Now, I haven't done any research on this since my marathon viewing, but I thought I heard Season Four marked an unpopular change to the lives of Agrestic, CA citizens, who were forced to migrate down to the beaches of Ren Mar after state wildfires (and a handy application of gasoline) left heroine Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) with a torched house. I don't see what the big deal is. I had more problems with Season Three: the character of U-Turn was an unpleasant, violent reversal of the show's light comedic tone. In Season Four violence is still on the rise, but it feels better integrated (Nancy seems less overwhelmed by it). Ren Mar is also constricted in a good way: instead of flipping between Nancy's sons Silas (Hunter Parrish) and Shane (Alexander Gould) and other supporting characters, everyone steps on each other's storylines because they're mostly stuffed in the same house, which makes for a more interesting, chaotic setting. Even the dynamic duo of Nancy's brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk) and her underhanded (ex)CPA Doug (Kevin Nealon) seem closer to one another, which is always a good thing.

There is, however, one glaring alteration that comes with the change in scenery, and I think it's at the heart of the fans' unrest: Conrad (Romany Malco) is completely and totally MIA for all 13 episodes of Season Four. No Conrad means no Heylia James (Tonye Patano) or Vaneeta (Indigo) either, and it leaves fans hanging on Conrad and Nancy's budding romance, both of which seemed to be a major plot threads. It's definitely disappointing, but overall, I feel like bashing the show for losing Conrad is failing to see the forest for the trees. Increasingly important characters like Guillermo (Guillermo Diaz) and new characters like Esteban (Demián Bichir) are interesting enough to fill the gaps for now, and I guess I'm personally confident that Conrad will show up again in the future (absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?).

Aside from Conrad's Houdini act, the stories this season are strong. Silas becomes involved with a cheese-shop-owning single mom (guest star Julie Bowen) while growing his own strain; Shane confronts his new school with a fresh (and more take-charge) attitude, and Isabelle (Allie Grant) forces Celia to get help for her drinking (and a newfound cocaine addiction). Nancy also ends up getting a mostly-straight job working in a mall maternity store, another change of pace I thought was well-done. Meanwhile, Andy and Doug start their own coyote business ferrying people across the border after Doug falls in love with a woman named Maria (Onahoua Rodriguez) who he watches getting nabbed by Immigration and becomes desperate to track down. The whole season also takes place in a house belonging to Judah and Andy's father Len (guest star Albert Brooks), who doesn't really like any of the many intruders.

The success of "Weeds" is once again mainly balanced on Mary-Louise Parker's lovely shoulders, and she still carries it with grace and charm. Nancy's questions about whether or not what she's doing is right or wrong get tiring (after two grow houses, a home, and even a body or two, you'd think she'd have more conviction in her line of work), but when she's facing new problems, she's wonderful. Parker's secret is that she's always doing something with her eyes: you can either see the gears turning as Nancy tries to work out her newest (usually deadly) problem, or feel the intensity behind them when she needs to kick a little ass. It's not every day you find someone who can remain endearing and attractive after pistol-whipping a tooth out of her former best friend's mouth, but Parker can pull it off. The character of Andy has also grown on me greatly since his first appearance. I was worried Andy would be stoner comic relief, an idiot who keeps making mistakes and has to be forgiven because he's the family screw-up, but he's developed into one of the show's smarter and more nuanced characters. The writers don't undercut Andy's intelligence, and Kirk has shining moments of both realized responsibility and internal awareness that I wouldn't have guessed were coming.

It's strange to me that we haven't been able to develop a better model for television shows. American shows run too long, wearing out their premises and eventually jumping the shark, while other countries, like Britain, seem almost too afraid to let a show continue past 14 episodes. "Weeds" exists somewhere in between. I'm sure the show could have spent more time in Agrestic -- if the show was somehow airing on network television, I bet Season Three would have only ended with Celia running for mayor -- but like it or not, "Weeds" is plowing ahead with new developments every episode. Fans may not like all of it, but it is what it is, and said developments are sometimes as sharp and clever as the show's excellent second season. They say the grass is always greener on the other side, but whether our characters are in Agrestic or Ren Mar, I'd say the grass is just green everywhere.

The episodes in this set break down as follows:

Disc 1: "Mother Thinks the Birds Are After Her", "Lady's a Charm", "The Whole Blah Damn Thing", "Three Coolers", "No Man is Pudding".

Disc 2: "Excellent Treasures", "Yes I Can", "I Am the Table", "Little Boats".

Disc 3: "The Love Circle Overlap", "Head Cheese", "Till We Meet Again", "If You Work For a Living, Why Do You Kill Yourself Working?".

The DVD
On the back, in bold, is a single, innocuous-sounding line: This DVD packaging is made from post-consumer recycled paper and recycled water bottles.. Since I've already stated my distaste for Eco-Boxes as well, you'll just have to take my word that I don't hate the environment, just this cruddy packaging. The main problem with the ticky-tacky, Happy Meal-quality cardboard box they've used is that it's flimsy; my DVDTalk review copy encountered pressure in the mail and not one of the three solid sides of the outer sleeve put up a fight. The visible crushing also put undue strain on the plastic bottle disc trays; they're a cool idea, but 2 of 3 discs fell off their less-gripping spindles. Because of all the damage, I had to request a replacement; even disc buffing at my local video store couldn't save Disc 1. If you don't order your DVDs online, you might be okay, but let's hope the industry can design some DVD packaging that prevents both global warming and damage to the DVDs.

As for the design, there are lots of lovely shots of Mary-Louise Parker adorning both the inside and outside. The photographs themselves aren't quite as inspired as some of the other seasons' covers (on this one, I prefer the beach shots to the pinup concept), but it works. Inside, the episodes are listed on the inside flaps, and there's an insert promoting the fifth season of the show on one side, and other Showtime staples such as "Dexter" and their new show "Nurse Jackie" on the other.

The Video
The 1.78:1 widescreen transfers of the episodes are solid. Most of Season Four takes place outside, at the beach, and the transfer is packed with vivid greens and cool blues, accurately conveying the bright atmosphere of the sun-drenched location. Fine detail is also solid, and the occasional dark scenes are free of noise.

The Audio
Dolby Digital 5.1 EX is also good, although the surround nature of the show is somewhat limited. The music is effectively spread out among the speakers, and the dialogue is clear, but it's not exactly a workout for the surrounds. Dolby Digital 2.0 is also included, and English and Spanish subtitles are included.

The Extras
Disc 1 kicks things off with three audio commentaries, on "Mother Thinks the Birds Are After Her" (creator Jenji Kohan), "Three Coolers" (producer Roberto Benabib), and "No Man is Pudding" (Kevin Nealon and Justin Kirk). They're a mixed bag. Kohan is friendly, but her track is so low-key it's almost subsonic. She also starts out with little to say, but she picks up as the episode goes on. Benabib is considerably more chatty, discussing the challenges of moving to a new location and some of the other challenges of Season Four, although he's a little praise-happy and a shade pretentious. Lastly, Nealon and Kirk are good for a few chuckles but their track is predictably light on information.

A mildly amusing gag reel (8:25) with a lot of Huell Howser and trailers for Showtime and "Nurse Jackie" (which play automatically when you stick in the disc) wrap things up.

Disc 2 serves up two more audio commentaries, on "Excellent Treasures" (Elizabeth Perkins and Allie Grant) and "I Am the Table" (Nealon and Kirk again). Elizabeth Perkins and Allie Grant prove to be excellent commentators, with a good balance of humor and information, although Grant is mildly aggravating with how intensely agreeable she is ("Oh, absolutely") and her insistence on using jargon and buzzwords (everything's "a great asset"). You'd think she wrote her comments in advance. The Nealon/Kirk track is better than the first, with Nealon introducing a random, subtle running joke about how everyone looks better in person and claiming he cremated his nipple after it got shot off when he was younger.

Next is the first batch of featurettes. "I'm a Big Kid Now" (9:33) is an interview with actors Hunter Parrish, Alexander Gould and Allie Grant. It's an interesting trio: Grant continues to make comments with the distinct ring of EPK-style soundbytes, Hunter Parrish is extra-eager and dominates a lot of the discussion, and Alexander Gould is still fairly quiet and awkward. Next, "The Real Hunter Parrish" (6:03) is a amusing, extremely friendly interview with the actor about himself, co-starring his dog. "Tour of Bubbie's House" (07:40) features some interviews from the entire cast about the new home base, and stars set decorator Julie Bolder showing off the awesome amount of detail and thought that went into every single item, board and nail. Lastly, "Little Titles" (5:31) is a collection of Season Four's intro images, with audio commentary by Jenji Kohan. She mourns the loss of "Little Boxes" and chats about the change ("Only in America" was almost selected as the series' new theme, but it cost more than Lionsgate wanted to pony up).

Disc 3 offers up two final audio commentaries, on "Head Cheese" (Hunter Parrish) and "If You Work For a Living, Then Why Do You Kill Yourself Working?" (Jenji Kohan). Hunter again proves himself to be irrepressably enthusiastic and friendly, offering up various tidbits about the show, although I can't help but think it's too bad Alexander Gould wasn't asked to join him, because there are a few gaps. Finally, Kohan's second track is a little more energetic than her first one, although she's still extremely quiet and reserved, chatting about the episode's odd inspiration: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Clever.

More featurettes wrap up the set. "Moving Weight" (9:27) sends actor Guillermo Diaz in to talk to a lawyer about the potential legal consequences of his character's actions. It feels a little staged, with a genial Diaz making goofy faces as the lawyer talks about people smuggling weed across the border inside live squid. "One Stop Chop Shop" (5:33) is a walkthrough of the tiny Tijuana set with production designer Joseph C. Lucky, and also features some crew chatting about a brief trip to the real place. "The Weed Wranglers" (6:05) heads to the prop department to talk to propmaster Jode Mann about all sorts of props, primarily focused, obviously, on the fake weed. It's probably the most interesting featurette on the disc. "Burbs to Beach" (6:32) is the last featurette, covering the show's big move. It's a nice general overview of the season, and it affirms, in case you were holding your breath, that the show's move to Ren Mar is meant to be a lasting change.

Overall, the features are okay, but only die-hards will probably find anything particularly amazing here. My main disappointment is the near-complete lack of Mary-Louise Parker in the extras. She shows up in the featurettes on disc 3, but it's sad that she couldn't be coerced to participate in the commentaries with Jenji Kohan.

Conclusion
I may be in the minority, but I thought that Season Four was the second-best chapter of Nancy Botwin's hectic life (behind Season 2). As for the DVD, the extras are a little dull and it comes in stupid, stupid, stupid disc-damaging packaging. While I wouldn't say that the show should slow its roll for viewers who insist on everything staying the same, I will restrain my overall rating to recommended -- if you fear the new and unexplored, perhaps you should Netflix a disc before buying the whole season.