Back Again
Written by Chris Black
Directed by Arlene Sanford
7.0
"Good"
If there's one Desperate Housewives likes to do is make religious references and this week, we get the return of not one but three so called prodigal sons, two who have been a lot longer than Caleb.
Dealing with Zach first, it's nearly been half a season since him and Paul have interacted and strangely enough, even I found their little reunion a bit sweet. Paul may be capable of just about anything but it seems that deep down even he cares for Zach, who he's raised as his own for the past fifteen years. It was actually strange that we got a scene in which both Paul and Zach were acting sane and had no ulterior motive with each other. That was until Paul admitted to Zach about Deirdre but left out the part about Mike being his biological father.
It was inevitable that Paul and Mike would eventually clash about Zach and while I think Zach would be better off with Mike in the long run, I can't see Paul giving up so easily. No matter how much he blackmails Mike into staying away, the latter should've no problem in eventually getting dirt on the murderous Paul. After all, there's Martha's journal and the hope of at least finding evidence that makes Paul Martha's killer. All Mike needs to do is to look hard enough. Credit to this episode for fully setting up two major feuds for this season.
The second most pivotal one of course being between Bree and Andrew, who is busted out of Camp Hennessey and is informed about George's involvement in Rex's death. Does Andrew even sympathise with Bree? Does he hell! Instead he actively blames her for letting George into their lives and uses this information to get Justin to spend the night.
Not seen since "One Wonderful Day", having the lovely Justin back on our screens is a highlight, even if he did balk at kissing Andrew. Actually Justin was really nice in this episode by trying to get his boyfriend to lighten up on Bree, although he could've tried a bigger tactic when Andrew openly expressed his desire to ruin his mother. I don't blame Andrew for being pissed off for what Bree said to him in "Live Alone And Like It". In that score he has every right to be angry for that incident but he accuses his mother of letting a psycho like George into his life and yet he's planning to spectacularly destroy his mother? Pot, kettle, black, you moron!
I felt bad for Bree in this episode, not that it wasn't hard. She may not be the best mother in the world by a long stretch but she actually making an effort to reach out to Andrew and he threw it back in her face. In a lot of ways, Andrew is no better than George and now that he knows that Bree did nothing to save the unstable pharmacist, I dread to think how he's going to use this information against her. At least Bree got some support from Susan, Gabrielle and Lynette because with those lousy children she has, she's almost alone.
Unlike Betty, whose two kids absolutely love her and even if Caleb is a killer, he seems to be a better person than either Andrew or Danielle (what exactly does Matthew see in the latter?). With Caleb transferred to a psych ward, Betty and Matthew come up with an expert way of getting him out. Betty distracts the orderly staff and patients with her piano skills and Matthew and Caleb just walk out of there.
Talk about a simple plan or what? Seriously though, how long can Betty and Matthew keep Caleb a secret before someone really becomes privy to his presence on Wisteria Lane? I'm guessing not too long seeing as a rather rough looking guy had actually appeared at the hospital to get Caleb before the Applewhites sprung him out. I'm wondering if this guy is a relative of murdered Melanie Foster or a hired hitman from the dead girl's family. Only time will tell but more answers in upcoming episodes would be nice.
Keeping with family, Susan and Addison getting to know each other makes for an uncomfortable viewing. Maybe he's heard of some of her past antics but Addison wasn't exactly bursting at the seams to get to know his daughter, was he? Again I still felt really bad for Susan. The woman may be pathetically needy at times but even she showed a level of restraint when trying to bond with her Dad, which only then happened after Susan had to bail Addison out of jail for trying to solicit a prostitute.
Then Susan's day got worse when his wife Carol mistook her for a fancy woman and graffiti-d "whore" on her garage door. That generated a nice snide remark from Edie, who then disappears again (when are the writers actually going to give her something constructive to do?). We also had to endure Carol acting hysterical and chucking food at Susan in the supermarket until the latter explained who she really was and Carol warned her against Addison. Wonderfully enough she took heed of Carol's advice and remained distant towards her father while painting her garage door in the rain. We've had Susan behaving level headed for two episodes in a row, surely I must be dreaming.
Level headed is a thing Lynette proved to be also this week as her solution for dealing with being an absentee mother was to try and set up a day-care centre. Not a bad idea but how convenient that Ed's wife Fran would try and put a dampener on things. Keeping with a tradition for Lynette's advice going awry, Ed snatches his daughter away from Fran, Fran then comes into the office acting hysterical and Lynette has to snatch little Mindy in order to get her day-care centre and Ed and Fran to agree with each other. It's a totally silly plot but fun in it's own right.
Which means the only real low point of the episode is Gabrielle this week. As much I love her and Sister Mary's all out campaign to maintain their individual hold on Carlos, can't that woman think of someone other than herself? I hate to admit but Carlos actually sounds like he does want to do something genuinely good and Gabrielle seems intent on sabotaging for no real reason other than her selfish desire to be in charge. For a woman who claims she loves her husband, withholding vital information about Carlos' allergies was low even for her and worse still, the writer of this episode tried to make light of what she did.
Also in "Coming Home"
Housewife of the week: Detective Barton told Bree about George's death while cops were removing evidence of his interest in Bree from his hose, including a Bree doll.
Gabrielle (re George): "He was our pharmacist. It's enough to make you go holistic"
Susan (to Bree): "I don't mean to sound cruel but I'm glad he's dead".
There was a joke from Caleb's would be kidnapper about a ball gag, which makes me think that he's a hitman. It's also nice to see Betty interact with Mike and Edie.
Bree (re Justin): "What kind of friend is he?"
Andrew: "The real good kind".
Lynette needed sixteen kids for the day-care centre. I know there's Penny and Ed and Fran's daughter, Mindy but with six kids from one woman, two from the parking guy and three from someone else, that only makes up thirteen.
Carlos: "They are people dying in Botswana"
Gabrielle: "They will be people dying in this church if you don't get that patronising look off your face".
Susan (re "whore" sign): "Do you have something you would like to say?"
Edie: "No, that pretty much says it all".
Andrew and Justin were playing Chronicles Of Narnia, the video game. I have yet to see that movie.
Ed: "I left a sticky note"
Fran: "I wasn't looking for a sticky note. I was looking for my baby".
No Karl, Tom, Julie, Danielle, Porter, Preston and Parker in this episode.
Addison: "Painting in the rain. Is that smart?"
Susan: "Well let me see. Painting in the rain or letting the whole world think I'm a whore? I don't know, what do you think?"
Bree (re George): "He didn't die on his own terms. He paid for what he did to your father"
Andrew: "Thank you for telling me this".
No chronological reference, though it's probably only a day or two since last episode.
"Coming Home" is a rather funny episode. While it's both within the series style of funny one moment, sinister the next, it's only one of those episode where every other plot is alright but only Bree and Betty's standout. It's a set up episode really.
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