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RSS'Desperate Housewives': All work and no play makes your family hate you
Desperate Housewives continued its string of unexciting but inoffensive episodes tonight as the mystery inched its way along, becoming less mysterious and more of a slow march toward the inevitable climax. Surprise me, Marc Cherry!
Actually, it was "inoffensive" aside from the opening voiceover, which points out: "It's not hard to spot a mother who works outside of the home. Just look for a woman leaving her house who looks incredibly guilty." You know, I'm not loving the implied judgment on working moms there. At the very least, shouldn't both of the parents look guilty?
When Mike lets Katherine take over some of his parenting duties, Susan freaks out. And while she's a bit rude to Katherine at first and a bit psycho towards the end, I completely understand her insecurity. Blackjack! Brownies made from scratch! A wee little chef's hat! And to top it all off, MJ running away from home to eat one of Katherine's paninis. The sound of his adorable baby voice saying "provolone" just twists the knife. Maybe it isn't called for when Susan accuses Katherine of trying to dig her claws deeper into Mike by making her place like "Disneyland" for MJ, but I get where it's coming from, and I really feel for Susan when Katherine announces that Mike is moving in with her.
Tom Scavo may be the worst husband and dad ever. Seriously. I mean, I get that your dream business is in trouble, but using your kids as free labor? Is that even legal? And it goes even more poorly than you'd think, with Tom slamming Porter into a wall and shaking him violently when he refuses to wait a table with kids from his school. Much as I already disliked Tom, I never would've expected that from him. Nor would I have expected Lynette to make out with him afterwards, even if he did just agree to sell the restaurant.
Carlos's company won't be giving out any bonuses due to the economy, even though he's been working like crazy. But a little boss blackmail goes a long way, and Gaby is back in the diamond bracelets in no time. Takeaway lesson: If you're having an affair, don't make out with your mistress in a convertible downtown. Takeaway lesson #2: Don't then knock up your wife and let her ask your already-wavering blackmailers to be your baby's godparents based on their strong moral compasses. Carlos is totally going to crack.
When Orson finds out that Bree secretly gave Andrew a hefty (and apparently well-deserved) raise, he tricks his way into finding out Andrew's salary and then freaks out when he realizes that it's twice what he makes. Um, dude, Andrew's got company seniority, and your previous job experience drilling cavities and making license plates in prison probably doesn't apply to the catering biz. Just be happy that Bree let you whine your way into a job. Orson: "You're saying I'm worthless!" Bree: "No, I'm just saying you're worth...less." Ha!
Dave has been using Dr. Heller's phone to text updates in to the practice, which explains why no one has come looking for him. But it sounds like he's going to get busted soon, so he invites Mike and Katherine on a Camping Trip of Probable Doom, pressuring Edie into hiding from Katherine that she won't be coming. And yeah, the giant handgun Dave is packing probably pushes it over into a Camping Trip of Definite Doom.
How far over the line was Tom tonight? How about Gaby and Carlos?
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
You're pretty stupid to ***ume that using one's own children as free labor is wrong, Spoiled Little Princess. My parents made me clean motel rooms and mobile homes since the age of 5. DCigazrettesxk, blood stains, dog poop, beerk, I cleaned it all. No complaints.
My,the one who did this recap is bull.I dont know what excites you or is it beneath you?Last night's episode was superb.Please hire a writer who can recap
This episode was a bit lagging but this recap totally does NOT do it justice!
After what the twins did, Tom slamming Porter against a wall was a kindness. Those boys deserve to lose their college funds, pronto.
countdown to edie britt's demise...9 episodes to go...
What was the exchange about with Orson and Andrew at the end, when Orson took the pen? That didn't make sense to me.
Tom was being awful. He and Lynette are both awful. It's hard to believe they used to be my favorite couple on this show.
Susan was being awful to Katharine, and I didn't find any fault with Katharine's behavior. So what if M.J. likes her? That's a good thing.
This episode was pretty Bree-lite. That's never a good thing. :/ I also missed Bob and Lee, they always bring the fun.
I'm bummed that Edie is going to get killed off. Who will take her place?
I'm sorry I'm with Tom on this one. If it wasn't for Porter's ill-advised shagging with a woman old enough to be his mother and then eventually leaving town, the Scavo family wouldn't be in such dire financial straits. Lynette had to give away most of their savings to get rid of the lying not-really-pregnant-old mistress and the lawyer bills can't be cheap even if Bob the neighbour was the attorney. Since this is mostly Porter's fault a bit of humiliation from his school chums should be a small price to pay for his selfish ***. What with gambling after hours, in possession of an illegal gun stolen from Edie and underage sex I think it's a bit late for him to be complaining about what's against the law!
I'm also very much with Susan. Mike is not babysitting his son he's supposed to be spending time with him not palming him off on Katherine who lets face it could very well not be his girlfriend after a few months (relationships rarely last long on this show!) then how will they wean MJ off Katherine's cooking? Katherine's being a real ***** about this - she wouldn't like it if it was her child being usurped by another woman - she didn't even like it when Bree was upstaging her! I think it's really wrong that MJ has had so much exposure to Katherine in the first place. That relationship is really new, just because they've decided to move in together after what, a couple of months? Mike didn't like it when Susan's boyfriend taught MJ how to ride a bike so he should be a lot more understanding about how Susan feels. I think Susan's being quite restrained if it was me I'd be in Court banning Katherine from being anywhere near MJ until the relationships much more stable. When Mike and katherine break up (and that's looking increasingly likely after Dave gets his hooks in properly) who gets to pick up the pieces and comfort poor MJ? Not Katherine that's for sure. And why does Dave want Katherine on the camping trip and not Susan??
As for Gaby - we're women not men - spill the damn beans!! Years of being Godparents to a cheating bastard's kid over telling the truth about blondie? I know what I'd pick!
I love that despite years of fighting, Andrew has basically taken right after his mother - he has Bree's good taste and business savvy!
Liz your recap is totally off this time.
First, I am a fulltime working mother and always feel guilty leaving the house, as do most mothers. It's a mother thing that you clearly do not understand.
Tom is in this situation because of Porter, so right on Tom!
And go Katherine. Tired of Susan acting like a brat. Perhaps she and Porter should get together. LOL!
Not the best episode, but a solid B.
Even ignoring the fact that Porter caused much of the family's current financial problems, these are tough economic times and when one has a small family business, everyone is expected to help in that family business. I remember being younger than Penny and sorting invoices then matching them to the statements for my father's business (gas station) while my brother and sister (both older) actually worked at the station. And Tom's physical outburst is not hard to understand. The guy is under a lot of stress. He's the "man of the house" and based on societal dictates is expected to "support his family".
And of course Susan is going to go off the deep end when she finds MJ at Katherine's. She's an insecure woman. And Katherine was being devious, even if unintentionally, when MJ showed up at the door. Could she honestly believe that Susan would send MJ over for a sandwich after she'd freaked out over finding him there before. And, really, Susan's in a towel/robe looking frantic. Katherine's response--as any parent would do--would be to turn to MJ and tell him that he had lied to her then taken the sandwich away. So, yes, Katherine is being devious.