Desperate Housewives recap: Working It Out

Do any of you TV Watchers out there feel like we’re headed for a Dave Williams mystery reveal that is going to be — hmm, should I just be harsh? — a total letdown? I fear we’re headed that way, friends. Why? Because the build-up for what he’s got planned has been so insanely drawn out over this season of Desperate Housewives.

Take last night’s episode, for instance. All the other story lines whirred along — Bree and Orson bickered about his salary; Lynette and Tom decided to finally close the pizzeria; Susan went to war with Katherine about her spending so much time with MJ; and Gaby and Carlos got that bonus, but at a price. Dave and Edie? Well, they just made plans for a weekend away before Dave cancelled so he could go on a hunting trip with Mike. The real revelations in this story line were that, Dave is keeping Dr. Heller’s phone and communicating with his secretary via text. At the end of the episode, we saw him text her that Dr. H. would be back on the 15th. Although we know that obviously can’t happen since Dr. H was burned to a crisp in that club fire. And the second bit that was revealed was that Dave seems like he’s planning to kill Mike or Katherine — or both of them — on his upcoming camping trip.

My question, though: Didn’t we already basically know that he was going to either kill Mike to make him pay for accidentally killing his wife and kid? Or that he’d kill the person he loves (a.k.a. Katherine) to make him feel the same pain. Which brings me to bigger questions: Is this even a mystery anymore? Is there anything to reveal? Why should I keep watching? I feel like there’s gotta be something bigger going on here, but in all reality, it seems rather cut and dry: Dave is crazy and wants to make someone pay. Revenge is a good motivator, but I’d like for this mystery — and whatever the eventual outcome is — to be more sordid. Desperate is the show that, in its first season, had a lady stealing a baby and burying the biological mother in a toy chest in the back yard. Seriously, can we get a little edge? The other way this could go is that the sordidness of the Dave story line has been so greatly veiled and metered out that I just have no idea. Like, there’s some great twist — something so delicious that my head will explode. I freakin’ hope so!

Maybe this twist has something to do with the fact that Nicolette Sheridan, a.k.a. Edie, is leaving the show. The idea has been floated that Dave kills her. As we saw tonight, Edie said she wasn’t going on the camping trip, but maybe she decides to and then Dave accidentally blows her away instead of Mike and/or Katherine? That doesn’t seem too plausible. But, really, on the Edie-leaving-Wisteria Lane front, I’m all good with that. While Edie does provide a lot of the comic relief on the show (and gems like this: ”Well, why not? Life is brief and mostly sucks. You gotta grab all the good you can while you’re on this side of the dirt.”), she’s rather pointless for the most part. This season she served the great purpose of bringing Dave Williams on to the street, but for the most part, she just sells houses once in a while. And as for the comic relief, we’ve always got Gaby, who makes every scene she’s in humorous.

NEXT: Andrew’s (paycheck) is bigger than Orson’sWell, I suppose I should move on to the other story lines of the evening. Bottom line: It was not a good night for the working stiff! That idea was most punctuated by the closing of Scavo’s Pizzeria. It was heartbreaking to see Tom try so hard to keep the restaurant afloat. First, he tried making his employees pretend to be customers to attract business. To which Lynette hilariously quipped, ”So now we have pretend customers? Gee, let’s think of something to do with all the pretend money we’re going to make.” But it only got worse: Eventually, he fired the staff and forced his four kids to work there after school. When Porter and Preston’s classmates rolled in one night, the jig was up — the pair began to walk out before Tom went through the roof and started shaking Porter. Lynette freaked out. But it was just the thing he needed to get him to realize that, yes, he had to sell the place. Which is so tragic, really, because I liked the fact that the Scavos had a family business. They’re the most realistic family on the block — in terms of middle-class families, that is — and it just felt authentic. But I guess this recession is pretty authentic, too, and that means that some good things just have to come to an end.

Another family business on Wisteria Lane — Bree’s catering set-up — was causing trouble for its owners, too. Orson discovered that Andrew had just gotten a raise (thanks, Mom!) and got obsessed with finding out how much he made. The dentist-turned-caterer came to find out that Andrew made double what he did. My first thought was that the disparity was crazy. But really, Bree explained it so well — Andrew had been with the company since its inception and, basically, that he’s the CFO of the business, too. Seems fair to me. This story line really kind of irked me, though, because it seemed rather throwaway and only sheds more light on the fact that Orson’s character is just downright annoying. In fact, he might even trump Susan for once! After all the little shenanigans he pulled tonight with the whole payroll thing, someone needs to tell him to grow up. Okay, I’ll do it: Grow up, Orson!

NEXT: Susan goes psycho-mamaGaby and Carlos were also dealing with employment issues, although theirs were of a more intimate nature. But, seriously, the Gaby story line still so predictable. Now that she has half a heart, it’s always the same: She makes a devious choice (this week, squeezing money out of Carlos’ boss!) before trying to backtrack as she realizes that her ways (blackmailing a man who asked her and Carlos to be his child’s godparents) actually hurt people. Granted, she hasn’t yet pulled back, but it’ll happen. At least the predictable story line didn’t affect Gaby’s always-great quips. ”Oh, come on, Brad,” she said while blackmailing Brad, unbeknownst to Carlos. ”Saving a marriage — can’t put a price on that. At least not a small one!” You gotta hand it to Gaby — she’s one smart lady!

And then there’s Susan. Poor, poor Susan. For the first time in a loooong while, I sort of felt bad for the tragic nature of her character. Poor little M.J. spent time with Katherine — and liked it. To the point that he’d ask for the food Katherine made him and even ran off to her house while Susan was in the shower. Which sent Susan into a tizzy — she even called Katherine’s house a ”Disneyland” with all its paninis (the little guy loves them!) and blackjack. Even though this is also a well-worn story line, it’s nice to see Susan lose a little of her kookiness and be more of a real mother. In some way, she’s got that sort of rag-tag, overly employed, trying-to-do-too-much mother thing going on. I like it a lot.

Overall, an okay episode. Not my favorite, but I didn’t hate it. I know I’ve harped on this before, but where was the interaction between the housewives? Besides Susan and Katherin’s cat fighting, the ladies lived in totally different spheres this week. That’s never a good thing. I love the episodes where they’re all at some big party or at least have a good poker session. At least give us the poker sessions!

But what do you think, TV Watchers? Do you agree with me that episodes not featuring interaction between the housewives are less satisfying? Are you tiring of the protracted Dave Williams story line, too? Were you surprised that Mike made plans to move in with Katherine? And, seriously: What happened to Mrs. McCluskey and Roberta? Did Dave knock them off and we just don’t know it?!?