Desperate Housewives

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.