I think the fact that I never initially binge-watched Desperate Housewives (an almost impossible thought for most of us today) is what makes it feel so special. I spent years speculating on the mysteries of this series, wondering what would happen next for the characters. It was the height of the mid-Aughts soap opera trend (one that is still celebrated in shows like Revenge and Scandal) and at one point the biggest thing on television.
I also want to say that, before I get into the show, that there is an odd misconception that the show never fully recovered from its first season high, and to me, I think that's a bit of a misnomer. Yes, the first season was truly the best season of the show, but the show would continue to have truly excellent seasons (I'd argue both Season 7 and especially Season 4 would fall into this camp). It's also a show that I feel like I grew up with in a way-I started watching when I was a sophomore in college, and watched it every week in the meantime, so it saw me through coming out of the closet, graduating from college, my first job, my move to New York-it has seen a lot of me through the year, which any good, long show can claim on yourself. As a result of both my personal love of it, as well as its longevity (180 hour-long episodes to sort through), this was not an easy list to make, but I hope it's one that you enjoy. Without further adieu...
10. "A Spark. To Pierce the Dark" (#5.18)
Part of what I hate about the entertainment media is that in searching for a major scoop, they give away something that ruins the show a bit. That was never more apparent than in this episode, which saw the end of Edie Britt (the press had already released that Nicollette Sheridan would be released from her contract, a court case which would greatly overshadow the latter run of the series in terms of gossip). That said, the impact is still very much intact when Edie is killed after seeing Orson running from a house. Had this not leaked to the press and you knew it was coming, that final spark would have come as (pardon the pun) an absolute shock after you assumed that Ms. Britt, one of the best reasons to watch the show, had survived.
Ask any DH fan, and they'll have either a very high or very low opinion of the many disaster episodes that capped most of the mid-season episodes. While none of them quite had the effect of the first (we'll get there), the final one was a nice, almost Twilight Zone like episode, with Paul Young's opening of a halfway house in the neighborhood causing Lynette to protest, which ended up creating a riot on the street that threatens almost everyone, including Keith (Brian Austin Green, one of the many men who pursued Bree during the series) and Juanita (who is trapped in a car). We had come to expect a major character to die in every episode of the disasters, so in an odd twist, this one we almost felt we had escaped relatively unharmed until a lone gunman, out of the dark, shoots Paul Young. The results of this action would unfold for the remainder of the season, in one of the series' best turns.
8. "I Know Things Now" (#2.21)
The second season of the show was famously panned, but upon revisit, you'll find at least a few things to recommend it, not least of which is this episode, which features one of the best scenes of Marcia Cross and Shawn Pyfrom's (really, this relationship may have been the most important on the show outside of the main quartet's friendship) long-running feud. Bree, recovering from addiction and infatuated with her sex-addicted sponsor Peter, learns that Andrew has seduced Peter to get back at her. In the process, she decides to leave him by the side of the road with money and in an acting triumph (how is it possible that Cross never won an Emmy for this role?!?) fights her motherly instincts, dead inside from having to play the only card she has left in her deck: abandoning her son.
The ends of most seasons gave hints of the mystery that would unfold in the next season. Perhaps the best way this was ever used was in the penultimate finale, where we had knowledge that we had never known before at the beginning of a season: who was the killer/culprit? In this case, we knew that was in fact the four housewives trying to cover up for Carlos who killed Gaby's stepfather in self-defense, but because he was unarmed they couldn't report it for fear that Carlos would go to jail forever. We also got the bitterest of sendoffs with Tom and Lynette's marriage, and Bree at her most take-charge perfect. All-in-all, a wonderful setup to the final season.
6. "Pilot" (#1.1)
What an entrance. We are greeted to a perfect day in the neighborhood, and then suddenly, a terrible event (the suicide of Mary Alice Young) leads us into the world of Wisteria Lane. It's amazing how with some shows the pilot is so different from where the series would take us, but with Desperate Housewives, showing the writer's vision, we see a plethora of stories that would define the show, including Susan's infatuation with Mike, Bree's dissolving marriage, Lynette's troublesome children, and Gaby's affair with John Rowland. And then, of course, there is the final moments, where we learn the first bit of the mystery with the blackmail note given to Mary Alice. "Oh Mary Alice, what have you done?" was the question not just Susan was asking, but all of us were. And I was forever hooked.
Dana Delany was a massive shot in the arm in the series that needed a bit of new blood. After the disappointing use of Alfre Woodard and the toothless way that Kyle MacLachlan's Orson was explained, we needed someone with a truly desperate secret. That's what we got when Katherine Mayfair joined the block, and things truly came to a head for her when the tornado hit. We saw many of Katherine's secrets spill out, including that Benjamin did in fact have an affair and there was a bond formed between Katherine and Bree. We also saw the end of two annoying characters (Sylvia and Victor), and what we thought might be the end of a third, with Kayla trapped underneath the rubble of the tornado. The final moments, with Lynette screaming as the house that held her children and husband is in ruins-just devastating.
The best cliffhanger in the course of the series, we are given two really great moments in the run of the show. The first is Katherine's final showdown with her ex-husband, a dramatic turn of events where we learn that Dylan was not actually Wayne's daughter, but a girl from a Romanian orphanage who bore a striking resemblance to Dylan, as the real Dylan died from a terrible accident years earlier. Katherine kills Wayne, sort of in self-defense, and the girls (in a great scene showing the friendship of the main characters) all lie to the police to cover for her. All-in-all, this would probably be enough to crack the top ten (it was a dramatic and excellent episode of television), but getting to the Top 5 is more due to the time jump, a brilliant little maneuver that comes out of nowhere in the final moments of the episode. We see that Bree is reunited with Orson and highly successful, Gaby is a mother of two that has "let herself go" and Lynette is the mother of two teenage hoodlums. Most shocking of all, though, is that Susan is now in the arms of another man. Cut to black, and we were left with a doozy of a cliffhanger headed into the summer.
3. "Guilty" (#1.8)
There are SO many things to savor in this episode. There's Bree, learning a bit about what a sociopath her son is. There's Mike and Susan, finally "sealing the deal" after much sexual tension. There's Gaby at her comic best, trying to get information out of a priest. But what makes this episode so terrific is the Martha Huber story coming to a head, as Paul learns that Martha (and not Edie) was the woman blackmailing his wife and in a fit of rage, he kills her. A nail-biter of an episode (you knew from the promos one character would die and everything in the episode led you to believe it would be Edie), and a wicked preview of the madness that would come in future years.
The first of the five "disaster" episodes was also the best. An absolute thrill ride, we have Carolyn Bigsby holding her husband's store hostage, with Julie, Austin, Lynette, Edie, and Nora all trapped inside. The series progresses with three of the main women (Gaby is off doing some Rube Goldberg style destruction on her house and marriage throughout the episode) getting a great moment. There's Bree having a breakdown over her causing this mess (telling Carolyn about Monique), Lynette going to pieces after Carolyn kills Nora on her behalf, and (my personal favorite) Susan, trying to exchange herself in place of Julie as a hostage. The ending, with Carolyn being shot by one of the unnamed hostages, was brilliant. All-in-all, one of the most thrilling hours of television I've ever enjoyed (both this and the episode ahead of it would probably make my Top 50 favorite episodes of television, period), with Laurie Metcalf getting a much-deserved Emmy nomination for her work.
I feel a little bit uneasy putting this first, since up top I complained about how everyone said the first season was so much better than the rest of the series and I still feel that is unfair, as it implies the rest of the series wasn't worth as much. That said, they have a point that the series never really hit a note quite as high as this one (the highest-rated episode of the series, as well). We finally learn the truth about Zach Young, how he was really Deidre's child that Mary Alice and Paul adopted, and that when Deidre tried to take him back, Mary Alice stabbed her, with Paul burying Deidre underneath the pool. The episode also has an epic fight between Tom and Lynette, Mike and Susan decide to move in together, but it's Mary Alice's confession that gets the headline of the episode. My personal favorite moment, though, and probably the best-acted moment of the series, was the revelation that Rex has died. Bree (brilliantly played by Marcia Cross, my favorite actor on the series) doesn't mourn immediately, instead finishing polishing the silver (one of her favorite activities), before breaking down, as the camera pans away. Between Bree and Mary Alice, there really was just no topping this epic piece of television, and hence, it becomes my number one.
There are nearly 200 episodes to choose from, so I'm sure there's some dissension out there-what were your favorite episodes of Desperate Housewives? Do you agree with my order? Share in the comments!
For more of my favorites: Girls, Pushing Daisies, How I Met Your Mother, Game of Thrones, The Office, Ally McBeal, Sex and the City
No comments:
Post a Comment