“Kiss Them Goodbye” has been the motto of the final season of Desperate Housewives since January, and tonight, after eight years, we finally DID kiss them good-bye. Personally, I thought the series finale – which steered clear of the big intense and shocker moments and instead focused on tying up storylines – was both fitting and satisfying.

How does the finale start? With someone who has been a part of the Housewives crew since the very beginning: Mrs. McCluskey. When she tells the girls that she’s starting hospice service because the doctor thinks Roy can’t take care of her, they offer their services instead. Mrs. McCluskey is hesitant, but eventually agrees. How does the finale start for our other Housewives? Gabrielle is reading the “sports” section of the paper, aka, hiding proof from Carlos that the trial is not going well for Bree. Susan is trying to keep the sale of the house secret, since she hasn’t told the girls she’s moving yet. And Lynette is trying not to freak out when Penny calls and tells her Jane’s gone and that Tom wants to see her.

Trip tells Bree that he might have to put Gabrielle back on the stand, because she has connections to the case with her stepfather being the one who was murdered. In the meantime, Ben goes on the stand but refuses to talk, even after the prosecutor plays a recording of Ben and Bree’s conversation from a few episodes ago where Bree essentially confesses to her murder. Ben gets taken into custody, and Renee doesn’t exactly take it too well. When she visits him in prison, she wants to know why he won’t answer anyone’s questions. Ben tells her about the murder, which leads Renee to remember an important detail about the night of the dinner party. Unfortunately, the prosecutor hears every word and threatens Renee with Ben’s deportation should she not take the stand.

The girls are less than thrilled with their friend after hearing her essentially out Bree to the jury, and Renee gets upset, firing back that she doesn’t feel like much of a friend since they’ve kept secrets from her and they don’t seem to treat her as part of the group. Trip, meanwhile, angrily tells Bree she has to tell the truth about what happened before things get out of control. He then kisses her, because, well, we can’t get through this hour without some sort of scandal, right?

Lynette is getting ready to see Tom, convinced he’s coming over to take her out and confess his love for her. Unfortunately, Tom’s purpose of the visit is quite the opposite – he tells her that he’s filing the divorce papers in the morning, but wanted to tell her in person. Dammit, someone get these two back together already!

Susan is still trying to keep the sale of her house a secret, which doesn’t go so well when Gabrielle walks in on two potential buyers. At the trial, Trip calls Gabrielle back to the stand and asks her to identify her stepfather. Gabrielle at first lies and then confesses to knowing him. In order to get the attention off her friend, Bree faints and causes a court recess. Meanwhile, Carlos gets angry with Gabrielle for wanting to take the blame for the murder he committed, and tells her he’s going to confess because Gabrielle has inspired him to be a better person. Mrs. McCluskey overhears the whole thing and takes it upon herself to go to Trip. She asks to testify, telling him to put her on the stand and using her condition to sway him.

On the stand, Mrs. McCluskey confesses to killing Gabrielle’s stepfather, effectively taking the blame off Bree. While the girls try to contain their shock, the prosecutor then tells the judge she’s dismissing all charges against Bree, and that no charges are being pressed against Mrs. McCluskey because of her age. As the girls toast to Bree’s freedom later on, Lee comes by and again asks Susan if she’s told the girls about moving. Susan still hasn’t opened her mouth, but Lee tells her that she has to – because he just got an offer. Trip stops by but Bree shuns him, still upset about the fact that he put Gabrielle on the stand.

A slightly melancholy Tom goes to visit Roy, admitting that he filed his divorce papers. Roy starts talking about his love for Karen, opening up about their final days and telling him that it’s important to say things to the people you love before it’s too late. This strikes something in Tom, who stops Lynette as she’s leaving her house and tells her that he loves her – and that he’ll always be the love of his life. FINALLY! Lynette confesses that the person she’s really in love with is Tom, and the two share a kiss. I dare anyone to say they didn’t get teary during this scene…a rather fitting way to end the first hour, don’t you think?

Our second hour begins where it all started – with a woman and her secret. We meet Mary Alice as she’s moving in and meet Mrs. Huber in all her gossip-y glory. I do love how we had so many callbacks to the series over the years in these final episodes. (By the way, how awesome was that final opening, which was a special montage depicting some of the more memorable moments of the show?)

Susan finally tells the girls she’s moving and everyone is in shock – so in shock that they don’t even notice the return of their old neighbor Katherine (Dana Delaney.) Katherine tells the girls that her relationship failed but that she started a business that has taken off. When Gabrielle asks what brought her back, she admits she has a proposition for Lynette. The catch? It’s in New York.

Gabrielle finds out that she got a new promotion - she’s now the head of VP Sales. Susan and Julie are at Julie’s doctor appointment, and while visiting Roy and Mrs. McCluskey, Bree gets a call from Trip but refuses to take it. As the girls prepare for Renee’s wedding, Bree stops by to see Mrs. McCluskey while the girls go ahead in the limo…where Julie’s water breaks all over Renee’s dress. Never a dull moment on Desperate Housewives, even in the final moments! Renee, of course, wants to go to the shopping center to get a new dress while Susan wants to get Julie to the hospital. I have to admit, I laughed at the scene with Renee grabbing the dress from the woman and her daughter. While Renee is busy shopping, Susan takes matters into her own hands and steals the limo, leaving Renee and Gabrielle high and dry.

Renee finally gets herself to her wedding, where Lynette admits to Tom that she’s considering taking the job that Katherine offered her. Tom is less than thrilled – and man, it’s like Desperate Housewives knew we couldn’t end this without a little more drama! Bree finds Trip and thanks him for all his help on the trial, and Trip calls her out on not telling him her real feelings. Bree asks him to explain why he even likes her and a simple kiss seems to answer her question – could Bree have finally found happiness after all these years?

Gabrielle and Carlos reach an agreement on Gabrielle’s new job, while Julie and Susan share a heartfelt moment in the hospital. Meanwhile, Lynette is called upon to give Renee’s toast and essentially ends up using the speech to admit her feelings to Tom. I really did love how the finale focused on the relationships of these women and the people in their lives, arguably more important than murders or trials or cheating husbands.

As Johnny Mathis’ Wonderful, Wonderful! plays on the record player, we get a montage of moments - Mrs. McCluskey passing away, Julie giving birth, and Renee and Ben celebrating their marriage. How heartbreaking was it to see Bree break down at Mrs. McCluskey’s beside after getting the call from Roy, interspersed with Tom and Porter staring at Julie’s baby? Life given, life taken. Kudos for Desperate Housewives for a touching goodbye to one of television’s best characters (there’s a reason Kathryn Joosten won two Emmys for this role.)

As Susan prepares to move, the girls play one last hand of their famous poker game, and Bree realizes that it might be the last time they’re all together. Gabrielle admits that she never thought they would ever be apart from each other – or Wisteria Lane, for that matter. “We shared everything,” says Susan, and I can’t think of a better way to sum up eight years than with that sentence. As the clock ticks down to the final moments of the last two hours, we get a chance to see (per Mary Alice’s voiceover, of course) where the ladies ended up.

Lynette and Tom left Wisteria Lane for New York, where Lynette became CEO of her company. The two bought a new townhouse and raised six grandchildren.

Gabrielleand Carlos left Wisteria Lane after Gabrielle got her own show on the Home Shopping Network, and moved to a mansion out in California.

Bree and Trip, happily married, left Wisteria Lane and moved to Louisville, where Bree joined a club for Conservative Women and ended up being elected to the Kentucky State Legislature.

And Susan, who was the first to move, brought everything full circle as she introduced herself to the woman buying her house – and promised her that nothing in suburbia was every really boring.

A lot of people (myself included) thought the last shot of the series would be the four women together, either during a game of poker or otherwise. Instead, we got two interesting final shots – a look at all the “ghosts” of the Lane as Susan drove away, reminding us of everyone who had been a part of the show for its eight years, and a shot of the new owner of Susan’s house as she put away her own dark secret. Yes, Wisteria Lane will always have secrets – you just have to know where to look to find them.

I have to admit, I got teary more than once during these two hours and I’m extremely satisfied and happy with the way everything ended. I may have not agreed with all the choices this show made over the years, and I may have even not been as invested in some seasons – but I still will miss having these ladies around every Sunday night. And I’m betting you will, too.

Thank you to everyone for reading, commenting and sharing this final season with me! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Share your thoughts below on what your favorite moments of the finale were, and what you’ll miss the most!

Desperate Housewives 8.22/8.23 - "Give Me The Blame" / "Finishing The Hat"

"Previously, on Desperate Housewives..."

It seems hard to believe that Sunday night will be the last time we'll hear those words from Mary Alice Young and the last time we'll hear her talk about her friends Lynette Scavo, Gabrielle Solis, Susan Mayer and Bree Van De Kamp - at least, in real time (let's prepare for those late night syndication runs!) For eight seasons, Desperate Housewives has been a television staple and whether you've stuck loyally by, tuned in halfway, or just watched from time to time because you liked the characters or stories, there's no doubt that the ladies of Wisteria Lane will be missed.

So, what can we expect from the two hour super-sized finale, aptly titled "Give Me The Blame/Finishing The Hat"? Well, Bree's murder trial (which we saw the beginnings of last week) comes to a head as her friends pull out all the stops to try to keep her from going to jail. Susan moves forward with the sale of her house while trying to keep her secret under wraps, and Lynette receives a surprise visit from an old friend (guest star Dena Delany), who offers her a tempting opportunity - but one that would also mean ending her reconciliation with Tom, which took a turn for the better last week when Tom and Jane parted ways for good.

Think that's a lot to digest? We're just getting started! Mrs. McCluskey will also presumably tie up her storyline for this season, with the girls agreeing to take care of her when she decides she wants to die at home. And Susan's moving issues may be the least of her problems, as Julie goes into early labor at (of course) a rather inconvenient time. Meanwhile, as Renee prepares to finally "put a ring on it" and wed Ben, she finds out that he's been arrested. For what, exactly? We'll just have to wait until Sunday to find out!

With all the drama that's sure to take place, we're still not sure how the series will actually end and what our final scene will be come 11:00pm on Sunday night. A poker game? A time traveling flash forward? I've certainly got my own thoughts, but anything is fair game.

Can't wait until Sunday to get a sneak peek at what you'll be seeing in the finale? Take a look at the clips below, and then let me know what YOU will miss most about Wisteria Lane's ladies. Finally, don't forget to check back here late Sunday night/early Monday morning for my final recap of Desperate Housewives as I say goodbye one last time.

The series finale of Desperate Housewives airs on Sunday, May 13 from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.  Watch sneak peeks from the finale below and use the arrows above to browse through photos.

Desperate Housewives Finale Sneak Peeks: Preparing For The Final Goodbye

ABC has released details about the upcoming Desperate Housewives series finale.  The show will bow out with a special two-hour episode on Sunday, May 13 and will include the return of Dana Delany.

Here's the details:

Desperate Housewives ends its successful eight-season run on the ABC Television Network with a splashy two-hour finale event on SUNDAY, MAY 13 (9:00-11:00 p.m., ET). The show premiered on October3, 2004 and was a smash hit right out of the gate, winning both the 2005 and 2006 Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series -- Musical or Comedy, among other accolades.

All good things eventually come to an end, and in the two-hour finale, "Give Me the Blame" / "Finishing the Hat," Trip (Scott Bakula) begs Bree to tell him what really happened the night of Alejandro’s murder as her trial begins to go south and it looks like she’s about to be convicted; Gaby tries to come up with a solution that will take the burden off of Bree; Susan tries to keep the sale of her house private until she’s had a chance to break the news to the ladies; Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delany) returns to Wisteria Lane and offers Lynette an intriguing job opportunity – which could end her chances of reconciling with Tom; the women all agree to take care of Mrs. McCluskey when they discover that she wants to die with dignity at home; Susan finds herself at wits end when Julie goes into labor at the most inopportune time; and Renee is shocked to discover that, as their wedding nears, Ben has been arrested and thrown in jail.

Desperate Housewives Series Finale Spoilers: Who's Returning? What's Coming Next?

I remember when news broke that Desperate Housewives would end its epic eight year run in May, and I remember thinking that the date seemed so far in the future. Time flies, doesn't it? We're already up to our last episode before the series finale, and I couldn't be more excited to see where we're going to end up. Anyone else? (By the way, I apologize for being a bit MIA, as last week I was away on vacation and unable to find time to review. But we’re back, so let’s dive in!)

We find Bree attempting to deal with her arrest and impending trial, while Trip grills the girls and tries to instruct them on the particulars of what they’re going to face when they’re called to the stand. As Trip leaves, he shares a moment with Bree that doesn’t go unnoticed, and while Bree admits that she does like Trip, she also convinces her friends she has the situation under control. Susan, meanwhile, brings Julie to birthing classes but finds herself more focused on Bree’s murder trial than helping her daughter relax. Julie is having her own preoccupied thoughts about Porter who is late for class, and when Porter finally shows up, Julie gets upset at him despite the fact his lateness was due to a work shift (I appreciate Porter being a good father and showing up, but maybe he should’ve stayed at work as he gets about two seconds into the birthing video before he faints.)

Gabrielle helps Bree pick out an outfit for her trial (only Gabrielle can make choosing an outfit for a murder trial hilarious) while Tom sits the kids down to tell them about his Mumbai transfer. Naturally, the kids are more than a little upset. Lynette tries to coyly find out how Jane took the news, and Tom admits that him and Jane aren’t in the best place right now. He then says something Lynette doesn’t expect – that he’ll miss her the most when he leaves. This of course just makes Lynette feel incredibly guilty about the whole situation, knowing what prompted it in the first place.

While Bree is waiting for Trip to finish up his conversation with the judge, she spots a busty blonde that comes over, claiming to work exclusively for Trip. Bree’s inner jealousy rears its ugly head and she drives the woman away before realizing that she’s actually a private investigator. Oops? Back on the Lane, Renee is showing Lynette her bridesmaids dresses much to Lee’s chagrin (seriously, when a gay man expresses reservations about your dress, I think that says something…don’t you?) She admits that Tom told her he’d miss her the most. Julie continues to stress about Porter’s behavior at the birthing center, worrying that he’s not ready and prepared to be a father, and Susan tries to comfort her by telling her how Mike acted when MJ was born. Meanwhile, Lynette goes on another date with Tom’s boss and manages to ask if he can change his mind about sending Tom sway. His boss agrees (a little too quickly) but when he tries to make a move that Lynette doesn’t feel comfortable with, he gets overly upset and storms out.
We come to the night before Bree’s trail, and all of our ladies are having trouble sleeping. A midnight walk between Lynette and Susan is soon interrupted by Gabrielle, and the three try to figure out the best way to help their friend. Susan wants to go to the judge and tell him the truth, something Gabrielle is vehemently against (she later has a moment of clarity about her conscience, however, when she finds her two girls trying to lie about how they broke a family heirloom.) And where exactly is Bree on this night of everyone being unable to sleep? Apparently having a grand old time with Trip, who’s shown up at her house with donuts and Casablanca.

At Bree’s trial, Trip tries his best to defend her while Susan goes to visit Porter at work. I have to admit I kind of laughed a little at Susan yelling out “I’m talking to the clown!” when the people behind her at the drive in started to get pissed off. Porter explains how he’s trying to take care of his life, which prompts Susan to make a decision of her own – she tells Julie she’s planning on moving so that she can take care of the baby and so Julie can finish school properly. Honestly, if this is how the Susan Delfino stroryline ends up next week, I’ll take it – it would be a fitting resolution to a character that’s had so many ups and downs in the past eight years.

Tempers are apparently riding high across Wisteria Lane. Gabrielle runs into two neighborhood women at the supermarket who are reading about Bree in the tabloids and loses her cool defending her friend. Meanwhile, Tom’s boss lets it slip that Lynette broke up with him “for another guy” and damn, this guy is a real passive aggressive jerk, isn’t he? Despite Tom’s pleas, he keeps going with the insults, prompting Tom to physically attack him which leads him to get fired. Later, an angry Jane tries to figure out why Tom acted the way he did, and calls him out for still being in love with Lynette. Tom finally admits that she’s right, leaving a broken Jane to deal with her feelings. On Lynette’s end, she tries to talk to Lee about Tom and a friendly conversation turns into Lee helping her out of her (ugly) dress. Unfortunately, Tom sees the whole thing and gets the wrong impression. I really can’t tell you how much I’m hoping we can end the series with Tom and Lynette together again (I was never a big fan of their break-up to begin with, no matter how it worked for the story.)

Susan is called to the witness stand, and we proceed to go through a montage of all the women defending Bree. Seems like stress is high for all of the ladies, though they perform well under the pressure. The defense blindsides Bree, however, by presenting her with her suicide note and having her read it out loud. Trip tells Bree that to the jury it looks like she’s hiding something and Bree tells him she can’t betray her friends - which means she can’t tell him the truth. As Trip leaves, he cautions Bree that she should think about the impacts of her decision given how much is on the line, and at the end of the hour Gabrielle shows up and admits to Bree that she’s a better person than she could ever be.

And that’s how the penultimate episode of Desperate Housewives ends – two of our women on a bench outside a courtroom, exchanging hugs, effectively setting the stage for next week’s finale. I have a feeling all emotions will come to a head, and I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait (I also can’t wait to see some returning guest stars, but that’s a given.)

What did you think of the episode?

Desperate Housewives 8.21 Recap "The People Will Hear"

As we gear up for the final few episodes of Desperate Housewives, lots of things are coming to a head - Lynette is working hard to reconcile her marriage with Tom, Susan is struggling with being a single parent in the wake of Mike's sudden death, Renee is trying to get her love life back on track with Ben and Gabrielle is dealing with lifestyle changes as Carlos gives up his job and she gets a new job as a personal shopper.

But Bree seems to be having a harder time than anyone - after last week's episode revealed that the police heard her admit to the murder of Gabrielle's stepfather, she finds herself being taken into custody (sorry, Gabrielle - those are NOT strippers at the door!)

Even though Bree is the one that gets taken away in handcuffs, her friends can't just stand by and let her take the fall on her own - they even pitch in to enlist the help of a high powered defense attorney (guest star Scott Bakula.)

Check out the sneak peeks below, and tune in for tonight's all-new Desperate Housewives airing at 9pm on ABC!

Desperate Housewives Sneak Peek: What Happens To Bree?

In last week’s Desperate Housewives, the investigation of Gaby’s stepfather's murder caught a major break. When Bree was beginning to think she had been cleared and, therefore, thanking Ben for keeping her secret safe, we found out that someone else is listening to her thoughts of relief...none other than Det. Heredia. Honestly, I didn’t see this coming, but I am anxiously waiting to see how the always composed and perfect Bree Van de Kamp will out of this one.

It was an enjoyable hour filled with a hope of rekindling love, finding one’s true calling, a surprised engagement and some really sad moments. Especially, when Susan and MJ let their emotions get the best of them in the aftermath of Mike’s tragic death. Surely the jam throwing scene made everyone shed a tear or two. It will be interesting to see how they both move forward with their lives.

In tonight's all new Desperate Housewives episode, “With So Little to Be Sure Of”, we will see the housewives of Wisteria Lane hosting a bridal shower for Renee's recent engagement. But it's unexpectedly interrupted by police officers coming to arrest Bree for Gaby’s stepfather’s murder (poor Renee, she can’t seem to catch a break). Being the prime suspect of the investigation, Bree will attempt to hire a high-powered attorney. Meanwhile, Susan discovers that Mike was keeping a secret and Jane does everything in her power to get Tom and Lynette divorced.

Watch some sneak peeks below and tune in for an all new episode of Desperate Housewives, airing tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Desperate Housewives Sneak Peeks: Bree's Freedom is on the Line!

After two decently depressing episodes of Desperate Housewives, we returned tonight to our usual lighter fare as the ladies tried their best to pick up the pieces after Mike’s funeral and resume some semblance of normalcy (well, as much as can be found on Wisteria Lane.) This week – Susan is a bad mother! Gabrielle is obsessed with her wealth! Bree’s son Andrew makes a surprising reappearance! Sound juicy enough? Let’s dig in…

Renee, expecting a ring from Ben, calls him out on not popping the question when it becomes clear that Ben is holding off on his proposal. When Ben finally does attempt to propose, he gets interrupted by the police asking about Alejandro’s body (hilariously, Renee snatches the ring off Ben before he’s led away.)

Renee goes to Bree to show off her new jewelry, while dropping intel about the police finding a body in the construction site. Bree is clearly shaken up, but manages to hide her surprise. Susan, meanwhile, is attempting to deal with MJ in the wake of Mike’s death – which, much Julie’s surprise, apparently includes Susan letting him eat ice cream for breakfast and do whatever he wants. Susan defends her parenting skills saying that he lost his dad and that she’s trying to cut him some slack.

Gabrielle is having a hard time accepting Carlos’ “live a smaller life” mentality, telling Carlos she plans to go back to work. Gabrielle seems to be slightly taken aback when Carlos muses that an entry level position won’t get her much in the way of ski trips and Ritz stays, but doesn’t let it deter her. When she goes to the employment agency (amusingly giving her lists of “requests”) she’s told that people with college degrees can’t even get jobs, let alone someone of her caliber who has had no work experience. Eight years, and I still laugh at scenes like these where Gabrielle just acts so conceited and clueless about “real life” because it’s so true to character. Depressed, Gabrielle indulges in what many of us women do in times of sadness: retail therapy

Lynette tells Renee she’s planning to get Tom back by apologizing, and when Renee suggests something more “cunning” Lynette enlists Penny, who convinces Jane to take her to a concert so Lynette can have Tom to herself. When Tom comes by later, Lynette has already cooked his favorite meal and fired up the old date photo albums. It’s a night that looks like it’s actually headed in the right direction, until Tom’s shirt accidently catches on fire from the candles and he figures out Lynette has tricked him. Confused and angry, Tom leaves. Lynette is devastated, although some wise words from Penny help make her feel better. Interestingly, we see that for as angry as Tom was, he may have been more affected by Lynette’s night than he thinks, as he refuses Jane’s intimacy.

In a nice surprise, Andrew returns home and tells Bree he met someone – who, much to Bree’s shock, is a woman named MaryBeth. Bree is caught off guard when she finds out he’s engaged, and Andrew tells her that being gay was just a phase – he needed to meet the right girl. Apparently the “right girl” is someone who not only went to Overeaters Anonymous, but is also the daughter of the parents who invented MaryBeth’s custard. For as long as Bree couldn’t wrap her head around Andrew’s “queer” status, she’s having a harder time wrapping her head around his straight status. But..mother knows best, right?

Right. Bree throws Andrew and MaryBeth a surprise engagement party full of his former gay friends with a clear ulterior motive, and when MaryBeth explains that she knows Andrew is gay and that she believes Andrew is the only one who will love her, Bree convinces her that she deserves someone who will truly appreciate her. When Andrew gets upset at Bree’s actions, he ends up admitting that he was marrying her for her money after all. Bree asks why Andrew didn’t just come to her, and Andrew says he doesn’t want to keep feeling like a failure every time he has to ask for help. Bree offers Andrew the opportunity to live with him until he gets back on his feet again, and as we close in on the end of the series, it’s a nice full circle from the beginning of the show, when the relationship between the two was entirely volatile.

In the world of Susan’s Bad Parenting Skills, MJ is getting more out of control and Julie is getting more and more aggravated. She tries telling Susan that MJ’s taking advantage of her, but Susan doesn’t believe it, even when she gets a call from school where apparently MJ has thrown a stapler at his teacher. When Susan loses her temper and lashes out herself defending MJ’s behavior, she finally seems to realize there’s a problem and she later sits MJ down for a talk. She gives him another way to release his anger and rage – throwing jam jars against the wall.

Carlos walks in on Gabrielle trying on her many new clothes and calls her out on her shopping spree. When Gabrielle admits that she’s made bad decisions in her life because she can’t work, Carlos reminds her that the best thing she’s done is be a wife and mother. This seems to sober Gabrielle, who, like a good girl, returns the clothes but gets a shocking surprise – she finds out that the store wants to hire her for her apparently awesome shopping skills. Gabrielle as a personal shopper? Perfect. Forget the $40% off, I’d hire her myself!

As we near the end of the episode, Bree finds out from Renee that Ben’s no longer a suspect in the dead body case due to the fact he started work on the construction site long after the body was apparently due. She calls Ben, thanking him for keeping her secret, not at all realizing that the police have set up camp near Ben’s house – and are recording the whole conversation of Bree implicating herself in the murder. Uh oh….

It’s hard to believe there are only a handful of episodes left before this series wraps up for good – and as we get closer, I find myself becoming more and more curious about how everything will be resolved. How will the Housewives find themselves come the end of the 2 hour series finale on May 13? How will we send them off into the future?

Desperate Housewives 8.18 Recap "Any Moment"

If you didn’t get at least a little teary at the end of last week’s Desperate Housewives, then I question your ability to react to things emotionally. Mike Delfino’s death may not have been a shock, but it was still a pretty upsetting moment – especially for a show that tends to be light hearted more often than not.

Tonight’s episode was a moving and emotional hour full of flashbacks (and fun character returns), starting with Mary Alice talking about problems around the neighborhood. Of course, we soon delve into the ladies finding out about Mike’s death and our first scene is a somber moment of Susan picking out headstones, coffins and clothes for Mike’s funeral. Elsewhere, Fairview PD act on their tip letter from Orson and dig up Alejandro’s body.

Gabrielle and Carlos reminisce about Mike, while Gabrielle expresses that she still doesn’t understand Carlos’ decision to switch jobs. Julie, meanwhile, is trying to help a depressed Susan choose a dress when the Reverend comes by to give her a draft of what he plans to read at the service. He asks if Susan is planning on saying something, but Susan, clearly upset, doesn’t know if she can.

As for the other housewives, Lynette breaks down to Tom upon realizing that Mike is really gone (it was nice to see that Tom could still be there for Lynette despite everything that’s gone on this season) and Renee tells Bree she’s not going to the funeral because she still feels guilty for being the unofficial cause of Mike’s death. Bree convinces her to show up and just as she’s about to head off, a detective from the Fairview PD comes by and tells her that she needs to answer a few questions.

As Mike’s funeral progresses, each housewife undergoes a series of memories ranging from the beginning of their time on Wisteria Lane to more recent moments, most of which include Mike in some way. Gabrielle remembers shopping for her wedding dress with Carlos’ mother where she overhears Carlos talking about how much he loves her, despite how hard he has to work to keep her happy. In another flashback, we see Carlos being difficult about not helping Gabrielle take care of a sick Juanita and Celia because of his hectic work schedule, and in a more recent flashback, we see Mike coming over to talk with Carlos about his stint in rehab. When Gabrielle admits to Mike that she’s upset because Carlos won’t talk to her, Mike tells her that he’s afraid she might leave because he’s no longer able to provide for her in the way that he’s been used to. Gabrielle remembers how Carlos pledged to be there for her no matter what, and then tells him he should quit his job if it’s what’s going to make him happy.

Lynette, prompted by some wedding pictures of Susan and Mike, remembers beginnings of her own marriage (I have to admit, I laughed at the flashback wigs - especially Tom’s.) We see Lynette’s workaholic, controlling personality come out as she tells Tom no one can tie her down, and then some years later we see Tom buying a pregnant Lynette her dream house. In another flashback, Mike is helping Lynette move Tom’s stuff out of the house and he offers his advice on the situation, saying that someone has to make the first move even if they’re angry – because otherwise it’ll be too late. When Mrs. McCluskey comes by at the funeral to sympathize with Lynette about Tom and Jane, Lynette tells her she’s going to do something about their relationship – before it’s too late.

Bree’s flashback is slightly different, as it doesn’t involve Mike at all. As she sits in the Fairview PD waiting to be questioned, she thinks back to how she’s dealt with “powerful men” and tense situations (apparently, childhood life lessons from Mrs. Van De Kamp include learning how to wear a mask, how to conceal what you’re feeling, and how to be a woman – also, how to cook.) In another flashback, we see Rex trying to call Bree out on the fact that she’s angry, despite the fact her “plastic face.” Bree attempts to remove her mask, opening up to Rex about her jealousy concerning his comments to Gabrielle, but instead of sympathizing, Rex blows off her feelings as selfish and stupid. Back at the police station, Bree is questioned about Alejandro. Since Orson’s letter implicates Bree as the killer, she’s asked straight out if she’s responsible – and though Bree’s “emotionless” face gets her through the questioning session just fine, we later learn that the police have obtained her prints (through the coffee cup she used during her interrogation) which they plan to run against the prints found on Alejandro’s body.

As Susan sits at the funeral and tries to figure out what to say about Mike, she flashes back to the night of their wedding, and then to the day she put together her will while pregnant with MJ. In a more recent flashback, a diner lunch with Mike and MJ finds MJ asking about death after hearing about the death of Chuck. When Susan fails to accurately assuage MJ’s questions about heaven, Mike smoothly fixes the situation, telling MJ heaven is the happiest place on earth. Susan decides to make a last minute speech, where she uses Mike’s explanation from the diner to talk about how he’s now in the happiest place he can be.

As Renee sings an emotional rendition of “Amazing Grace,” we watch the remaining moments of Mike’s funeral – the husbands carrying the coffin out of the church, the funeral procession, and the girls at the gravesite. Maybe it was Vanessa William’s voice, or maybe it’s just because for as many deaths as we’ve had on this show, we’ve never had one that’s felt so emotionally drawn out before - but I have to admit I was more emotional than I expected.

Following the funeral, the girls return to Susan’s house and as she breaks down about her current alone status, the girls promise to help out as much as they can. Mary Alice reminds us that as much as death takes away, it also helps make us a better person and it’s no question that throughout the episode, all of the ladies were certainly reminded of what a good person Mike was – and how he helped shape their lives.
As the episode closes, we see the Fairview Police finding a match between Bree’s prints and the prints on Alejandro’s body. There’s talk about wanting to get Bree locked up for good – but I can’t imagine that the show is really going to end with one housewife in jail. Any thoughts on how the remaining hours of Desperate Housewives are going to play out?

What did you think of the episode? Did you think it was a fitting send-off for Mike Delfino?

Desperate Housewives 8.17 Recap "Women & Death"

Last week's Desperate Housewives death might have not been too surprising due to the fact it was spoiled before the episode aired. Still, as much as you expected it, it was hard to keep from showing emotion when resident good guy Mike Delfino took a bullet to the chest and proceeded to bleed out in the arms of his wife, Susan.

Mike's previous run-in with the loan sharks when he caught them breaking into Renee's apartment struck a nerve, and he was gunned down in a drive-by shooting at the end of last week's episode. It was a depressing ending to an hour that otherwise seemed to provide closure to the Alejandro mess, now that the girls knew Orson was behind most of the mysterious stalking that had been making their lives miserable.

In "Women and Death", we'll be with the girls as they help a grieving Susan through Mike's funeral, while each one recalls the impact he had on their lives during his time on Wisteria Lane. Meanwhile, the letter that Orson dropped to the police gets Bree called in for questioning about Alejandro, awakening some old fears.

Check out the sneak peeks below and tune in for the all new episode of Desperate Housewives, airing tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Desperate Housewives Sneak Peeks: First Look At Mike's Funeral

Confession time: I’ve watched Desperate Housewives since it debuted in 2004, and have only been truly shocked during one moment – the death of Bree’s husband at the end of season 1. That doesn’t mean that the show hasn’t had moments throughout its run that I’ve really liked or that have been shocking, but in terms of “unpredictable” surprises, Rex‘s death definitely tops my list.

That being said, tonight’s “big death” reveal would’ve been much more compelling and surprising had the news not previously leaked all over the Internet earlier in the week during the much covered Nicolette Sheridan trial. The hour’s plot was set up in such a way that anyone from supporting to main character could have gone based on their situation, and I don’t think (at least until the end) that anyone would’ve suspected Mike Delfino – or any of the Desperate Housewives husbands, for that matter. Nonetheless, it was still sad and heartbreaking to see the untimely demise of someone who has been both a part of the cast and the Wisteria Lane landscape for so many years.

While we mourn, let’s recap how the events of tonight went down. We begin with an official welcome, as Bree is finally inducted back into her group of friends and tells them everything. Lynette asks if she knows whys Orson acted the way she did, and Bree explains Orson’s obsession with her. She then expresses her guilt over the fact that she believes Orson killed herself, while the girls remind her that it wasn’t her job to save him – he wasn’t the man she once loved. Gabrielle points out that their nightmare is finally over with the letters being the last piece of the puzzle to be put to rest...but did she speak too soon? Of course she did, because the next thing we see is mail from Orson arriving at the Fairview police department.

Bree runs into Mrs. McCluskey and Roy, and they tell her that they just came from the doctor who told them Mrs. McCluskey’s cancer has progressed faster than they expected. Bree asks if she can do anything, and Mrs. Cluskey says yes – she can help kill her. Bree is obviously shocked, but a calm Mrs. McCluskey explains that since cancer is a bully, the only way she’ll win is if she chooses to die first. Despite Bree’s “heartless” nature, she doesn’t know if she’s comfortable killing her friend. But with Mrs. McCluskey’s insitance, she eventually agrees.

Tom arrives home to find Lynette putting together a “bitchin’ party” for Penny (no doubt inspired by her desire to be the best mother as she is now contending with “new mom" Jane) – and things don’t get better when Tom admits he wants to bring Jane to Penny’s party. Meanwhile, Carlos has bought the girls a cat, much to Gabrielle’s dismay. Is this the first pet we've seen on Wisteria Lane? I honestly can't remember. Regardless, Carlos says he realized in rehab that there is nothing more important than taking care of his family. When Gabrielle gives him a gift - a new tie to wear for his first day back at work - Carlos seems to realize for the first time that he has to go back to his office life. His mood drops drastically, although Gabrielle doesn’t notice.

Over at the Delfino household, Susan is trying to seduce Mike, who has other things on his mind – namely the loan shark who he had a not-so-nice run in with last week. Susan naturally becomes concerned when she learns the reason behind Mike’s distractedness and the two go to the police, explaining that they need protection. Unfortunately, the police say they can’t do much, although they do call out Mike for owning a gun without a permit.

Meanwhile, Carlos’ behavior becomes stranger when he refuses to wear a tie – something extremely out of the ordinary. Gabrielle soon gets a call from Carlos’ secretary saying that he’s been acting “a little strange.” A little strange would be an understatement, as Gabrielle comes down to the office to find out that Carlos has been giving away the company’s money to help random people. Carlos tells Gabrielle that he decided to make work “a place he wants to be."

Penny’s birthday (complete with trampolines and hula hoops) really is turning out to be a “bitchin’ party” – in fact, it might be the snazziest party on Wisteria Lane in 8 years. The party is soon thrown into whack, however, when Jane shows up with her photographer niece. Her gift to Penny is apparently photographs that will eventually go into a scrapbook album. Lynette is obviously irked by this (as evidenced by the fact she quite literally photobombs every single picture of Jane and Penny) and the two finally have it out, with Lynette telling her she’s not part of the family. Jane is evasive in her response and finally admits that Tom asked her to move in with him. Lynette confronts Tom when he finally shows up and asks why she couldn’t have heard it from him instead of his new girlfriend. When the talk immediately turns to lawyers and “next steps,” Lynette seems to finally realize that this isn’t just a trial separation – it’s for real.

Bree is still trying to figure out ways to keep Mrs. McCluskey from killing herself, although Mrs. McCluskey is persistent and says with or without Bree, she plans to succeed. Bree tries to talk to Roy over pie that turns out to be "suicide" pie and in an amusing moment, Bree is soon rushing to the emergency room with Mrs. McCluskey and Roy in tow. Bree finally gets Mrs. McCluskey to understand why killing herself is a bad idea, and with some support from Roy, she decides to abandon her plans. Meanwhile, Jane shows up at Lynette’s house wanting to apologize, although Lynette is too angry to accept anything sincere. When Jane accidently chokes on a cheese ball and Lynette hesitates to save her (I actually believe some of that may have been out of panic) Jane becomes upset at the fact Lynette apparently froze up and storms out.

At home, Gabrielle finally gets Carlos to open up about his strange actions. Carlos explains that his counselor in rehab talked about his father, who destroyed lives during Vietman without even knowing why. Carlos admits he wants to quit his job and possibly become a counselor – Gabrielle, obviously, does not approve of this idea because it would mean they would have drastically less money. Their conversation is interrupted by Juanita who has crawled onto the roof to look for the cat, and after a tense moment, Carlos manages to save her. Carlos later admits to her that he’s miserable at work and needs a change, and then calls her out for being selfish. Any ideas where this is going to go? I feel like it's a little odd that Carlos would get a random "life change" so close to the end of the season, but maybe that's just me.

Susan and Mike share a nice moment on their porch, where Susan admits that she remembers what drew her to Mike in the first place – and that she loves that he takes care of people. Mike tells her about his family, how his dad beat his mom and how he’d hear it happening as a child. It made him not want to walk away from people in trouble. He then admits that he’s scared that he never told Susan how much he loves her, and knowing what was to come, it was a heartbreaking moment between the two who really, despite their ups and downs, have had quite the nice life together and who loved each other tremendously.

Props to Desperate Housewives – who gave one of their main and beloved characters a send off that was worthy of reminding the viewer why Mike was such a huge part of the show for so long. The montage of clips and memories (mostly dealing with Susan and Julie) was a nice way to pay homage to his character, and maybe it’s because I know we’re close to saying goodbye to this show, but I admittedly teared up more than once in the final two minutes.

What did you think of the episode? Do you think anyone else will go before the end of the season, or will this be the “big” shocker before the series signs off in 2 months? And given all of this, how do you think the series is going to end?

Desperate Housewives Recap 8.16 "You Take For Granted"

There are only a handful of episodes left before the Desperate Housewives series finale, and as the clock ticks closer to May, we can only imagine what surprises are in store.

When we last left our Desperate Housewives ladies, Bree had figured out the truth about Orson and his involvement in the revenge plan he had concocted in order to win back her heart. And although his actions had failed, the creepy look Orson exhibited at the end of the episode when he dropped off a letter to the Fairview Police hinted that there just might be more to come for Bree before the end of the season. Has Bree set herself up for more trouble than she bargained for by telling Orson off? Meanwhile, Susan and Lynette came to blows concerning the "correct" parenting for Parker and Julie's baby, as both wanted to be the most involved parent. Mrs. McCluskey admitted to Roy and Gabrielle about her terminal cancer, and Carlos finally returned home from rehab.

In tonight's episode, Ben's loan shark resurfaces with a dangerous mission, which causes Susan to urge Mike to go to the police. Meanwhile, Gabrielle is concerned over Carlos' strange behavior at work, and Tom's girlfriend Jane is the bearer of some interesting news during Penny's birthday party.

Last week's recap can be found here. Check out the sneak peeks below for tonight's all new episode of Desperate Housewives, airing tonight at 9:00pm ET on ABC.

Desperate Housewives: You Take For Granted Sneak Peeks

The final season of Desperate Housewives will result in a major death.  Normally these types of spoilers are kept under wraps, but this one just so happened to slip out.  Nicollette Sheridan is currently in court, suing Marc Cherry and the studio because of wrongful termination as a result of her character's departure from the show.

To determine whether or not the death of Edie Britt was a big deal or something that typically happens on the show, Desperate Housewives line producer George Perkins said that other major characters have died - or will die - on the show.  More specifically....

(seriously, don't read any further if you don't want to be spoiled)

...a major character will be killed in the upcoming March 11 episode of Desperate Housewives.  The unlucky character to meet their demise is none other than James Denton's Mike Delfino.  After the information was revealed, one of the lawyers joked that maybe they should quarantine the press in attention, but the judge got in on the joke and said she couldn't make those kinds of orders.  Now the information is out and the element of surprise is gone.

According to the testimony, the producers and writers have talked about killing off so the major main characters over the course of the series, including Carlos, Susan, Lynette and Bree.

A new episode of Desperate Housewives will air on Sunday, March 11 at 9:00 p.m. EST on ABC.

Desperate Housewives: Major Death Spoiler Revealed in Court Testimony

I was taken by surprise when at of tonight’s episode, the announcement over the preview declared that there were only 6 new episodes remaining before the big series finale. Sure, I’m no stranger to knowing how the television hiatus schedule works but 6 episodes to tie up the rest of the series? I suppose it’s time to give Desperate Housewives a deserving kudos because right now, there’s so much going on that I have no idea how mysteries and storylines are going to be wrapped up in such a short amount of time.

At the Scavo household, Lynette and Tom express their concerns over Porter’s decision to raise Julie’s baby. Ever the optimist, Porter tells them that he got a job as a waiter at one of the local restaurants. The downside? It doesn’t provide childcare. Naturally, he asks his loving parents for help but they don’t exactly budge (even after Porter tries to butter them up by saying he’s going to name the baby after Lynette.) At the Solis household, meanwhile, Roy is still crashing with Gabrielle. With Carlos finally on his way home from rehab, however, Gabrielle is finally tired of sharing her house and just wants him back with Karen.

As for Bree – she’s just really irresistible, isn’t she? First Chuck got upset when she refused his engagement, and now vengeance obsessed Orson is doing anything and everything he can to extract his revenge from when she broke his heart. He shows her pictures of his cottage in Maine, trying to get her to agree to move there and almost slips up when he mentions knowing about the second letter, which Bree knows she hasn’t told him about. He manages to save himself by turning the conversation into how her friends can’t be trusted.

While Mike brings Julie back to school, Susan finds Porter, who tells her how he got a job but that Lynette doesn’t think it’s good enough because it doesn’t provide childcare. Susan, of course, seizes on this opportunity to enthusiastically tell Porter that she’s happy provide daycare for her new granddaughter. Predictably, as soon as Lynette sees the two of them moving furniture together, she becomes suspicious and then upset, especially when Porter asks for the bassinet that the children all slept in.

Gabrielle tries to leave flowers at Karen’s (pretending they’re from Roy, of course) but Karen sees right through her. An argument about why she won’t take Roy back leads Karen to collapse, and at the hospital, Gabrielle finally learns the truth about her cancer returning – and how Karen knows she’s not going to beat it. Gabrielle realizes this is why she’s been pushing Roy away, and tries to persuade her to take him back. Karen refuses, though, begging Gabrielle not to tell him. Bets on if Gabrielle will heed this promise? I’m thinking not….

At the hospital, Renee tells Ben that she met with his loan shark and settled his account. Ben gets upset because he doesn’t want her to be involved, but Renee is unfazed. She does get a bit of a wake-up call about her involvement in the situation, however, when the loan shark comes by her house claiming that he needs more money. Tough Renee quickly puts him in his place, although she soon realizes it probably wasn’t the best move she could’ve made. Tom meanwhile, comes by and tells Lynette that he’s taking the kids for an entire week so Lynette can have some space. This goes over well until Lynette learns that Jane is going to be watching Paige while Tom’s at work – another act of her feeling like she’s being replaced (to be fair, Lynette, this is your own fault…you didn’t want the responsibility!) And just as Porter suspected, Susan is taking her “Grandma” title to the extreme – even after learning that Porter is planning on naming the baby Lynette (apparently that wasn’t a ploy for guilt after all.)

Gabrielle tries to get Roy to open up about his first wife, and finds out that she died two weeks before their anniversary. Upon Roy’s tearful confession about losing someone and telling them everything in the world and being there for her, she breaks her promise to Karen (who was betting, really?) To be fair, the promise was broken out of compassion and love, not selfishness, so score one for Gabrielle Solis.

Bree agrees to leave for Maine with Orson, but not before trying to engage in a side trip to his apartment. Orson attempts to heed her off, but Bree pushes and he eventually gives in, though he manages to stall her enough to get rid of the evidence. His stealthiness leaves something to be desired, however, and upon seeing an unopened letter and a stalker type picture in the garbage, Bree realizes exactly what Orson has been doing. Orson admits everything, but says that he only did it because he wants to be with Bree and he knew that he didn’t stand a chance if he couldn’t have her all to himself. He passes his actions off as consequences of intense love, but Bree doesn’t believe him. I have to hand it to Desperate Housewives – usually mysteries like this are dragged out over a number of episodes and become predictable. This year, we’re rolling through the reveals and twists, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Orson Hodge.

Lynette soon finds that being home alone with no kids is not only boring, but also lonely. She comes by to ask if Susan needs help with nursery, and realizes just how much she’s been left out of the loop. And here we find out that as suspected, Susan isn’t exactly happy that Porter is planning on naming his child after her best friend. She wants to name her after her mother, Sophie, and the two begin to argue over “correct” parenting. In classic Housewives fashion, they end up screaming at each other over a tug of war on a bassinet on the front lawn.

The husbands decide to take matters into their own hands. Mike comes over and visits Lynette, trying to give her perspective on Susan’s actions while Tom talks to Susan and tries to get her to ease up on Lynette’s feelings. It was a nice moment for all the actors, and it that caused me to realize how far they’ve come in their friendship. The girls eventually make up and begin working together again as best friends should in these types of situations.

Roy goes to visit Karen in the hospital, and she already knows that Gabrielle can’t keep her mouth shut. Karen tells Roy that she didn’t want to put him through the pain of losing another wife, and Roy tells her he’s staying with her no matter what. Personally? I think at this point it would be entirely predictable and sad to kill off Karen, but if they do, I hope she finds happiness with Roy like we saw in this moment.

Renee calls Mike to let him know about Ben’s situation, and notices a light in Renee’s apartment. He finds the loan shark has broken in and a fight ensues. Meanwhile, Carlos finally comes home and Gabrielle presents him with a fully decorated house, telling him she doesn’t want to take him for granted anymore. Turns out Karen’s story hit her hard, and made her realize that she hasn’t been treating Carlos with as much respect as she should. I really like how in this final season, the focus seems to be on the relationships between the women and their families, as opposed to the mysteries of Wisteria Lane.

Bree, meanwhile, is still trying to recover from her discovery of Orson. He tries to call her repeatedly, but she tells him she never wants to speak to him again. Orson finally tells her that he’s not coming back, implying suicide, but instead, we see him drop a letter to the Fairview Police – no doubt alerting them to her crimes.

So, what do you think is going to happen to Orson? And with only a few episodes remaining, do you think we’re going to get even more twists?

Desperate Housewives 8.15 "She Needs Me" Recap

The final season of Desperate Housewives promised to be "full of surprises" and I have to admit, for as much as I've been able to call most of the plot twists and "reveals" over the past eight years, I admittedly did not see tonight's shocker coming - nor did I expect so many questions to be answered before the end of the series. I suppose that means there must be more on the way, and with only 7 new episodes remaining, I can only hope Marc Cherry has something good up his sleeve.

Let's recap, shall we? Last week saw the surprise arrival of Orson, Bree's ex-husband who saved her from a drunkard and helped her get back on her feet. We started with Bree and Orson's catch-up, Bree telling him "you really are a good friend." She adds that he's the only one and Orson is surprised, since he knows the four girls to be inseparable. Bree says that a few months ago something happened that caused them to have tension with each other and when Orson tries to pry the information out of her, Bree admits the whole story. Meanwhile, Porter and Preston return home and tell Lynette that they've been evicted from their apartment. Lynette attempts to stop them from moving back in, but the boys manage to pry their way back into the house by telling Lynette they don't like Tom's new girlfriend.

Susan is helping Julie search families on the adoption agency website, but Julie gets upset when Susan becomes too controlling. Susan tells Mike she wishes there was something she could do to stop Julie from making this decision, and ends up suggesting that they find the father and get him to step in. Mike tells her that's a bad idea and if she doesn't stop pushing, she's going to lose Julie entirely. Is Susan going to listen? Eight years have taught us to be doubtful of this. Meanwhile, poor Gabrielle realizes that between trying to keep the house together, managing Carlo's job and keeping the kids happy, she's losing her mind. On a park trip, she sees Roy who tells her that Karen kicked him out because they had a massive fight. Having no place to go, Roy sweet-talks his way into staying with Gabrielle, who reluctantly agrees.

The girls pay a visit to Bree but meet Orson instead, and after hiding their surprise at his return, Orson tells them about Bree's bar fight and how he saved her. He says he's spending some time with Bree to get her back on her feet, but that she doesn't want to see her friends right now. Knowing how their last conversation went with their friend, the girls don't push but instead ask him to tell her that they're here for her. Orson promises he'll do so, but when he goes back inside, he doesn't tell Bree anything. In fact, he seems perfectly content to push Bree further away from her friends as long as he can have a place back in her world.

Ben, who's still having problems with money (as well as everything else in his life) tells Mike he started a fire so he could get a settlement from the insurance company. In the middle of his explanation, he begins experiencing chest pains and lands himself in the hospital. Mike visits Renee to alert her, telling her that Ben is under a lot of stress the loan shark he's in trouble with. Renee ends up visiting Ben and offers to help him get out of trouble, but Ben refuses to take her money because he still feels terrible for what he did to her.

Susan, meanwhile, goes to visit Lynette. Hurting over Julie, she ends up spilling the beans on the pregnancy and Preston and Porter overhear, despite Susan trying to downplay the news. When Susan gets home, she overhears Julie talking to the father and making plans to meet him. She follows her to spy so she can see who the father is for herself, and finds out that it's actually Porter Scavo. After flipping out on both kids, Porter admits he wants to keep the baby, which causes Susan to take his side immediately.

Gabrielle is having a hard time living with Roy because of his odd habits and when they talk about how to get him back to Karen, Roy doesn't seem too hopeful given the magnitude of their fight. Gabrielle tries to force him to leave, but when he proves he can get Juanita and Celia to listen to him, she sees an easy way out of a stressful situation and invites him to stay. The easy out works a little too well, and soon Gabrielle is telling Carlos that he doesn't even have to come home to help out even though his counselor has granted some time off. Carlos, however, is (like the rest of us) more concerned about what drove the happiest couple in Fairview apart.

Bree is enjoying having Orson back in her life, even going so far as to tell him it's as if their past never happened. Hearing these words, Orson takes a leap of faith and asks if Bree has thought about a change of pace" - a new chapter in her life. He suggests going to Maine together, first as a vacation and then a permanent move. Bree is tempted, though hesitant, knowing the importance of her life in Fairview and her relationship with her friends. In fact, she tells Orson, she's thinking of making up with them because she feels their fights have gone on long enough. Orson panics, knowing that Bree's relationship with the girls could end his happiness and spins a lie about how the girls came over but didn't seem concerned about her. This seems to sober Bree, who starts to think twice about reconciliation.

Gabrielle, meanwhile, is spinning lies of her own for her own benefit. While she's quite content having Roy live with her, Roy greatly misses Karen and wants to figure out a way for her to take him back. Gabrielle convinces him she's still too angry to take him back, and then tells Karen the same thing. We eventually find out that Karen has been hiding a secret from Roy - her cancer has returned, and has spread to her brain. The doctor mentions she'll need support, but Karen tells him sadly that Roy is out of the picture. Not wanting him to go through another death of a loved one, she tells him its better that they're now separated. I can't help but think this won't end well, and I can only hope that Karen gets at least a fitting storyline for the end of the season as she's been such a terrific and underrated character for so many years.

Susan invites Lynette over to tell her about Porter being the father of Julie's child. Lynette understandably freaks out, especially when she hears that he wants to raise the baby. When she talk to Porter about the situation, he admits he knows he's not ready for this but that he IS ready to do whatever it takes to make sure he's a good father. Susan's talk with Julie doesn't go as well - Julie wants to forget that this situation ever happened, and doesn't want anything to do with the child. Susan tries to explain how Julie will feel once she has her baby, but Julie is still upset with Susan, saying she feels Susan took away her decision and that she'll never forgive her for what she did. Looks like Susan should try to listen to Mike more often.

While Renee takes care of Ben's loan shark and encounters a rather uncomfortable situation, Orson and Bree pack while Bree asks what made Orson change his life around. "Driving," Orson answers simply, as he explains how freedom helped him to let go of a lot of pain. We then are treated to a huge amount of reveals - Orson watching the girls from the car as they carry out Alejandro's body, leaving notes in Bree's mailbox, spying on where they dug the the grave. Man, Bree's having a pretty bad season, isn't she? Never one to have good luck with men to begin with, she broke Chuck's heart at the beginning of the season which resulted in turmoil and near death, and now is being possibly set up for something worse from Orson who clearly has it out for her (though for what reason, other than angry revenge, we haven't been told yet.)

I had my doubts about Orson's sincerity once he lied to Bree about her friends. Still, I have to hand it to Desperate Housewives, because for as much as I tend to complain about how obvious their "big mysteries" are each season, I was pleasantly surprised and caught off guard with this one. I'm really looking forward to the final few episodes and seeing how this wraps up. What exactly is Orson's motive? And does he plan to take ALL the ladies down with him, or is this season going to be a strict focus on Bree herself?

What did you think of the episode? Are you ready to count down to the final hours of the season?

Desperate Housewives 8.14 "Get Out of My Life" Recap

Being in love - that was the "theme" in this week's Desperate Housewives, and what better to illustrate the promise of love than with the reconciliation of Lynette and Frank, Renee's hair dresser? This time, the date seems to be going better than it did a few episodes ago and Lynette ends up inviting Frank back to the house for dessert. Unfortunately, there seems to be a misunderstanding as Frank believes "dessert" means sex - which Lynette isn't ready for yet. The two part amicably, but Lynette is obviously upset. She calls Susan and Gabrielle the day after to talk to them about what happened. Lynette admits that it's been awhile since she's been intimate and Gabrielle tries to convince her that she should pursue it. Susan jokes that Bree could give her some tips, given the brothel she seems to be running. Seems that Bree's new behavior has definitely put her on the outs with the girls, as she's not even socializing with them anymore.

Gabrielle finds out while making Valentine's Day cupcake with Juanita that she misses Carlos (who is apparently on a long business trip in Europe) and then Juanita admits that she likes a guy named Ryan. Later, she gets upset when Ryan doesn't give her a valentine at school, leading Gabrielle to deal with her daughter's first semi-broken heart the only way she knows how - quick-fixing the situation with a fake card.

A glance over at Susan's household shows her excited over Julie's apparent impromptu visit. Susan is excited thinking of all things she's going to get to do with her "little girl" but soon finds out the real reason for Julie's visit: she's pregnant. Since the guy she was with didn't follow through, she's decided to give the baby up for adoption because she doesn't want to go to school and be a single mother. Susan, visibly upset at this decision, attempts to change her mind but eventually relents and says she'll meet the adoptive couple that are coming to dinner.

Susan does her best to show support, but when Julie leaves the room, she uses the opportunity to talk up Julie's "mental illness" and other imaginary bad traits. The ruse works and the couple gets scared off, leaving Julie angry with Susan for not respecting her decisions. Susan tells her she has no idea what she's giving up, claiming that as a single mother she had raised Julie and it had been a wonderful experience. But Julie doesn't remember it as fondly as Susan does. She tells her all she remembers is taking care of her and that because she's already raised one child, she doesn't want to raise another one. Mike attempts to talk to her, telling her that Susan isn't doing what she's doing out of spite - she's doing it out of love. Softening a little, Julie goes to talk to Susan and admits that the decision was the toughest thing she's ever had to deal with, but she's okay with it. She also tells her that she knows her baby is a girl, which seems to affect Susan more than she's willing to admit.

Meanwhile, Juanita, believing that Ryan truly loves her, tries to flirt with him on the playground. She forces him to kiss her, which the school views as sexual harassment. Gabrielle tries to diffuse the situation but the principal says they'll expel Juanita if Gabrielle doesn't talk to her about her behavior. When Gabrielle does have her talk, she realizes Juanita has been raised the "Gabrielle" way - believing that once a guy loves her, it's first kissing, then marriage, then presents. Gabrielle is forced to admit to her daughter that she made up the valentine, which upsets Juanita who claims Gabrielle always lies to her. She admits that she knows Carlos isn't in Europe because she can tell that Gabrielle is acting sad, and says she's not a kid anymore. Gabrielle admits she still sees her as one, but that Juanita's right - she doesn't need to protect her so much anymore and she deserves to know the truth about what's going on.

Bree, meanwhile, is having her usual night out at the bar, and hits on a man who she doesn't remember she took home a few nights ago. Apparently, that doesn't stop her from taking him home for a second time.

Lynette attempts a second date with Frank, offering "dessert" for real before their dinner date. Renee visits the next day to ask about the date, which Lynette doesn't want to talk about at first. She admits she cried in the middle of having sex because she realized her marriage was over. Lynette says that Frank was sweet about the situation, but she doesn't think she'll see him again. I love these small moments we're getting between the housewives, as it makes me remember why I love the show in the first place. In this conversation, Renee also lets it slip that she took Bree to a bar, apparently not knowing (or not caring) about her alcohol problem. Lynette takes this information to the girls, who are upset but admit that as mad as they are, they miss her and it's their responsibility to help her.

The three stage an intervention as Bree brings her boy-toy home, and she reams them out. She then admits in her half-drunken stupor that she attempted suicide, and says its because of them and the fact they made her feel like she was nothing. The girls say they'll do whatever it takes to get things back to the way they were, but Bree doesn't want things to change. It appears we're headed towards a huge falling out that I suspect will set the stage for the endgame of the series - and I have a feeling things are only going to get worse from here on out.

In a surprising move, Frank shows up at Lynette's house with pizza. Lynette says she can't figure out why Frank keeps coming back, and Frank says he understands that the person who ended a long marriage deserves time to heal - besides, he likes her. In a less surprising move, Bree finds herself back at the bar where a stranger starts to hit on her. She tries to ignore him but he goads her, telling her that "everyone in this bar knows who you are." Upset and a little freaked out by his actions, Bree leaves but the man meets her outside and takes her keys, attacking her. And just when it looks like Bree might be getting exactly what she deserves for all her troubles, she's saved by none other than her old flame Orson, whom the girls have called for help. Bree breaks down to him, admitting she's made a mess of her life and I think it will be interesting to see where we go from here given Orson's new-found involvement.

I'm not sure where we're headed in the next few months, but as the series starts to wrap itself up I'm hoping some of these story lines start to come together. Nonetheless, it's fun to see old cast members popping up and adding interesting elements to the story. What did you think of this week's episode?

Desperate Housewives 8.13 "Is This What You Call Love" Recap

Things are about to get rowdy, Desperate fans – well, as rowdy as ABC will allow. If you need to refresh your memory, last week’s recap is right here.

Bree’s constant drinking has led to her bringing multiple men home (although in classic Bree fashion, she’s also been kicking them out before 5am so no one, namely Mrs. McCluskey, sees what’s going on.) This all goes to hell anyway when Bree oversleeps with one of her many boytoys and Mrs. McCluskey comes by raving about a problem with the church bake sale. Though Bree tries to be stealth, Mrs. McCluskey is stealthier and catches her in the act as her date attempts to sneak out. When Bree lies about the situation, Mrs. McCluskey calls her out again and then figures out she’s been drinking.

Gabrielle attempts to remodel the living room where Alejandro was murdered while Lynette decides she wants to start dating again. She asks if Gabrielle or Renee know anyone she could be set up with, and Gabrielle says fixing her up would be a challenge because of her difficult personality. Meanwhile, Ben surprises Renee by asking her to dinner – presumably so he can propose and use her money to get out of the massive amount of debt he’s in.

Susan is in the middle of cleaning when she gets a surprise visit from Claudia who is looking for her husband because she thinks that Susan’s having an affair with him. Just as Claudia is about to get violent, MJ comes home from school and stops her but we know we haven’t seen the last of Claudia’s antics. And sure enough, when Susan leaves the house the next morning, she sees a massive littering of “Missing” papers with Alejandro’s face all over Wisteria Lane. She freaks, as does Gabrielle who sees the evidence as she’s walking the girls to school and then Susan lets it slip that she found his family. Before Gabrielle can get upset, she tells her that Marissa, Alejandro’s 16 year old stepdaughter, was taken advantage of in the same way that Gabrielle was. This obviously strikes a chord with Gabrielle, who decides to talk to Claudia herself and tell her the truth about her husband.

Lynette and Renee take a trip to her hair salon, where Renee gets her a date with Frank, one of her stylists. Lynette soon finds that part of the reason he disliked his ex-wife so much was for the same reasons she would get on Tom’s nerves and despite figuring this out, she still manages over the course of dinner to not only insult his choice of profession, but also his choice of food and his aspirations. Soon, Lynette is drawing up a five year business plan on a napkin and clearly putting Frank in a less than stellar mood. When Renee shows up for her appointment and asks about the date, his response is turning her hair into a disastrous mess. Renee visits her friend, calling her out for being controlling and overbearing.

Reverend Sikes surprises Bree at a bar (spurred by Mrs. McCluskey’s tip-off) and offers to get her help. “How can you say who I truly am when I don’t even know myself?” Bree asks when he tells her that this person she’s become isn’t who she really is. Meanwhile, Ben toasts Renee over dinner and then, as predicted, proposes. Renee accepts, telling him how happy she is at the fact that she feels she can trust someone again, especially in the wake of her divorce. “I know that in my heart this is right,” says Renee, pushing Ben over the edge with her unexpected sincerity. He retracts the proposal, and then admits that he only wanted to marry her because of her money. Obviously hurt, Renee leaves despite Ben’s insistence that he does truly love her.

Claudia shows up at Gabrielle’s house, asking for her husband. Gabrielle tells her that Alejandro was her step-father and also a child molester, which Claudia refuses to believe her until, prodded by Susan’s encouragement, Marissa speaks up. Before they leave, Claudia thanks her being honest, but not before noticing the “red wine” stain on the rolled up couch – can we say “uh oh?”

Lynette shows up at Renee’s house to apologize and says she knows how she acts but she doesn’t think she can change. Renee tells her she’s the most determined person she knows and that she believes Lynette will find someone who loves her for who she is. She then admits that she’s broken up with Ben. Meanwhile, a perky Bree shows up at the church in an attempt to show Reverend Sikes that she can, indeed, take care of herself just fine. Her plans backfire when she unexpectedly runs into Craig, one of the many men who she’s taken home (as well as his wife) and she’s called out for being a whore and then turned away in front of the entire church. This shame does nothing to deter Bree’s character, however – instead, it causes her to embrace her downfall rather than hide it. Who thinks that Bree’s new antics are going to be the start of some rather interesting moments on Wisteria Lane?

The theme of the night was “renovation,” a term that could conceivably be applied any of the Housewives’ respective storylines over the course of the show. In this hour, however, it pertained to life, relationships and homes – all things that have been a crucial part of this past season. What did you think of the episode?

Desperate Housewives 8.12 "What's the Good of Being Good?" Recap

This week’s Desperate Housewives picks up where we last left off, with Bree sharing the Mary Alice-type letter she received. Gabrielle wants to know how they can do anything if they don’t know anything about the person sending the notes, and then accuses Bree of being linked to the mysterious individual since she’s the only one receiving the letters. Ah, yes. There’s always some sort of drama on Wisteria Lane, and given the mysterious stranger that we saw watching Bree on the way back to her house, we can bet that more drama won’t be far off.

When we last left Susan, she was heading off to New York to find the children of Alejandro, Gabrielle’s step father. She finds the house, but soon realizes she has no idea how to get inside – luckily, good fortune intervenes and the realtor for the open house arrives early. Thinking she’s a prospective buyer, the realtor tells her about the woman’s husband who disappeared and the poor situation of the family. When the wife (who is still in the house) overhears the conversation, she talks to Susan herself and then when she finds out Susan probably isn't buying her house after all, she seems upset. In classic “I Want To Help” mode, Susan makes up a story about how she’s a collector who wants to help her out by buying some of her things, and proceeds to write her a check for some legos.

Renee goes to visit Ben, who seems to care less that they haven’t seen each other for awhile. Upset with his antics, she complains to Bree who is having her own pity party after what happened with the note conversation. Since Bree won’t open up, Renee thinks she needs to “cut loose” and tells her to go out. Gabrielle, meanwhile, is trying to teach Juanita how to take care of the house and gets interrupted by Carlos’ secretary, who wants her to break him out of rehab for one night so they don’t lose a 90 million dollar deal.

Lynette is trying to hold down the fort with Tom in Paris, which doesn't seem to be going so well. When the light fixture burns out, the kids talk about how Tom fixes it easily but Lynette refuses to ask for help, wanting to prove to the kids she can do things herself. She soon gets a visit from someone who needs her help, however – Gabrielle wants Lynette to teach her the finer points about the world of business so she can go to Carlos' dinner for him and close his deal. Meanwhile, Mike goes to visit Ben and tells him he just bounced a check. He says he found out his last paycheck from Ben was returned for insufficient funds, and Ben makes up a story about a problem with the bank. Mike doesn’t seem to believe him, and I have to say, given the shadiness he seems to emit, I’m not sure if I do either.

Bad Influence!Renee takes Bree to a dive bar, where Bree is appropriately skeeved out. Renee can’t understand why Bree won’t let go and have fun, and Bree says she was raised to be a lady therefore she can’t “let loose.” After a few drinks, however, she seems to have no problem letting loose and finds herself flirting with a nice looking man who is sitting alone getting drunk after skipping out of his high school reunion. The two soon open up to each other with some secrets, and eventually, a buzzed and light-hearted Bree is agreeing to go skinny dipping with her new beau.

Back on Wisteria Lane, Lynette is trying to teach Gabrielle for her meeting and of course Gabrielle wants the “easy way out." Lynette tells Gabrielle to apply herself because she’s been getting by on her looks and charm for as long as she’s known her. Gabrielle yells at Lynette, calling her a know-it-all and Lynette leaves angrily, saying she doesn’t know why she agreed to help in the first place.

Susan returns to the house late at night to talk to Marissa, the daughter of Alejandro. She pushes Marissa to open up, saying she knows what type of person he is and that he’ll never hurt her again. Mike, meanwhile, shows up to see Ben trying to make a deal for money. He makes Ben call it off, and in a conversation afterwards, drops the fact that Renee has money. Ben eventually goes to visit Renee, apologizing for not making more time for her. I wonder what ulterior motive Ben is harboring by cozying up to Renee again - is this really a case of "you've got a good thing, so don't let it go?" Or is it more than that?

Gabrielle takes on Carlos’ business meeting, trying to do her best to convince them she knows what she’s talking about. In classic Gabrielle fashion, she’s hidden notes in her menu which the waitress takes while she’s distracted by Juanita’s phone call, leaving her in a lurch. Back at the Scavo household, Lynette is still trying (and failing) to take care of the house. When the kids yell at her get help, Lynette breaks down, saying she needs to know how to fix things because she never thought she would need to do anything without Tom.

Lynette goes to apologize to Gabrielle, and tells her she's right – she is a know it all who never thought she had to ask for help. Gabrielle apologizes herself, admitting that she does fake her way through life and that she never thought that she’d have to survive without Carlos. It was a nice moment for two ladies, and I always like when we’re able to break down the superficiality of Gabrielle’s character and expose some humanity.

Susan returns home, seemingly feeling better about the situation now that she’s done “what she needs to do"...but are things that easily tied up? Of course not. In New York, we find Marissa telling her mom what Susan confided in her, and something tells me Susan (and her not thinking ways of handing someone a check with her address) may be getting some unwanted visitors very, very soon.

With this new wrinkle, I’m curious to see what will happen over the course of the next few episodes – and how it will all come to an end. So many mysteries, so little time to tie everything up! What do you think? Share your thoughts!

Desperate Housewives 8.11 "Who Can Say What's True?" Recap

Welcome back, Desperate Housewives fans. It’s certainly been awhile, and you might need to refresh your memory from where we last left off. You can skim the fall finale recap here, but let’s just run through the basics – Lynette confessed her murder secret to Tom right before he was to leave for Paris with his new girlfriend, Susan contemplated a move to New York, Carlos disappeared from rehab, Detective Vance was run down by someone unknown, and Bree was left staring at the barrel of her own gun. Dive in below!

The episode picks up right where we left off, with Bree preparing for her suicide. She’s interrupted, however, by Renee, who bangs down her door convinced that Ben is cheating on her. After ranting and raving and throwing some insults around, Renee notices the note and shotgun and immediately sobers.

In the Scavo household, Tom is none too happy about learning Lynette’s secret, upset that she’s been dragged into the mess. After Tom leaves for work, Lynette hears about Chuck’s death on the news. Meanwhile, Gabrielle shows up at the rehab center, upset about the fact Carlos checked himself out and that no one can tell her what’s going on. As the nurse blows her off, she herself hears about Chuck.

Bree finds out that Renee has moved into her house to keep watch on her. “I’d rather see you in a straight jacket than a coffin,” Renee says when Bree tells her she can’t stay because she’ll drive her crazy. Renee asks why she wanted to kill herself in the first place, and Bree is saved from giving her answer by finding out about Chuck’s death. Meanwhile, Mike finds Susan trying to sneak away to New York. While Susan tries to convince him it’s because of her art, Mike believes otherwise and says he’s not moving to New York just so Susan can run away from Chuck.

The ladies meet to discuss Chuck’s death and try to figure out whether or not it was a true accident or someone trying to help them cover up their secret. When the girls ask about Carlos, Gabrielle lies and says he’s in rehab. Lynette comes home to tell Tom about Chuck’s death, and finds out that Tom told Bob about the murders - because if Lynette goes to jail, she’ll need an attorney. Meanwhile, Mike is trying to figure out why Susan is depressed despite the fact that Chuck is dead.

Worried that Carlos was behind Chuck’s murder, Gabrielle stops by the police station to share her condolences. She’s told that the police know the crime wasn’t an accident and that whoever did it will pay – big time. Bree stops by Lynette, unsettled because Chuck’s death means someone purposefully protected them – which means someone else knows about their secret. However, they can’t come up with anyone in the neighborhood who would be capable of committing murder.

Gabrielle finds Carlos and asks him to remember where he went when he checked out of rehab. She tells him Chuck was killed by a hit and run driver, and Carlos gets upset that Gabrielle thinks he actually committed the crime. As Renee continues to play caregiver, she also tells Bree she needs to talk and pushes her to open up. When Bree becomes difficult, Renee gets upset and tells her that she refuses to “go through that again.” This seems to sober Bree up, and when the girls attend Chuck’s funeral, she pushes Renee to open up about the comment. Leading to one of the strongest scenes of the hour, Renee admits that the person she knew who committed suicide was her mother – she had been suicidal for most of her life, but told Renee she was fine and so Renee never worried about her. Touched by her honesty, Bree told her about Mary Alice and then admitted how grateful she was that Renee had saved her life. My personal favorite moments of the show are anytime the ladies have personal moments, and kudos to Marcia Cross and Vanessa Williams for giving it their all emotionally and successfully pulling off a scene that was heartfelt, touching and believable.

Lynette thanks Tom for being so supportive and surprisingly, Tom seems touched by this, even offering to bring a pizza over later for movie night. Despite the fact these two will probably never get a nice reconciliation, it was a sweet moment given all the hurt they’ve encountered so far this season. Carlos is upset that Gabrielle has dragged him to the funeral since there are cops everywhere, and his fears are confirmed when one recognizes him and asks if he remembers coming into the station ranting about a confession – something about beating someone with a candlestick. Though Gabrielle manages to diffuse the situation, both are still on edge.

Tom later shows up with pizza night like he promised, and for a brief moment, it was nice to see a touch of the old Scavo magic we’ve become accustomed to for 8 seasons. But happiness doesn’t last long, and in the second strongest scene of the night, Tom tells Lynette that he likes Jane because she doesn’t criticize things like Lynette does. When Lynette defends herself, Tom apologizes and tells her that he shouldn’t have compared her. Lynette seems to accept the fact that they’re happy together, and tells him that he should go to Paris with her. When Tom asks if he’ll still have his family, Lynette promises him that he will.

Mike wakes up and finds Susan trying to leave for the second day in a row. When he tries to stop her again, Susan finally tells her why she feels so guilty – she remembers the phone that went off when they buried Gabrielle’s stepfather, and she knows that he has a family. She needs to find out if they’re okay, because it’s the only way she’ll get closure. Bold move, Susan. Mike lets her go, albeit hesitantly, and I’m extremely curious as to how this is all going to turn out.

As the episode comes to a close, everyone seems to be in a better place emotionally but something tells me that the Housewives won’t be feeling better for long. And as Bree walks out of her house to check the mail, she finds another letter. This one simply reads, “you’re welcome.”

What did you think of the episode? I personally thought it was a strong return for the show, which has been pulling out all the stops this season. Who do you think the mysterious stranger leaving notes is? What do you think of Susan’s new “mission?” With only 5 months left until the series finale, I can’t wait to see how this all ends up.

Desperate Housewives 8.10 "What's To Discuss, Old Friend?" Recap

Desperate Housewives returns with all new episodes on January 8 and ABC has released a few episode synopses with some light spoilers.

January 8, Episode 8.10 "What's to Discuss, Old Friend": With a gun at her side, Bree prepares to end it all now that her friends have abandoned her and her life continues to spiral further into despair; Gaby begins to suspect that Carlos may have had something to do with Detective Chuck Vance's murder; Susan makes up her mind to go to New York to become a true artist - with or without Mike; and an angry Tom cancels his plans to go to Paris with his girlfriend when Lynette confesses that she's an accomplice to murder and may soon be arrested. (Note: this episode will run until 10:01 p.m., so make sure to adjust your DVRs!)

January 15, Episode 8.11 “Who Can Say What’s True?”: With Carlos still in rehab, Gaby asks for Lynette’s help in wooing a high-stakes company to sign with her husband’s firm; Renee talks Bree into getting out of the house and having some fun at a pickup bar; in an attempt to ease her guilt, Susan pays a covert visit to Alejandro’s family to see how they’ve been holding up since he went missing; and Mike discovers some inconsistencies with Ben’s real estate project. (Note: this episode will run until 10:01 p.m., so make sure to adjust your DVRs!)

Watch a trailer for the January 8 return of Desperate Housewives below.

Want to know when your other favorite shows return in January?  Check out our handy schedule of midseason return dates.

Desperate Housewives January Spoilers: What's Bree's Next Move?

Devoted viewers of Desperate Housewives know they can always count on an episode before a mid-season break or a season finale to dispense drama, emotional conflict and suspense – and tonight was no exception. Due to the events of the previous week, no one is talking to Bree, who, after failed attempts to speak to Susan and Gabrielle, goes to see Lynette. She apologizes for making a mess of things, while Lynette tells her that she can’t “bake her way out of this.” Bree tries to tell her she was only trying to protect them, and Lynette disagrees – she thinks Bree was trying to control them. When Bree tells her that they can’t do anything to the girls as long as they have their friendship, Lynette tells her there is no friendship anymore – or a group. Bree’s on her own.

Sparked by the scene in Susan’s painting, Chuck has called all the girls (minus Bree) down to the station so he can question them. He asks Susan why she painted what she did, showing her a picture of Gabrielle’s step father. Susan tries to play dumb, but Chuck doesn’t buy it. When he questions Lynette, he tries to guilt her into admitting the crime by saying that whatever she did is the reason her husband walked out on her, and he does the same to Gabrielle by inflicting guilt on her with Carlos’ alcohol problem. While the girls are being interrogated, a tipsy and lonely Bree is drinking at the bar by herself when she sees a group of three women (who suspiciously resemble Gabrielle, Lynette and Susan) having some girl time. She sits down and tries to inject herself into the conversation, but the girls aren’t interested in spending time with a stranger. They leave Bree alone and depressed at the table, and we can’t help but wonder if Mrs. Van De Kamp is headed somewhere a little more serious a wine bottle.

Ben comes by the next morning to check on Bree, asking how long she’s been “off the wagon.” Bree tells him the relapse is just temporary an begs him not to tell anyone. When Ben tells her she should reach out to her friends, Bree says she can’t – they all hate her. Renee sees the exchange of Bree and Ben hugging outside her house, and mistakenly interprets it as Bree trying to steal Ben away from her.

With Chuck’s threats looming, the ladies all turn to their husbands. Susan panics to Mike, and tries to convince him to run away with her. Gabrielle goes to visit Carlos on rehab (or at least, tries to – he’s apparently not allowed any visitors.) She manages to get in anyway by sneaking in with another family, although she’s forced to go into therapy with them. Lynette tries to see Tom (who is supposed to leave for Paris with Jane) and although Jane’s daughter is at first hesitant to give her the info after finding out Lynette had been hiding under Tom’s bed, she eventually relents.

Deciding that the only way she’s going to get out of town is if she gets the money from her paintings, Susan goes to visit Felix and tries to persuade him to give her the money from her paintings immediately. Renee visits Ben to talk to him about Bree, and Ben tells him that he’s just helping Bree through a hard time – which Renee believes until Chuck shows up and implies that Bree is his girlfriend. Chuck also says he’s shutting Ben’s project down until he loses his investment. I believe we have a new villain on Wisteria Lane, don’t you?

Lynette finds Tom at the airport, and finally admits to him that she’s an accessory to murder. Jane finds Tom and Lynette in the bathroom when Tom tells her he can’t go to Paris with her. Lynette tries to diffuse the situation, telling her it’s not Tom’s fault. Unfortunately, when Jane asks for details, Tom can’t exactly be forthcoming about Lynette’s situation and Jane leaves alone.

Felix shows up at Susan’s house – he came up the money, but he wants her to move to New York under his wing so she can truly use her talent. Meanwhile, Bree goes to talk to Gabrielle, who tells her that Chuck interrogated all of them. Bree visits Chuck, telling him to keep her friends out of it and Chuck says he could never figure out a way to hurt Bree the way she hurt him until he started hurting her friends. He refuses to back off.

Susan obsesses over the move to New York, telling Mike that she no longer has family or friends while Mike tells her that all she’s doing is running – and if this is what she wants to do, she’s on her own. Chuck goes to visit Gabrielle, who tells her that he’s starting an official case file now that he’s found out Gabrielle’s relationship to her step father – if she doesn’t come down to the station for questioning, he’ll arrest her himself. Gabrielle calls Carlos, but finds he already checked out. As Chuck calls Bree to tell her she might want to bring a lawyer to the station, he’s suddenly killed in a hit and run…but by who? We saw Bree leaving in her car, and we know Carlos checked himself out without telling anyone where he was going. Previews seem to indicate that this is yet another mystery that will unravel before the season is over, and I can’t wait to see how it’s going to play out.

At the end of the hour, our housewives are all alone in both their thoughts and their lives – but there is one more alone than the rest. Bree checks herself into a hotel and takes out a gun, contemplating suicide and in a moment that actually had me shocked for the first time in awhile, Mary Alice suddenly shows up in the room with her. A delusional Bree asks if she’s happy now that she’s dead, but Mary Alice doesn’t exactly give her a concrete answer. At the end of the hour, we’re left with Bree staring at her gun – and while we know we probably won’t have the death of a housewife YET (if at all before the series ends), it’s still a suspenseful place to leave our character.

I’m so happy to see Desperate Housewives stepping up their game and bringing out all the stops in their final season. There may not have been any epic tornados, big fires or horrible car crashes in this mid-season finale, but it was definitely an episode full of suspense and shocks. What was your favorite moment?

Desperate Housewives 8.09 "Putting It Together" Recap

The opening monologue for tonight’s Desperate Housewives included the words “but so many secrets led to a falling out” and as we move deeper and deeper into the season, we’re starting to see just how much this statement is true. The four ladies are, and have always been, about teamwork, something that has been falling to the wayside in the past few episodes.

Bree hears a noise in her house and calls 9-1-1 freaking out. Who should show up to investigate? None other than Chuck, who backhandedly starts to interrogates her about Gabrielle’s step-father on the night of the dinner party. When Bree defends herself, Chuck tells her she’s the victim in this situation. What makes him think that? Chuck answers with the obvious – someone is trying to rattle her, because they think she’d hiding something – or they want her to crack. He then tells her not to lose any sleep, because he’ll be keeping an eye on her. Creepy!

Gabrielle helps Carlos, who has had another “incident,” with his hangover. Carlos tries to apologize and Gabrielle tells him that he needs to get help before he falls apart. He tries to make himself go into work because he has to sign payroll, but Gabrielle offers to sign his name and go in for him. Meanwhile, in Susan’s art class, Zeller introduces a special guest – his art dealer, and owner of the Bergman Gallery, Felix Bergman. The little man amusingly goes around critiquing everyone’s paintings, causing Susan to dub him “a little ball of hate.” Of course, Susan’s painting of the ladies’ “confession” is the one thing Felix does like, prompting even Zeller to be surprised.

Lynette and Renee are in the middle of closing a deal with a client for their design firm, when Lynette realizes it’s her 22nd wedding anniversary. Their client tells her how she changed her life by changing her clothes and hair to show a different side of herself, causing Lynette to think that she’s giving up on her marriage too easily. Renee provides some insightful (and serious) advice here, and it’s a nice change to see Renee playing the sincere good friend role instead of someone who just wants sex.

Bree goes to Gabrielle and laments how bad things have gotten between the girls. She starts to tell her that Chuck came by, but chickens out on the details when she finds out that Gabrielle is still dealing with a drunk Carlos. Gabrielle goes to Carlos’ office to sign his paychecks, and finds out that Mr. Sweeney, one of the firm’s biggest clients, is coming in and wants to talk to Carlos. Of course, Gabrielle thinks she can handle things herself by sweet talking him which obviously doesn’t work. Thankfully, she’s saved by Jeffrey, a friend at the firm who gets Gabrielle to tell him what’s going on with Carlos, because he wants to help him get better. We know that this isn’t going to end well, and sure enough, we find out that Carlos’ supposed “friend” is really more of a backstabbing snake.

At Zeller’s studio, Felix is still drooling over Susan and her art. He wants to feature it in his gallery, and Susan, while flattered, knows exactly why this can’t happen and turns his offer down despite Zeller’s persistence. Lynette shows her new (crimped and curled) self off to Renee, who is a little surprised by the transformation of her friend. Renee can’t understand why if Tom is seeing Jane, he sent her flowers for their anniversary but Lynette is determined, saying she’s going to go over to his apartment (since she got the keys from Penny) and put a bottle of scotch on his nightstand, since that’s their “anniversary” thing.

Chuck shows up to bother Bree again, saying he’s “not done with her.” He continues to ask her about Gabrielle’s step-father, bringing up coincidences about the murder and tells her that he feels that something bad happened. He actually doesn’t think that Bree has done it, but he thinks she’s protecting her friends who have committed the crime. It was a nice moment in which Bree got to stand up for herself and defend her friends, telling Chuck she’ll protect them at whatever cost, no matter what happens. After eight years together, these women truly are family and this season is really bringing that loyalty out.

Gabrielle goes to find Jeffrey and right her wrong of ratting Carlos out. Jeffrey uses her to rat Carlos out in front of Mr. Sweeney, who asks Gabrielle to bring him to the house. He arrives to greet a still hungover Carlos, who thinks he's there to yell at him. On the contrary, he's come to try to convince Carlos to go into rehab, as Mr. Sweeney was also once in Carlos’ position.

Lynette sneaks into Tom’s apartment with the bottle of scotch, but doesn’t get far before Tom and Jane come home. She hides under the bed, and almost gets away with not being caught until they start making out, which causes her to freak out. She apologizes, saying she just wanted to bring him his scotch in return for the flowers and finds out that Tom didn’t technically send them – they were sent by accident because he wanted them sent every year. It’s almost a wake-up call for Lynette, who seems to realize that things really are over between them.

Zeller brings Susan to the gallery, saying that he did something she’s going to thank her for. Susan sees her photo displayed, and while Zeller thinks he did a good thing by helping her get over her terrified feelings of displaying her art, Susan is both mortified and worried at the fact her work will be seen by the public. She calls Bree and Gabrielle so that they can help pay for the painting and get it taken away. Despite their quick actions, Chuck shows up and calls them out on their crime (with surprising accuracy thanks to her paintings.)

Chuck tries to get the girls to confess and tell them who the body in the painting is, but the girls refuse to crack. Chuck evilly says that he’s more or less close to figuring everything out, but that he’s going to take his time because he wants to see “the ice princess break.” Gabrielle and Susan find out the secret Bree has been keeping to try to protect her friends (Alejandro being reported as a missing person) and become upset, leading hurt feelings to again divide the group. As we close the episode, we see Bree resort to drinking in order to deal with her issues.

This was an interesting episode, if not for the fact that it again kept one housewife out of the loop – something that I think will come into play later in the season. We know the ladies work best when they’re all together helping each other, and I’m beginning to think that their individual “personal" issues that are keeping them from confiding in each other will eventually come to head as this mystery grows more intense. What did you think?

Desperate Housewives 8.08 "Suspicion Song" Recap

A lot has been going on between our ladies on Wisteria Lane, so if you need to catch up, check out my recap. As the girls drive back from the woods, they freak out over who might have dug up the body. Gabrielle worries about going to jail, while Bree says they shouldn’t be worried - the police can't be involved because there would have been crime scene tape. She then proposes that Susan must have done the deed because she’s been so crazed with guilt lately. Gabrielle agrees, and though Lynette dubious of Bree’s assumption, the two agree to help find out more information.

Speaking of Susan, it’s portfolio review time in Zeller’s class and he’s already peeked into what Susan has to offer – which is nothing good. He again publicly humiliates her and Susan gets upset saying that’s not how you motivate people. Zeller argues that she hasn’t progressed since she started the class.

Over at the Scavo household, it’s awkward question time as Penny finally asks Lynette if Jane and Tom are going to get married, because “they seem really happy together.” Lynette tells her that just because people are happy, it doesn’t mean that they’re going to get married. Tom and Jane come by to pick Penny up and take her to a show and Renee witnesses the whole exchange, telling Lynette it’s bad enough that Jane stole her husband. She’s going to teach Lynette how to make sure her daughter isn’t taken away, too.

As Gabrielle makes dinner for Celia and Juanita (who are running around amusingly uncivilized) she realizes she can’t think of anything without worrying about the future, especially when Juanita asks about their plans for the annual spring vacation. She admits to Carlos that she doesn’t know what to do, and unknowing of the current situation, he tries to assuage Gabrielle’s fears about not going to jail by saying it’s been two months since the incident. This doesn’t stop Gabrielle from worrying, however, leading her to obsess over who will take care of the kids if something were to happen. Since Susan is apparently the guardian they appointed in their will and may at this point be sitting next to Gabrielle in a jail cell, the two decide to seek out new guardianship – turning to Lee and Bob. Problem is, the two men are less than enthusiastic about the idea of becoming surrogate parents to two “monsters.” Gabrielle and Carlos insist that they aren’t as terrible anymore, and Bob and Lee suggest that the family has them over for dinner so they can see this behavior change for themselves. Of course, Gabrielle’s children are nowhere near an acceptable level of maturity, and despite a day home from school filled with attempts to civilize them (including knowledge of Broadway musicals), the girls don’t make much progress.

Lynette begins her game of guilt with Penny, going through her baby book and attempting to convince her that they’re not really a family anymore now that Jane’s in the picture. Her bribing and guilt-tripping works, albeit a little too well as Penny asks Lynette to cancel her plans with Tom and Jane so she can spend time at home. Tom accosts Lynette, saying he’s been getting a lot of messages about Penny not wanting to come over. He misses his daughter, and asks her if she told Penny anything about not liking Jane. Tom says they have to make sure that things between them stay between them – they shouldn’t get the kids involved – and asks Penny if he wants to come meet him after school to play catch with him so they can have much overdue father-daughter time. Penny agrees. Meanwhile, Susan is attempting new work for Zeller as Bree stops by and attempts to try to find out if she knows anything about the body. When Susan starts talking about the voices in her head, Bree thinks that she’s guilty until Susan realizes something’s off. Bree almost starts to tell her what they found in the woods when Mike comes home early, saying that the project for Ben has been halted because of a situation at the work site.

Bree goes to Ben, bringing him lunch to “celebrate his first day of construction” and playing dumb about they haven’t started working on the project yet. Ben admits to finding the body in the woods and Bree tries to find out if he already called the police. Ben says he hasn’t, because he doesn’t want to lose his investment on the land and all the work he’s already put into getting ready to break ground. She runs off after failing to convince Ben to not go to the cops and Ben follows, finding her crouched in the woods by the open grave. She admits that she knew the man who they dug up, and when Ben asks if he killed him, she says she didn’t - but her friend did, and that she helped bury him. I have to say, I didn’t see that confession coming in this episode so kudos to Desperate Housewives for keeping things interesting. Bree hopes that because she’s open and honest with him, Ben will take pity on her and help them cover it up. Unfortunately, Ben says he can’t do anything.

Over at Gabrielle and Carlos’ dinner party, the two girls do a decent job of impressing Lee and Bob with their maturity and knowledge of theatre. Unfortunately, things go a little haywire when they go to leave and Carlos lowers the garage door revealing a graffitied “Gays R Stupid." Gabrielle goes to yell at Juanita, wondering why she would do something like that and Juanita says she heard them talking about the guardianship deal. She asks if Carlos is dying, because everyone seems sad and Gabrielle and Carlos seem different. Gabrielle tells her that they’re fine and tries to console her while Susan pays a visit to Zeller, complaining that he’s “broken” her and that she can’t do anything but think of how much he hates anything she’ll do (she also finds out that her classmate Amy is sleeping with him.) Zeller says that every time she sits down and doesn’t paint the fear inside her, she’s lying. He then tells her not to bother coming to class anymore.

Lynette drives Renee to the field where Tom is supposed to meet Penny to make sure that Jane doesn’t show up. To her delight, there's no Jane - but there's also no Penny. She realizes how much Tom is hurting over the fact that his daughter doesn’t want to spend time with him, and finds out that Penny is upset with Tom, blaming him for leaving Lynette and ruining their family. In another surprise visit, Chuck shows up asking Bree if she’s seen a missing person – Gabrielle’s stepfather. He brings up the night of the dinner party and implies she knows exactly who he’s referring to, threatening her until Ben intervenes and threatens Chuck himself. Ben asks if the confrontation was about the body, and then tells her he got rid of it as a favor.

Mike comes over and Ben asks him to take care of the burial, which Mike promptly admits to Susan. As the girls celebrate their new found “freedom,” Susan runs over and tells them Mike's news. Bree admits that they already knew and Susan is understandably upset. As secrets come out, the girls begin fighting – both Susan and Lynette are unaware of the letters Bree has received, while no one knows that Carlos is the one who broke the secret to Mike about the murder. Lynette leaves angry, and Susan goes home and begins painting exactly the way Zeller wants her to. The result? A complete depiction of the night in the woods. Mike, meanwhile, does his duty and buries the body under a construction site.

Obviously, we know that this isn’t going to end up well for anyone, considering that something will undoubtedly happen with Susan’s painting that will invoke more suspicion – and we still have more than half a season to go before this mystery is (hopefully) solved. I did like the return of Chuck, who I think will play a major role in the episodes to come and I’m looking forward to seeing how Ben continues to factor into the story.

What did you think of tonight’s episode?

Desperate Housewives 8.07 "Always In Control" Recap

This week, we begin with the ladies (minus Susan) running from something unknown in the woods where they buried Gabrielle’s step-father. They split up trying to avoid being caught and when they reconvene, Bree finds something in the ground that freaks her out. We’re not yet shown what it is, but it’s something that clearly terrifies the Gabrielle and Lynette as well.

We flashback to three days earlier, where Susan brings Zeller a candy corn cupcake in hopes of buttering him up for the intern selection process. Susan should know better than that. Zeller doesn’t take the bait, and says the decision will be based on “talent, experience and who irritates me the least” (well, at least Susan’s reaction is an honest one.) Surprisingly, Zeller tells her that he’s decided to pick her after all. Meanwhile, Gabrielle checks on Carlos, obviously worried that he’s going to fall off the wagon again with his drinking habits. She insists that he attends an AA meeting, which Carlos agrees to, mostly to make her happy.

Things are about to get dicey for Lynette and Tom, as Penny eagerly tells Lynette that Jane will be helping her make her swan Halloween costume. “I hope I didn’t overstep,” Jane tells Lynette, who is baffled by the fact that not only does Tom’s new beau have a background in fashion design, she’s also teaching her ex how to speak French. Lynette tells Jane thanks for the offer, but she’s got Penny’s costume under control.

Bree visits Gabrielle to tell her about Ben’s plan to build condos over the area where the girls have buried the body, but is interrupted by Juanita who wants her Halloween costume fixed. Bree manages to get the message to Gabrielle in a hilarious manner by relaying it via “scary story telling” mode. Gabrielle is appropriately freaked out and says that one of them should figure out how to stop the project.

Ben goes to visit Renee, apologizing for being AWOL in the last two weeks. He invites her over for dinner on Halloween night to make up for not being around and she accepts, but only after making him beg (literally.) Susan reports for her new internship duty in her usual over-zealous way, and finds out that Zeller doesn’t exactly need her for painting, perse – he needs her to watch his son Jasper for the weekend. Lynette, meanwhile, is working on Penny’s costume as Renee comes by admit that she feels differently about Ben than other men she’s tried to date. Renee sees Lynette struggling with her costume, and tells her that she knows a designer in New York who can help her out.

Carlos goes to the AA meeting as promised but when he starts talking about what caused the guilt behind his drinking, he realizes he obviously can’t get very far. Frustrated, he leaves and throws away the card as he walks out. Back on the lane, Bree attempts to talk Ben out of building in the woods. Ben refuses saying he already moved the site once from the lake, because of some endangered yellow frogs that made it unsuitable for a construction site. This spurs Bree to figure that if she can plant some of these engendered yellow-spotted frogs at the construction site, Ben will again be forced to move his location site. She takes Gabrielle to the lake to pick up some frogs, which of course doesn’t go so well for our favorite socialite who would much rather have a manicure than wade through a lake (she does admit to Carlos’ drinking, which is a nice moment for both girls.) As they drive back, Bree accidentally lets one of the frogs loose, causing Gabrielle to freak out and almost crash the car. As a last resort, Bree suggests getting rid of the body for good – the police can’t do anything if there’s no evidence.

Susan continues her attempts to connect with Jasper, who apparently doesn’t have much of a thirst for imagination (much like his father.) Jasper admits he hates Halloween, and Susan convinces him and his father to come trick or treating with her to see what the magic of the holiday is all about. Zeller is understandably less than enthusiastic about the idea, but goes along anyway to try to make his son happy. Susan gets some insight into the relationship between Zeller and Jasper, seeing how much Zeller is pushing away the son that wants to love him.

Lynette gets herself into a bit of hot water when at first her costume doesn’t show up on time, and then again when Penny puts it on and it turns out to be more of a slut outfit than a kiddie get-up. Jane and Tom come over to pick Penny up, shocked at what Lynette is supposedly proud of making, and Jane admits to Lynette she knows what she did with the costume. The two seem to connect until Lynette asks Jane to stop going after her husband, which Jane refuses to do. Meanwhile, Renee goes for her big dinner date with Ben, which finds itself interrupted first by trick-or-treaters, then by the fact she gets a bad allergic reaction. He takes her to the hospital and tells her that he doesn’t understand her strange behavior, while Renee admits she hasn’t really been with anyone she’s truly liked in a long time. It’s nice to see a real romance budding with Renee, who spent a lot of last season being almost a caricature of emotion.

Bree and Gabrielle go to Lynette’s house and convince her that they need to go back to the woods to dig up Gabrielle’s stepfather (Carlos isn’t in a good place, and Susan has done nothing but freak out, so they’re not invited on this little journey.) Carlos really isn’t in a good place - he opens the door for a trick or treater and sees Gabrielle’s dead stepfather instead, which drives him to return to the bottle.

We finally arrive to where we started the episode – the three girls in the woods trying to find the site where they buried the body, and we also finally find out what made them all freak out – the body has already been dug up.

What’s next for our Wisteria Lane girls? With only a few episodes so far this season, I feel like the bar has already been raised in terms of the drama and mystery and I’m curious to see where we’re going next.

Desperate Housewives 8.06 "Witch's Lament"

Did you miss last week’s recap? Catch up right here.

In this week’s episode, "The Art Of Making Art," Lynette and Tom finally make it to couples therapy. Of course, things don’t exactly go smoothly. “Stop calling it dating,” Tom argues, saying that his dates are just dinner with a friend. Lynette argues that $300 dinners aren’t just “dinners with a friend” and the two start quarreling all over again. The therapist says that emotions are running high, primarily because their separation happened with no clear outcome – were they trying to find a way to end the marriage, or were they trying to find a way to get back together? To their credit, both have no answer, and the therapist tells them they need to establish honesty with each other – whether they’ve dated and whether they’ve had sex so far while being apart. When Lynette gets upset, Tom says he wants to work things out but he knows they don’t make each other happy…and if they don’t explore other options, they’re going to end up hating each other. Lynette storms out of the session, proclaiming she’s going after the dating pool herself.

At her first PTA meeting, Gabrielle tries out her new leadership role as acting president. Of course, in classic Gabrielle mode, she has no idea how to take responsibility, showing up late due to her spa appointment and then attempting to delegate the work to other parents, who aren’t as willing as she expects. When Gabrielle tries to plead with them, the others say that they have lives – unlike Gabrielle’s many manicure dates. “Geez, talk about selfish,” Gabrielle deadpans as the women leave her. I have to admit I laughed out loud at this – in eight years, the one constant of Gabrielle’s character, no matter how much she’s evolved, has been her blinding selfish attitude. It’s my favorite thing about her.

Reverend Sikes goes to visit Bree, as she’s apparently been absent from church for awhile. Bree admits that she hasn’t been feeling very spiritual lately, like she’s not exactly worthy of God’s love and that she’s lost her connection. Reverend Sikes says that it’s not uncommon to feel that way from time to time, and suggests she speaks with Ben – perhaps his work with the homeless will help her establish a connection again. Meanwhile, Susan tries to connect with those in her art class by sharing her thoughts on why Zeller doesn’t think she’s a serious artist. Her conversation is cut short when Zeller walks in and tells the class that they will be drawing “male form” – this, of course, is followed by the introduction of a very naked (and apparently very well-endowed) male model. Naturally, Susan can’t quite contain herself, and Zeller calls her out for acting immature about the situation.

Carlos is apparently having trouble dealing with his guilt, telling Gabrielle he can’t go into the living room because every time he does, he thinks about that night. Gabrielle tries to sympathize with him by telling him about the PTA meeting, and deduces hilariously that they girls acted the way they did because they were jealous of her. Problem solved! Gabrielle will simply buy them off with promises of free spas and manicures, hoping that if she bribes them enough they’ll want to do her work. The women are happy to take advantage of Gabrielle’s gifts – but don’t feel any less bitter towards her selfishness, plotting to leave her on her own with planning, as they originally decided.

Bree goes with Ben to the soup kitchen, telling him that she’s been feeling disconnected lately and wants to do something meaningful to change that. He leaves her in the hands of the chef and Bree expects she can help with some light cooking. She’s slightly horrified when she finds out that none of the soup is made from scratch, and offers to make some herself. Of course, her homemade recipe is a hit – just not with the right crowd. Attracting the hipsters and college students who are so entranced with her soup that they have put it out on social networking sites, the kitchen becomes a place of popularity. Reverend Sikes comes by and tells her that he’s hoping to find a place where a homeless person can get a hot meal. He tells her that the homeless haven’t felt comfortable here since Bree took over the kitchen, and Bree says she was just trying to make the place more special. “It was special,” says Reverend Sikes, until Bree took that away. She swallows her pride, telling people to leave. As she finishes her speech, Ben comes in and says that she’s going to use her public speaking skills to push his low-income housing project forward.

Zeller tells the class that one cannot create real art unless they’re comfortable with it, and so for their next class, he has decided they’re going to paint in the nude as it will lead them to explore their art with total honesty. “If you’re serious about being an artist, you shouldn’t have a problem with it,” he says. Susan tries to get comfortable with Zeller’s proposal at home, telling Mike “I want to prove to prove to him that I can be a real artist,” when he finds her making breakfast in the nude. She admits to Mike that Zeller doesn’t like any of her work, and she doesn’t think she’s as serious as the other students. When she mentions she wants to quit, Mike talks her out of it, saying that the class is good for her and has been pulling her out of her dark place. At that exact moment, Lee comes by for a visit and Susan decides that the best way to practice her “comfortable” nature is on her favorite gay friend. Unfortunately for Susan, the visit is Lee introducing his mother-in-law, leaving Susan extremely embarrassed when she opens the door to greet them.

Renee goes to visit Lynette, who tells her that she signed up for an online dating service. Renee is horrified at her approach, telling her if she wants to meet men, she’s taking her to a bar. Lynette is hesitant due to her age, but Renee says stick with her – she’ll make sure Lynette gets someone. And who could doubt Renee?

Carlos goes to talk to Mike, asking for Susan and Mike tells him he doesn’t think it’s a good idea for them to talk anymore. He says that if it was him, he wouldn’t have dragged his wife – or her friends – into it, and he should leave Susan alone. Carlos says it just really helps to talk to her, but if it bothers Mike, he won’t do it anymore. While Carlos attempts to deal with his guilt, Susan shows up to her class in the nude, as specified – only to find out she’s the only person who didn’t get the apparent email about the nude painting class being called off. Susan calls Zeller out for trying to embarrass her on purpose, and storms out, quitting the class. Zeller later visits Susan at home, asking her to come back to the class. He tells her that she’s scared and hiding something, and sooner or later he’s going to pull it out of her – doing whatever he needs to do to make her comfortable so that she can become a true artist.

Gabrielle shows up to the night’s event, expecting her plan to have worked – but with two hours to go, no one has lifted a finger in terms of setting up. When Gabrielle complains how much she went out of her way to help them, the women insist she’s got it all wrong. “You don’t understand the real problems,” they say, still refusing to cooperate. In a panic, and to prove that her perfect life has got everything under control, Gabrielle calls Carlos – who, not having anyone to talk to, has been hitting the bottle hard. When he shows up, he’s so drunk he can barely stand up. Embarrassed and worried, Gabrielle attempts to help him while the women sober up upon realizing that Gabrielle’s selfishness is merely a way to hide her more human flaws. They take charge and begin setting up for the event themselves, telling her to take her husband home and take care of him.

Lynette and Renee arrive at the club, with Lynette still having reservations about her age. Renee realizes that she doesn’t really need to be there (she does have Ben, after all) and leaves Lynette to fend for herself. After being hit on by numerous guys (including one who recognizes her as her son’s mom), she leaves feeling dejected and lonely. Mistakenly, she gives her valet card to a man named Scott, who she believes works at the club. The two hit it off with their similar stories and backgrounds, and end up back at his place making out. All is going well until Lynette tries to take off her wedding ring and almost loses it on the rug. Freaking out, she realizes that she can’t do this - she’s still too attached to Tom and scared to be with someone else.

Meanwhile, Bree speaks out about Ben’s low-income housing project, and her charming and persuasive attitude convinces the Board to give the project a green light. Delighted, Ben takes her to the land he’s picked out where they’re going to break ground – the land where the girls buried Gabrielle’s step-father at the beginning of the season.

What did you think of this week’s episode? I love how the central mystery is really affecting all of the ladies’ lives, and pulling everything together each week despite the different storylines. In its last season, Desperate Housewives seems to be really intent on going out on a strong note, and if these first few episodes are any indication, we’re in for quite a final ride.

Desperate Housewives 8.05 "The Art Of Making Art" Recap

Halloween comes to Wisteria Lane in the October 30 episode of Desperate Housewives.

In the episode, Gaby, Bree and Lynette learn that Ben's real estate development excavation is taking place in the area where they buried the body of Gaby's stepfather.  To ensure the death remains a secret, the women go traipsing through the area at night to dig up and move the body.

Susan quickly realizes that her new job as art teacher Andre's intern involves taking care of things that don't relate to art.  Lynette, jealous of Tom's new girlfriend and her skills, decides to make an awesome homemade Halloween costume for Penny.  Finally, Renee decides to spice up her first night of romance with Ben.

Below is a trailer for the October 30 episode of Desperate Housewives.  To view photos for the episode, click the arrows above.  Note that this episode is scheduled to run until 10:01 p.m. ET, so make sure to adjust those DVRs.

Desperate Housewives Photos: Wisteria Lane Celebrates Halloween in Episode 8.06

Need to refresh last week’s episode? My recap is right here.

This week’s theme on Desperate Housewives is how to learn lessons and deal with conflicts, and boy, do our ladies get schooled - in more ways than one. We start right off with Gabrielle, who is dropping Juanita off at school. In classic Gabrielle fashion, she’s sick of waiting like every other common person and tries to get Juanita to leave the car before she’s in the designated safe “green zone.” When Juanita gets caught by Dana, the school cop, she revokes Gabrielle’s “green zone” placard saying this is the third time she’s committed such an offense. From now on, she has to park in the far away “B” Lot and walk Juanita twice as far to the school as opposed to dropping her off.

Lynette, meanwhile, is attempting to get her life together by organizing and reading up on relationship books, but Renee calls her bluff, saying that Lynette should just accept she’s having issues with Tom. When Tom comes to pick up the kids, Lynette finds out that he’s been whitening his teeth and working out. Renee tells her that it’s a sign her husband has been sleeping with someone and Lynette refuses to believe this, saying that Tom would tell her if that was the case.

Bree has become increasingly afraid of checking the mail, worried that she’ll get another letter. While standing in the driveway talking with Gabrielle, Bree’s daughter Danielle comes by to visit. Danielle’s husband apparently left her, and Danielle wants to commiserate with Bree over their failed relationships. Bree tells Danielle she wants to attempt to help her put her life back together, but Danielle wants to “chill out” in the aftermath of her break-up. She threatens going to Andrew’s instead, and in an attempt to get Danielle to stay, Bree promises that she won’t criticize her – at least, not too much.

Susan is still having issues with telling Mike about the murder, worried that because she told him, he won’t love her anymore. Mike says there’s nothing that she can do to make him stop loving her. Now that the secret’s out, Susan just wants everything to go back to normal, but Mike says that won’t be easy - he’s done things like this, and he knows they won’t just disappear. Susan hopes that if she focuses on other things in her life, everything will improve and mentions taking a special painting class with a world renowned painter, Andre Zeller, to take her mind off things.

While walking from the dreaded “B” Lot, Gabrielle makes friends with some parents who were also banished due to Bad Cop Dana. Upon finding out many parents have been treated the same way, Gabrielle says that they should find out when the next PTA meeting is, band together and try to overthrow her with a majority vote. Susan goes to her private painting class, where she assumes that because of her talent, she’s a natural shoe-in. Zeller, however, tells her that while her paintings are good, they’re simply not real art material. Susan can’t understand and Zeller says he’s looking for serious media – not housewives trying to take a class. He asks Susan if she has anything else, and Susan vows to bring in a new painting tomorrow.

Danielle is vegging at Bree’s house, while Bree tries to get her to open up about her future. Danielle admits she’s thinking of starting her own business selling exercise equipment on the internet – if she can get the start-up money. Bree agrees…and we all know this isn’t going to end up well in the end.

Tom comes over so Lynette can talk with him about how to divide the kids for the week. While Lynette confirms their booked couple’s appointment, Tom gets a phone call that makes Lynette suspicious. Eager to find out if Renee’s suspicions are right, she buys Paige an iPad with a camera, saying it’s so she can “keep in touch” when she’s away from home. Of course, we know the real reason for the motivation behind Lynette’s sudden generosity, and she’s soon calling to see if she can view Tom’s apartment. She ends up catching Tom talking outside with Chloe, a girl in the building who Paige says apparently runs a booty class at the fitness center.

At the school meeting run by Dana, Gabrielle tries to get everyone to stand up and overthrow her. Ever the smooth talker, Dana wins over Gabrielle’s comrades by offering to give back their parking placards and just to be even crueler, makes Gabrielle park in the “C” Lot – even farther away than the “B” Lot. Bree, meanwhile, goes to visit Danielle who is busy working on her new business of – surprise! Not exercise equipment but rather, sex swings. When Danielle comes home and finds Bree trying on the sex swing, the two get into a fight. Danielle storms off, yelling that Bree just lives to judge her.

Susan brings her new painting (a bare tree, symbolizing loneliness and isolation) back to Zeller, but he doesn’t buy it. He accuses Susan of being afraid of ugly and Susan breaks, throwing a tantrum and taking her anger out on a blank canvas as her emotions get the best of her. Later, she freaks out to Mike about the situation, and Mike says that what happened in the woods isn’t going to go away – it’s always going to be a part of her. Mike says if she can accept that fact, she can live with it…but if she doesn’t, that’s when it can consume her and she doesn’t want to live like that.

Bree finds Danielle and admits to being judgmental, saying she’s far from perfect and has no right to be critical, and certainly no room to judge her daughter. She asks for forgiveness, which Danielle grants and the two make up. Susan returns to art class to pick up her portfolio, and Zeller invites her to sit down – she’s been accepted to the class after all, based on her actions the other day.

Late for another appointment and no time to walk from the “C” Lot, Gabrielle again attempts to drop Juanita off at school – in the green zone – without the designated placard. While not paying attention, she accidentally hits Dana with her car and breaks her neck. Upon visiting her in the hospital, Dana admits there’s a reason she asked Gabrielle to come by – she’s no longer able to carry out her duties because of her injuries. The bylaws state she’s supposed to appoint an acting president, who she has decided should be Gabrielle. When Gabrielle asks why, Dana says this job has turned her into a monster – no fun, no friends and no husband. She says she wants her to be as miserable as she has been made to be, and threatens press charges for the accident if Gabrielle doesn’t accept.

Lynette drags Renee to booty class so they can spy on the girl they believe Tom is hooking up with. Lynette chats it up with Chloe, not impressed by her apparent bimbo personality, but gets caught by Tom before she leaves. Lynette admits that she knows Tom is seeing someone, and Tom tries to say it’s nothing but a few dinners. He then says the person he’s not seeing is Chloe – it’s Chloe’s mom. Obviously upset, Lynette asks when he was going to tell her, and he says that he was going to wait until counseling.

The episode ends with Chuck in his office, still upset over the way Bree dumped him as he was about to propose. He says he’s not quite ready to “let this one go yet” and as we ponder what his words might mean, his partner drops a folder on his desk – a new missing persons report with a picture of Gabrielle’s step-father.

Things seem like they’re really heating up on Wisteria Lane – and there’s no doubt this storyline is just beginning to get interesting. What do you think will happen with Tom and his new fling? Will Lynette retaliate? Are you liking the final season so far?

Desperate Housewives 8.04 "School of Hard Knocks" Recap