DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: “There’s Always a Woman”

The theme of this week’s episode was dangerous women. Our favorite housewives are all dealing with big changes in their lives and some of these changes are the result of dangerous women who have come into their lives.

After breaking up with Jackson last week when she reused to move in with him, Susan finally realizes that she needs to open herself up and take a chance on Jackson. Of course, the way she did this was completely stereotypical; an old wise man gave her life advice. Really, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen that plot device (not!). Susan decides to surprise Jackson by sneaking into his apartment and jumping into the shower with whom she thought was him. Of course, instead of being Jackson, it was his new much younger fling. The scene that followed was pure physical comedy. Teri Hatcher did a great job. For the most part, the scene was believable and hilarious. Susan and Jackson eventually decided to “start over”. This, if course, involved the stereotypical starting over scene where they reintroduce themselves to each other. I’ve seen that done on Sex and the City way too many times for it to even remotely work here.

Gabby is facing a major life decision. One of Carlos’s wealthy massage clients has offered her and Carlos jobs for two months while she travels over seas. Carlos will be her personal masseur and Gabby will be her personal shopper. Of course, there’s a hitch; Carlos has been unintentionally giving the client orgasms during their massages. Gabby goes over to confront her only to be offered a job instead. This isn’t going to work out well for Gabby; the other woman is clearly manipulating her. The comedic potential is huge though; I imagine the dynamics between Gabby, Carlos, and his much older admirer/ client are just going to get more funny then they already are. As a side not, I think Eva Longoria Parker’s performances this season have been amazing. Gabby’s’ been given some great material and Eva’s proving she’s a dramatic actress as well as a comedic actress.

Bree and Katherine are still trying to balance their friendship with the business. Now that Orson is a full time partner, Katherine’s finding herself with a lot less work to do and way too much spare time on her hands. Now that Dylan’s married and apparently pregnant (which was extremely quick considering she had just gotten engaged in the finale last year) and her husband is long gone, Katherine has no life beyond work. That all changes when Bree sets her up on a date with what turns out to Orson’s old prison buddy, Peter. Apparently, Peter was arrested for ‘organ trafficking.’ After finding this out, Katherine breaks things off and at the end of the episode appears to be ready to start something with Mike. I was excited to see Bree and Katherine share a storyline that didn’t pit them against each other, but a little disgusted at the blatant product placement their storyline promoted. Really, is it at all realistic, or even somewhat believable, that someone would record himself saying hi to someone on his wife’s cell phone? That entire scene was so ludicrous I had to pause the Tivo to recover.

Edie wasn’t around for most of the action, although she did visit Karen in the hospital. Karen pretended to be out of it, but after she Edie left, she called up her sister to come dig up some dirt on Dave. Apparently, her sister is a master creeper or just an older Veronica Mars; in no time at all she had information on him. I’m really excited for Lily Tomlin’s guest turn as Karen’s sister Roberta; it seems like the character has a lot of potential.

Speaking of Dave, he finally shared some personal information with Edie. Apparently, he had a brother who was killed by a fellow inmate in prison. The killer walked off free. It seems obvious that this is headed towards Mike, although it doesn’t fit with my earlier theories. We’ll have to wait and see.

The biggest storyline of the episode was Lynette’s. Lynette spent the whole episode afraid that Tom was cheating on her, and thanks to unfortunate bad timing, is now under the impression that he is. At the end she was even packing a suitcase. In reality, however, it’s not Tom who’s having the affair, but Porter, whose sleeping with his friend’s mom. This while storyline seems like a throwback to season 1, if you ask me. It has a lot of potential though, as Lynette’s surely not going to put up with a cougar prying on her teenage son when she finds out the truth.

So what did you guys think of tonight’s episode? What’s your opinion on Dave? Is he after Mike or is it just a red herring?

— posted by Tricia

Tricia is your Desperate Housewives girl this year. She’s from upstate New York and is currently a freshman in college. She’s also a hardcore TV fan; check out her homemade TV schedule: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27093551@N08/2782207387/