Desperate Housewives: Mayor Concern

Last night was a decent, but not great episode of "Desperate Housewives" that was carried by its better actors — and completely bogged down by its weaker ones.

Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first. I like that they're at least trying to explain away why Mike has been such a moody jerk lately. I also get that James Denton is hot, and probably wasn't hired because of his acting chops. So the fact that he actually had to perform (or be carried by Teri Hatcher) in a key dramatic scene after she figured out he'd been lying to her about his apparent drug addiction was painful. It was painful for me to watch, and probably painful for him to act in. I bet he kept asking the director "can't I just take off my shirt?"

This dude's acting is more wooden than one of the pieces of board he works on as a carpenter. Yes, I realize Mike is actually a plumber, but he just seems more like a carpenter to me. And apparently Susan REALLY forgot that Mike was a plumber too because it was fairly obvious that he would go back and easily retrieve the pills he dumped down the drain. The whole thing could've been salvaged if, when Susan asked him if living with her was so horrible that he had to take drugs, Mike had burst out "Yes!" (because Susan is kind of a pain) Then again, that would've been interesting — not a word usually associated with Mike.

Fortunately, we had Marcia Cross to save the day. I loved Bree secretly trying to give her baby (actually her grandbaby) Benjamin a circumcision against the wishes of Orson, who delivered a memorable and creepy speech about his own when he was 5. Great dinner conversation there, Orson. Anyway, the only thing funnier than Bree eventually pretending to be Jewish to get the job done was Orson anticipating his wife going behind his back and writing a letter (who still writes letters? Orson does!) to each hospital in the two neighboring states forbidding them from performing the procedure. I like how good of a twisted match these two are, and I like it when Kyle McLachlan gets something to do.

Though Dana Delaney only got minimum screentime this week, she used every last inch of it beautifully. First, she played the scene where Dylan told her that she's no longer afraid of her with the perfect mix of disbelief and horror. Later, she convincingly bluffed giving Dylan her father's contact information, when all she was giving her was a blank piece of paper. She convinced me, though I should've known better. Then again, I'm not very smart.

The third MVP was Felicity Huffman with a nice assist from Polly Bergen as her mom Stella, who no one seemed to want to take home. Although, Stella and her one night Stan shattered the record of "ewwws" in a scene, and she wasn't exactly the perfect mom growing up, I felt bad for her as Lynette and her two sisters argued about who had to take her in as she listened outside. The moment where Lynette realizes she's the only one that cares for her was almost as nicely played as Bergen's silent realization that none of her daughters can stand her. So, she hopped a cab and left town.

Finally, there was the Gaby, Victor, Carlos saga. Victor knew about Gaby's affair and insisted they go out on his boat together. I think that, like Gabby, we were meant to believe that he was going to kill her, the fact that John Slattery (pictured, right) was playing his scenes so overtly evil and creepy the entire time pretty much guaranteed that wasn't going to happen. Still, Gabby didn't take any chances, "Talented Mr. Ripley-ed" him (those oars are heavy, so those workouts of hers must really work) not just once, but a second time after Carlos insisted they go back and retrieve him. I'm wouldn't be surprised if they used the exact same footage of Victor going over for both scenes.

So what'd you think of this episode? Did you miss Bob and Lee (and their special brand of bitchiness) this week? Do you think we'll see Lynette's mom back any time soon? Finally, is Victor really dead?