There has been a lot of talk ...
Alfre Woodard, Desperate Housewives
Question: There has been a lot of talk about the supposed drop in quality of
Desperate Housewives this season. I still find it highly enjoyable to watch, and I would argue that a breakout first season is very difficult to match, although some shows do pull it off. (
Lost comes to mind.) My question, though, is about the presence of mystery or suspense on the show. The Mary Alice story line was part of what made the first season great, with its mix of drama and comedy. However, the part I have least enjoyed about the show this season is the mystery involving
Alfre Woodard's character (and what a shame that such a superb actress has been so underused). Do you think
Desperate Housewives needs to have a mystery as part of its show, or can it get back to the appeal of the first season based on the lives of the five main women alone?
Answer: Excellent question. One also posed by Jenny, who put it this way: "I am a very inconsistent (at best) viewer of
Desperate Housewives, but from what I have seen this season, the good scenes have been the ones that centered on the everyday (albeit sometimes unconventional) lives of the main characters. The mystery has just fallen flat. I have already read speculation and discussion about next season's mystery. My question is: Why does there have to be a mystery every season? The original mystery was compelling and served to involve us in the lives of the main characters. It seems to me that this show (uneven as it is) could be better if they didn't insert a contrived mystery just for the sake of having it. (I recognize that the mystery every season has worked well for
Veronica Mars, but I would contend that
VM has better writers and actors, and the premise of a private detective's daughter who solves mysteries fits better with season-long mysteries than the lives of women on a suburban street.)"
My take: There's no question that the worst part of this very uneven second season has been the story line involving Alfre Woodard and her troubled son. But that shouldn't rule out the possibility of the show's writers exploring new intrigue (if not an actual "mystery") for next season. At its best, Desperate Housewives should be a heightened send-up/satire of suburban soap opera, which by its nature should include melodramatic intrigues. (Think "poor Val" losing her twins on Knots Landing, for instance.) The problem this season has been that the comedy elements have been so hit-and-miss, and there has been no satisfying element of danger or melodrama to compensate for that, so the whole experience has been rather hollow. I don't mean to suggest that Desperate Housewives should go all Dynasty camp or Melrose Place ludicrous, but a balance of whimsy and darkness, though hard to achieve, could be just the ticket to bring this show back to critical respectability.
