What I’m Watching: Desperate Housewives

Desperate Housewives: Season 8, Episode 4 “School of Hard Knocks” (C+)

This episode features some solidly-packed plotlines for each of its main housewives, but the direction in which some of them are headed concerns me. Gaby rallying the other mothers to protest with “Braveheart” and “300” references against Dana the tyrannical PTA president was pretty funny, especially as it got her banished from the B-lot to the C-lot. Hitting Dana with her car seemed like appropriate revenge, and I do wish it could have ended there. The notion of Gaby as PTA president might be amusing for an episode or two, but having her spend a night in jail would do the trick without trapping her in what’s likely to quickly become a stale situation. Susan as an angry artist isn’t too appealing either, and it’s reminding me in an unpleasant way of Jenny’s writing class with Sandra Bernhand in season two of “The L Word.” Miguel Ferrer is entertaining, but Susan is no Jenny, and that’s a good thing. Lynette’s suspicion that Tom was dating someone turned out to be worse than she could ever have expected, since he’s actually dating the woman Lynette really liked. I don’t see that turning out well at all. I’m all for Danielle returning to the show anytime she wants, but it seems strange to me that she wouldn’t expect her mother to be alarmed by what it is she was producing. I’m also slightly concerned about her young son helping her out with their construction. Bree’s going to have much bigger problems soon, as evidenced by Chuck’s fury about being dumped and the file that just landed on the top of his missing persons stack.