Desperately binging
I began this year with a binge from the early 2000's. You see back in 2005 I was captivated by Grey's Anatomy on ABC. I caught one episode of a couple doing it in a hospital on call room and I've been obsessed with that damn medical drama ever since. Hell, at this rate I'll be on my death bed happy as a clam watching Grey's. But -- there was a show that used to air before Grey's every Sunday night, a series that I never watched but always had in the corner of my eye. That show, was Desperate Housewives.
No not the REAL Housewives franchise, as I found myself explaining to many friends as I regaled them with my reviews week after week of watching episodes late at night. DESPERATE Housewives -- ya know, Eva Longoria, Felicity Huffman, Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross? Or should I say Gabrielle, Lynette, Susan and Bree. These characters and this show was something else. Murder, cheating, suicide, backstabbing, lying. You name a nefarious act -- they were doing it!! And flawlessly I might add!!
I'm not sure why this was the year I decided to give it a try. I'm not a housewife per se, but I did get married late last year. So for whatever reason I felt the desperate need to get a glimpse of psychotic suburbia, life on Wisteria Lane as a housewife in the early 2000's.
After watching half of season 1 one of my best friends asked "who's your favorite?". And honestly, deciding this was about as paramount as deciding who I identified with most on Sex and the City (I'm a Charlotte, Samantha combo just FYI, but that's a convo for a different day). I'm proud to say, after making my way through eight seasons of drama, Lynette Scavo maintained my adoration.
This woman ran a household of feral children and a doe-eyed husband like a BOSS. Through cancer, a failed pizza restaurant and unexpected pregnancy and pregnancy loss, she rarely lost sight of who she was and I'll always admire her character. That being said, the last season threw her storyline for a loop and I absolutely HATED that we spent the whole time with her and Tom apart. I understand why they had to do it that way - as they ran the risk of being TOO perfect -- but I can still hate it. Much like in life, you are who you surround yourself with. So when everyone around them was creating chaos and participating in the most far fetched, desperate antics I've ever seen play out on screen, it makes sense the Scavo's weren't coming out unscathed.
The thing I appreciated most about the show were the character arcs. Selfish Gabrielle becoming a mother and actually loving those kids even though one wasn't even hers biologically? Fantastic. Uptight Bree letting her freak flag fly and having an affair with Susan's ex-husband and then falling in love with handyman Keith aka Brian Austin Green? Flawless. Even Edie learned how to love someone else in the end, which of course in classic Desperate Housewives fashion ultimately led to her demise.
While Edie's death was probably the one I was most upset by -- there was one character who I knew was never going to make it out alive. That fact alone made his death less shocking; but still the most heart wrenching. Poor old Mike Delfino. The man literally clawed his way to a better life, married the woman who was desperately in love with him, had a mini me kid and came back from the brink of death at least twice before being shot in cold blood on the doorstep of Susan's idyllic little yellow house on Wisteria Lane. Again -- there was NO way this character was going to make it out alive, you kind of felt that from the get go, but the reality of it still shook me to my core. The Mike Delfino of it all.
There are way too many other absolutely insane characters to get into now (Felicia Tillman and Katherine Mayfair I'm looking at you) so I'll just say this -- for a show made 20 years ago, it does stand the test of time. Sure some of the language and themes would not be allowed in today's standards (honestly, what IS allowed now!?), but the plot and the never ending schemes brought on by the women of Wisteria Lane held my attention for a good three month binge.
I loved that no matter what they found their way back to one another, leaning on each other when times got tough as life so inevitably will for each of us. And while I did hear there was some drama off screen between the women, I never really indulged in those articles. I firmly stood in the fantasy land of Desperate Housewives just as firmly as they stood gossiping about one another each and every season. I can only hope this reboot that I've been hearing about will do this original triumph justice.
