DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: Mirror, Mirror

My favorite type of episode starts off at a point late in the episode’s action and flashbacks back to cover what we missed. The buildup is compelling because you want to know how the characters got to that point and the resolution is usually much quicker and satisfactory. Some of my favorite episodes of Lost and The O.C. are formatted this way. This episode of Desperate Housewives was no exception. Not only were we finding out how the characters arrived at their individual conflicts at Mrs. McCluskey’s surprise party, we also find out bits and pieces of what happened to them over the past five years.

Gabby is afraid she might be pregnant yet again. Up to this point it hasn’t been addressed how she was able to have children; after her miscarriage her doctor told her that she wouldn’t be able to have children. Via flashback we learn that both pregnancies came as a shock to Gabby, Carlos, and her doctor. Both Carlos and the doctor suffered some abuse at the hands of Gabby each time she found out she was expecting. She came around though, as soon as reconciled herself to the thought of being a mother. Honestly, this was exactly the reaction I was expecting for Gabby to have. Underneath all the glamour and the feisty attitude she is an insecure person who is desperately afraid of failure and the thought of failing as a mother, the biggest challenge of her life, terrifies her. However, in typical Gabby fashion, she rose to the challenge. That doesn’t mean she wants another bundle of joy however, she told Carlos to get a vasectomy after Celia was born. Carlos of course lied and told her he did while he really didn’t. Once Gabby found out she was livid, of course. After she found out she and Carlos were in the clear, and heard his reasons for not getting a vasectomy she calmed down. Carlos wants a boy, and at the end of the episode Gabby told him to hold off on the vasectomy.

Susan and Jackson have hit a rough patch. He wants to take the next step, while she is still unwilling to open herself up emotionally. Susan’s flashback explained this; she begged Mike to give their marriage one more chance but he signed the divorce papers anyway. The same day, she started her “purely physical” affair with Jackson. It’s obvious that Susan really does care for Jackson; she just doesn’t want to expose herself emotionally again. Jackson is unwilling to wait any longer, after trying to make Susan jealous by kissing Katherine, he seemingly ended things. While I agree that Susan should open herself up to Jackson, I also think that Jackson is moving way to fast. He hasn’t even been her official boyfriend for six months yet; he needs to give her some time to adjust.

Tom is back to acting like a five- year-old. He’s always gotten on my nerves; there’s always something for him to complain about, from Lynette’s cancer to Lynette’s career. Now he’s complaining that he wants “more from life”. This was spurred from a near death experience he had a few years ago. He uses this as an excuse to guilt Lynette into letting him keep his red convertible. Now, he’s trying to use the excuse to get Lynette to agree to sell the pizzeria, take the kids out of school, and travel across country for a year. If he thinks his marriage can make it through that, he’s kidding himself. Lynette is already at her wit’s end. I completely agreed with everything she said to Tom at the end of the episode; she’s already given up her career to help him achieve his dream of owning a pizzeria and he can’t just uproot their lives because he’s now ‘bored’ with that dream. As a little side note, there was a great ‘that’s what she said’ moment during Tom and Lynette’s fight. Let’s see if you can guess what it is!

Bree is having trouble adjusting to having Orson back at home and fitting him into her now career-driven life. At the end of last week’s episode, Bree made Orson into her business partner. However, she’s now having second thoughts, as she doesn’t want to do that to Katherine, who was there for her when Orson was in jail. After Bree lost both Orson and Benjamin she started a downward spiral where she began drinking again. Katherine intervened and encourages her to fill the holes in her life with work. After explaining to this Orson, he was much more understanding of the tough position she was in. What I don’t understand is if Katherine was such a good friend to Bree, why didn’t Bree feel bad about not giving her any credit for the cookbook? She can’t have it both ways.

The main storyline of the episode was Dave setting up a plot to take care of Mrs. McCluskey. After catching Karen going through his mail, he set up a surprise party as part of a complicated scheme to get everyone to think she’s crazy and get her sent away. The plan worked, and Dave is now focusing on the man who ruined his life. I still think this must be Mike. Why else would he be trying so hard to befriend him?

Let me know what you guys thought of the episode!

— posted by Tricai

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/