VIDEO: Weeds Season 5 Episode 2

VIDEO: Weeds Season 5 Episode 2
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If ever there were an actress made for the quirky, off-center rhythms of Weeds, it’s probably the quirky, off-center Jennifer Jason Leigh, an actress who, like series star Mary-Louise Parker, seems perpetually underrated despite turning in great performance after great performance. Leigh can occasionally become too grating, but once you get into her rhythms, she’s always fascinating to watch. Here, she’s been cast as Nancy’s sister, Jill, an underappreciated soccer mom, who almost seems to offer us a glimpse into who Nancy was before the death of her husband (though from all accounts, Nancy and her husband’s relationship was far better than the marriage depicted here). This kind of ersatz time travel is always more interesting than straight flashbacks, and tossing Justin Kirk and Leigh into scenes together was a good creative decision.

Leigh’s Jill is the mother to two pink-clad twins and the wife to a bike-obsessed husband who seems to only be a flitting presence in her life. Every scene set in her house was a winner here, especially an early scene when both twins chose “HAM!” for breakfast, and a later scene depicting Jill and Andy slowly falling into each other’s arms while drinking through woozily disorienting jump cuts. (“No, that’s just your face!”) The jump cuts were almost imperceptible the first few times they happened, as if someone just made a mistake in the editing room at finding matching frames to cut between, but as the scene went on and you got into the rhythm (or lack thereof) of them, it all made for such a good way to look at a woman whose wheels are slowly coming off.

VIDEO: Weeds Season 5 Episode 2