Episode 4 – The thing that counts is what’s inside

What is happening to “Desperate Housewives”?  I mean, I absolutely love the show, but come on!  Are we really expected to believe that Renee is afraid of little people?  Are we really supposed to laugh at her irrational fear?  I think the show’s script writers need to come up with a deeper plotline.  I’m getting tired of these crazy mini plots, particularly because I never know if I should laugh or feel bad.

While the fear of little people was uncalled for, I’m glad that at least something good came from it.  Keith, who was at the restaurant when the little person approached Renee, now sees how psychotic Renee is.  So now he’s back with Bree.  Who cares if she’s a grandma?

I was rather stunned to see just how easily Renee gave up on Keith after the incident (and I was equally shocked to see how quickly Bree snatched him back.  After all, she was the one who realized Keith was too young for her).  Renee practically handed him back over to Bree, telling her that she’d rather have Bree as a friend than an enemy.  After that, I realized that maybe Renee is not so bad after all.  She and Bree could cause some excellent mischief together on the Lane.

Another surprising event was how quickly Gaby changed emotionally.  Just when I thought Gaby was going to start showing some real emotion in her search for her biological daughter, she turned back into the crazy and materialistic, but loveable character that drew me to “Desperate Housewives” way back in season one.

As soon as Gaby and Carlos laid eyes on Grace, they knew that no DNA test would be necessary to prove that she is really their child.  Grace, though she’s not quite as vain or selfish as Gaby, knows and loves any expensive designer item she sees.  Since Gaby is my favorite housewife, I can’t help but love Grace for her similar personality.

My second favorite housewife, Lynette, is having family problems of her own.  She left her newborn daughter, Paige, alone with 13-year-old Penny.  What was she thinking?  And Penny seemed way too eager to assist her mother—what’s up with that?  The peculiar look on her face made me think that Penny was up to no good.

But I guess you can’t judge a book by its cover.  After Penny thoughtfully (or stupidly—your call) brought Paige to school one morning when Lynette was running errands, we learned that she was truly concerned for both her mother and her baby sister.  Later, when the baby is safe at home, Lynette and Penny share a touching moment when Penny explained her reasoning. She started taking care of Paige so that Lynette wouldn’t be so stressed out and therefore had more time to be around her.  Maybe Penny was being selfish in the respect that she wanted to be able to spend more time with her mother, but I still think that it’s awfully sweet of her to help her exhausted mother.

Moving off the Lane, I don’t feel any pity towards Susan when she finds out that her face is being plastered all over the city on billboards advertising Maxine’s website.  She already lost her dignity when she began working for the company.  I’m even less concerned when she reluctantly accepts Maxine’s offer to do “private onscreen interactions of a racier nature.”  Come on, Susan, let’s be classy.

The other plotline I’m completely over is the Paul-Beth one.  I don’t care why Paul suddenly has the urge to move back into his old house. I thought it was rather creepy because his wife died there.  Paul needs to leave Wisteria Lane for good (but Beth can stay—she seems nice enough), and he better stop harassing my favorite people, like Karen McCluskey.

In next week’s episode, I expect major scandal, not that I should expect anything less than that from “Desperate Housewives.”  Susan’s desperation for money is going to cause her to do things that are more inappropriate than ever, and Bree and Keith are going to be the center of neighborhood gossip.

Jenny Hottle can be reached for comment at [email protected].