Desperate Housewives

this episode did a fantastic job of follwing from the extremly high bar the pilot set, the character seem really fun and fresh and the actress who portray them are simple brilliant, the mystery seems to be very intriguing and i am looking forward to develing deeper into the youngs dark secrets, im loving the wisteria lane set it is so beatiful i defo want to live there haha, overall a really great episode, im really excited about this series now i think it has so much potential, addicted already

Gabrielle Solis was a "drowning woman". Mary Alice only saw the side of Gabrielle that most of the others saw: her expensive jewelry, her fabulous designer clothing, and her diamond watch. Gabrielle knew that she was lonely since her husband Carlos was constantly away but knew that if she lost him or they separated she would be less happy than she already is. This is perhaps the reason that John Rowland is not only Gabrielle's personal gardener but also her current lover. As the two relax in the bathtub, Gabrielle hears a noise from outside. When she looks out the window, she finds Carlos getting out of his car and checking the mail. Gabrielle panics and quickly devises a plan to get John out of there. The two race down the stairs and Gabrielle throws John out a window. John falls into the shrubs and quickly puts his shirt on. Simultaneously, Carlos enters the house oblivious of what is going on. Carlos asks why Gabrielle took a bath in the afternoon which she explains by saying that she just worked out. When Carlos asks where John is, Gabrielle quivers until John pleasantly greets the two from the window while trimming the shrubs. Carlos reminds John to finish work on the ficus tree which he will get on when he is finished. Carlos smiles and the scene ends with John trimming with only his shirt without pants on.



The women gather the following evening at Susan's to discuss the mysterious note that was used to blackmail Mary Alice. Susan thinks that they should share the letter with Paul since it could be used as evidence to find the writer. Gabrielle thinks that he would break down. Bree agrees but Lynette scoffs at the suggestion since it would only make matters worse. The four leave without a resolution and decide to talk about it in the morning.



Meanwhile, Bree tries to save her marriage with Rex by going to couple counseling with Dr. Albert Goldfine, supposedly Fairview's number 1 therapist. Dr. Goldfine has handled cases such as domestic abuse, affairs, and marital disputes but has never met anyone as eccentric as the Van De Kamps. At their first few sessions, Rex manages to get his complaints about the marriage out in the open but when it's time for Bree to talk she rambles on with small talk. Dr. Goldfine tells her to think about herself and Rex sometimes other than always obsessing about the housework or the children. As Dr. Goldfine gives Bree these suggestions, Bree focuses on a button that is torn on his suit. Later, Bree returns privately to Dr. Goldfine where she offers to re-sew his button. As she does him this favor, the two talk about how Rex always exaggerates and that the marriage is not entirely her fault. Dr. Goldfine agrees but he believes that the blame be put on both parties. At their next session, Rex talks once again and Dr. Goldfine manages to remind him that he should be thankful that Bree does all the nice things that she does because it is not mandated of her to do so. Rex feels shut down as Bree smiles back at Goldfine.



Susan decides to make her move on Mike by inviting him to one of her "annual" welcome dinners for the new neighbors. Mike accepts her offer. However knowing that her cooking is bad, Mike agrees to cook and hold it at his house. He also invites Julie to come as well. As they talk, they are interrupted by Edie who asks what is going on. Mike tells Edie that Susan has just invited him over for one of her traditional welcome dinners. Edie asks why she did not get one and Susan replies that it is a new tradition. Edie decides it will be fun and wants to join in. Mike says that it is up to Susan and feeling guilty decides that she can come. Susan definitely decides to bring Julie since she will save her from doing something awkward in front of Mike and Edie. Susan tries to get at Mike's early to help him but Edie has arrived unexpectedly before her. The dinner goes well and the only person Susan has failed to impress is Mike's dog, Bongo who has taken more of an interest in Edie. Susan decides to butter up the dog by putting drops of gravy on her face. Susan successfully manages to get Bongo to like her but he accidentally swallows her earring and begins to choke. Mike rushes out of the house with the dog to drive it to the hospital. Julie and Edie stay behind to clean up as Susan follows Mike in her car. At the animal hospital, Susan apologizes to Mike which he also offers his apology since the dog was originally his deceased wife's. Susan realizes that Mike still has feeling for his dead wife and that he will not be available for a while. Susan quietly hugs him as they get the news that Bongo is alright.



With Tom away once again, Lynette has trouble with her children in the car. Lynette has tried various methods to get the kids to behave still however they will not comply. After being insulted by a police officer on her parenting, she lashes back at him by telling him how stressful it is to be a stay-at-home mom. When the officer sees how stressed out Lynette is, he gives her a warning and walks back to his car. Later, Mrs. Huber tells Lynette how her mother got her to behave in the car. When Martha misbehaved in the car, her mother stopped the car and left her on the side of the road. She quickly came back however and Martha never misbehaved again. Lynette agrees to try the method out with unsuccessful results. When the children act up once again, Lynette pulls up to a street and lets the kids out. Lynette then drives around the block and comes back. When she arrives back, the boys are missing and Lynette panics. Lynette asks a woman if she has seen the boys but she has seen everything and asks what kind of mother abandons her children. Lynette says that she has not abandoned them and that she was coming right back. The woman recommends anger management and that she call the police. Lynette spots the boys and yells that they run. The family runs into the car as the woman chases them and demands they come back.



Edie moves in with Mrs. Huber shortly after the fire at her house. At the crime scene, Mrs. Huber finds a piece of evidence: Susan's measuring cup. While collecting clothes for Edie, Martha visits Julie where she learns that they have purchased a new measuring cup. If Martha Huber decides to go the police it could be bad for Susan who accidentally set Edie's house on fire.



After being almost caught by Carlos, Gabrielle decides that she and John cannot have sex in the house anymore. When Gabrielle shows up unexpectedly at John's house, he offers her a token of his affection by giving her a beautiful rose. Gabrielle treasures the gift and John says that he wants to make sure that their relationship lasts for a long time. Gabrielle feels different about her relationship with John seeing that it only be an affair and can not go any further. When John sees that Carlos has purchased Gabrielle a new car, he learns that Gabrielle is still in love with Carlos and that he will have to share her.



During the middle of the night, Paul Young throws a child's toy chest in the town lake. The contents inside are unknown at this time, raising more suspicions to the Mary Alice mystery.

Las sesiones del consejero matrimonial entre Bree y su esposo Rex dejan ver que tienen muchas cosas que resolver entre ellos, pero aún falta un poco de información sobre sus hijos. Lynnete sigue muy ocupada con los diablillos que le tocaron como hijos, pero podría tener un papel más importante en la trama.Los roles de los hombres (Carlos, Rex) son poco frecuentes y poco le traen a la serie, la divertida forma de ser de Gabrielle y su tierna y cruda forma de desprenderse de John hacen que este episodio valga la pena... Obviamente la guerra no anunciada entre Eddie y Susan, pero que cada vez se pone mejor hace que la audiencia siga pegada a la pantalla.

I love how Mary Alice explain what happens after the death! It was a great episode in that them, Mary Alice voice and the music were perfectly cordinated with the scenes and the filming.



The camera was really original, you can see it in the first scene when we see the 4 DH in Susan's kitchen.



This episode is really about the presentation of the characters, specially Bree and Gabi. When can understand the way or thinking and their feeling, I specially liked Bree when she started saying us that she feels bad about not thank her the job! And then Gabi's theme "I want only love" it was really great.



Lynette's story was not as showing as the other ones, it is funny and original thinking there but it is not such as Lynette as the other stories. I loved her scene when she fights the policemen! Besides her acting is so great! I loved when she was searching for the kids. Another scene that I loved was Bree slow camera obssesion about the doctor's coat! It was hilarious!



Susan's story was the funny theme in the episode, the whole figth between her and Eddie was great!

Bree goes to the counseling therapies and Albert Goldfine is their shrink. Bree is distracted when she sees a button that is not properly sewed on Albert's coat.

Susan and Edie are fighting over Mike and dinner is completely devastating as Susan gets Bongo, Mike's dog, to lick her neck and he swallow's her earring and starts to choak.

Lynette is having a hard time with the kids and she can't control them while they are in the car and she does the stupidest thing ever.

Gabrielle is almost caught in her adultery and she is now forced to do John at his place.

Amazing episode.

Mike's dog pays the price when Edie crashes his dinner date with Susan. Susan and Edie are still fighting over Mike. Meanwhile, Gabrielle realizes that her lawnboy is taking their fling to heart - and that Carlos may actually be catching on. Also, Bree goads Rex into therapy, where the doctor may be the one who needs the most help. Lynette resorts to drastic measures to keep her kids in line, but it blows up in her face.



Mary Alice's past resurfaces - literally - despite Paul's efforts to keep it buried. Lastly, Susan's secret of accidently burning down Edie's house may come back to haunt her as the measuring cup she left in Edie's house is found - by Mrs. Huber (guest-star Christine Estbrook).



another great episdoe..keep 'em comin'

Again the show is really getting good and hitting its

Stride and like one person says, it is here to

Stay and no one-hit wonder! It is or will be an

Overrated show but I think sometimes it can be very

Funny as well as also does stuff that is unlike real

Life but still very funny indeed!!

Last week the pilot premeired, and the thing that caught my attention more than anything elese in this show was the mystery of it all. Right after Mary Alice shot herself, I started to think there wasn't much to it, and perhaps she was just bored, and or lonely. But when the added the element of her having a secret... that was what Television needed. Fortunatley, they kept that mystery going. Not only did they expand, but they also gave more of a depth to it. Now we know that the whole family is up to something, and the blackmail note is what will inspire the housewives to interigate and get to the reason of why their best friend came home one afternoon to empty the contents of a gun into her head. This show is amazing, and I hope it keeps on going, and hopefully, the episodes will get even better.

Such a great follow-up to the ‘pilot’ episode, the thing I am coming to realise about the series is that nothing is done in a conventional way, it’s all new. Everything from the scriptwriting to the title sequence is bold and very different. The acting is on par with anything you will ever see and sometimes even surpasses expectations that you feel for the characters and their lonely little lives in suburbia.

"Should I have told her we were having steak? She's not like, a vegetarian or something, is she?"--Mike

"Oh, no, no. Edie's definitely a carnivore."--Susan



Two episodes into the world of Wisteria Lane and into the minds of the "desperate housewives" and I'm totally hooked. The show serves as a decent replacement for my beloved "Six Feet Under" and shows promise to be just as spectacular as Alan Ball's extremely creative funeral home-type world. The only difference between the two is that the emphasis is totally on relationships but there is a sort of tie in with death combined with mystery and soap, if you really think about it. Sorry if I wasn't too clear there.



The theme this week seems to be that everyone--at least on this show has a little secret, something that makes each character on the show a little weaker than the last. Mary Alice has a secret she took to the grave. Bree has marriage problems she rarely reveals. Susan has the burden of accidentally burning down Edie Britt's home. Lynette has problems raising her unbehaved, bratty children and then there's Gabrielle. Gabby is currently having a all too secret affair with her gardener John Rowland which makes it very hard when trying to keep her secret life-- a secret.



This week, Rex (the very whiny and unhappy husband of Bree) casually asked last week for a divorce. Knowing that she will indeed face shame and humiliation not from her friends but her other neighbors and the reputation she has so desperately built at being Martha Stewart will disintegrate if she does indeed decide on divorce. Therefore, she steps in to save the marriage by volunteering to enter couple's counseling with Dr. Albert Goldfine who has saved countless numbers of people from... well you know. The sessions adequately fail when Bree spends more time focusing on her family life and housekeeping then her actual relationship with her husband. She later remisinces on when they first engaged.



Susan is also struggling with her fire secret but then warms up to her secret crush Mike Delfino whom we are learning has a previous life that may come back to haunt him. Knowing that it is either now or never: Susan invites Mike to a welcoming dinner she says she annually holds when a new neighbor arrives. Knowing that Susan's cooking skills are a little rusty, he invites her and Julie to enjoy a home cooked meal at his home. When Edie hears of the upcoming dinner, Susan guilty invites her along to but vows to make her move early before Edie jumps in. She brings Julie as her safety even though she'd rather not and the evening goes without a hitch until Edie arrives early and Mike's dog then gets sick on account of Susan's wrongdoings. The two are reunited at the animal hospital where Mike reveals to Susan that Bongo (the dog) is the last icon that still holds sentimental value from his late wife. Susan then comforts him.



Lynette's children truly are little devils when they refuse to behave in the family van she feels the only type of discipline is the kind Mrs. Martha Huber has advised her on. Leave the kids on a street somewhere, drive away and then come quickly back. The event turns out disastarous when a neighbor threatens legal action on what she did. Lynette then gathers the children and runs away before the woman contacts the police.



And finally, we come to Gabrielle who as I have said is continuing her affair with John and while Gabrielle is happy keeping the affair the way they are going, John wants a commitment to be made and more intimacy shared. Gabby tells him there can't since she is married to Carlos but he then gives her a token of his affection with a beautiful rose which she cherishes and displays in the middle of her home. But when Carlos shows his love by buying Gabby a new car, John can see Gabby is still in love with Carlos even though Carlos is totally oblivious and constantly busy.



Other important events in "Ah, But Underneath"...

*Title: I love the title of this episode it is just so unique for a series to have titles from songs. This title I believe is from a song by Stephen Sondheim sung by Dee Hoty. Very creative!

*Music: Where the hell is it? I have to agree with other reviewers about during an important scene shouldn't there be a little music in the background to lighten up the scene. The score is good yet it is still missing something. My only qualm for such a great series.

*Mary Alice died on September 26, 2004: the day Desperate Housewives was originally set to air. Instead it aired on October 3, 2004.

*In the pilot, Paul buries a toy chest yet in this episode the toy chest washes ashore despite Paul's efforts to keep the secret safe. The secret: watch the later episodes to find out. I know one thing though, Paul Young is creepy and I'll enjoy seeing how his secretness with play out later on in the season.

*Martha Huber is a nosy little woman. A woman who really has nothing in her life has to sneak around everyone else's business when she finds Susan's measuring cup at the scene of the crime. She does have a nice side though taking in Edie Britt as a house guest.

*Marc Cherry stated that his mother used Lynette's method of discipline when he was a child and he never behaved in the car badly again. Nowadays this cannot really be practiced because you'll be sent to jail for negligence. Find something else that's at least practical! Believe it or not, some children are smarter than you would think.

*Some hilarious scenes: Gabby trying to get John out of there when Carlos arrives home. Susan calling Edie a carnivore. Bree demonstrating her motherly insticts to the doctor. Lynette being disciplined by someone who looks like Roseanne and then running away.



Ah, But Underneath is a very funny, entertaining episode with a mix of drama, comedy and mystery as the plot is slowly revealed throughout the first season.

Bree: "It's the age old question isn't it? How much do we really want to know about our neighbours?"



The answer would be a frickin' lot and the person I want to know more about is Mike Delfino and why exactly he is here? The obvious guess is maybe he's a cop, which would explain the gun and a map of Wisteria Lane, profiling the locals, although seeing as there was some emphasis on Susan in the final shot, does anyone else have alarm bells going off in their heads?



Last ep we learned about his wife's death, which could be a red herring but if it happens to be true, then it plays an important in getting Susan to back off a bit. The rivalry between her and Edie, with both women continuing to ensnare Mike was once again fun to watch as Edie nuzzled an invite on Mike and Susan's "date" and also pulled some rather unsubtle tricks to goad Susan. Unfortunately Susan attempts of getting Mike's dog, Bongo to like her backfires when the dog swallows her earring (brave woman - don't think i'd let a dog that size near my earlobes) but at least the scenes at the vet's office provide a cance for Susan to make a genuine connection with the mysterious Delfino. But whatever Mike's real agenda is, you can't help but wonder and that stash of cash in his cupboard does much heightens fears something more sinister.



You see, this epsiode is all about things being beneath the surface, underneath all the perfectly normal exteriors of the main characters and Mary Alice's creepy husband continues to act suspicious when he tries to get rid of a mysterious toy chest, filled with wo knows but as Mary Alice harps on about the truth knowing where to be hidden, it also seems to know to reappear as well.



Another mysterious character (and one who continues to bug me) is Mrs Huber and that creepy way she manages to appear out of nowhere. If she's not "helping" Edie salvage stuff from her newly toasted home or advicing Lynette on how to tackle her chaos loving boys, then she's hounding Susan big time and after snooping around her house, she finds out that the klutzy Ms Mayer was there when Edie's place caught fire. Oops. Watch your back Susan - the bitch is on the prowl.



Seeing as this episode is all about what lies beneath, we're given another exploration of Bree. The woman may be a control freak but the writers aren't making it that difficult to like her and Marcia Cross really seems to have a flair for the character's inner workings. Watching her and Rex in marriage counselling could have been the same tired old tosh we've seen time and time again on US shows, but here it's a breath of fresh air as the observation of Bree using general order and meticulousness as a way to blot out her emotions is nicely done. Cue in an obsessive study of Dr Goldfine's button and Bree's own interesting take on Freud's theories and you've got a winner of a subplot.



Not quite as fun as the first episode but still noteworthy would be Lynette's troubles with controlling her boys. Matters aren't helped when a police officer questions her ability as a parent, with Lynette brilliantly him into place and avoiding a ticket or Mrs Huber's helpful advice backfiring and her meddlesome kids whaling on one of the neighbours. Run, Lynette run.



Less interesting however is Gabrielle. Without sounding cruel, I can't say I have massive sympathy for her plight seeing as her unhappiness of sorts is her own doing. She complains to Carlos about him not being there for her, yet she continues to let him buy her off. Carlos is equally as bad for not seeing that a gorgeous car still isn't enough for his materialistic wife to stop shagging John, the only party out of this menage a trois who illicits any sympathy. He's fallen for her but deep down knows she doesn't love him even though she appreciated his single red rose. Also their seedy affair is becoming fastly sloppy with Carlos almost catching them and with Susan noting the rose, how long do we have to wait for things to be revealed?



Also in "Ah, But Underneath"



More about Bree - she used to a Mason, was engaged to someone else at the time pre Rex and her father doesn't like Rex. My feelings on him aren't all clear - he does protest a bit too much.



Julie:"Dear Diary. Mike doesn't even know I'm alive"

Susan:"Shut up"



All of Edie's clothes were supposedly burned in the fire, yet she found something delighfully trashy to wear at Mike's. Anyone also think her house looked worser than last ep?



Mike:"Should I have told her we were having steak? She's not a vegetarian or something?"

Susan:"Oh no, no. Edie's definitely a carnivore".



Gabrielle (to Carlos):"Do you know how bored I was today? I came this to actually cleaning the house" - Don't know why I found that interesting.



Susan (to Gabrielle):"Edie'll arrive at 5:45, which means her breasts will arrive at 5:30, so I shoot for 5".



Title sequences are rearranged to feature all the main players name and a cast shot of the housewives. Couldn't they have done this with episode 1?



Lynette's hellions are Porter, Preston and Parker. I checked the end credits.



Susan is holding onto the note, so that mean she could be the one who'll get more embroiled into the Mary Alice mystery? Makes sense because if you look at the teasers for the series, she was the only who read the paper.



Very good second episode with the SATC/Six Feet Under feel being well kept. The narration could potentially overflow in some episodes (I don't think everything needs to be explained) but the episode was still well paced with all arcs being moved nicely and this series may even make me more curious about my neighbours, so overall a very well done second episode with some surprising depth.