The Season 4 premiere of Desperate Housewives aired last night. That was the last premiere out of my regular shows (and a few new ones), and I have to say that it was definitely the best of the bunch so far! I have seen the first episodes of Prison Break, How I Met Your Mother, House, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Gossip Girl, and CSI, and found the DH premiere to be the most satisfying, interesting, and funny. In short, it was well worth the 4-month wait!
Here’s what happened on the episode called “Now You Know.”
Edie/Carlos: We see that Edie’s suicide was nothing more than a devious plan to get Carlos to stay with her. She set the scene, wrote the note, tied the silk scarf around her neck… and then waited until she heard Carlos come into the house before kicking the chair away. Of course, she didn’t count on Mrs. McCluskey coming by at that exact moment to drag Carlos back out to complain about Edie’s garbage cans. Fortunately, they noticed Edie in time and managed to cut her down before there was any lasting damage.
After that, Carlos decides to continue staying with Edie, but tells her that he needs some freedom and can’t be around her 24/7. The next time he’s out, Edie snoops through his stuff and finds out that he has $10 million in an offshore account. She then basically tells Carlos that if he ever leaves her, she’ll tell the feds all about the money (since it was probably gained via insider trading).
Gabby/Carlos: We get a bit of a flashback showing more of what happened on Gabby’s wedding night. Not only did she and Carlos kiss, but they also decided to run away together! In fact, Gabby was waiting for Carlos with her bags packed when he called to tell her he couldn’t go because of Edie’s suicide attempt. Later on, Gabby is pissed off when Carlos says he can’t leave Edie yet. Nevertheless, the two decide to carry on an affair, and finally sleep together again!
Mike/Susan: Susan apparently is in constant need of drama, because even though everything’s going fine in her marriage, she thinks Mike is unhappy — despite the fact that he tells her otherwise. It turns out that Susan is just hormonal. At first, her new OB-GYN thinks it might be menopause, but then later tells Susan that she’s pregnant. She and Mike are both ecstatic.
Orson/Bree: Bree insists on carrying out the pregnancy charade against Orson’s better judgment. He’s sure that someone is going to find out the truth, whether it be an old lady at Macy’s who wants to touch Bree’s belly or a barbecue fork getting stuck in the fake padding in front of the whole neighborhood. But Bree says that she wants to raise the child herself because she screwed up her own two kids and views her grandchild as a second chance to get it right. Orson understands, and lets her have her way.
Lynette/Tom: Lynette has been on chemo for a while, so she’s looking haggard and weak. Plus, she’s already lost all of her hair and has to wear a wig all the time. She still hasn’t been able to bring herself to tell anyone about the cancer, which means she has to try to keep up appearances even though she has no strength to do so. Finally, when some nagging PTA mom keeps hounding her about an event that Lynette is supposed to plan, Lynette whips off her wig and says she can’t do it. Her three best friends just happen to witness the moment, so now the cat is out of the bag at last.
The Mayfairs: Katherine Mayfair and her husband (forgot his name, but he’s a doctor) have moved into the neighborhood. Katherine apparently used to live there before, so she knows Susan already. Katherine’s daughter Dylan used to be best friends with Julie, but when Julie tries to talk about the old times, Dylan doesn’t remember anything, which leads to Julie telling Susan that it’s not the same person.
My Reaction: As I said, I thought this was an excellent episode. There were a lot of nice moments throughout, but my favorite by far was when Gabby, Bree, and Susan discovered the truth about Lynette. Up until that point, the episode had been lighthearted and fun, but the scene where the women comfort Lynette was in a completely different tone. It was touching, and reminded me of how awesome their group friendship is.
I have never been on board with the whole Mike/Susan pairing, but now that they’re a regular couple and don’t have to look longingly at each other anymore, I have to admit that I like them. They were cute tonight with the baby reveal, and while I suspect things will get bumpy in the near future, it was nice to see them happy for once.
After spending most of last season not liking Tom and Lynette, I was glad to see them acting like a normal couple again. I got so damn tired of their constant bickering during S3, so it was a relief to see that they’re getting along these days. Let’s hope they stay sane for at least a few more eps here!
Carlos and Gabby finally got together! I was happy to see this happen (at long last) because they’re my favorite couple and I definitely think they belong together. Of course, someone’s bound to discover them sneaking around together, so we’ll see how long their affair can remain a secret.
Bree and Orson were hilarious with that stupid BBQ fork thing!!! I can’t believe they were acting that way! And when Bree said, “He’s such a scamp,” I swear I sprayed Diet Coke everywhere. I mean, who else but Bree Hodge could make that line sound normal?!
I’m also interested to see what the whole Stepford Daughter mystery with the new neighbors is about. That looks creepy.
All in all, this was a jam-packed season premiere that delivered on all levels and has me waiting anxiously for more. Welcome back, Desperate Housewives!!!