Desperate Housewives, ABC, Sundays 9pm
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Um. Well, originally I had this in the "mysterious" category, but now I dunno. Sure, each season has an over-arcing mystery, you know, like a murder mystery or whatever. But often that takes a back seat to the drama, and comedy, of the show. So I might as well call it a dramedy show instead of a mystery show. Of course the mysteries do tend to have a major impact on the characters, but on the other hand, they all have plenty of other things going on in their lives. (On the third hand, those things can somhow tie into the mystery, at times, I guess.) Anyway, not sure what else to say in preamble, so I'll get on with explaining things, from the top. I'll try to avoid any major spoilers, but, you know... there still might be a few it's impossible to avoid. We'll see.
Okay. So there was this woman named Mary Alice Young, who lived in a Connecticut suburb called Fairview, on a street called Wisteria Lane, with her husband Paul, and their son Zach. One day she killed herself, and now she narrates this series. She left behind four friends (all of whom we like): There's Susan Mayer, who is divorced and raising her teenage daughter Julie (who we like). Lynette Scavo, a former career woman who's now raising four young, immensely troublesome, stress-inducing children while her husband Tom spends most of his time at work. Their eldest sons, twins Preston and Porter, are 10 at the start of the series, I think; their younger brother Parker is 8; daughter Penny was a newborn in season 1. Bree Van De Kamp, who is pretty much like Martha Stewart (with just a touch of Adrian Monk), and her husband Rex doesn't like who she's become (though that's not his main problem), and they go into marriage counseling, which Bree doesn't like. They have a teenage son, Andrew, and daughter, Danielle (who we like). The kids don't seem to like their mother much. Finally, there's Gabrielle Solis, an ex-model who married a rich businessman, Carlos, but the excitement has gone out of the marriage, and now she's having an affair with their 17-year-old gardener, John. These four women find a note among Mary Alice's belongings which suggests she did something awful, and this will be a great mystery, the over-arching mystery of the first season.
Paul doesn't want to talk about Mary Alice with anyone, even Zach, who wishes he would talk about her. Meanwhile, a plumber named Mike Delfino just moved into the neighborhood, and Susan is interested in him, but has a rival in another woman, Edie Britt (who I will grudgingly admit that we perhaps like, though we really can't stand her). Meanwhile, tangential mysteries arise, such as who was blackmailing Mary Alice, and why. Another neighbor, Martha Huber, is murdered at one point, and the mystery of who killed her and why will of course tie in to the mysteries about Mary Alice. Also Mike has a mysterious past, which- you guessed it- ties in to the other mysteries. After Mrs. Huber is murdered, her sister, Felicia Tilman (who never liked her) moves to town, and she'll eventually help tie everything together. Yes, everything will be revealed by the end of the first season, including some more related myseteries, which I don't want to mention because they're so intrinsically tied to the greater mysteries... I don't want to give anything away about any of this. In fact I fear I've already said far too much.
And then, just as all the mysteries are being wrapped up at the end of the first season, a new family moves to town (Betty Applewhite and her son, Matthew), who will provide the over-arcing mystery of season 2.... Which most critics and fans will agree wasn't as good as season 1. And I can't think of much to say about the season or its mystery.
Really, it's difficult to say much of anything about anything in this series, even people's personal lives, without giving away major spoilers, even if it doesn't necessarily spoil the mysteries, I don't want to spoil personal developments, either. But things just keep changing, it's kind of like a soap opera, actually. I suppose I could say that in seaosn three Tom and Lynette open a pizzeria. And they'll get another kid to take care of, Kayla Huntington, but I don't want to reveal anything about the circumstances surrounding that. Um, but the major mystery of season three involves a man named Orson Hodge. Really can't say any more than that.
Season four involves a woman named Katherine Mayfair (who we like), who returns to Fairview after having moved away 12 years earlier. So she knew Susan, but everyone else in town is new to her. And she develops quite a rivalry with Bree. Moving into town with Katherine are her new husband, Adam, and her daughter, Dylan (who we like), from a previous marriage. The major mystery of the season involves the Mayfairs. And eventually Katherine's abusive ex-husband, Wayne Davis. I should also mention that a gay couple, Lee and Bob, move into the neighborhood. And... well, of course there's plenty of other stuff going on, but I can't think of anything to say that wouldn't be too spoilery, I'm afraid. But I will say I thought the season finale was awesome, and made the rest of the season seem to me to be even better, in retrospect. Oh, and then there was a flash-forward to five years in the future, which leaves us with plenty of questions....
...And, those questions are answered in season 5, which is set, you know, five years in the future, at the time of the flashforward at the end of season 4. Anyway, Edie is now married to a guy named Dave Williams, who is the center of the season's main mystery, which involves an incident that happened with Mike and Susan sometime during the five years that the show skipped. There are other new characters, as well, and of course, some changes for old characters. But I really don't feel like detailing anything. In season 6, the mystery will center on a new family called the Bolens, who just moved to Wisteria Lane. Also, at the end of season 5, Carlos's 16-year-old nice, Ana Solis (who we like) moved in with Carlos and Gaby, and immediately started causing trouble for Gaby, which continues in season 6. That's all I can say, for now....
Anyway, I pretty much think the series overall is just okay, but I do sort of care about some of the characters, and it can be amusing, and occasionally quite good. Anyway, it's good enough that so far I've kept watching all this time, even if I sometimes think I should quit. And... yeah, that's all I have to say, for now.