New year's television resolutions

Although the new year occurs in the middle of the television season, there are still opportunities for change to occur. Here are some of my hopes for 2012 television:

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not seen the season six finale of "Dexter" that aired Dec. 18 or "Parks and Recreation" as of Dec. 1.

* The last time "Dexter" ended a season with a major narrative shift, Rita died at the end of the mind-blowing fourth season. It was a gusty move that would surely impact the future of the show and after that stellar season, it seemed like the show knew what it was doing. However, they wasted that opportunity by creating an awkward and inappropriate rebound romance for Dexter in season five, and this year's season wasn't much of an improvement, minus the shocking last-second moment where Dexter's sister, Deb catches her brother killing Travis Marshall, the Doomsday Killer. The writers have once again created a game-changing scenario on the show. My hope is that they use this change to better the show, instead of using Deb's knowledge as another plot point that continues the show's downward spiral.

* Here's hoping that "Parks and Recreation" follows the lead of "Up All Night" when it comes to the roles of men in relationships. On "Up All Night," Will Arnett's Chris quits his job as a lawyer to be a stay-at-home dad with little argument. Minus the occasional moments where he misses his job, he is happy with his daughter and that his wife, Reagan is working to support the family without guilt-tripping her. On "Parks and Rec," Ben gave up his job in the Pawnee government to save Leslie's job and political aspirations. While nothing is keeping Ben from getting another job, it would be a shame to have Ben develop remorse toward Leslie for making him leave his previous one. It was hinted at in the Dec. 8 episode, where he kept saying he "resigned in disgrace." Hopefully that was just an immediate, knee-jerk reaction and won't turn into lasting problems for the wonderful couple.

* I'm looking for a "30 Rock" revival. Jack became nearly isolated from 30 Rock and Liz Lemon's band of merry misfits, which is a shame, as the show-within-a-show gave "30 Rock" its charm. Last season, things got too muddled with romance (both Matt Damon and Elizabeth Banks' characters added little) and downright malaise from the writers and actors. "30 Rock" should not be a downer show; let's hope that its sixth season (beginning Jan. 12) will bring it back to the early seasons' glory.

* Although I'm not watching the show, I hope that "American Horror Story" won't disappoint its audience as Ryan Murphy shows did in the past. I'm still bitter about the major decline in quality on "Nip/Tuck" and "Glee." Murphy's a known show-killer, and for the sake of AHS fans, I don't want to see them burned.

* Finally, at least for the time being: The world cannot end in 2012. "Arrested Development" isn't set to return until 2013.

Weeds: It's all been done

Season six of Showtime's hit show Weeds premiered last night, and while it wasn't a poor episode, I couldn't help but feel like the writers just played a game of "search and replace" with the scripts of past seasons.

For those who have yet to catch up with season five, here's a bit of a recap: Nancy is pregnant with Esteban's child. A woman from Esteban's past, Pilar, comes into his life and attempts to run his political campaign as a Mexican governor. Seeing Nancy, Silas and Shane as toxic assets to Esteban's career, she attempts to have Nancy killed. Esteban attempts to have Nancy quietly deliver the baby at home (so that Nancy can be killed with no record of the birth), but Nancy and Andy go to Dr. Audra Kitson (Alanis Morissette) and deliver the baby with Andy's name on the birth certificate. Andy and Audra begin dating, and he proposes to her. However, he bails on Audra when her stalker breaks into her home and kidnaps her.

Esteban and Nancy make up and marry, but Pilar is still out for blood. At a campaign party for Esteban, she tells Nancy that Silas and Shane are unnecessary and detrimental towards Esteban's political career, and threatens to have them killed. Shortly after, Shane attacks Pilar with a croquet mallet and she falls into the nearby pool and bleeds to death.

And that's not even describing the plots of the secondary characters such as Doug and Celia (although, with Elizabeth Perkins gone, who knows if that will happen). So, there's a lot going on when "Thwack" opens.

The problem I had with the episode is that I felt as though I saw everything before. Back at the end of season two, Celia attempted to have Silas arrested for dealing pot. While there wasn't a threat on Silas' life in that case, it was the first thing that popped in my mind when Pilar threatened them. Nancy's lifestyle, both her family dynamic and business model, were being threatened. The same thing happened again; the boys were used as collateral in Nancy's life.

After Pilar is murdered, Nancy rushes home and packs up the bare essentials and abandons the house, much like the season three finale, where Nancy burns the Agrestic house down. Shane tells Silas about how he killed Pilar, and says he feels no differently about himself. She realizes she needs Andy's van to flee, and heads to his home, where Audra is tied up by her pro-life, evangelical, crossbow-yielding stalker. Gee, Andy's girlfriend is in harm's way thanks to a violent man chasing after her ... this sounds an awful lot like Zooey Deschanel's Kat being chased by Abumchuck the bounty hunter in season two/three. I just wish the plot line with Audra was as funny as Kat and Abumchuck's was.

Eventually, thanks to Nancy, the stalker is subdued, and Audra is furious with Andy. She breaks up with him and tells him that he should just leave with Nancy, which he does somewhat begrudgingly. Andy finds out about Shane, and doesn't express much shock. The episode ends with the gang leaving town, and a cliched "serial killer rear view mirror" moment with Nancy seeing Shane in the mirror.

Weeds has been one of those where it seems as though nothing and everything happen all at once, and this episode was a perfect example. It seemed slow (maybe due to the deja vu), yet it's obviously acting as the catalyst for everything that's going to happen this season. However, instead of fleeing to Mexico like in the lackluster season four, it seems as though the Botwins will not stay in more than one place for long. Hopefully that will help the show stay fresh. I just hope we still hear from everyone holding down the fort at home, too. It's a shame that Elizabeth Perkins left the show, because I will miss Celia. However, I hope the show finds a way to keep her family in the show. Because as Nancy continues to put herself and her family in danger, I'm finding it more difficult to sympathize with her.

Yet, I'm fascinated by Shane. Considering all of the things that have gone wrong in his life, I'm surprised he isn't more violent or troubled. Plus, one could argue that his killing of Pilar was in self-defense. Then again, maybe said cliche rear view image is a sign of things to come. All of this traveling could allow him to further act out, and that could be both fascinating and horrifying to see.

Did anyone else watch "Thwack?" What are your thoughts? Do you have any hopes for this season?