516: 'Crime Doesn't Pay'
Wr: Jamie Gorenberg
Dr: Larry Shaw
Synopsis: In a gesture of friendship, Bree tells Lynette she'll help Tom secure a new job, but the best intentions will reach a tempestuous end and reveal Orson's shameful misdeeds. Gaby finds herself in a precarious position when Carlos' adulterous boss begins using her to cover for himself as he continues to cheat on his wife. Meanwhile, Edie digs into Dave's past after a chance encounter with an old acquaintance.
Review: Regrettably, having written the review for this episode and the next earlier today, the electricity went off in my house and I lost every bloody word of it. Thus, I'm gonna type this thing as fast as I can - I have to be out of the house fairly soon in order to do a quiz and PROBABLY CONTRACT SWINEFLU - so forgive me if it's both a little brief and mildly incoherent. The main bugbear of this episode is Orson's kleptomania which, frankly, I can do without. Sure, it gives the guy something to do for once as he's been sadly neglected for the majority of the season, and since the midway point of year three for that matter, but it's inherently flawed because it denigrates his character. While the notion that he is miserable due to the loss of his livelihood and feeling inadequate when compared to his hugely successful wife is a good one, full of dramatic potential and coming across as very three dimensional and real, the vessel through which this is channelled by the writing staff is problematic. We don't sympathise with what is a fully understandable plight... we distance ourselves from a no-good thief. Elsewhere, Gaby and Carlos's storyline continues to be fairly passable, although I have my doubts as to whether Sheila would actually murder her husband, things continue to crawl along at a snail's pace in Edie and Dave's storyline (and where exactly is the camping trip promised a couple of episodes ago? Oh yes, saved for Sweeps, gotcha) and Lynette and Tom's narrative has considerable weight and a few decidedly humorous scenes but the pay-off, that Mrs. Scavo is going to go back to work, just feels like a bit of a retread. Let's hope they can avoid the inevitable plot beats that they've succumbed to in the past in the episodes to come. Not a bad hour but considerably average. 7.4
517: 'The Story of Lucy and Jessie'
Wr: Jordon Nardino
Dr: Bethany Rooney
Synopsis: When Susan tries to impress Jessie (guest star Swoosie Kurtz), a teacher at work, Jessie comes away with the wrong impression. With the wrong intent, Gaby convinces Carlos to hire Lynette, and Carlos finds himself working with an old acquaintance (guest star Lesley Boone as Lucy). As Orson's shameful habit grows, Bree will protect herself from embarrassment at all costs, and a suspicious Edie slyly digs further into Dave's past.
Review: Along with 516, my review of this episode disappeared when I suffered a most unfortunate power cut and so I'm going to be fairly brief, while trying to salvage some of what I had written. 'The Story of Lucy and Jessie' might as well be called 'the one with the token lesbianism' thanks to that ratings grabbing scene between Gaby and Susan, which probably shocked delicate sensibilities all over middle America, but what the hey, it's mindless, fun and refreshing to see such non-heteronormative beats treated with little fanfare within an episode of prime time television (even if the fanfare in the media was gargantuan... seriously, it was all over the TV and newspapers days before the episode aired). Swoozie Kurtz is excellent as the smitten Jessie and her story with Susan is both wickedly humorous - check out that scene in the classroom, where subtext becomes text within about 30 seconds for evidence - and decidedly sweet. Our other new character, Lucy, is certainly less likeable, although she is clearly meant to be so. The decision to gel Lynette's story with Gaby and Carlos's looks to be a promising one, getting the Solises in particular out of the repetitive narratalogical rut they've been stuck in since Carlos magically recovered from being blind. However, the ease with which he becomes President of his company is a little ridiculous. What else? Still no sign of the camping trip although at least Edie's on her way to digging up the truth and the writing staff sensibly concentrate on Bree's reaction to Orson's kleptomania in order to keep this rather unsavoury and irritating storyline interesting. Pretty damn good all round then. 8.3
518: 'A Spark. To Pierce The Dark' (1/2)
Wr: Alexandra Cunningham
Dr: David Grossman
Synopsis: Bree considers selling her business to save her marriage. Lynette is threatened by her new boss, and boundaries are crossed for Gabrielle and Carlos. Meanwhile, Katherine is caught in the most unexpected of circumstances and Edie's worst fears come true.
Review: And so Dave, Mike and Katherine finally go on that camping trip that we've been promised for about four weeks (despite it being 'this weekend' when it was originally mentioned) and, frankly, it's a bit of a damp squib. The story takes up around 1/6th of the episode's total airtime and what we do get is pretty laughable. There's very little build up, no increase in the dramatic tension, as they set up camp, wake up in the morning and Dave mis-fires when Edie calls him. I don't know about you but I was expecting a solid concentration on this narrative, featuring something a little more elaborate than snipering from on high. Still, with the long-awaited marriage of this story with Edie's, we do get some sparkling dialogue between the two characters and a confrontation scene to die for... quite literally, actually, as the poor woman appears to snuff it (or nearly at any rate) at hour's end. Of course, one does wonder why, upon learning the truth about her husband, Edie would simply call him up and INVITE THE PSYCHOPATH BACK TO HER HOME rather than, you know, getting the hell out of there and calling the police. Don't try to weasel an explanation out of the loon you fool, RUN! And hit a tree. And get electrocuted. Call me cynical but isn't that a little much, guys? Would it have been so bad if she'd simply died from the mangled car? Did she really need to get an almost comedic electrocution? *sigh* And, of course, this also involves Orson who, regrettably, learns nothing from his wife's sage words and proceeds to rob a house in the middle of the night. This story is escalating out of control, leaving no room for sympathy with his character, and unless it results in MacLachlan being written out of the show, I don't really see the point. A bit of a mixed bag, then, although Lynette/Carlos' storyline is somewhat enjoyable, if only because Lucy is a self-righteous, manipulative cow and it's good to see her put in her place. 7.9
519: 'Look Into Their Eyes and You See What They Know' (2/2)
Wr: Matt Berry
Dr: Larry Shaw
Synopsis: As the women look back on Edie's life, Susan recalls their first meeting, Lynette reflects on a memorable afternoon out, Bree is reminded of the thoughtfulness she bestowed upon Orson, and Gaby remembers fondly a night of friendly competition.
Review: Coming so hot on the heels of 'The Best Thing That Ever Could've Happened', it's understandable that a number of viewers may feel rather underwhelmed by this episode. After all, this is essentially simply the 100th hour but with Edie as its focus rather than the local handyman. However, this is an important distinction as, let's face it, we care far more about the plastic-surgeried one than we ever did about some random dude we'd never met before. And there's enough well written, reflective dialogue and mildly amusing anecdotes to keep 'Look Into Their Eyes and You See What They Know' afloat. This is an honourable ode to Edie Britt, demonstrating her inherent friendliness as she makes mates with Susan when they first meet, her devotion to her family, however ludicrous that might seem, as she explains to Mrs. McLuskey why she handed Travers over to his father, her carpe diem attitude when she competes with Gaby in the club (okay, okay, this one's a little... cheesy), her strength of character as she kicks the apathy out of Lynette in a wonderful little storyline that gives Felicity Huffman some excellent material too, and, in the episode's highlight, her compassion as she visits Orson in prison and gives Bree a much needed lesson in appreciating what she has. Granted, this is all filler, distracting from the development of the on-going storyline, but if they'd simply thrown a funeral into the beginning of the episode and got on with things, where would the justice have been? As a central character, Edie deserves a goodbye we can all invest in and that, boys and girls, is exactly what this episode is. 8.6
520: 'Rose's Turn'
Wr: David Flebotte
Dr: David Warren
Synopsis: Carlos finds Lynette in a precarious position, which she chooses to hide from Tom, and Gabrielle hastily covers for Tom's coy behavior. Orson tries to hide the truth about his wounds from Bree, while Katherine confesses to Mike, which leads to a surprising realization. In the meantime, Susan confides her dark secret in Dave.
Review: Generally, this is a fairly solid episode that manoeuvres everyone into position for the amateur dramatics that will inevitably ensue in the finale. Sensibly, the writing staff continue to marry Gaby and Carlos's storyline with Lynette and Tom's, which keeps things fresh for all parties and ensures that they don't fall back on old tricks. While Lynette's fall in the tub and subsequent embarrassment at her nudity is mildly amusing, it's the scene at the dinner table that really packs a punch, containing some stellar one-liners and crackling with every increase in the undercurrent of emotional tension. The fallout of Orson's duplicitous antics during 'A Spark. To Pierce The Dark' is well handled; credit to Marcia Cross for doing an upstanding job of portraying Bree's colossal disappointment in her husband, as well as her stiff upper lip, which is perfectly in keeping with her character. Oh and nice to see Shawn Pyfrom in a shirt that accentuates his nipples... *ahem* Erm, anyway... Susan's encounters with Dave are well written too and shine a much-needed light on the reality of the Dash accident, illustrating that no, the writers hadn't made a massive gaffe by making Dave persue Mike rather than Susan. Of course, now it looks like we're going to have one hell of a showdown in the coming weeks that'll tug on the heartstrings and keep nails being bitten all across the world... despite the fact that THEY'RE NEVER GOING TO KILL LITTLE MJ. Good stuff, then, with the only real letdown being Mike's apparent questioning of his relationship with Katherine which comes just too close to season's end for my taste. Please, please, please don't have him run to Susan in 522. Please? 8.4
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