What I’m Watching: Desperate Housewives

Desperate Housewives: Season 7, Episode 6 “Excited and Scared” (B-)

As it stands right now, there’s an ever-widening gap between that which is truly interesting, original, and compelling on this show and what’s pretty much just a waste of time. As was true on this show a couple of seasons ago, it’s the lone dramatic storyline that really works, and it also happens to involve a murderous, mysterious husband. When Neal McDonough was on this show back in season five, I said that he managed to out-act every single other player. Fortunately, while Mark Moses is good, that’s not the case since the show is in more of an upswing than it was then. Still, I’m not optimistic about where everything else is going. Watching Beth jump to Paul’s defense and scare away an infuriated and vengeful Susan is extraordinarily interesting, especially after seeing how Paul treats her and how processes the relationship in conversation on the phone. The fact that Susan’s dusting leads to Mike going off to work on an oil rig in Alaska is extremely frustrating, since he could have just done that right away and spared everyone all the grief. Gaby’s favoritism towards her blood-related daughter is getting to be painful, and that plotline is not going to come to a happy ending. Tom’s stubbornness is nothing new, and it’s another regrettably depressing conclusion that could have been less miserable with a bit of preparation and open-mindedness. The storyline I’m not sick of also isn’t terribly engaging, and that’s Bree’s romance with Keith, which seems to be solid despite many attempts by both parties to insert obstacles into their relationship.