Desperate Housewives

The second episode of the 1st season was called “Ah, But Underneath”. It opens with Mary Alice talking about how your sight improves after death, even though your other senses leave. She adds that the living could see just as clearly, if they took the time to really look.

In this episode, Gabrielle and John almost get busted when Carlos gets home early. Lucky for them, they are fast enough to get him out of the house before Carlos sees anything he shouldn’t. Gabrielle decides that this is way too risky and that she and John should meet at his place from now on. Everything is fine until John hands her a “perfect” rose that makes her think he’s taking this far more seriously than she is. Meanwhile, Carlos has noticed that she’s unhappy and demands to know what’s wrong. She tells him she wants more excitement, like they used to have. She wants her breath taken away. Carlos decides the best way to do that is to surprise her with an expensive car. Gabrielle loves it, but deep down you can see that the rose meant more to her.

Bree, meanwhile, has demanded she and Rex go to marriage counseling to try and fix things. Rex agrees and tells all about his problems with Bree’s need to be perfect. Bree is shocked by one thing he says so much, she starts focusing in on the Doctor’s loose jacket button and shuts down during their sessions. Rex cancels on one appointment to get Bree the change to speak to the therapist on her own. While they talk, Freud comes up and she rants about how he most likely didn’t appreciate everything his mom did and how he had the nerve to come up with a theory everyone’s problems can be traced back to their mom. During another session, the doctor calls Rex on this and asks if he has ever thanked Bree for all she does. Bree’s happy now.

While all this is going on, Susan is desperately trying to get Mike to ask her out. When she sees it won’t happen, she decides to bite the bullet and do the asking herself. She does so by inviting him to a “traditional” welcome dinner that will consist of take out since she can’t cook. Mike offers to make them a meal at his house and Susan agrees, planning to have Julie be “sick” the night of the dinner. What she isn’t planning on is Edie later seeing them walking into Mike’s house with shopping bags and managing to get herself an invite as well. Susan agrees to let her come, but is obviously mad about it. Julie’s not gonna be sick after all. This turns out to be a good thing because when Edie starts making pointed comments to get Mike to like her more, Julie realizes what’s going on and starts playing the same game. Susan’s happy and actually tries a trick of her own to make Mike’s dog start licking her. Like many of Susan’s schemes, though, it backfires when Bongo ends up eating her earring and has to be rushed to the vet. Lucky for her, Bongo is alright. When Mike starts talking about his ex and how she made him promise to take care of the dog, Susan realizes he might not be ready to date her or Edie.

Finally, we have Lynette. There’s really not much going on here. She gets pulled over by a cop because the boys are bouncing around in the back without seatbelts and starts ranting about how hard she has it when the cop tells her that ‟it’s your job‟ to control the boys. When the boys keep up the behavior later, she takes a tip from Mrs. Huber and makes the boys think she is driving away without them. The only problem is, someone saw it and took the boys in her house to feed them. The woman threatens to call CPS before the boys and Lynette make an escape. They’ve learned their lesson, though, and have immediately fasten their seatbelts after getting in the car.

I really liked this episode. Like many of the early season 1 episodes, it’s done a great job of introducing us to everyone and helping us to get into their heads. Gabrielle, in particular, was really good in this one. I don’t agree with what she’s doing, but I can understand why she feels the way she does. Carlos was a bit cold and oblivious like that back then. Well, that’s it for now. I will leave you with some of the best quotes from the episode. Take care and see ya next time!

Julie- Dear Diary. Mike doesn’t even know I’m alive.
Susan- Shut up.
Julie- If you want to date him, you’re gonna have to ask him out.
Susan- I keep hoping he’ll ask me out.
Julie- How’s that going?

Carlos- I know you’re awake.
Gabby- I know you’re a jerk.

Edie- It’s all gone. Everything my ex-husband worked for all those years. Gone.

Rex (to the therapist after she gives the doctor some homemade potpourri) The answer is yes. You’re about to make a fortune off us.

Good morning, everyone! Today, I want to take you back to 2004 and the episode that started it all. The episode begins with Mary Alice Young doing a voice over about her day as a montage of her running errands and such plays. All of a sudden, it cuts to present time and Mary Alice pulls a gun out and shoots herself. The rest of the episode features each of her friends mourning her loss as they deal with their own problems.

Susan likes the new neighbor, Mike, but she’s too scared to ask him out. Her daughter manages to talk her into it, but by then Edie has already set her sight on him as well. And so starts a rivalry we’ll see many times over the years. Susan discovers Mrs. Huber is watching Edie’s son because of a big date and fears the worst. She goes over under the pretense of borrowing sugar, but doesn’t get an answer. She walks in through a side door only to find clothes thrown about. This depresses her, so she sits down to grab some chocolate, tossing a bra over her shoulder. This hits one of the lit candles and starts a fire. Susan panics and runs, getting upset later when she learns the guy Edie was with got smoke inhalation. Her mood improves again when Mike shows up and she realizes he wasn’t Edie’s big date after all.

Gabby and Carlos spend much of the pilot bickering over a client of his that likes to touch Gabby’s butt, the gifts he buys and their gardener. It’s hard to believe these two end up turning out the way they did. Their arguing seems much nastier and with no humor to it in this one. It’s revealed after Carlos heads out to work that Gabrielle has been messing around with the gardener, hence the reason Carlos sees not much has been done to the lawn. He finally has enough one night when he sees the lawn hasn’t been mowed. Gabby tries to distract Carlos and get them out of there. Once they arrive at the party, Gabby makes sure Carlos is given plenty to drink so she can sneak out and mow the lawn herself, saving John’s job and her affair.

Lynette spends much of this episode dealing with her bratty kids while Tom is away on business. They cause trouble at the grocery store, at home, even at Mary Alice’s wake. At the wake, they all jump in the pool and refuse to come out, forcing Lynette to go in after them and drag them all out. Through all the trouble, Tom remains oblivious and even says they should “risk it” when Lynette asks him to use protection. That, of course, is met with a punch to the face by Lynette that puts an end to all the action that was about to happen.

Finally, there’s Bree. The picture of perfection on the outside, but underneath she’s not happy. Her family is miserable, too. They’d rather have pork and beans than wait for her to take three hours to make some gourmet meal. Rex is so fed up with her focus on perfection, he tells her he wants a divorce while they’re out to dinner. Bree is shocked, but tries to brush it off and act like everything is fine. They are, after all, out in public. She’s so upset (though she won’t show it), she accidently puts onions in Rex’s salad, causing him an allergic reaction. While at the hospital, Rex finally lets it all out about how much he hates perfection and wants her to be more like she used to be. I personally have a hard time believing Bree ever burnt toast and was anything other than perfectly neat.

As the episode ends, all the women gather to help get rid of Mary Alice’s things. They end up finding a note in them saying “I know what you did. It makes me sick. I’m going to tell.” The camera pans away with all the women wondering what it means.

I love this episode. There were so many classic moments in it and everyone’s characters were introduced perfectly. I would say Lynette was probably the best, even though I loved everyone in this one. Felicity Huffman captures a tired, stressed-out mom wonderfully and who doesn’t love that scene of her dragging those kids out of the pool while trying to maintain some dignity? Well, that’s all for now. See y’all next time with more reviews, news and other stuff. For now, I leaves you with some great lines from the pilot. Enjoy!

“Carlos, who worked in mergers and acquisitions, proposed on their third date. Gabrielle was touched when tears welled up in his eyes. But she soon discovered that this happened every time Carlos closed a big deal.” - Mary Alice

“When Rex started going to those medical conferences, I wanted it in the back of his mind that he had a loving wife at home with a loaded Smith & Wesson.” - Bree

“Oh, please. The man’s gotten me pregnant three times in four years. I wish he was having sex with someone else.” - Lynette

Susan: So, is that your project for school? You know, when I was in fifth grade, I made the White House out of sugar cubes.
Julie: Stop stalling and go before Mike figures out he can do better.
Susan: Tell me again why I fought for custody for you.
Julie: You were using me to hurt dad.

Rex: I can’t believe you tried to kill me.
Bree: Yes, well, I feel badly about that.