Desperate Housewives – Lynette gets desperate; Bree meets her match

(Season 5, Episode 11 – “Home is the Place”)

Great acting in this episode! They really brought the “desperate” back to Desperate Housewives, as each of the Wisteria Lane women had their own issues to deal with. Let’s break it down….

Bree is desperate because … an annoying new woman has entered her life: Alex’s mom, Melina, played by Joanna Cassidy. Melina is everything Bree is not – a crude, beer-drinking gal with no sense of tact whatsoever. But two can play at that game, as evidenced when Bree bought the neighbor’s house in order to keep Andrew and Alex in the neighborhood instead of moving near Melina. Wow, Bree’s catering business must be doing pretty well!

Susan is desperate because … she’s only sticking with Jackson because she doesn’t want to be alone. She even said something to gay-neighbor Lee about how it’s clear she and Mike aren’t getting back together, so she might as well move away with Jackson. Um … OK, staying with someone because the person you really want to be with isn’t available? That’s a recipe for disaster.

My favorite quote of this storyline: When Susan begged Lee to take her out to a gay nightclub so she didn’t have to be alone, he told her to “pile on the makeup; drag queens get their first drink free.” That’s funny, because Susan seems a little drag-queenish to me. And this is the first time Lee’s had a chance to shine as a character. He’s funny!

And the whole thing about Susan getting drunk, sleeping with Lee and not remembering it? Hilarious, especially when Gaby burst out laughing when Bob said that once Lee had a few drinks, he’d “bang anything with a pulse and facial hair.”

Lynette is desperate because … attorney Bob now knows that Preston is masquerading as Porter, and he has a legal obligation to report it. So when Lynette realized that Preston was in contact with Porter, she finagled his cellphone away from him and managed to talk with Porter briefly. And later, when she’s sitting in the car with Preston outside the bar, talking about having the Mom DNA that causes her to do rash things in order to protect her kids – sheer acting genius. I think most moms can identify with that feeling. Still to consider running over Warren … did she think no one would see her car? Clearly, she’s not thinking rationally, but again, great acting. Or maybe she WAS thinking rationally and realized that Preston would break if he thought she’d really do it. Your thoughts?

And nice touch bringing Lynette’s mom into it at the end. Of course, if it was me, that would have been one of my first calls to see if Porter was there.

Gaby is desperate because … now that Carlos can see again, he wants to work at the community center and help the blind folks. But she makes a case for a better, pain-in-the-ass job that pays six figures, because she’s been struggling for five years and doesn’t want to struggle anymore. I love the scene where Gaby and Carlos were pretending to talk about the trash, pointing to nothing outside the front door while the annoying Bradley and his annoying wife were in the living room.

Edie is desperate because … Dave has gone over the edge, talking to his dead wife in the middle of the night (who, by the way, Edie had no knowledge of) and dipping into his briefcase full of prescription drugs. I don’t blame her for telling him to get out. He hasn’t been truthful, and he’s ultra-creepy to boot.

I liked the scene where Mrs. McCluskey and Roberta camp out in Dr. Heller’s waiting room, nagging at the receptionist to tell her where he is and when he’ll be back. It didn’t really go anywhere, but seeing Lily Tomlin as the brusk Roberta is always welcome.

Your thoughts on this episode? Were you as enthralled with the acting as I was?

Clacked by Jane Boursaw
on Jan 05, 2009 @ 14:30 EST5EDT