After last week's eventful premiere — where we spent most of our time getting our bearings while catching up with the characters on Wisteria Lane following the five-year leap — the following episode was bound to be a bit of a letdown.That doesn't mean there weren't things to like in last night's episode, which dealt with one of the show's major themes (revealed through a nifty twist on the usual opening montage) — the trouble brewing underneath the perfect exterior.
For example, Bree Van De Kamp is the picture perfect homemaker, while Bree Hodge is a woman who pushed her friend out of the limelight last week and refused to acknowledge her husband during a radio interview this week. (Who's next on her hit list? Will it be Andrew, leading to the return of Evil Andrew?)
I agreed with Bree on the whole "Van De Kamp" vs. "Hodge" issue (though saying "Hodge" is the sound a plunger makes is WAY harsh), but that was pretty much the only time I was with her. We learned that Orson had served his prison sentence at Bree's insistence. (My thoughts on the matter were that if Mike and Susan forgave Orson for running Mike over, then I didn't understand why Bree couldn't.) As a result, Bree wasn't in a hurry to bring up her ex-con of a husband, and I'm fine with that. She has a certain public image she wants to maintain. What I'm not ok with is her making promises to her spouse (even if it's a stupid pot roast) and then completely disregarding them. We saw a darker side of Orson after he crushed his chopsticks and, later, angrily insisted that Bree make the pot roast. But were we supposed to feel bad for a crying Bree while she cooked for her husband? Sorry, but I was on Orson's side.
I definitely enjoyed Bree more during her scenes with Gabby. Gabby was excited about being invited to an elite country club party only to find out from Bree she'd been disinvited because Carlos now worked at the club as a masseuse ("We used to HAVE help, now we're the help!") In typical Gabby fashion, she crashed the party by sneaking in through a service entrance. Eventually, she and Carlos got kicked out after a smartly-written scene between Gabby and Bree involving a kitchen door which revealed Carlos' ejection from the party step-by-funny step.
Of course, this led to the sweetest scene of the evening, in which Carlos told Gabby they finally had everything they needed and that he's never been happier. Still, this was too similar to his "you're still beautiful" speech from last week and, while touching, I'm looking forward to this couple doing more than the usual "Gabby does something silly and Carlos makes a touching speech at the end" shtick.
Speaking of the usual shtick, Susan wore a collection of skimpy outfits last night while acting irrationally silly (at least she didn't fall down this time). This time the silliness was spurred .. her ex-husband Mike met her current boyfriend Jackson in an awkward (and funny) scene. Mike insisted he and Jackson hang out so he could get to know him the man who will be spending time around his son a little better.
Despite the relative waste of Teri Hatcher's talent (she IS talented) again, I enjoyed bits of this storyline, including James Denton's performance. The guy and his "acting" are frequent punching bags in this column, but he delivered last night. He was funny throughout and he was charming in the scene where he convinced Susan he sees her in a very positive light despite their past. The storyline also gave us a cameo from Susan's first ex Karl, by FAR the most interesting guy (asshole) in her life, who made a funny crack about how his marriage to Susan might have lasted if he had gone into roofing (or if he hadn't cheated on her).
The funniest lines of the evening belonged to Tom as he teased Lynette for striking up an online romance with her son Porter (or is Preston? Or does it matter?) on the show's version of Facebook. Tom made a great Oedipal reference by telling Lynette he was afraid Porter would kill him and gouge his own eyes out if he found out the truth. Also, when Lynette was writing the breakup later, Tom's draft went along the lines of "I've decided to see other offspring."
Maybe it was just a nice change to see Lynette (not Tom) act like a fool for a change, but I enjoyed this storyline. To be perfectly honest, going online and pretending to be a love interest for my (non)existent kids is something I could potentially see myself doing (though I like to think I wouldn't be stupid enough to sign the breakup letter, "Love, Dad"), seeing as how teenagers hate speaking with their parents. Still, the scene at the end where Porter muttered under his breath that he also missed speaking with Lynette was a bit too cheesy.
Finally, we have Mrs. McCluskey (pictured, left) and the case of the missing feline. Toby the cat went mysteriously missing after new arrival Dave insisted that Mrs. M apologize to Edie for a remark she made about Edie's (ridiculous) breasts. As soon as we saw Dave eyeing the cat (Neal McDonough is FANTASTICALLY creepy), we KNEW something bad was going to happen.
Edie seems to suspect something is up with her husband, who insists they stay in Wisteria Lane. Meanwhile, Mrs. McCluskey is taking a more proactive approach, asking Katherine for help in researching Dave's past. To be honest, I'm very scared for Mrs. McCluskey's safety. She has no real ties to any other character on the show since Lynette's kids (except for the daughter we never see) don't need a babysitter anymore. Also, Kathryn Joosten has already won her (well-deserved) Emmy in this role, so she's had a good run, meaning I could see Dave taking her out and making it look like an accident.
So what'd you think of this episode? When will Katherine get something to do? (Maybe teaming up with Mrs. M.) Is Mrs. McCluskey a goner? Finally, what do you see happening first? Susan and Mike getting back together or Carlos getting his sight back?
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