"Weeds" finale

Showtime's signature series "Weeds" wraps up its third season tonight. I'd planned to to write about this in last week's TV column, but...

It's not that it's bad, it's just that "Weeds" sort of defies analysis. It's got its own drumbeat, its own low-key in-jokes and repetitive elements that you either accept or you don't.

I like the show, I'm willing to accept its surreal take on suburban life, but I've never found the characters compelling enough to put it on my must-see list. Or, more to the point, to pay the $15 a month to get Showtime to watch it. Now, "Dexter" plus "Weeds" is getting pretty close.

Anyway, the finale leaves viewers on tenterhooks as a wildfire wipes out Nancy's farm - and most of Agrestic - while the feds close in on her operation. There's some funny bits in there - my favorite is that Matthew Modine's sleazy preacher/real estate developer abandons the Southern California life for the greener pastures of Colorado Springs.

Guess they haven't heard about our lackluster housing market out in Hollywood.