Desperate Housewives

this was another below averge episode of desperate housewives fifth season....

the stot=ryline this week were once agian pretty poor susans annoying boyfriedn had far to much air time which imdeiatly made susans storlyine unbearable

bree had a ok story this week as there was some nice bonding between herself and katherine but i did not like the fact that katherine has turned into such a weak character that she needs a man in her life her character has chnaged so much from season 4 and not in a good way overall this was a pretty disopoining episode season five is quickly becomign the worst season yet

A strong episode that jump-starts a host of fresh narratives. Lynette's is of particular note, if only for the 'phew! What a relief!' moment when we find that no, Tom's mid-life crisis does not extend to banging the town harlot... over the past few seasons, the Scavos have seen just about enough adultery-teasing thank you very much. The decision to throw a statutory rape storyline into the mix is a brave one and shines the spotlight very firmly on the talents of the (new) actor playing Porter; hopefully, he'll impress. Elsewhere, Frances Conroy is superb as creepy fruitbasket Virginia Hildebrand, and her obsession with the Solis family makes for some satisfying comedic moments, and Lily Tomlin instantly makes the role of Roberta her own with one Southern accent, a bottle of liquor and a cigarette jammed into her mouth.

In this episode of Desperate Housewives, the following happens. One of Carlos's clients offers him to go with her to Europe for a few months so that he can look after her back. She is willing to pay him $50,000 a month. We also learn that Dylan, Katherine daughter is pregnant and due soon. In this episode we are introduced to Karen's sister. Susan goes round to see Jackson only to learn that he has already met someone else. We also learn from Mike himself that he has just started to see someone. Lynette believes that Tom may be having an affair, but instead he is playing games in his new practice space. As he hugs Lynette he sees as do we an open condom wrapper on the floor. He manages to hide it from Lynette and quickly removes it when she leaves. Jackson and Susan agree to give their relationship another go. We learn that Eddie's husband had a brother named Steve who went to prison and who was killed when he was inside. We soon learn that Tom is not sleeping with the mother of Porters friend but it is in fact Porter. Lynette follows Tom and when she sees the mother leaving she quickly believes that Tom is having an affair.

Its a look at the other women of The Lane in this episode. And boy they're worse than the leading ones!



First of all I am thrilled to see Katherine do something in this episode. Ever since 5 began I felt the brilliant Dana Delany has been wasted. I've always been a fan of her because of her work on Superman and Justice League (two Lois' on the lane!) But in this episode she shone like a candle - her sexual antics and then crying about sleeping with 'a graverobber' were humourous and very entertaining.



Bree didn't do a lot in this one - perhaps that was wise, giving us a break from her. But the onscreen chemistry she has with Orson has returned and her screentime with Delany is always a treat. Her calling Kathy as sister is a highlight.



Susan and Jackson's relationship is hilarious. From Susan frightening that woman in the shower, to their phone call, everything was laughoutloud! Highlight? When Jackson stormed out the house and then called on his cell-phone, starting the relationship over. Lynette and Tom are on the brink of sinking like the Titanic. I hope things are resolved between them in the next episode (the preview showed Lynette going AWOL to the woman sleeping with Porter)



Karen and Roberta - what a great partnership! Its refreshing to see a family getting along for once. Her sister Roberta is a welcomed addition. Finally Psycho Dave's plot is further advanced. He's brother died in prison and he has an obsession over Mike. Does he fancy him? Want him dead? Or is someone the target? We'll have to wait and see!!!!

...as someone already said this episode sets up a lot of storyline's for following episodes. A great entertaining episode about Predators, i.e. Carlos' massage client - I know she has something up her sleeve, Porter's chick and I really wasnt expecting Porter to hook-up with that woman. When Tom saw the condom packet, I didnt know what to think but Lynette just took off after 14 years? of marriage. Just like that. A bit hasty. Susan's storyline was a bit bland tonight although I liked the pretend first date routine with Jacko. Mike suspects Dave's motives around the "making of the band" which makes me now suspect he is after Mike! But the steal of the show was Mrs. McCluskey and her sister who has something on Dave!

Roberta: "I drove eighty miles to see you, Karen. You better be dying or you're pay for my gas".



Getting booted off to hospital in last week's episode should've put Karen out of commission but it's more natural that it would have the opposite effect. If Dave hadn't made himself a hate for her beforehand, he certainly did after wreaking havoc in Karen's house now.



Of course in hospital, Karen's decided to play a different card. She knows that by insisting on Dave being malevolent that no-one will believe her so the best option for her is to pretend that she slipped up with her medication. It's a good plan because even though Edie is pretty annoyed with her, she's gullible enough not to realise that Karen's pulling the wool over her eyes. That being said, you do actually get the feeling that Edie genuinely cares about Karen seeing as no-one else could be arsed to visit the woman in hospital.



Karen then proves that's she still out to get Dave and decides that some reinforcements are necessary. Given how useless Katherine's turned out to be, having her sister Roberta show up and willing to help out with uncovering what Dave is really up should hopefully be a better success.



Lily Tomlin is one of two brilliant actresses who turn up in this episode and while I won't pretend that I'm the biggest of West Wing fans (I was more of a Six Feet Under type of guy), she is absolutely brilliant with both her and Kathryn Joosten having oodles of funs in their scenes together.



It's just a shame that we only get two scenes with the women but with Dave being such a threat, I hope it's not too much to ask for the writers to keep Roberta around for a good portion of the season.



The other brilliant actress who guests on this show this week is Six Feet Under actress Frances Conroy. One of the best actresses on TV and thankfully playing a role that bears no resemblance to Ruth Fisher, Conroy is here for the latest plot surrounding the cash strapped Solis family.



Now Carlos' talent for being a masseuse could've raised any amount of storylines so the fact that his workmanship results in giving best client Virginia an orgasm might not raise much shocks but it is certain damn funny. I know Carlos has an effect on women but when did he become this effective?



It's enough to raise a chuckle from his co-worker Clay but naturally it worries Carlos as well. It worries him so much that he decides to lie to Gabby about why he received such a big tip but under the circumstance I can see why Carlos would be so eager not to divulge this piece of information. Being blind hasn't saved him from Gabby's violent streak when she's in a strop.



That being said as soon as Virginia starts making her presence known to Gabby, the truth was going to surface. Why else would Carlos refuse to become Virginia's personal masseuse and travel to Europe with her for two months when Gabby is practically packing his bags?



Trying to conceal such a thing was always doomed to failure and with Clay inadvertently making sure that Gabby knew about Virginia getting off on Carlos' touch, I was hoping we'd get another catfight. Well it would've been better than Gabby battering Carlos for the millionth time, right?



However in terms of adversaries, Virginia is a hell of a lot cleverer than Gabby is and manages to not only get out of being clobbered by the former model but even uses blackmail to get Gabby onside. Though given the way Gabby dresses nowadays, would you really want her to be your personal shopper?



Clearly Virginia has her own ulterior motives in mind but regardless of what they actually are, I really do hope the writers resist making her into a cardboard villain. Frances Conroy is way too good an actress so like Lily Tomlin, the writers had better utilise her pretty well.



With this episode giving us two problematic women, adding a third into the mix seems like overkill. This show has some of a reputation for statutory rape plotlines and after Gabby/John, Andrew/Peter, Danielle/Robert and Katherine/Tim, did we really need to see Porter get it on with Anne the realtor?



The answer is definitely no because I'm still not all that interested in the Scavo twins storylines and because of this affair, even more tension is raised between Lynette and Tom. The latter actually does something good by realising that Porter is sleeping around and tries to get his son to wise up a bit. The former fails because she thinks its Tom who's sleeping with Anne.



One of the most tedious moments in this episode is Lynette's 'what the hell' attitude when she sees Tom and Anne talking to one another. No offence but if you're that insecure about Tom's fidelity, Lynette, then why are you with him? While Tom hasn't done a lot to endear himself over the past few seasons, I was sort of on his side here.



When Anne wasn't sleeping with Porter, she also found Tom a venue for his band to play in. This same venue also became a place for Tom to play with video games instead of going home to Lynette. The fact that Tom would lie about that does say a lot about him and Lynette's marriage. Maybe the two of them should split up if there's all this paranoia and mistrust between them.



Speaking of paranoia, Dave is beginning to slightly lose that magic touch he had over people. Remember earlier on how everyone seemed to believe everything he said? Well we get at least two incidents in this episode where it looks like Dave might have to work just that bit harder to keep everyone on side.



First off all, his insistence on this band (who are as terrible as Lee makes them out to be) is worrying. It's worrying because now he wants them all to practice all the more and it raises Mike's suspicions, though not enough for Mike to be visibly wary of Dave and his intently creepy staring. It also makes make wonder if Mike's the man that Dave is after. Then there's the discussion about his brother dying in jail to Edie, who showed surprise when Dave mentioned something about his past. Nice to see that Edie isn't completely under her new husband's spell.



Speaking of pasts, Orson's spell in jail comes this week as a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing in the sense that Katherine's sceptical comments about Orson not being cut out for the catering business are kicked into touch thanks to his old cell buddy, Peter. It's nice to actually see Bree in pure businesswoman mode too as she grills Peter and comes up with some ideas of her own with the man.



More importantly it's the first time this season that Orson and Bree are actually working as a team. All the stuff that made them a much loved couple on the series seems to be slotted into this episode seamlessly and a less bitter Katherine is also a delight to watch.



Okay so she moans about a lack of a sex life and feeling like a spare part but Bree comes up trumps by setting her up on a date with Peter. Katherine's little 'thank you' call is cute, even if Bree then has the unenviable task of having to tell Katherine that Peter sold dead people's organs. That being said we don't have to feel too sorry for Katherine because in the latest of plot contrivances, she's gonna end up dating Mike. To be honest this doesn't bother me but Susan acting like a spoiled baby when she finds out will bother me unless the writers are daring enough to resist going there but I don't think they are.



As for Susan, she mopes to her other painter Frank about Jackson and when he nicely tells her to go after him; she makes a balls of it. Having Susan going into a shower with another woman is probably the closest to female slash this show will/should probably ever do but I sort of liked the spiky Darcy and her one-liners at Susan.



Jackson on the other hand spent a good time going on about how until he met Susan, he was a devoted commitment-phobic and it's sweet. Okay there are elements of it that sound cringe inducing but I'm liking Jackson all the more in the last few episodes and it would be nice for him and Susan to last as long as they can before the writers end up breaking them up for good. Also in "There's Always A Woman"



The opening scene had a look of the things Carlos set up to make some of his other clients happy. These included scented candles, new age music and Apple Schnapps of all things.



Clay: "How do you accidentally give a woman an orgasm?"

Carlos: "I don't know".



The guy who plays Clay is John Ducey, who does seem to be one of those actors that appears on every show.



Lynette: "It's a little dumb but it's better compared to what I was thinking".

Tom: "What were you thinking?"



Susan: "How much am I paying you?"

Frank: "Fourteen dollars an hour".

Susan: "That's not enough".

Frank: "No Ma'am, it's not enough".



I guess now that Jackson and Susan have made up, we won't be seeing any more of Frank. Shame, he's a very funny minor character.



Bree: "Katherine you are a vibrant, attractive woman".

Katherine: "Who hasn't had sex in two years. That spells 'Grandma' to me".



Karen (re Dave): "I went through his mail".

Roberta: "God, you remind me of Mom".



Both Kathryn Joosten and Lily Tomlin have played secretaries in The West Wing. Tomlin succeeded Joosten though.



Darcy: "Did you just call me a slut?"

Susan: "You met the guy in a bar, then you're in his shower. I'm just doing the math".



Lynette: "Hey. What's that for?"

Lee: "I was gonna use it to wash down a bottle of sleeping pills the next time your husband's band defiled another rock classic but since you got them a rehearsal space, I thought we could share it over ice".

Lynette: "Come on in!"



Katherine's just become a grandmother or is about to? Does that mean Dylan is coming back and who was the last guy she screwed?



Clay: "I'm sorry, Gabby is there anything I can do?"

Gabrielle: "When the time comes, an alibi would be nice".



Virginia (to Gabrielle): "I'm so glad. I can see we're going to be such great friends".



Did anyone else think that Virginia's 'loneliness' speech to Gabby was a bit too Six Feet Under like because I certainly did?



Bree (re Peter): "But he's so refined, so handsome".

Orson: "Two qualities that didn't serve him well in prison".



Katherine: "It's 10am, I don't want to drink".

Bree: "You will".



Chronology: It seems to be a few days since the events of "Mirror, Mirror".



Although not as good as last week's episode, "There's Always A Woman" does play reasonably well on it's theme of predators given that it isn't exactly new territory for the series with this particular theme. Virginia and Roberta are promising characters but Anne seems a little forced to me.

Tom and Lynette's storyline was one of the most exciting ones i've seen in a while. They had me thinking that Tom may have cheated for a little while. Perfect twist that it ended up being one of the twins. I can't wait to see what happens next and if Tom can convince her that he wasn't cheating. This was a good storyline to bring back Lynette's doubts that he would cheat. Susan's storyline was good but a little predictable and I couldn't get into the scene where she got back together with Jackson because I am set on her and Mike. Bree and Katherine have a great friendship. It was good to see that Katherine isn't all about work and that she was lonely. It brings something more to her character. I wasn't loving Gaby and Carlos' storyline. I don't see how this old women is going to be a serious problem in their life. McClusky and her sister were great. They may be old but they just might be able to figure out what's going on with Dave.

Wow, this season is pretty good so far! Gabby is over the moon when Carlos' client makes them an offer they can't refuse, but a startling discovery leaves her second guessing. Lynette grows suspicious that Tom is cheating on her. After breaking up with Jackson, Susan tries to surprise him, only to find the surprise is on her. Meanwhile, the bond between Bree and Katherine grows. I liked the end with Porter and the cougar (can't remember the woman's name). Such a good episode. I wasn't crazy about Mrs. McKlusky in this episode, but I loved when her sister mentioned the guy that has to puree his food. :)

Aw, Jackson calling Susan from outside the house was kind of sweet. But more importantly this episode delivered the type of humor we have come to expect from Desperate Housewives on a weekly basis. Countless great lines tonight from Gabrielle and Lynette, and the usual great chemistry between Bree and Katherine. The scene with Susan walking in and having a soap/shower curtain fight with the "5 feet of lip gloss" woman was great.



And Tom having an affair, I really did not see that one coming. Dave was great as well this week just adding more and more layers to the mystery. The line about Peter's features not helping him in prison behind bars was great.



Desperate Housewives seems to be on a roll this season and every week features the perfect combination of comedy and drama.

This one kept me laughing. Gaby gets upset when she learns that one of Carlos's female clients is getting a tad more from his massages than she should. Susan tries to put her relationship with Jackson back together. Bree plays matchmaker on behalf of Katherine and regrets it. Lynette suspects that Tom is having an affair. And Mrs. McCluskey escalates her duel with Dave, calling in her sister for backup. There are a couple of nice twists here, and Lynette shows once again that she, of all the housewives, is the one you do not want to cross. As usual, the comedy steers us clear of melodrama. The season just keeps getting better.

Let me just start off by saying that I absolutely loved this episode. All of the storylines in this episode were really great, especially the Bree and Katherine storyline and Susan's storyline. I loved the Bree and Katherine storyline because I always love their interactions with each other. I especially loved the phone call between Bree and Katherine after Bree finds out that Orson's friend was from prison when Katherine is acting giddy from sleeping with the guy. Their scene together at the end of the episode when Bree tells Katherine that she doesn't want her to move away because she thinks of her as a sister was really funny and heartwarming at the same time. They were both absolutely hilarious in that scene, especially Katherine. I think that the whole idea of Katherine and Mike hooking up with each other should be interesting since they hinted at it at the end of the episode. The other storyline that I enjoyed the most was Susan's because it was really nice getting to see some of the old classic Susan that we saw all of the time before the five year jump. I loved the scene where Susan finds Jackson's date in the shower and accidentally knocks her out when she goes to Jackson's apartment. I loved the scene between Jackson and Susan at the end of the episode, and I thought that it was very romantic and touching. I thought that Gabrielle and Carlos' storyline was hilarious, and I can't wait to see what happens next with Lynette's storyline. In closing, I thought that this was an extremely well written, well acted and well made episode of Desperate Housewives from everyone involved, and I can't wait to see the next episode of Desperate Housewives.

Susan was boring, as always. The shower scene was a bit Scream-like.



Lynette's story was quite interesting, and it was shocking to see Porter and Anne's son (if you know what's happening) and Tom hiding the thingy in the rehearsal space.

Well written how Tom thinks Porter has a normal girlfriend, while Lynette thinks he has an affair.



It was hilarious how Mrs. Hildebrand saw Gaby in the mirror (and Carlos doesn't know anything), but the conversation that followed was so sad... My guess is that Hildebrand is one of the most manipulative people Wisteria Lane has ever seen and I can't wait to see more of her.



Dave's brother died? I see some pieces falling together, even though he says his brother was named Steve.



I just wish that Katherine would have a storyline for once and not a piece of Bree's. But Kathy dating a grave robber and whispering on the phone, hilarious!

'This guy could steal my heart!'

'If he tries, promise you'll call!'

But Katherine crying was quite out of character.



The ending was really heavy compared to previous ones (and weird, because it really made women evil creatures, not very DH) and fast in movements and such. But hey, it's something new.



Good episode which maes the audience slightly ready for 'City on Fire', but very different from the others.

This season started off quite slowly but things have finally taken off and that feeling of great excitement that I felt throughout the whole fourth season is now back, stronger than ever.



Susan: As usual, she's hilarious. Her new painter talks her into talking with Jackson and giving their relationship another chance. She goes to his apartment and encounters a girl he brought the previous night in the shower in a hilarious classic DH scene. Eventually Susan and Jackson talk it out and they decide to start over, I really love them together.



Gabrielle: While Carlos is giving one of his clients a massage, she gets an orgasm and leaves him a huge tip. She later offers Carlos to take him with her to Europe for two months since she's going on a trip, and Gabrielle is very excited about the idea until she finds out about the orgasm. Eventually she confronts the client after going to her house and she ends up hiring Gabrielle as her personal dresser and it seems like the whole Solis family is going to Paris with her!



Lynette: I believe this is the best storyline in the episode, she's finally getting some really thrilling storylines! She spots Tom with a woman called Ann who turns out to be fixing Tom with a place for the garage band to practise in. Lynette suspects that he may be having an affair with her when he tells her that he isn't coming back home, but her doubts are proven false when she finds out that he's just playing video games. Later on, Lynette gets more suspecious of Tom when he insists that he goes back to the place where they train and so she follows him. Shockingly, it's revealed that their son Parker is having an affair with Ann and Tom catches him, but doesn't know that the affair is with Ann. Lynette sees Ann running out and misunderstands the situation, thinking that Tom is the one having the affair. During the final moments of the episode, we see Lynette packing her stuff which could lead to some really interesting future developments. Parker and Ann's affair seems really promising, they're obviously in love and hopefully upcoming storylines are as interesting.



Bree: Many laughs came from Bree's storyline, which is a nice change from her mostly uninspired storylines from previous weeks. Orson is performing rather excellent at work and leaving Katherine nothing to do which makes her even more miserable since her life is so empty, Bree decides to help her and hooks her up with Orson's college buddy. Eventually Orson confesses to Bree that his 'college buddy' is actually his 'prison buddy'. When Katherine finds out, she's devastated of course in a funny scene but Bree makes her feel better. One interesting storyline could be Mike and Katherine getting it together!



Dave/Karen: Karen calls her sister who comes to visit her and asks her to dig up Dave's files which she does at the end of the episode, she also moves in with her. As for Dave, Mike notices that he's too insisting about increasing rehearsal time for the band, also Dave obviously knows about Mike's time in prison. Later on, Dave tells Edie about his brother who was killed in prison by an in-mate which makes Mike seem like the one Dave is after, let's hope there's more to that actually.



Overall, this is a GREAT episode definitely one of the best in a long time, let's hope next week's episode lives up to the hype and the week after's is as good as Bang or Something's Coming.

Gail O'Grady was a nice casting for the femme fatale who seduces Porter and it's inevitable Lynette would misjudge things. However, it does make sense as she points out how it seems so obvious a touch after the rest of Tom's antics. I do sense more going on between Gail and Porter which means things will get darker.



The Susan stuff was fluff but the shower scene was funny and nice to show how afraid she is of finding love again after Karl and Mike. The Katherine stuff was fun as I too thought the guy was gay but having him by a felon was better. That led to the great scene of her and Bree that showcases how well the two gel and fine work by Cross and Delany in it. The idea of Katherine and Mike as a couple is pretty interesting and hope it leads to some good times.



Lily Tomlin was an inspired choice as Karen's sister, so tough and having her be a former phone operator was a nice in-joke. Hope she continues as her hard atttitude livens up scenes with Karen about. The revelation of Dave's brother is interesting, another clue as to what he's after. I thought the plot of the elderly woman with Carlos and Gaby was filler but it looks like it's going to continue and it's fun seeing the old "anything for cash" Gaby back. So more misunderstandings and problems lead to what's shaping up to be the best season yet.