What I’m Watching: Desperate Housewives

Desperate Housewives: Season 6, Episode 12 “You Gotta Get a Gimmick” (B-)

There are good and bad parts in this episode, and the split is about equal. To begin with the less impressive elements, my suspicions from last week have been all but confirmed concerning the survival of Orson and the death of Karl. The renewed relationship between Bree and Orson is just as miserable as ever, and their last scene is almost an exact recreation of the first time Orson demanded Bree make him dinner because he was hungry. Bree won’t find any salvation from trying to help Orson get by, and the show won’t be able to milk any laughs out of it either. It wasn’t funny the first time, and it’s just going to be all the more painful the second time around. Bree’s confession scene was funny, but that’s only because her admitting her transgressions is something new that we haven’t seen before. Lynette’s storyline, which is far more appropriately dramatic, also feels terribly recycled. Obviously this is just the latest tragedy (and child) for Lynette and Tom, but this feels like the umpteenth conversation about who’s going back to work, and the fact that Lynette is still surprised that Tom likes working too is a serious stretch. There’s also considerable hyperbole at play here, with Tom writing the best proposal ever on his first day and Carlos making an immediate decision that he wants to keep him there for good. Overplaying things works a bit better for Mike and Susan, whose strip club fiasco is entertaining and doesn’t go on too long. Carlos and Gaby get a nice dramatic plotline of their own, and hearing Juanita react in an extremely surprised manner to being Mexican was quite amusing. On the side, there was also the unfortunate departure of Julia and the reincorporation of Ana. It’s good that the Bolens will be brought back into focus again, since the identity of Julie’s attacker is still unknown (though there are certainly suspects) and if the show can’t have Julie, they should definitely hold on to Ana. Weird but funny moment of the episode: Lee and Mrs. McCluskey getting distracted by the shared fantasy of Tom Scavo in shorts.