Desperate Housewives: I Can See Clearly

I know, I know.

I’m a day late with this recap (and I’ll likely be a day late with my Monday take on “Heroes”) because I took a much-needed personal day to just relaxify and not do ANY writing.

Of course, I realize you likely a.) don’t really care that I’m gone or b.) didn’t even notice, but I just wanted to explain myself so that you didn’t think I’d given up on you.

I also didn’t want you to think I didn’t enjoy last night’s episode of “Desperate Housewives,” which may not have been the show’s best episode, but represents the show at its best. There was heart, laugh-out-loud humor, the advancement of an ongoing mystery and, best of all, Susan NOT acting like a complete imbecile.

I realize I’ve been very hard on Teri Hatcher’s character lately, and I was especially hard after her initial immature reaction to Mike and Katherine’s relationship.

Last night, she appeared to turn a new page, but it was Mike and Susan’s son M.J. who wasn’t exactly warming up to Katherine. (See, it’s ok when M.J. acts like a five year old, because he’s actually five years old. When Susan acts like a five year old, it’s just annoying.) Still, throwing hot fudge in Katherine’s hair and a bowling ball at her feet was probably too much.

In the end, it turned out that Susan wasn’t quite so innocent when it came to M.J.’s behavior. I thought Edie had a valid point in that Susan may not have been doing anything to overtly turn her son against Katherine, but that her behavior definitely indicated hostility. But it turned out that Susan had told her son that she and daddy might be getting back together one day during story time.

Since I still don’t fully understand why Mike and Susan broke up in the first place, this is a perfectly valid topic, and one that Mike has obviously considered given his non-answer when Susan confronted him. It seems clear Susan and Mike are on their way to getting back together. Poor Katherine — let’s hope she doesn’t go another two years without sex.

Unfortunately for Mike and Susan, even if they get back together their happiness might be short lived. That’s because last night we got official confirmation that Dave’s wife and kid were the people who died in the car accident with Mike and Susan. We saw more of Dave’s mental illness as he spoke to his deceased family and vowed to get revenge. Before it seemed like he was targeting Mike, but now it’s apparent that he’s going to target the people Mike cares about the most — Susan and M.J. (So that’s what “I’m not done with you yet” meant.)

Of course, I don’t honestly believe the show would let Susan or adorable M.J. (who’s straight out of a 60’s sitcom) be seriously harmed, but I have faith the show’s writers will find a way to make things interesting.

They’ve found a way to keep Andrew interesting, even after the character reformed from his hellraising ways.

Last week’s outta-nowhere “Orson’s doctor is Andrew’s boyfriend” twist was a bit jarring, but I love the way the show handled the storyline. I’m sure that Bree from a few seasons ago would not have accepted that Andrew had a boyfriend, much less invite the guy over for dinner and encourage them to scooch together. I also loved her obvious attempts to relate to the good doctor, including serving strawberry daiquiris, inviting Bob and Lee over and pointing out that a lot of gay men hang out at the gym (right?)

I especially loved the fact that the doctor’s porno past ("Rear Deployment"!)wasn’t a big deal at all, and only proved to Andrew that his mother cared enough to mettle in his love life. I like to think that my mom cares for me, but I think even she would draw the line at renting porno to try to protect me. On second thought, she’s kinda crazy, so never mind.

The show also found a skillful way to deal with the predictability of Carlos (pictured, left) getting his eyesight back. I mean, we all knew it would happen eventually (just like we all know Susan and Mike will get back together someday), but the storyline certainly served to develop Gabby (though I’d argue that it’s made Carlos too much of a saint at times.)

One of the first things Carlos saw with his sight restored (other than Gabby’s middle finger) was the sacrifices she’s made in the five years since he went blind. That included selling his Lou Gehrig baseball (newsflash Gabby, he’s not so much alive!), which Gabby promptly got back from a skeezy Italian millionaire (is there any other kind?) Now that Carlos has his sight back, I have no idea where the writers will take these two — and I kinda like that.

Too bad things aren’t going nearly as well for the Scavos. Of course, we know Lynette started her “protect Porter at all costs” campaign last week by bribing Anne Schilling and lying to her son about not knowing where she was. Well the lying continued this week as she neglected to tell Tom their emergency nest egg had been used as bribe money for Anne, and tampered with evidence by wiping off and returning the gun Porter had stolen from Edie during the time of the fire (admittedly not the greatest alibi in the world). I did enjoy Tom asking if Porter had slept with Edie too and saying “I’d give anything to sleep with a 17 year old” followed by a great disapproving look from Lynette.

When Lynette lied to her son and the police last week and bribed Anne Schilling, I was on board because she was doing what she needed to do to protect her son. I can still understand that sentiment, but things are WAY out of control now with ..Preston.. posing as Porter and I just don’t see any way this can end well. As Mary Alice said in her opening voiceover, I just don’t think her family is going to be having breakfast together any time soon.

So what’d you think of this episode? What style of dance do we think Gabby did on that table top? Do you want to see Bob and Lee more involved in storylines like they were last night or are you more interested in the sure-to-be triumphant return of Mrs. McCluskey? Finally, how many episodes till Mike and Susan get back together? (I’m putting the number at 10.)