All 8 Seasons Of Weeds, Ranked Worst To Best

Weeds ran on Showtime from 2005 to 2012, and while the show was relatively consistent, some seasons were better than others. Each season faces its successes and struggles within the overall series arc. After the success of Weeds season 1, the show had to continuously reinvent itself to stay relevant and keep the premise interesting. Much of what carries the series are the performances of the main cast and the unexpected plot twists, although some seasons did this better than others. Weeds was canceled on season 8.

Mary-Louise Parker stars as Nancy Botwin, the protagonist of Weeds, and it’s often her decisions that decide how the plot of a season will shake out. The show follows her, and her two sons, Shane and Silas, in the wake of the death of her husband. Finding that she has no money to support her children, Nancy decides to become a small-time drug dealer. This is the event that kicks off the series, with each season of Weeds dealing with the repercussions of Nancy’s decisions.

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8 Weeds Season 7

A troubling time jump

Weeds season 7 starts after a time jump of three years during which Nancy has been in prison. It is always hard for a show to continue its momentum after a time jump, and season 7 doesn’t make the best recovery. Since Nancy has already been to prison and caught for her drug dealing, a lot of the tension that carried previous seasons is lost, and it’s difficult to understand why Nancy immediately throws herself back into the same cycle she was in before. Additionally, Nancy’s friction with her son, Silas, throughout the season is difficult to watch.

7 Weeds Season 8

Weeds’ final season

Weeds ​​​​​​season 7 ends on a cliffhanger with Nancy being shot, and season 8 picks up immediately after this. Nancy recovers, and the show then follows most of the family trying to go straight and tie up loose ends. Ultimately, they do go back to drug dealing, and Nancy and Silas reconcile. The series finale is, unfortunately, the weakest point of the series, opting for another time jump where weed has been legalized, and everyone has become successful, but Nancy is still alone. The show was understandably canceled by Showtime after season 8, and the story had run its course by then.

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6 Weeds Season 5

Births, deaths, and a cliffhanger

The majority of Weeds season 5 revolves around Nancy’s pregnancy with the child of her lover, then husband, Esteban (Demián Bichir), and the people who try to come between them. Nancy’s plot line of the season is estranged from what was driving her for the majority of the first 5 seasons and leaves the episodes feeling disconnected from the initial tone of the show. This season does see the growth and maturation of both Silas and Shane, as well as leaving on the cliffhanger that Shane might have killed someone in the season finale.

5 Weeds Season 6

A return to form for the show

After it turns out that Shane did kill someone, Nancy, her two sons, her new baby, and her friend Andy (Justin Kirk) run to Seattle under assumed identities. Although this is arguably a bigger shift in plot than season 5, what season 6 does well is returning Nancy to a place of power over her own life. She is arrested at the end of the season, but it’s because she takes the fall for Shane, sacrificing herself. Weeds season 6 is a return to form for Nancy and the show itself. It is also an epic road trip of a season, as the Botwin’s travel all over the country throughout the episodes.

4 Weeds Season 4

Nancy plays both sides

Weeds ​​​​​​season 4 sees Nancy become involved with both Esteban and the DEA. Both Silas and Shane develop their avenues of drug dealing, as Nancy gets more deeply involved with drug trafficking between the U.S. and Mexico. She later finds out that she has become involved in human trafficking as well, and it’s due to this that she starts working for the DEA. At the end of the season, the reason Esteban saves her life is that she reveals her pregnancy. It’s in season 4 that much of the conflict that propels the remaining seasons is set up, and it does so in an exciting way.

3 Weeds Season 3

Small town politics

Throughout season 3, Nancy is torn between going straight with a new job and getting back into the weed business. It’s through this that she gets deeper into town politics in Agrestic, the town in California where she and her sons live, and ends up stealing money from the town. When a fire is started at the end of the season, Nancy uses the opportunity to burn down her house and erase the evidence of her drug business. Part of what’s so compelling about season 3 is seeing Nancy realize that she likes the power of dealing, as well as the intrigue of politics in her small town. It’s when the show truly finds its tone.

2 Weeds Season 1

Nancy and her world are introduced

Weeds season 1 is an excellent start to the series and establishes everything the audience needs to know about Nancy effectively and entertainingly. There is sympathy built for Nancy, and her plight of being widowed with two sons, which explains her actions as the series progresses. It also lays the groundwork for how Nancy always wanted to be involved in something bigger than what her life was before and shows how easily a person can get in over their head in the world of illegal drugs.

While some of the issues are smaller in the first season, it still provides some of the best drama. Additionally, while Weeds has drawn comparisons to shows like Breaking Bad, it did a lot to distinguish itself from other drug-related shows in the first season. Nancy was a complete character, with an arc that differed from other male anti-heroes on TV. Character-centered shows like Breaking Bad and Weeds do not have much time to convince audiences they should or care about the lead character. Fortunately, Weeds season 1 nails that aspect.

1 Weeds Season 2

The anti-sophomore slump

Season 2 is where Weeds, as a series, hits its stride. The comedy of Weeds season 1 takes a back seat, and a more serious tone emerges as the stakes are raised. Nancy becomes more deeply entrenched in the weed business, and Silas and Shane start to learn what it is their mother is up to. Nancy ends up involved with a DEA agent, Peter (Martin Donovan), and they become romantically entangled, as well as getting further involved with the growers and dealers she has been working with.

Weeds season 2 delivers the best drama, and the best character development of the series overall. It’s where the “MILF weed” strain is introduced, which becomes a key point for Nancy’s success throughout the series. Additionally, it was established that while the show might have started more comedic, it was unafraid to become a melodrama in the best way. It included everything that made Weeds such a good show.