Desperate Housewives Forums

Today, January 15, 2012, ABC will premiere episode 8.11 (168 overall) of Desperate Housewives, titled "Who Can Say What's True?". The episode was written by Brian Tanen and directed by Larry Shaw. Discuss it here.

Summary:

With Carlos still in rehab, Gabrielle asks for Lynette's help in wooing a high-stakes company to sign with her husband's firm. Meanwhile, Renee talks Bree into getting out of the house and having some fun at a pick up bar, and Mike discovers some inconsistencies with Ben's real estate project. Susan pays a covert visit to Alejandro's family to see how they've been holding up since he went missing.

Guest stars include Justina Machado as Claudia Sanchez, Daniela Bobadilla as Marisa Sanchez, Rick Peters as Bradley, Emrhys Cooper as Richard, Jacqueline McKenzie as Alexandria, Sal Landi as Loan Shark, Edie McClurg as Connie and Daniella Baltodano as Celia Solis.

Supporting stars Joshua Logan Moore as Parker Scavo and Darcy Rose Byrnes as Penny Scavo also appear.

^^One more next week, after that it's on a break for 3 weeks.

the sneak peek isn't working for me oh well, it's on in less than four hours, i guess i can wait. but isn't it airing against an awards show or something tonight? why aren't they promoting the hell out of it?

i don't think renée knows about bree's alcoholism.

this was an okay episode...i actually liked susan's part the best. her story's picking up, at least. but she's still extremely stupid. i mean, writing a check that has your name and address on it? even just visiting them is stupid, but at least i kinda like the stupidity, in this case.

lynette's and gaby's parts were kinda fillers, and bored me. and lynette was annoying. seriously, no one's gonna think you're not independant or whatever just because you call an electrician. but i liked penny in this one, she was funny. and look, there was paige! and celia spoke for like, the first time ever! but wow, lynette and gaby, could you be any more petty by not talking to bree? you guys are like in your 30's/40's.

oh, bree. totally knew that it was gonna be someone else's house [i thought it was gonna be his parents or something, though]. and of course, whose stalking her? it's supposed to be the same guy whose writing the letters and ran over chuck, right?

ben. seriously, what the hell? poor, renée, being used

I did like this episode; however, a lot!! Its probably in my top 5 this season. No storyline bored me and it moved quickly (probably because they also added Mike/Ben and Ben/Renee into it, so its not just the 4 women alone). Susans scene with Marissa was probably my fave scene that Susan has ever done by herself. I thought it was great!! She was pretty dumb to give her that check though, but it wouldnt be Susan if she didnt do things without thinking lol. And I love seeing Bree cutting loose and not being as uptight as she usually is. Plus seeing Marcia Cross grab that floatie, put it in front of her butt and run away was priceless lol. Id give the ep a 9/10!

Im not sure what to think of next weeks ep. Renee and Ben getting engaged already?? Wow.

Gabrielle and Lynette both had filler stories, but they made it work, cos their scenes were hilarious. Both Eva and Felicity were amazing. Lynette annoyed me in her own particular storyline, though. Like someone pointed out already, no one's gonna think less of her if she calls an electrician. What the hell? I know it was supposed to be this big, moving scene when she nearly broke down in front of her kids, but considering what the literal subject was, it was just supid and irritating. We get it, she's devastated, she never thought her husband would actually leave. But the electricity thing was stupid. Just stupid.

Gabrielle was hilarious. I don't understand why she didn't just take Lynette to dinner with her. She may not work for Carlos anymore, but Gaby herself never even did, and she doesn't know squat. I love the recurring use of "fiduciary". Gaby was hilarious in this episode (had to say it again ). Also, Celia talked? Dude, that was weird. Other than "SPERM!!!!" and a few background groans, she never talks. Also, what's with the underusage of Juanita this season? What, now that they've made her a star she's too expensive to use, that it?

I loved the exploration of Bree's backstory in this episode. I always wondered how she got to be the way she was. Of course, there's still left to explain how she went from being someone who drank milk out of the carton and burn toast to someone as uptight as she was, but at least now the roots have been laid out. The reference to her mother was nice, as was that line about her having married to lose her virginity. Poor Rex. Don't like the slut direction, though, and I sure as hell don't like that it'll drag on for a while, but at least, and judging by the new promo, they are actually staying true to her character to some extent. She'll still be the lady-esque homemaker with the basket of baked goods. Only with her legs spread 24/7.

I love you, Susan. I don't care what anyone else thinks or says, I love you, Susan Delfino, and I love you, Teri Hatcher, and this episode's why. Loved this story. It was the one I was looking forward to the most, and it compensated. I can't wait for next week, mostly because of this story as well. I love how the mystery this season is never dropped for any period of time, it's been addressed in some way in every single episode, and it'll continue to be, apparently. There's several layers to the story. Previous mysteries have been way too straightforward, with no coatings added, but not this one, everything falls into place, from the phone call, to the alias, to the paintings, to the notes... everything plays a purpose, every loose end is slowly being tied together, and I love it. I think the series really is gonna go out with a bang.

I totally predicted Charles Mesure would be a star now. Not sure I'm happy, though... now the portal over at the wiki leaves Mary Alice out all alone. XP Anyway, didn't really like Ben in this episode. His story is still touch-and-go to me. And I don't like the new direction it's taking. I'm usually all for drama, but I don't wanna see Renee getting hurt, I really don't. I don't know why I'm being so protective of her, but I really don't want that. I want Ben to be a good guy.

Only a decent episode, but at least a filler one that kept me entertained for most of its run.

--Susan--

I never expected it, since the premise seemed to completely rely on Susan's stupidity, but I actually liked this one the best. It was mostly set-up for next week, but I like how they build up this storyline. The biggest reason I liked this was because of the amazing guest stars. Justina Machado didn't have a lot to do yet, but she fits the character perfectly (I hope she'll show off some evil side next week, although I suspect both she and her daughter will be completely victimized) and the daughter did great in that scene with Teri, who did a good job as well. I'm looking forward to this and I think this is the first time this season that Susan has actually had a good storyline. I always like the dark sideplots better and in that aspect, it reminded me of Anne Schilling in S5 (also centered around abuse).

--Bree--

Meh, I knew I wouldn't like this. The transition went way too fast imo and while the pool scene was hilarious (those wine glasses sticking out, omg), the rest didn't do much for me. It doesn't seem plausible to me that Renee doesn't know about her drinking problem. We saw in 7x06 Bree was pretty open about her drinking past to Keith, I'm pretty sure Renee must've wondered over the past 1.5 year why Bree never drank. But it was okay. Let's hope the reveal of who the stalker is will be good.

--Gaby--

Filler, but the restaurant scene was great, even though it was afwully predictable. From the moment 'fiduciary' came in, you knew it was going to happen like that. Nice guest role for Jacqueline McKenzie as the British businesswoman, even though I felt the British (and Europeans for that matter) were dumbed down a bit. And Celia talked, yay!

--Lynette--

Ugh... I really liked to see some Parker-Penny interaction, since those two never really had a chance to shine before this season, but they took the whole 'damsel in distress'-idea too far. Am I supossed to believe that Lynette, who was alone with 4 children for weeks while Tom was on business trips (S1, S7), doesn't know how to fix the light? The plot was worked out decently and the final 'breakdown' scene could've worked, but the premise was just too lame for words. The continuity this season has been better than usual, yet mess up with something so fundamental to Lynette's character. Yes, her wanting to do it herself does tie in with her need to control, but I don't buy she wouldn't know how to do it from the start.

--Mike/Ben/Renee--

I seriously had to think what name Charles Mesure's character had, just now. This shows how bad this has been build up. Judging from next week's promo, something big is happening for Ben/Renee while I just don't care. They only have had one significant episode as a couple (8x06) but that isn't enough to establish them as something to care for. It's clear Ben's after Renee for the money, and while I said last week I liked Renee more than ever, I find myself not caring about her getting into trouble. But not all blame goes to the writing: I've never warmed up to husbands-only storylines, mostly because the acting is subpar. James Denton never seems believable to me, Charles Mesure seems to use his accent as a gimmick more than anything else and when they drag in a guy like that to play an evil looking loan shark? Yeah, they lost my interest.

I'm convinced that the stalker is Orson as we know he is soon to return and miraculously be on the scene when Bree requires his help in an upcoming episode (unless one of the housewives calls him). It would make sense if Orson wrote the note as surely he and Bree could have discussed the Mary Alice situation during their 8 year marriage. However revealing he is the one stalking her, who hit Chuck and who wrote the note by the end of episode 13/14 seems very premature to me so I'm not sure. :-S Maybe its a mislead? We're meant to think its him cause he is following Bree but in fact hehasnothing to do with it.

Great episode!

Now I'm really sure Orson is the one that's stalking Bree. He needs to be the one! Does that really means he wrote the letters? Hm... He was my first guess from the beginning and I would love it if it turns out I was right! But yeah, it's possible the writers try to mislead us...