Desperate Housewives is a weird one to classify. It's both comedic and dramatic, but it's got sexy twists and turns and dark, hidden secrets. It's almost like a soap opera, but one with Tim Burton overtones. Everything looks perfect on Wisteria Lane. The houses are immaculate and the lawns are pristine. All of the housewives are beautiful and each has her share of problems and secrets. Bree Hodge (formerly Van de Kamp) is played by the fabulous Marcia Cross, who I loved back when she was nutty and evil Dr. Kimberly Shaw on Melrose Place. Bree is married to Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLachlan), local dentist. At the start of the season, we see a very pregnant Bree - or do we? Actually, Bree is faking a pregnancy to cover up the unwed pregnancy of teenage daughter, Danielle (Joy Lauren), who is waiting out her pregnancy in a convent. How 1950's! Bree's teenage son, Andrew (Shaun Pyfrom), is gay and this also is a disappointment to her, however she certainly makes use of his preferences later on in the season. Bree's fake pregnancy makes for many hilarious moments and she and Orson try to keep things under wraps. There's Bree getting accidentally stabbed in the belly with a large fork at a neighborhood BBQ, there's pregnant Danielle showing back up at home and sneaking out to go to the neighborhood costume party dressed as pregnant Bree and there's Bree's hurried "recommendation" of her OB/GYN to Susan when Susan discovers she too is pregnant. Let's just say that picking a name out of the phone book can have disastrous and hysterical effects.
Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher) is now Susan Delfino, having married Mike Delfino (James Denton). She discovers Mike's dad isn't dead, as he had told her, but is instead in prison for murder. Also, since Mike's auto accident, he has been taking pain pills for his shoulder and becomes addicted. Poor Susan has to go through her pregnancy leaning on her daughter, Julie (Andrea Bowen), more than ever as Mike is away in rehab. Unfortunately, Susan runs into her ex and his wife who are also at Lamaze classes. Oh boy. When tragedy strikes the lane through a tornado, Susan opens her home to Bree and Orson and ends up loving Bree's home-maker ways. When Bree tries to fix up Andrew with a gay contractor who has recently broken up with his lover, only so she can get him to fix her roof, the laughs start rolling.
Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan) opens the season by hanging herself, sort of. She fears she is losing Carlos Solis (Ricardo Chavira), so she plans her suicide. We find her hanging from the rafter by her hands, waiting for the perfect moment to drop - when Carlos walks in the house. Sadly, he is stopped by a neighbor and Edie hangs, but he saves her in the nick of time. After her dramatic suicide attempt, he decides he cannot leave Edie for ex-wife, Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria Parker), as he had planned. Gabby is furious! After all, she has just married Victor Lang (John Slattery), the mayor, and was going to throw it all away for Carlos. But destiny and passion can't keep the Solis lovers apart. When Edie and Victor eventually discover their cheating ways, Edie manages to screw Carlos out of his 10 million dollars stashed away in an offshore account, only to have a storm blow the paper with the money's location away. Victor plots to kill Gabby and Carlos, but a boat trip turns terribly wrong when tempers explode and Victor ends up knocked off the boat, only to turn up later to blackmail Gabby. Sadly, Victor meets his end when a tornado devastates Wisteria Lane and Carlos goes blind from a head injury. A caring nurse is one thing Gabby Solis is not.
Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) spends the season battling her tumor, only to finally beat it and get a clean bill of health, but not before she faces former lover Rick Coletti (Jason Gedrick), who returns to open a competing restaurant down the street, and also Kayla (Rachel Fox), her step-daughter, who succeeds in having Lynette arrested for child abuse, only to have her fraud discovered which grants her a one-way ticket to live with her grandparents. However, probably the most emotional and devastating event to hit Wisteria Lane was the aforementioned tornado, which destroyed the street, damaged Bree and Orson's home, and leveled Karen McCluskey's (Kathryn Joosten) home, in which the Scavo's and Ida Greenburg (Pat Crawford Brown) had taken refuge. It was a very frightening episode and the special effects were very well done. Fortunately, Tom Scavo (Doug Savant, another Melrose Place alum) and the five Scavo kids survived, only because Ida forced them all under the stairwell and gave her life. It was a truly sad time on Wisteria Lane. However, when Lynette and Ms. McCluskey decided to spread Ida's ashes on the local baseball field, the laughs return as they are caught by the cops. Funny stuff.
While the tornado was pivotal, probably more important and definitely more intriguing was the addition of two new families to Wisteria Lane. First off, a gay couple moves in, bringing with them controversy over a garden statue. Bob Hunter (Tuc Watkins) and Lee McDermott (Kevin Rahm) are a pretty funny addition to the cast. Susan immediately puts her foot in her mouth with the couple, but things escalate when they truck in a huge metal fountain, which the neighborhood ladies immediately want removed for aesthetics. To accomplish this, the ladies decide to reactivate the neighborhood association which needs a leader. This brings us to the most mysterious newcomer to Wisteria. Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delany) once lived on Wisteria Lane with her aunt, many years before. She returns with her husband Adam (Nathan Fillion) and her teenage daughter Dylan (Lyndsy Fonseca), bringing with her much mystery. Secrecy shadows her former life and many questions are unanswered. Dylan doesn't seem to remember anyone or anything from the old neighborhood, although she was 6 when she left. Katherine is very controlled and composed, at least until her abusive ex-husband Wayne Davis (Gary Cole) re-emerges. Lots of drama surrounds the Mayfair family and they bring a really good component to the show. Bree and Katherine become arch-enemies, then become best friends when they realize they are completely alike. The women of the neighborhood find that Katherine is truly one of them and they all ban together to protect her in the shocking and riveting season finale.
I know this review is long and yet, I have only touched on a tiny bit of what happened in Season 4. Special features include couples' commentary, some great deleted scenes, a funny gag reel of bloopers and most importantly, a making-of featurette breaking down what it takes to make an episode, specifically the tornado episode. It was really interesting to see that they did actually destroy Wisteria Lane and then rebuild it. No wonder it looked so real.
If you haven't yet experienced the lives of the ladies of Wisteria Lane, you are really missing out. The season premier for Season 5 is a few weeks away, so go rent or buy Seasons 1-4 and catch up. Highly recommended.
