Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Fall TV review: Desperate Housewives

Remember when Desperate Housewives was good?

Me too. And at the risk of jinxing it, I think it might be again.

I have watched DH from the beginning with some notable gaps. I used to love it but over the last few years it was pretty "eh" most of the time. Even bringing in the great Vanessa Williams (you'll always be Wilhelmina Slater to me) didn't give the show the life it should have.

But then there was the seventh season finale and the premise for the next season left me more than a little intrigued.

Here's the deal. Gabby revealed in season 7 that her stepfather had molested her when she was a child. Unfortunately she said his name three times in a row while sipping chardonnay which in Fairview means he's going to show up on her doorstep in about two commercial breaks.

And so he did and then Carlos killed his creepy ass. Naturally, Susan, Lynette and Bree chose this moment to go check up on Gabby and walked right in to the scene of the crime. Naturally, they all decided to hide the body, clean up and pretend it never happened because no one on Wisteria Lane ever calls the damn cops.

They also all apparently have some rare kind of amnesia. I'm not sure but somebody should check the water or something. While preparing to write this post, I realized that three of the four main housewives have been married to a man who killed someone or tried to fill someone. Remember when Bree tried to cover up her daughter's teen pregnancy by faking her own pregnancy and claiming the child as her own? Or when Susan started cleaning her house in lingerie on a webcam to pay the bills?

How do you just move on from knowing your neighbor is that kind of bat-shit crazy to coffee at the mailboxes every morning? Amnesia.

But anyway the conspiracy to cover up a murder left us with an interesting premise for the first time in years. The interactions between the housewives have always been what kept things interesting - this new tangle in the ties that bind them was sure to offer up some interesting plot lines.

And it actually has. I've enjoyed watching Carlos and Susan struggle with their guilt and I'm fairly certain Teri Hatcher gave up botox for these episodes because I haven't seen her face move like that since Lois and Clark. Lynette and Tom's divorce has been heartbreaking to watch if only because I really thought they were the Wisteria Lane couple that would last. Bree's crazy has been back full force and Gabby is back to silly storylines (PTO president? Really?) that make the best of Eva Longoria's comedic acting abilities.

Actually as I'm writing this, I find myself wishing I lived on Wisteria Lane. I could stroll across the street to have a glass of wine with the girls and since it's Wisteria Lane, no one would care that I was getting plastered at the neighbor's while my kids did God knows what.

But I'd probably be murdered by one of their husbands before I could even ring the doorbell.

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