Desperate Housewives

Art Isn't Easy

Season 4, Episode 5, Aired 10/28/07

Episode Summary

Bob and Lee's contemporary water sculpture in their front yard prompts the Wisteria Lane neighborhood association into action, as the women show disdain for the controversial work of art. Determined to keep Katherine from going after her kids' treehouse, Lynette goes up against her in the run for president of the homeowners' association, leaving Susan torn between her best friend and the decision to get rid of the fountain. In the meantime, Bree is shocked to learn her daughter has been staying with Phyllis (guest star Shirley Knight), and Edie begins to worry about how distant Carlos has become. At a hotel, Gabrielle runs into John Rowland (former main castmember Jesse Metcalfe), who realizes he still has feelings for her.moreless

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Cast & Crew

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Teri Hatcher

Susan Mayer
Felicity Huffman

Lynette Scavo
Marcia Cross

Bree Hodge

Fan Episode Reviews (18)

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a fantastic episode

9.5

"Superb"

By danny7277, Jun 08, 2011 Report Abuse

this was antoher brilliant episode from desperate housewives 4th season I loved the whole fountian storyline i thought it was so funny and worked great for this show, i realy loved the rivalry between katherine and lynette, katherine is a brilliant character and the best mystery since the first season
bree storyline with danielle and phiysis was pretty funny gabhy had a pretty funny week it was nice to see john rowland agian it was shockin g when it is discoverd that it wasnt victor who is spying on them it is edie i cant wait to find out what she is going to do to carlous and gaby
overall a brilliant episode if the rest of this season is as good as this then it may be the best season yetmoreless

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Season 4, Episode 5.

9.5

"Superb"

By Wanted23, Nov 30, 2008 Report Abuse

Bob and Lee's contemporary water sculpture in their front yard prompts the Wisteria Lane neighborhood association into action. Edie finds out about the affair that Carlos is having with Gaby, and John Rowland, the Solis' former gardener, wants to rekindle his romance with Gabby. John is very adulterous... But who can blame him? It's GABBY! =] Rawr. I loved when Mrs. McClusky said that Bree had a son that came out of the closet and a husband that's reaching for the doorknob. LMAO! I love Mrs. McClusky. I'm glad that Katherine was going to do that for Lynette, until Bob and Lee blackmailed her.moreless

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The housewives face off over a fountain, Gabrielle has to contend with two ex-lovers and Bree battles with her daughter and ex mother in law.

8.1

"Great"

By funkyfresh5, Apr 21, 2008 Report Abuse

An enjoyable episode from the housewives, not a classic but enjoyable nonetheless.
The episode centres around new neighbours Bob and Lee's fountain, that the housewives take immediate disliking to. Personally I don't think its that bad (from spoilers of this episode I thought it would be much worse!) but like the Susan said, "everyone's a critic!"

The war between Lynette and Katherine over being president of the homeowners association is very amusing. I particularly love the scene where they are canvassing for votes. Its typical Lynette though who always seems to take on more than she can handle, doing so before mostly at her children's school.
Lynnette's motives for doing so were so sweet though. At first the scene with the children in the playhouse was a little odd, but as the story played out it came abundantly clear what the scene meant. Felicity Huffman gave a heartbreaking performance at the end with Susan.
Katherine was bound to win the election, but I like that after a dressing down from Adam she attempted to make peace with the housewives. I would like to see some more interaction between Adam and Katherine, all we seem to see is little snipes, mostly relating to their mystery. Hopefully they will stay next season when we can see some more interaction between the two.
Katherine's olive branch to Lynette was not extended as far as Bob and Lee who it seems have the upper hand over Katherine. It's curious that they know that Adam did, I wonder how long they will keep the secret and how long they will continue to hold this leverage over Katherine.
I loved Ida's confusion over fascism! There hasn't been much prejudice towards Bob and Lee from this middle class suburbia yet as one might have thought, Ida seems to be making up for that fact.
I loved Bree's storyline this week. From her waging war on Phyllis, to Andrew's cruel comments about his sister, to Bree and Orson's careful manipulation of Danielle, to Bree's olive branch for lonely Phyllis, it was all played out wonderfully.
Danielle looks quite pregnant I hope she gives birth soon, how much longer can this ridiculous fake pregnancy be dragged out?
Ditto for Gabrielle and Carlos's relationship though that looks to be heading to a close by next week with Edie's snooping.
I was reluctant to see John make what seems like a mandatory once a season appearance but at least he served some purpose this time and brought the Gabrielle/Carlos affair to ahead. Gabrielle's disguise for leaving the house was hilarious though!!
Note to ABC: they seem to be giving highly spoiler-ful previews at the end of the episode, the end of the storylines for this episode they showed in last weeks episode and I got a feeling they've done the same this time. Stop it ABC, I don't want to be completely spoiled.

Overall a good episode, with some classic housewives moments. Several storylines (Bree's and Gabby's especially) seem to be going at full pace here and hopefully close to finishing up!moreless

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All about Bob & Lee's Font!, Katherine wants to proove her power but only gets to proove her weaker points...

9.1

"Superb"

By kykemayer, Mar 15, 2008 Report Abuse

Nice episode, funny and once again Katherine prooves that her past it's not indeed like a white shine t-shirt. Susan gets into a friendship triangle after Lynette nominated her self for neighborhood presidence and ask her to vote for her in order to stop Katherine to move out her children's tree house. Bree fish Danielle and her baby from Phyllis with an offer that she can't resists. Gaby and Carlos understand the whole danger that her relationship can cause and take a decision...but somebody now knows...The episode is not definitively the best so far, but it remains as a well written series and a well written season, and as a dessert well deserved, Bob & Lee confess to Katherine that they knows about Chicago...moreless

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Everyone's A Critic Written by Jason Ganzel Directed by David Grossman

8.0

"Great"

By shawnlunn2002, Feb 11, 2008 Report Abuse

Lynette: "You're campaigning. Cookies? Nice touch!"
Katherine: "Ditto on the scarf".

I don't claim to be the biggest art whore in the world, though I do plan to takes Arts as a degree but an episode where the topic dominates proceedings is cool with me. You know the phrase, "everyone's a critic"? Well this episode proves that that wasn't pulled out of thin air.

Bob and Lee have hardly been in the neighbourhood for a month and not only have they made Susan their enemy but they're also making their presence felt with the other housewives as well. Not just because as a couple both Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm are perfectly but mainly because their taste in fountains conflict with their neighbours.

In fact their fountain is so wonderfully hideous that every housewife who would normally disagree with each other are united in their hatred for that damn fountain. Bree is even quick to air her disapproval and it's rather amusing that she thinks Bob and Lee are devoid of taste. Maybe Susan should inform Bree of Lee's views on stereotypes.

Katherine meanwhile decides to go on better than just slagging off the fountain. In fact she wants rid of it and when Bob and Lee don't respond well to criticism, Katherine feels it's her right to reform the Homeowners Association and place herself in the coveted role as Chairwoman. Man, that woman moves fast.

It's a bit strange that Katherine really gives a damn about a fountain, especially when for the past four episodes she's been bending over backwards to avoid taking an active role in the neighbourhood and her neighbours lives. Why now all of a sudden does she care?

Of course with Katherine taking on this task, not only is she going to piss of Bob and Lee but she quickly ends up on Lynette's bad side too. Is there a housewife left that Katherine hasn't annoyed? Okay I know there's Susan and Edie but given Katherine's propensity for rubbing people up the wrong, I'm betting it won't be too long before she gets on their bad side also.

The thing is that aside from Bree, taking on Lynette is also not in Katherine's best interests. It also doesn't help that Bob and Lee are manipulating Lynette by using her cancer and the kids' tree house to win her onside. When Katherine objects to the tree house, Lynette retaliated by going against her for Chairwoman. Hey, it would be a lot less fun if Katherine didn't have a rival, right?

In some ways this rivalry does raise a valid point as a chairperson how far do you get to exorcise your role? When it comes to Bob and Lee's fountain, while I agree that it's an ugly thing, Katherine has no right to remove it on those grounds. The fact that when it shoots out water quite loudly in the morning and that Bob and Lee were incredibly rude to Susan's requests however is a good reason to get rid.

As rivals go, Katherine and Lynette are just fun to watch. Both women certainly know how to play the game and I got a kick out of seeing them trying to charm their neighbours for votes. Its little moments like this that highlight the series' flair for comedy but I had a feeling that Katherine was going to emerge as a successor here.

Lynette's cancer plot is still ongoing and the campaign would never work to her favour. Plus due to Susan being caught in the middle and forced to vote for Katherine, after Edie singled her out, Katherine definitely had it in the bag.

Here I did feel a bit bad for Susan but out of loyalty, I would've gone with Lynette and also because Lee's comparison of Nazis and Katherine was just too damn funny. At least Lynette ended up forgiving Susan and at least Katherine managed to do something nice after Adam laid into her.

I have to admit that I haven't been impressed with Adam so far but I liked the smackdown he gave Katherine on how she hasn't been making friends. Katherine probably deserved it but I have a feeling that her anger towards Adam is equally as deserving.

Whatever Adam did to get himself kicked out of a job and to Wisteria Lane with Katherine and Dylan sure does travel fast. Bob used this knowledge to get Katherine to lay off the fountain and Lee was more than happy to back him up. These two work fast as well. Not even a month in the neighbourhood and already they're blackmailing someone. It's almost like they were always here.

Seriously though, I happen to like Bob and Lee. They're a lot of fun but I won't mind seeing them form some genuine friendships with either the wives or husbands and if the writers can resist the urge to have Andrew sabotage their relationship that would be neat also.

As much as I welcome Bob and Lee, one person who yields the opposite reaction is John Rowland. For some reason the writers love Jesse Metcalfe so much that even though there's no need to keep bringing back, it doesn't stop the writers from doing so no less.

When Carlos and Gabrielle sneak off for a dirty weekend, John and pregnant wife Tammy happen to bump into Gabby. John might have wanted to be faithful to his wife a year ago but now all he wants to do is leave her and get back to Gabby. Thank God that her affair with Carlos is actually what stops her from getting back with John.

I get that Tammy is an annoying bint but if John thinks that Gabrielle is any better, then he really is stupid. The funny part is that Gabby can now use her current to stop Carlos from getting all high and mighty and in a bizarre scene, Carlos actually makes his peace with John.

It's actually not that bad of a scene but I have better things to than listen to John dither on about how much he loves Gabby. I wouldn't wish that woman on my worst enemy but the fact that Carlos is able to listen to that and not want to kill John is what I would call progress.

Even better on the progress is that Edie has evidence of Carlos and Gabby together which means this plot will actually then see two much needed break ups and maybe then the writers will give me significant reasons to ship Gabby and Carlos. Still it's frustrating listening to Edie talk about how much she loves Carlos. Didn't she like burn Susan's house to the ground because she loved Karl just as much? How quickly Edie seems to forget. If I were Carlos and Gabby, I'd consider Victor to be the least of my problems.

Elsewhere Bree and Orson have a fight on their hands when Phyllis takes Danielle away from the convent. Better than that, Phyllis is also able to convince Danielle that raising her child would be a good thing to do too. Normally I'd think Phyllis was right but seeing as Danielle is only interested in doing this to spite Bree, perhaps the old bat is off her head.

Bree isn't exactly the kind of person to give up but she did seem very much like quitting here. Andrew's assessment of Danielle being thick might be cruel but you'd be hard pressed to not agree with it. Danielle could almost give lessons in stupidity seeing as she's so good as it.

Danielle was only interested in raising her child because Phyllis could offer her an easy life and let's face it, no one is going to want to stay in a convent for the rest of their pregnancy. Bree was also able to offer Danielle a cushy, responsible free life and used Phyllis' dwindling years to win. The lesson is simple Danielle is stupid. End of!

Of course for a bizarre I actually felt bad for Phyllis. Yes she's a pain in the arse but she's lonely and even Bree could sense that and offered to let her babysit once the baby was born. It's the only piece of generosity that Bree could offer and Phyllis might as well take it before Bree changes her mind.

As for Susan and Mike, these two got a great heaping deal of nothing to do. Mike complained about Bob and Lee's fountain depriving him of sleep and that was really it. Bob and Lee did seem a little more civil to Susan and it was Susan who tried to be reasonable about the bloody thing. Mainly Susan's best stuff was with Lynette but then again, nearly everyone shines around Lynette.

Also in "Art Isn't Easy"

Is it cool that Bob and Lee have been the highlight of the opening scene for the past two episodes?

Susan (re Bob/Lee's fountain): "I think it's a sculpture"
Karen: "I think it's crap"
Bree: "Of all the gay men to come to our neighbourhood we had to get the ones without taste".

What was Karen getting at when she mentioned Rex after talking about Andrew coming out in a big way?

Susan: "Wow, it's a fountain"
Bob: "We would've mentioned that yesterday but your friends are a little uptight".

Danielle (re Bree): "Shouldn't we be worried?"
Phyllis: "No I think we're ready for her. Tell me again how do I kill these zombies?"

Good news the writers strike is finally over but with the episodes that will be filmed, this season might only be fifteen episodes in total.

Gabrielle: "That's right, you're a hotel heiress"
Tammy: "But not one of those skanky ones".

Orson (to Danielle): "It's a retirement village. All they deliver is bad news".

Both this show and Dirty Sexy Money have made some odes to Paris Hilton. At least Tammy looks slightly more human the Paris.

Katherine: "Thank you, Lynette"
Lynette: "No. I am now nominating myself running against you".

Tom: "No-one rules my life"
Lynette: "I'm sorry I didn't catch that".

I loved Lee goading Ida Greenberg about fashion. He said fascism but the mistake was funny and Lee had fun not correcting Ida.

John (re Gabrielle): "I just need to know if she's happy"
Carlos: "I think she is"
John: "Good for her".

Danielle (re Phyllis): "She seems fine to me"
Orson: "Knock on wood. I'd hate to see you looking after your baby and a sick old woman".

Another funny moment in this episode was the look on Danielle's face when Bree pointed at the OAPs doing water aerobics.

Phyllis (to Bree): "I have a lot of pictures. All the women do. It's what we have left".

Lynette: "You are one complicated lady"
Katherine: "I've had a complicated life".

There was no Julie, Dylan, Stella and Mike hardly had any dialogue either.

Bob (to Katherine, re Adam): "Still it was vicious enough to make you move. Which begs the question do you like it here?"
Lee: "Oh good. We're in agreement. The fountain stays".

Chronology: Judging by the size of Danielle, I'd say it's well beyond eight months since "My Husband The Pig".

Well here's my critical conclusion "Art Isn't Easy" is fun. Not the best episode of the series but better than last week and a good start for new writer Jason Ganzel too. All of the characters this season are working well and the mystery continues to intrigue. I'm glad that Bob and Lee have a role in it.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Gabrielle jokes about being "Punk'd". In fact, Eva Longoria was one of the celebrities to get punked on the popular show, appearing with Jesse Metcalfe, who turned out to be one of the gang and was part of the scheme to set up Eva. Coincidentally, Jesse makes a guest appearance in this episode. Edit
Notes
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- In this episode, actor Jesse Metcalfe (John Rowland) is billed under "Special Guest Star", and such credit is written with capital letters for the first time in the series. This won't happen again until season 7's "Then I Really Got Scared", with actor Jonathan Cake (Chuck Vance). Edit
- International Episode Titles: Czech Republic: S uměním to není lehké (With Art, It Is Not Easy) Slovakia: Ťažké umenie (Difficult Art) Edit
- Kevin Rahm and Tuc Watkins submitted this episode for consideration of their work in the category of "Outstanding Guest Actor - Comedy Series" for the 2008 Emmy Awards. Edit
Quotes
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- Gabrielle: You're such a good guy Carlos. I really hate that about you! Carlos (smiles): I know... Edit
- Andrew: You know those animals who eat their young? Even they have more maternal instinct than Danielle. Bree: Then why would she want the child? Andrew: You've known her how long, and you still haven't figured out how that lentil she calls a brain works? Orson: There's no need to insult your sister. Bree: Let him talk. Andrew: All right, Danielle cares about three things. Danielle, fun, and, uh... Wait. I was wrong. It's just two. Edit
- (Gabrielle is about to get in bed with Carlos, there's knocking on the door.) Gabrielle: My chili cheese fries! (to the door) just a second. (It's John) John: Gabrielle? It's me, John. Carlos: (looking at Gabrielle) John? John Who? Gabrielle: Ah, okay. You know that old friend I ran into in the lobby? It might've been John Rowland. Maybe, I'm not sure! Edit
Allusions
ADD ALLUSIONS
- Gabrielle says they better keep smiling and wait for the hidden cameras because they are about to be punked. This is a reference to the hidden camera show Punk'd, hosted by Ashton Kutcher, in which celebrities are victims of a prank. Edit
- When Lee says, "First they came for the fountains, and I did not speak up because I had no fountains...etc.", he is referring to a famous statement by Martin Niemöller following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group, called "First They Came". Edit
- Episode Title: "Art Isn't Easy" is an often repeated lyric from the song "Putting It Together" in the Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George. Edit