Tricks and Treats
It's Aliiive! Dr. Mayfair delivered Danielle's baby during the neighborhood Halloween bash. Nathan Fillion by Ron Tom/ABC
Episode Recap: "Now I Know, Don't Be Scared"
Everyone has moments of sensitivity, regardless of how mischievous and manipulative they may be. As hilarious and mean (but perfect) as Danielle's imitation of her mother was - in appearance, cadence and affinity for coasters and "our lord" - I was happy to see sweet moments between mother and daughter. Bree was cognizant of the strong maternal emotions Danielle experienced and gave her the chance to hold her newborn, and to change her mind. Danielle too put aside the bitterness toward her mother and knew (for now) that her baby boy would be in better hands with the Hodges. Great acting by both
Joy Lauren and
Marcia Cross and the writers deserve credit for a great balance of comedy and drama - what with Danielle's dressing like her mother, her water breaking at the Halloween party on Bob's rug, a (super speedy) delivery overseen by Frankenstein, and giving Lynette's kids a
real Halloween fright. I much prefer the mother/daughter pair in this story line versus their involvement in the dark Applewhites' plot.
Other Halloween happenings of note: Adam (Frankenstein) Mayfair already knew Bree was faking her pregnancy. Andrew was hilarious as Cher, though still seemed shocked that his conservative mother
suggested it; she's certainly on board with her son's sexuality now! And Lee (
Kevin Rahm) continues to get all the best lines these days. To Katherine's Marie Antoinette: "You came as the self-important queen who lost all her power!? Isn't that a bit on the nose."
Tom and Lynette and the rest of the Scavos have reason to throw their own party: Lynette's cancer is gone! I thought her story line tonight was another example of mixing comedy (her exchange with gun-loving Republican Bree) and poignancy, as Lynette became obsessed with hunting down and killing a possum that had invaded the family's back yard. Once Tom realized the parallel - that Lynette needed to defeat the uninvited creature invading their home life - he let her wield that air gun. And so once the oncologist delivered the good news, I think what she fought and conquered within herself wasn't wholly real until she saw the animal wreaking havoc no more.
Though it looks like Tom and Lynette's dark days have passed (for the time being), things are looking grim for couples Susan and Mike, Gaby and Carlos. I've always thought these pairs were perfect for each other, but of course if they didn't have their problems, I guess this would become a half-hour show. Consider Gaby and Carlos.
Who else but Gaby can take Carlos' insults (e.g. pointing out that staying with Victor 13 months for a check with several zeros is the definition of a particular job by a particular name) and moments later spit it right back at him? After he tried to woo her away with the offshore $9.5 million, Gaby replied: "Oh, you want me to sleep with you and take your money. If that were a job, what would they call it?"
As some of the commentors mentioned last week, Gaby and Carlos have been rather sloppy about their affair. And tonight the latter was dangerously cocky, saying to Edie that the game was over and he had won. Stupid! She's a woman scorned, and a clever one at that. Reporting his offshore account to the IRS didn't work, but showing the incriminating photos to Victor - and laying blame squarely on Carlos - was even better: Carlos will get his comeuppance (she hopes) and Victor will have done all the dirty work. (By the way, why hasn't Gaby revealed to Victor that she knows he married her for the Latino vote in his political campaign?)
In other ominous news, Susan discovered Mike has a murderous father in the clink who seems to have no remorse. After worrying that this man's genes would be part of her baby's makeup, she confronted him (
Robert Forster) but left the prison feeling worse. The last thing she expected to hear was that the murder had given Mike a lot of demons, a darkness in her husband that she needed to keep an eye on. Frightening indeed.
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