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TO GRANDMOTHER'S HEARSE WE GO Lenny had to be persuaded to euthanize Bubbie

All About

Weeds

Remember the scene in Goodfellas when Henry Hill, high out of his mind and paranoid, goes about his day — running errands, making a dash south for a major drug-and-gun deal — all the while being tracked by a helicopter hovering up above? That's sort of how I see the Botwins on Weeds, only it's a dark cloud hanging overhead that follows the family no matter where they go. And unlike Hill, they're oblivious to its ominous presence. So while it may be sunny southern California outside, indoors is anything but, as episode 3 proved.

It all started with a morning chuckle — Andy appeared from his van wearing a fur-trimmed coat, and Silas helped himself to Lenny's robe after an outdoor shower, while Len had to settle for Bubbie's nightie — but the conversation quickly turned from nasty brown hairs collected in the bathtub to a weightier subject: whether Bubbie should live or die. ''She wants out,'' Andy blurted to all who would listen, taking the lead on the euthanasia subplot.

Another character desperately wanting out? Celia, who sat down with the man who holds her freedom in his hands. A second chance at clearing her name, Captain Till told her, meant collecting ''quality information'' on Nancy's relationship with Guillermo — the whale to his Ahab — in exchange for leniency. Celia's laughable flirtation with said police officer notwithstanding, it sure beats being a jailhouse Cheetah Girl.

And speaking of criminals, Guillermo, we learned, is actually Puerto Rican, a fact that mystifies the captain since this target runs a Mexican gang. As we got a glimpse of the operation, staged to move in a nondescript warehouse, we also discovered that Guillermo's latest recruit required some intensive training and behavior modification. It seems Nancy's last border run was rife with rookie mistakes. Never mind the in-car urination, which elicited its share of snickers from the posse; Nancy also wore the wrong outfit (a ''slut suit,'' as Guillermo so eloquently put it), chose to cross the border right after a shift change (when agents are at their hungriest), neglected to bring backup for her story (a face-cream container), and loaded up her front seat with nonsensical tchotchkes.

Guillermo's expert advice went something like this: less coffee, more J. Crew, and always be one step ahead. The ''All-American mom'' is the ideal image, which required Nancy to start thinking in terms of north-south, not east-west. He really does have a way with words, that Guillermo. Nancy clamored for another shot at the border run (if nothing else, she's certainly dedicated) and got her chance soon enough.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Andy, Shane, and Silas discussed Bubbie's fate, with the youngest of the three Botwin boys — and the only one Len seems to like — appointed to broach the subject with him. After all, Shane is the one who talks to dead people, Silas noted. All sarcasm aside, Andy was clearly affected by his grandmother's plea, so much so that he launched into a lengthy soliloquy on life — and death — as an endless sequence of blah, blah, blahs. For Andy, it was a rare moment of profound introspection.

Next we saw Celia, finally rid of the homegirl makeup and bad hair, using her spousal privileges to break into Dean's hotel room in search of clues. It didn't take her long to find a cell phone chock-full of text messages from Shane bemoaning life in Ren Mar, and with that discovery, she was on her way.

NEXT: The preppie smuggler


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