September 24, 2006: Listen to the Rain on the Roof
Looks like
Marc Cherry is keeping his promise: He's been in the media everywhere proclaiming that the show's quality will be back in tip-top shape, like it was in the first season. He deserves a pat on the back for cowriting a (for the most part) first-rate script with
Jeff Greenstein (Emmy-winning writer/executive producer of
Will & Grace - Jeff wrote the pivotal '80s flashback episode where Will first came out to Grace). I thought it was a smart thing to fast-forward to six months from the last time we saw them. This way they didn't have to deal with following up on the aftermath of the Applewhites' departure; also, Xiao-Mei's more pregnant and they could have Bree realistically able to say yes to Orson's proposal.
Poor unlucky-in-love Bree. She went from one disastrous relationship to the next and then to the next. But tonight's biggest highlight for me was Bree experiencing her very first orgasm without even realizing it. I had been wondering what she was exactly referring to in the promos when she said "I don't do that - I'm a Republican!" Orson's reply was one of the best of the many zingers tonight: "I'm a Libertarian - I believe in minimizing the role of the state and maximizing individual rights." I was already dying when Orson started to go "down there" and Bree was like "Excuse me - did you lose something?" The actress who played the nurse who told Bree she had her first big "O" -
Vernee Watson-Johnson - has played a lot of characters in her career, but she will always be remembered (at least to me - hello - showing my age) as one of the original cast members of
Welcome Back, Kotter playing Verna Jean, who hung out with the Sweathogs. But let's talk about what made Bree want to have sex with Orson in the first place - he recleaned the wine glasses with red-wine vinegar. Hilarious that Orson's being a clean freak was an aphrodisiac for Bree.
Speaking of great guest stars,
Laurie Metcalf gave us her usual brilliance as the Gladys Kravitz-like Carolyn Bigsby. Her final scene, when she exposed Orson as a wife killer, was my second favorite scene and was definitely one of those classic "
Desperate Housewives moments."
Marcia Cross showed us just why it was a travesty that she wasn't nominated (?!?) for best actress at last month's Emmys (umm... she should have
won the frickin' thing, but she wasn't even nominated... don't get me started on
that). Also briefly effective was
Valerie Mahaffey from
Northern Exposure as Alma Hodge. Having the parrot say "Orson - no!" twice when Carolyn arrived at the door was ingenious. Can we assume that was Alma's body in the dirt at the end? We'll have to stay tuned.
Eva Longoria provided the best comic relief tonight. She had so many funny moments that I will randomly choose this one to mention. After Xiao-Mei (the fabulous
Gwendoline Yeo) shouted to her: "You are meanest person," Gaby shouted back: "I am
the meanest person! You've been in this country for a year - modify your nouns, damn it!" Xiao-Mei: "What
a bitch!" I also enjoyed the Susan "misery loves company" story line: Having her meet Ian (
Dougray Scott) at the hospital while they both waited for their other halves to come out of their comas was quite clever.
Teri Hatcher was awesome in the poignant scene where she asks the comatose Mike permission to go on the (almost) date with Ian: "It's really just dinner." That had to be an easy day at work for
James Denton - no lines to memorize.
Nice to see my
Nicollette Sheridan back in full form as Edie (she wasn't in the two-hour season finale). I loved how Edie kept trying to sell Paul Young's house with continually bad results. It was perfect to have Mrs. Landingham, I mean Mrs. McCluskey (
Kathryn Joosten), be the one to spill the beans to those potential buyers that someone was murdered in the house.
The weakest link is still the Scavo story line. I didn't like it in the season finale and I still don't. The fact that Nora (
Kiersten Warren) expects to be such a part of the family now (like wanting to be in the holiday family photo) was absurd. Lynette and Tom scurrying like rats to remove evidence of a kiddie party so Nora wouldn't catch them? Dumb. Let's hope Nora and her daughter Kayla leave town soon (but not Kayla's daddy, Tom - he can stay). I did like
Felicity Huffman's line when Tom asked Lynette how he should tell Nora not to be in the photo: "How about 'You're in the frame, bitch - move'?"
So what did
you think? Do you agree that this looks to be a better season, for the most part? Or are you
desperate to find a different show to watch in the same time slot?
