playground to play in.  I loved bringing Heyla James back into the fold, and I liked seeing the other characters in different places, and I ALWAYS love Justin Kirk - who is as adorable and funny as Parker is sexy and charismatic. 
Weeds is one of those shows that is good at putting their characters into a big pickle and then easily getting them out.  For a more dramatic version of this, see Breaking Bad.  And while the entire season was like this, it's finale took it to a whole other level - one that I might just not buy.  Having Shane commit murder - great season hanger.  Having Nancy dragged off to prison - phenomenal.  Having Nancy with a sniper rifle on her, and ending with an unknown BANG... well... that's just a bit shitty.  Either the show gets cancelled, and the series ends with Nancy finally getting her comeuppance, or the show continues and they need to bullshit there way around this - either way I don't think it's ideal.
Will I tune in next season?  Of course I will.  Nancy is a great character in a series rich with them, and when the writing isn't so-so, it's pretty damn great.  That and I really want to see Nancy and Andy hook up (even if I do think that he can do sooooo much better)...

1541 - Californication: season four

At some point during this season David Duchovney did an interview in which he talked about the arch of a television character - particularly on a show like this where the story is character driven and continues to grow.  He said that it's a difficult balance because if a character doesn't move forward than it dies - but if it changes too far from it's origins then the audience grows detached from it.  And when it comes to this particular show the character of Hank Moody is probably one of the most charismatic man-childs in television history - but the one thing that happened consistently in this season was that the people closest to him (save perhaps Charlie) told him time and again that he needs to get his shit together and change.  This season ended, I believe, with him realizing that that was indeed true.  And the beauty of how this season ended is that the story is now free to move in practically any direction that it wants to - and I look forward to that.  Will it have a major shake-up ala Weeds?  I doubt it - but it could be interesting - like Becca says in the final scenes - "Sometimes you just need to shake things up". 
This season was all about Hank having to deal with the fall-out, coming full circle with the events that happened all the way back in the first episode of the series.  This is a show that has a really unique tone - it gets down right goofy at times but almost always ends on a moment of poignancy - sometimes that hits home better than others.  This season more so than any of the others I think the series achieved the balance and had it's strongest ongoing arc - because the stakes were so high.  It's hard to imagine a situation where they could be higher.  I'm very curious to see where this series will go - the creators claim to have a long term plan, so that excites me.  What will the next chapter of Hank Moody's life bring us?...  Looking forward to it. 
If you've never seen this series you'll probably want to start back at the beginning - but beware there are some rough patches and unnecessary tangents (I'm looking at you, seasons two and three!) but I think its worth it in the end.  Enjoy!

1470 - Weeds: season six

If absolutely nothing else you have to give this series some credit for having the balls to throw caution to the wind and do something else consistently. Ever since the Botwins fled Agrestic at the end of season three, things have continually gotten stranger and worse for the clan (which is saying something). Weeds does amazing season-ending-cliff hangers and last season's was no slouch. In fact it resulting in this ENTIRE season dealing with the fallout from it - and that will actually continue onto the next season, understandably so. If you aren't up to date on Weeds stop reading now - spoilers to follow:

Shane has been going off the deep end for some time now and last season ended with him snapping completely, and in a fantastic fashion. So this season saw the Botwins fleeing, scraping by trying to come up with a plan to flee the country in general. Just as that becomes a possibility Nancy has to put Plan C into motion - and what a plan it is - it's the kind of plan that will, once again, change this series in a major way. But not just as a plot - it was a huge character move for her - it was her (besides saving her own life) doing something completely selfliss (which is saying something considering that Nancy is a borderline sociopath).

Mary-Lousie Parker is brillint here. You couldn't stick with her character otherwise. The stand-out for me is always going to be Justin Kirk - damn it I love that guy. I thought that they did a pretty great job this season and I look forward to where our team takes us next, and hope that the gang isn't apart for too long.

1264 – Weeds: season five

I’ll be the first to admit that I almost tapped out of this show around season three when it got… weird. But then starting the fourth season it kind of re-invented itself to the point where, now, it’s in a state of complete awesomeness.

What was beautiful about this season in particular is that all of it’s characters, new and old, got some form of reality check. Mary-Louise Parker continues to dazzle in both performance and beauty, but Shane is quickly becoming the most interesting character, even though Justin Kirk’s Andy is still my favorite aspect of this series. I heart that man and would be extremely happy to have the chance to work with him one day.

Without spoiling anything, this is a series that prides itself on cliff-hanging season finales, and this one, was probably the best of the best. Can’t wait for season six!

1124 - Weeds - season four

After a pretty bland third season Weeds came back fighting, re-inventing itself in a little border town just outside of Mexico. Just like their second season they've ending on a beautiful cliff-hanger that leaves you wondering the fate of all involved in the show. There's a rumor floating around that the fifth season will be it's last. This feels about right. Don't get me wrong. I love this show, but because of it's nature of consistently getting it's cast in and out of trouble there comes a point where you just want to see them settle in. As much as this is Mary-Louise Parker's show, and she really is fantastic in it. She's beautiful, smart, sexy, and she never ever has a false moment. Really great performance. But like I said, as much as it's her show I love Justin Kirk. I think he's equally as fantastic as Parker but in a different way. Not sure where they found him but he's a gem. Can't believe I have to wait till May for new episodes. Thank goodness Dexter and Californication are coming back soon...