You Can't Miss the Bear (Weeds episode)
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| Weeds episode | |
| "You Can't Miss the Bear" | |
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| Episode no. | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 101 |
| Orig. airdate | August 7, 2005 (Showtime) |
| Writer(s) | Jenji Kohan |
| Director | Brian Dannelly |
| Guest star(s) | Justin Chatwin as Josh Wilson Tressa DiFiglia as Maggie Allie Grant as Isabelle Hodes Haley Hudson as Quinn Hodes Indigo as Vaneeta Tyrone Mitchell as Keeyon Andy Milder as Dean Hodes Renee Victor as Lupita |
| Season 1 2005-08-07 – 2005-10-10 |
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| List of all Weeds episodes... | |
"You Can't Miss the Bear" is the 1st episode of the Showtime series Weeds. The episode was written by Jenji Kohan and was directed by Brian Dannelly. It originally aired on August 7, 2005.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Nancy Botwin is a housewife in the picture-perfect suburb of Agrestic, California, whose husband Judah dies of a heart attack one morning while running with their young son Shane. She has started dealing marijuana to keep financially solvent.
Nancy's dealer is Heylia James, a no-nonsense African American woman who deals with her pregnant daughter Vaneeta, and employees Conrad and Keeyon. Conrad seems closer to Nancy than the others.
Nancy's children are 16-year-old Silas and Shane, her 10-year-old son who she fears will be emotionally traumatized after having witnessed his father's death. Living with them is their housekeeper Lupita.
One of Nancy's biggest client bases are the suburban fathers whom she sells to at a soccer game Shane is playing in. She sits with outwardly perfect mother Celia Hodes, whose daughter Quinn is dating Silas. Celia's other daughter, Isabelle, is a little chubby but Celia has her on diets to get her thin.
Shane is unpopular, and he is picked on by his teammates (who call him "Strange Botwin") and he is taken off the field by the coach. After he fights back, Shane flees from a bully named Devon and hides out with Silas and Quinn. There, they explain to Quinn their favorite TV show, "Bear Hunt." Their favorite sketch is when the hunters miss the bear and have to run from it.
Walking to the car after the game, Nancy accosts city council member Doug Wilson for smoking the pot in his car in full view of anyone who walks past. During their conversation, they talk about Celia's husband Dean, who has been sleeping with a tennis coach.
Nancy runs into Doug's teenage son Josh. Josh is also a pot dealer, and he came to Nancy to get supplies since his "guy" was out of town. Nancy has learned that he's been dealing to pre-teen children, and she bashes him up against a car to tell him to stop. He promises that he'll never deal to Shane.
The kids arrive, and as they pull out of the parking lot, Quinn asks Nancy if she and Silas can have sex in her house.
Nancy and Quinn sit on the roof of the Botwin house talking about sex, where Nancy learns that Quinn's had sex in previous relationships. Quinn knows about her dad's affair. Celia phones to say that she's coming over. As they get up to go inside, Quinn notices that a neighbor, Mr. Wells, has a new boytoy. Nancy wasn't even aware of the old one. Quinn is surprised to learn that it is Josh, since his dad would freak out if he learned Josh was gay.
Now having leverage over him, Nancy marches over to Mr. Wells' house and promises to tell Josh's dad if he doesn't stop dealing to children.
Celia arrives at Nancy's house with a demand that Nancy refuse to let the children have sex in her house. She has a teddy bear with a camera hidden inside of it. She used it in the pantry to see when Isabelle was snacking, but now she wants Nancy to put it in Silas' room. The kids come in and notice the bear. Quinn knows exactly what it is, and pretends to be attached to it. She wants it for her room, so Celia hurriedly gives it to her.
The next day, Shane gets revenge at school, using a water pistol to spray pink paint all over Devon.
Nancy has been angrily washing Shane's clothes after learning he has been suspended when she finds Silas and Quinn having sex in the guest room. They tell her that it's okay, since they're under the skylight and therefore not technically under her roof, which was the deal of the promise.
Nancy goes over to Heylia's and starts crying in Conrad's arms. Her life is far from under control.
In her house, Celia sits down with a drink to watch the hidden camera. Instead of finding Silas and Quinn have sex, though, she discovers that Quinn has used the camera to get footage of Dean having sex with Helen Chin, the tennis pro.
[edit] First appearances
The main cast:
- Mary-Louise Parker as Nancy Botwin
- Elizabeth Perkins as Celia Hodes
- Romany Malco as Conrad
- Tonye Patano as Heylia James
- Hunter Parrish as Silas Botwin
- Alexander Gould as Shane Botwin
- and Kevin Nealon as Doug Wilson
First appearances of:
- Celia's family: Dean, Isabelle and Quinn.
- Doug's son Josh.
- Nancy's housekeeper Lupita.
- Heylia's daughter Vaneeta and colleague Keeyon.
- Bitchy PTA mother Maggie.
[edit] Title reference
- The title comes from the television show Silas and Shane watch. "You can't miss the bear" because, if you do, it will be enraged and give pursuit. It also references the teddy camera.
[edit] Trivia
- The show's theme song is "Little Boxes" by Malvina Reynolds.
- This is the only episode to feature Doug's son Josh as Justin Chatwin was filming War of the Worlds alongside the first season. The producers commented that they wanted to bring Justin back in season 2, but this did not happen. Whether or not Chatwin will return for season 3 is unknown.
- Only appearance to date of Celia's daughter Quinn.
- First mention of Heylia's cornbread.
- First mention of Nancy's husband Judah, who we will later see in flashback.
- Doug's wife, Dana, an unseen character thus far, is mentioned for the first time.
- Nancy's brother-in-law Andy is referenced as the guy who hooked Nancy up with Conrad. Since, later, we learn that Andy didn't know Nancy dealt, we can only assume he introduced them in passing rather than with the specific goal of helping Nancy find a dealer.
- First mention of Megan, the "deaf girl on Dewey Street", who will later become a recurring character.
- When Quinn and Nancy are talking on the roof, the song playing is 'Singing In My Soul' by New Zealand group Fly My Pretties.
- When Doug is lighting his pipe in the car the song playing is 'David' by Nellie McKay.
