Sunday January 11, 2009
512
Connections lead to surprising resolutions, as Susan and Edie are forced to spend time alone together when they accidentally lock themselves in a basement. Bree doesn't like it when Alex (guest star Todd Grinnell) indicates that she is emasculating her husband. Gabrielle loses control of her children and turns to Carlos for help. The ongoing search for Porter leads Lynette to her mother, Stella (guest star Polly Bergen). Katherine and Mike define their relationship. Meanwhile, Dave gets a step closer to exacting revenge.
Read Full Recap » (warning: possible spoilers!)Still gay Oh yes; well, considerably gay thank the Lord. hide show
Still gay Oh yes; well, considerably gay thank the Lord. Andrew and Alex are at front and centre once again, albeit at the service of Bree's narrative, but at least it gives the characters something other to do than sit around looking pretty or addressing their sexuality. Choosing to have Alex be Bree's foil is a stroke of genius and one that assures the character's (relative) longevity... here's hoping Cherry chooses to go all out and gives us a delightfully subdued wedding for these two crazy cats in the foreseeable future. There's much else to enjoy in 'Connect! Connect!' too: having Polly Vergen return as Lynette's embittered mother lifts the entire production. She's absolutely wonderful, perfectly pitching her performance to convey the depth of her resentment and sorrow. While Lynette's decision to fake either a serious injury or even death is a somewhat questionable decision and one that doesn't seem to fit entirely with her character, Bergen salvages the entire thread by giving a painfully believable reaction that is guaranteed to at least put a knot or two in your stomach. The characters' subsequent reconciliation over a whiskey or two is also a nice touch, even if it is tainted a little by the ludicrous 'end' to the 'Porter is accused of arson' story (seriously, they just drop the charges?! That's it?!) Elsewhere, Dave's story continues to be thoroughly contrived... I mean come on, Mike just so happens to see him cast out of his home and invites him to stay with him? Ack. I'm still reeling from the revelation that it's bloody Delfino who Dave's after anyway so perhaps I am a little biased toward picking at this narrative's scabs. It just smacks of lazy writing and would have been far more interesting with a completely unexpected different character. Still, at least we get the revelation that Mike might just be in love with Katherine which, provided the writers don't screw it up by throwing Susan back into the mix, could actually make for an engaging, refreshing storyline. And speaking of Myer, her half an hour of soul searching with Edie is nicely played by all involved, veering pleasingly from comedy to fulfilling insight and back again with each scene. These two have such great sparring chemistry; shove them in a closet and throw away the key more often! Susan is now enjoying being alone 'for the first time in her life', apparently. I give it four weeks before she's part of a love triangle. Still, cynicism aside, a successful episode. Let's hope my fears about future narrative trajectories are assuaged in the coming weeks.
Funny funny funny stuff hide show
This was one of the funniest episodes so far!
Let's start with Lynette and her mother. I am pleased to see Stella back on our screens - she is a great character and humour always follows. The scenes where Lynette promises to visit more often were quite emotional but I am glad to see them getting along - laughing and joking in the final bit.
Gabby's kids are out of control in the most amusing way! When Gabby is trying to drag her daughter up the stairs and when Gabby is on the phone Carlos are fantastically funny. It hurt when they said they loved Carlos more - but then the man shouting helped!
Susan and Edie locked in the basement led to some pivotal stuff - some good characterisation for Edie despite the fact we know her sad fate already...
And lastly Bree and Alex clash in a great way. In the previous episode it was his mother, now Alex is choosing to be awkaward. The barbecue scene was funny and the scene where they were bonding was rather emotional and well written. Overall good stuff!
Connection
Written by Jordan Nardino
Directed by Ken Whittengham
hide
show
Susan: "Have you ever looked in your mirror, Edie? You're famous for the number of me you've conquered."
Edie: "Thank you."
Susan: "It's not a compliment, you tramp."
Just what the doctor ordered – a good old fashioned spat between Susan and Edie. It nicely reminds you of the first three seasons but mainly, it's a moment that raises some interesting questions about both women's attitudes towards men.
To start off, neither of them really have the right approach but over the course of the hour some progress is actually made for each character, so hopefully them being locked down a basement and trading insults will have ended up being worth it.
Edie opened the episode by calling all of her friends and telling them that's she broken up with Dave. She's done this kind of thing before when Karl cowardly dumped her back in the second season and with Edie, there seems to be a horrible consistency – she ends up with men who don't love her.
It explains her somewhat abrasive attitude but at least she thought she had the support of Lynette, Bree, Gabby and Susan. To be fair, given how hot and cold these four tend to be with her, I'm not surprised that a few seconds of sympathy would then be replaced by their focus on something else.
For this, the blame can be attributed to Susan. Not exactly strong on tact herself, Susan invalidates Edie's latest break up by telling everyone that she plans to move away with Jackson. Naturally everyone else is delighted for her while Edie sits there feeling like a lemon.
I know the writers do portray Edie as somewhat cold but I felt sorry for her during this scene. Unlike Susan, whose constant need for validation from the opposite sex has become somewhat wearing, Edie had a genuine problem and once again, everyone else dismissed it for the latest episode in Susan's ongoing soap opera.
Of course Edie's not the kind of person to let her anger simmer. Nope, instead she makes a point of ignoring Susan in front of Andrew and Alex and when Susan continues to pester her, Edie doesn't hold back on the sarcastic comments and Edie can certainly spew them out when she's livid.
Being locked in a basement with Susan is a good opportunity for Edie to let loose on her rival too. First she rightly lays into Susan for killing her big news by dithering on about moving with Jackson. Susan doesn't do herself any favours by refusing to see the validity in Edie's reasons to ditch Dave.
Here's the thing – Edie's reasons are somewhat good. Dave did lie to her about being married and his behaviour is erratic, so she's justified in perhaps wanting to ditch him. After all, if Dave filled her on his real reasons for moving to Wisteria Lane, she'd be calling the cops on him as well as a divorce lawyer.
Susan however is a little too self-involved to get that so Edie has her own way of getting back at her. Last week, Susan told Lee that she couldn't live without a man and thanks to a list, Edie presented evidence on that established fact. Of course, Susan isn't best pleased with having her dating prowess called into question so she takes some shots at Edie's love them and leave them approach.
Now the big question is – which dynamic is worse? If you're Edie and use men like tissues, you're going to end being a very lonely individual but you're Susan and you can't function without having a relationship, is that any better? Edie's attitude might not be great but at least she shows more ease and acceptance within herself. Susan on the other hand not so much.
The funniest part about this whole thing is that when Edie tells Susan about how selfish her father had been to her, Susan starts welling like a sap. It's a great moment for the two of them to trade a slap and a push but when they get rescued, Susan is threatened never to reveal that secret of Edie's.
The resolution however for Susan is more satisfying. She decides not to move in with Jackson and calls time on their relationship. Having Susan go through a few episodes where her love life isn't detrimental would actually be nice but given that Gale Harold is coming back; I can't see her and Jackson being separated for too long.
Unfortunately for Edie by being open and taking Dave back in, she's set herself up for a fall. After all, she's only a beard for Dave's mad scheme to exact revenge on Mike. Let's face it, Dave didn't even make the effort to try and fix his marriage, although deep down he probably assumed that Edie would take him back.
Before that though, he did end up staying with Mike for a bit. Mike's easy acceptance of him due to the fire incident would be sweet if we didn't know that Dave was after him but at least this episode did offer some male bonding.
Dave was in the lucky position to find out that Mike really does care for Katherine and when Mike used a romantic gesture to stop her from moving to Baltimore, it instantly became clear that Katherine should watch her back. I don't really care about Mike and Katherine as a couple but unlike a lot of other viewers; it's still not angering or boring me as a plot device.
One plot device that is interesting is the dynamic between Alex and Bree. Given that his porn past and trailer trash mum didn't put Bree off him, there would have to be something that would. There's no way that Alex would go by without doing something to tick off his mother in law.
Like with the Robert/Nora spat in the Brothers And Sisters episode "Book Burning", I have to admit to taking the side of Alex. After all, there's a difference between gentle teasing and just being plain disrespectful to your spouse and Bree certainly veered into the latter category.
Maybe Orson is one of those unfortunately saps that irritating sales companies take for a mug but surely Bree could've been a bit diplomatic. Perhaps it wasn't Alex's place to tell her to lay off teasing Orson but it's hardly the worst thing he could've said and obviously given how both Orson and Andrew reacted, it was clear that Alex had raised a good point.
Of course Bree didn't see it that and tried to make a point of it during the barbeque. Throwing in the house offer would've given Bree some moral high ground if her motives for acquiring the home hadn't been selfishly motivated. She was after all trying to get one over Melina by doing that.
The best part of this episode is that Andrew refused to get involved between his fiancé and his mother's disagreement. I'm really glad because not do I side with Alex but Andrew raised the point that Bree does have to deal with people disagreeing with her, which is only fair.
However instead of starting a feud with Alex, Bree decided to be the bigger woman and admit that she can be something of a shrew. Plus she gives him something that possibly every son in law could hope for – carte blanche to call her out on her crap whenever needed. Carte blanche is also something Gabby gave to a complete stranger when disciplining her bratty kids this week. With Carlos back at work, Juanita and Celia's idea of hell is being stuck with Gabby for a prolonged time period. Of course, seeing as they take after their mother, there are ways of dealing with that.
Firstly when Gabby asks you to do something, Juanita and Celia respond by a) not doing it and b) telling Gabby that they love Carlos more as a parent. Okay, even I felt tremendously sorry for Gabby there and while she shouldn't really use outside force to get her kids to behave, it did make for a funny scene.
Besides all Reggie did was use a loud voice to get them to put their toys away and while Carlos finally got why Gabby needed him to back her up, things more or less resolved themselves. Overall, while Gabby's hardly mum of the year, her methods were tame compared to the usual crazy hi-jinks she pulls to get her own way.
Speaking of crazy hi-jinks, Lynette's certainly form herself. This week she scares the holy crap out of Stella and Porter by using a car crash to get them to the hospital. Needless to say, she's fine but it does take her a while to get Porter to turn himself in. Personally I'm relieved this plot has ended. I really didn't want to have to go through weeks of the Scavos looking for Porter.
More interesting however was the Stella and Lynette stuff. Stella might have had a right to be furious with Lynette but using Porter to hurt her was just plain wrong. There are some really terrific moments between Felicity Huffman and Polly Bergin and while it's nice that Lynette and Stella have seemingly made amends, can we please see the woman again?
Also in "Connect! Connect!"
The opening scene just showed Dave from losing his wife and daughter to losing the plot to marrying Edie in five easy steps.
Edie (to Susan, re Dave): "It is when you don't tell them about it. Especially when I laid out my entire history."
Gabrielle: "Emphasis on the word, "laid"."
Edie: "See! Gabby gets it."
Edie's phone call skills are brilliant. Four minutes later you have four relatively eager people to commiserate with you.
Katherine (to Dave, re Mike's rose): "On second thoughts, I'm sure he won't even notice it's gone."
Juanita: "Why can't Daddy work here?"
Gabrielle: "Because Daddy has a new job. He's gonna make us a lot of money."
Juanita: "We don't need lots of money."
Gabrielle: "Hey, what did I say about that kind of language?"
The actor, who played Reggie, played Clancy in Boston Legal. More ABC recycling I see and I mean that in a nice way.
Susan: "Did you not hear me?"
Edie: "I heard you. Why do you think I kept on walking?"
Juanita: "You're never gonna make it."
Gabrielle: "Oh yes I will. My rage is fuelling me in ways you can't imagine."
Parker made a brief appearance in this episode only to get antagonised by a pensioner who thinks that Porter's got a face you want to slap.
Edie: "Have you ever in your whole life been without a man?"
Susan: "Of course I have."
Edie: "When?"
Stella: "That was a rotten thing, Lynette. I thought you were dead."
Lynette: "Yeah, well I learned from the best."
We learned in this episode that Glen passed away and Stella's drinking got out of control so Lynette put her in a nursing home.
Mike: "I think I might be falling for Katherine."
Dave: "Did you just use the "L" word?"
Orson (to Bree): "Oh, don't worry. I'm sure you won't upset me."
Alex: "I think she was referring to me."
Dylan and her baby got mentioned in this episode again. It's almost like she's used to question Katherine's relevance to Wisteria Lane at different times.
Susan: "I wouldn't trade places with you and you want to know why?"
Edie: "No, but we're trapped in here, so knock yourself out."
Susan (after being slapped): "Edie, what the hell?"
Edie: "Don't psychoanalyse me you sap. I was trying to tell you how selfish men are."
I thought Edie grew up without a father. That's what she told everyone back in "That's Good, That's Bad". Speaking of her family, will we ever see Travers again?
Reggie (re Juanita/Celia): "When they're done, do you want me to make them vacuum?"
Gabrielle: "If you wouldn't mind."
Edie (re her secret): "Good because I'll deny it if you do."
Susan: "I won't."
The end scene of this episode had Bree/Alex choosing colour samples, Susan on her own, Gabby/Carlos disciplining the kids and Lynette/Stella drinking.
Bree: "I need someone to speak up, to call me out when I cross that line and I'd like that person to be you."
Alex: "Did my mother in law give me permission to criticise her?"
Chronology: The same night as the end part of "Home Is The Place".
One of the most liveliest episodes of the series, "Connect! Connect!" is certainly a great episode for all of the main ladies but seriously, the Susan and Edie stuff just stole the entire episode.
Connect, connect...to what? The title of this episode doesn't give credit to the storyline. hide show
So now we know what Dave Williams is really up to with Mike. When Dave rescued Mike from the fire, you really had to wonder why...since it was obvious he was out to get Mike. Great way to work it into the story to have Dave keep Mike alive, just so that Mike can suffer from lost love, as Dave did when his wife and child were killed in the car accident involving Mike and Susan...that fateful night. We see relationships develope in the episode...Susan and Edie in the basement, Carlos and Gabriella working together as parents, Lynette and Porter as mother and son, and Lynette and her mother...but nothing new for this series. So where did the title Connect Connect come in? Maybe in the future, I can connect the episode to the title. But for now...it is just another great show!
Bree clashes with Alex, Susan gets locked in a basement with Edie, Gaby loses control over her kids, Lynette gets in contact with her mother, Katherine forces Mike to decide and Dave's plans take an interesting turn hide show
At first, I was a bit disapppointed with Bree's storyline, because it had changed (regarding the press release). There was no sign of Joanna Cassidy, while I felt that this story totally wasn't over. But her having an argument with Alex was a good replacement. The scene in which he told her he wasn't happy with the way she treated Orson was hilarious, especcialy with the long pauzes, and although the story tunred out to be a bit event-less, it was o.k.
Susan and Edie in one basement is a great idea, which could turn out to be very good or very bad. It winded up being good. There where some touching moments (Edie's horses) and funny moments (Susan guessing in which month the magazines were released). I liked seeing Edie getting some more screen time and the first scene, with Susan drawing the attention to her while Edie was talking about Dave's departure, was hilarious. I wonder how Susan's storyline is moving on, since they wouldn't have written out Jackson just like that.
Gaby had some good moments, like her dragging Juanita over the floor (the kid reminded me of Kayla) and crying at the front door, but I didn't like how she manipulated the whole situation. I know it's Gaby, but she doesn't have to pull in a stranger to punish her kids.
I'm glad that this family is turning back to be the old one, it might me interesting to see if she's going to make the same decisions once again.
As I predicted, this episode finished the whole court storyline, although I won't settle with Warren Schilling just disappearing. They still have to find out who set the fire and that the doctor was in it, so I'm sure we'll see him again.
The Felicity-Polly chemistry is great and it was interesting to see how their relationship has changed over the years, but it was dispicable how Lynette tricked her son and mother. The writers are really giving us a hard time to like Lynette and I think it would have been more interesting if she would really have had an accident.
The whole Katherine-Mike storyline came out of the blue and the first scene was just weird, but I like how it has changed Dave's plans. What I don't get is why he had to move in with Mike. He's back with Edie now and it would have been great if he had just said no to her when she wanted him back. There was no point of him moving in with Mike, he could have found out about him and Katherine another way.
The very first scene, with Dave's past, was also nice to see. The moving in with Mike was a very cleaver idea, too bad they didn't do anything with it.
This episode was extremely well written and the ending narration was a great way to end the first era of DH episodes. One of the highlights of the season and I can't wait to see the 100th episode.
RenatoB
Editor
Daniel777C
Retired
TM56
Retired
grace87
vukcevic
dragonbulldog
