Desperate Housewives: Me and My Town

Posted Nov 30th 2008 11:55PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, Desperate Housewives, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(S05E09) "We're going to protect our son." - Lynette to Tom

Two weeks ago, we were treated with what was supposed to be an important episode for ABC's Desperate Housewives, special effects and story-wise. No matter if we enjoyed the episode or not, it did set some wheels in motion. So after such an episode, I expected this week's installment to continue on the path set forth by "City on Fire." I wanted the detectives to bring in some people for questioning and make an arrest sooner rather than later, I hoped to see Dave try to wrap up loose ends so to not be accused and expected him to make a bigger move on Mike, I thought that there would be more drama for Porter and Anne. In short: I expected action. Sadly, the episode was a letdown.

What troubles me more about "Me and My Town" is that the storyline that entertained me the most this week was Carlos and Gaby's. If you've been reading my reviews, you know that I'm not a fan of the couple so saying that they were the best part of the episode for me is saying a lot about the rest of the episode!

What I enjoyed about the Solis' storyline this week was their struggle with Carlos possibly getting his sight back. For Gaby this was a sweet and sour news. Sweet because Carlos would be seeing again and sour because he would see what she has become: a soccer mom. Her struggle to get back in shape, culminating into her being in pain and finally opening up to Carlos about being afraid he would be disappointed in her, was interesting to watch. Even if Gaby still wants her model body and sometimes still thinks like she used to when the series started, you can see that she grew a lot. I prefer this new Gaby and hope that, if Carlos gets his sight back and gets a more paying job, that she doesn't goes back to her old self.

Watching Carlos list all of the things he could finally see (or see again) was like watching a kid enter a candy store. It was really touching to hear him say that he could finally see his daughters for the first time in his life. I truly hope they show us Carlos finally seeing his daughters when he regain his sight (come on, you know the surgery will work!). Carlos also showed he grew up a lot in the past five years when he told Gaby when he knew he wanted to marry her. This story offered one of the most touching Desperate Housewives scenes so far this season and let's hope there are more in store like this one.

The most important storyline of the night was surely that of Lynette being on a mission to protect her son. The way she told Tom that they were going to protect their son makes me think that she may even be willing to do some illegal things to save Porter. Thanks to the magic of TV, we know that Porter is not at fault but the detectives don't know that, so Lynette and Tom will need to work together to see their son through this.

Throughout the episode, Dave looked like he was truly affected by the fire and its repercussions (7 deaths, injured, Porter falsely accused). For a second or two, I even saw myself believe he wouldn't point the finger at Porter to save himself. Of course, since Dave is, well, Dave and because he hasn't reached his goal yet, he couldn't let the detectives connect the dots to him so he lied and said he saw Porter in the back storage.

Speaking of Dave's goal, James Denton recently said in interview that Dave needs Mike either because he is Dave's target or because Dave needs information from him. So that confirms our two main theories as to why Dave said he's not done with Mike. It looks like we may not get answers quickly since Dave asked Mike to be his friend. This sounds like Dave will try to bond with Mike before making his move. That could bring us either to February or even May Sweeps!

As for the other storylines of the episode, I was only mildly amused by Orson's snoring and Susan trying to discover who Mike was dating. Nothing original came out of those storylines. However, I must say I'm happy with the fact Susan is trying to let go of Mike and gave her blessing to Mike and Katherine. I also am interested in seeing where the Doctor/Andrew relationship will go next, you can bet it will offer us some fun scenes between Bree and Andrew next week. Oh and the non surprise of the week: Anne faked her pregnancy. Lynette may have sent Anne packing but I'm sure we haven't seen the last of her.