Hi, Bryan Here….

Here we are with season 7 of ‘Weeds’ on bluray and it does not disappoint.  The video and audio are superb on this bluray with some pretty decent extras as well.  It’s good to see some old faces pop up and some new faces in this seventh season.  I’m curious as to where they are going with show after this season, but I’m sure they won’t disappoint.  Season 7 of ‘Weeds’ is a must get if you are a fan of the show.

THE SERIES

At the end of season 6, Nancy got arrested while her family headed to Denmark.  At the start of season 7, three years have passed and Nancy Botwin has been released from jail and into a strictly enforced parole house.  Her family gets wind of her getting out of jail and make the trip back to he states.  This time, they are in NYC.  For some reason, the writers of this season really aren’t giving Nancy any redeeming traits.  I mean, there really isn’t a good thing about her.  As soon as she is out of prison, she goes and wants back in the life of crime.  She at first tries to avoid her family and Doug, but ultimately she is almost forced to interact with them.  Most of the season is Nancy trying to get back into the weed selling business, using her somewhat charm and body to get what she wants.  Andy wants to open up a completely straight and legit shop from his invention the copenhagen wheel, which against his will, turns into a front for the pot selling business.  Shane enrolls in a college class of the criminal psychology kind and is taken under the wing of an agent.  All the while Shane, is using this guy to help his mom stay out of the limelight of the Feds.  Doug gets an awesome job from one of his long time friends at a financial firm as a backwards accountant.  And Sylas falls for a new girl who turns out to be the head girl in charage of a major pot operation in NYC.  And the overall story arc of the season is of Nancy trying to get her son, Stevie back in her custody from her evil sister who has been raising him.  This season isn’t the best of the series and I don’t quite see where it’s really going anymore.  At first, Nancy seems like a good person who is trying to provide for her family by any means possible.  But nowadays, she seems to not even want to be with her family and is only looking out for herself and wants the thrill of a life of crime.  There is a HUGE season ending cliff-hanger and at the time they didn’t know if they were going to renew the series or not, but alas, they are.

THE VIDEO/AUDIO

This bluray has a glorious 1080p HD transfer in 1.78:1 aspect ratio.  The picture looks stunning with its colors that are vibrant and its blacks that are deep and inky.  There was a hint of digital noise here and there but  artifacts that I could tell.  The textures and depth were incredible and the shots of the city of New York were beautiful.  This was a really good video presentation.  The audio has the impress DTS-HD 7.1 mix that Lionsgate is giving to their releases.  The dialogue is crystal clear with the ambient noise coming evenly through the other speakers.  The 7.1 mix really kicks in when there are some gunshots and other action sequences, but there are few. There was no hissing or cracks or distortion that I heard.  This audio presentation sounded great.

THE EXTRAS

• Cast and Crew Commentaries – There are six commentaries in total which feature creator Jenji Kohan and some of the other cast and crew.  A little bit of insight is given to the show’s story and characters while there are plenty of inside jokes and gags the commentators give us.  All in all, if you are a fan of the series, you might want to give these a listen to, but I’ve heard better.
  
• Gag Reel (HD, 2 min) – Your normal gag reel of flubbed lines and laughs from the set minus Mary Louise Parker.  Odd.
  
• Guru Andy’s Tricks of the Trade (HD, 9 min) – Anything with Andy is gold and here we have a montage of scenes from past season where Andy is giving life advice.  Very funny, but if you have seen the show before, then you have seen these.
  
• Puff Puff Pass (HD, 8 min) – Here is a short Q&A from a web show by Gary Anthony Williams featuring Justin Kirk and Kevin Nealon.  The fans ask questions  while Justin and Kevin give funny answers. 

• Growing Up in the Weeds with Alexander Gould (HD, 9 min) – Actor Alexander Gould introduces some scenes from past episodes that show his characters physical and emotional transformations.  Again, if you have seen the show before, then you have seen all of this.
  
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 6 min) – Four deleted scenes in total that really were best left on the cutting room floor with the exception of some stuff with Andy.  Because, anything with Andy is GOLD.
  
• Multi-Screen Comparison (HD, 5 min) – That split screen opening sequence in the episode, ‘Qualitative Spatial Reasoning’ took some preparing.  So the crew shot a rough cut of themselves to practice and see what it would look like.  This is followed by the actual scene with actors.