Desperate Housewives: Season Three

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Sometimes a popular television show stumbles just a bit. One such case in Desperate Housewives, the smash hit for ABC which after a stellar first season got a little off track in season two. Fortunately for fans season three returned to what made the series a hit in the first place. Season three, now available on DVD, was wacky, off beat and kept the audience guessing. For most of the ladies of Wisteria Lane life is more in a state of flux than ever. There is everything a good old fashion soap opera needs; a dark family secret, a murder mystery, infidelity, weddings and teen pregnancy. Yes, no matter what some may say, Desperate Housewives is a soap opera and there is nothing wrong with that. While the original soap operas where intended for stay at home moms in the afternoon, now many of them are in the work force. After a hard day at work these working mothers can enjoy their ‘stories’ through the antics of the housewives. For the men out there, we are not immune to the seductive qualities of a well written serialized television program like this. We are all enlightened now and can freely admit that we care about what happens next on this supposedly quiet suburban street. This series still has the writing, the direction and excellent acting to make it a fun watch for adults in the family of both genders.

Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) has gone from high powered advertising executive to stay at home mom and back to executive. In the third season she has once again given up the fast paced life she thrives on to help her husband, Tom (Doug Savant) with his dream; owning and running a pizza restaurant. Tom is happy just to make the pies but Lynette still has to be the one in charge. She has to run the show which results in another form of tension between her and her spouse. If this wasn’t enough keep Lynette off balance it seems that Tom has a daughter, Kayla Huntington (Rachel Fox), by an ex flame, Nora Huntington (Kiersten Warren). While Lynette is somewhat accepting of the love child she is outraged by the constant interference of Nora. Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher) is still the loveable klutz of the group. She has the biggest heart on Wisteria Lane but the hardest time with relationships. Mike Delfino (James Denton), her on again-off again boyfriend is in a coma. Man eater Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan) has her eye on the unconscious man much to the chagrin of Susan. Something happens to make Susan more torn than ever. She starts to fall for an Englishman, Ian Hainsworth (Dougray Scott), who is attending to his comatose wife, Jane Hainsworth (Cecily Gambrell). Even though Susan tries to be supportive to Ian she is still clumsy such as when she spills her drink on Jane. After Jane dies and Susan and Ian begin to date there is a lot of opposition from Jane’s parents Jeff (Peter Jason) and Renee (Mary Margaret Lewis).

When Mike awakens from his coma Edie feels she has a clear field. He has amnesia and the cunning Edie is free to fill in Mike’s memories not so much with historical history but more in line with Edie’s amorous machinations. A further source of consternation for Susan comes in the form of Edie’s nephew, Austin McCann (Josh Henderson), the prototypical bad boy who shares a mutual attraction with Susan’s teenaged daughter, Julie (Andrea Bowen). Austin shares the genes in Edie for a roving eye and eventually gets Bree Van De Kamp’s (Marcia Cross) daughter Danielle (Joy Lauren), pregnant. Austin is hired to work for the Scavo’s pizzeria but is soon fired for his wild ways. Bree is still the type who makes Martha Stewart look like a slacker. She is a perfectionist to the point of obsession. In this season Bree gets married to a successful dentist, Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLachlan). His past is very murky as he is suspected of killing his late wife, Alma (Valerie Mahaffey) and his ex-lover Monique Polier (Kathleen York). Orson is tracked by the certifiably crazy Carolyn Bigsby (Laurie Metcalf). Carolyn was a neighbor of Orson and his wife and winds up losing it all causing a shootout in a local supermarket. Last there is Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria) the former model and trophy wife. As the season starts she is in a bitter divorce battle with husband Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira). When Gabrielle’s plans for a surrogate baby falls through she turns her attention to helping young girls prepare for a beauty pageant. Most of the parents are upset with Gabby’s rather unusual slant on what it takes to win. When Edie’s ex-husband dumps their young son, Travers McLain (Jake Cherry) with her Carlos is more than happy to help baby sit. Of course he soon winds up hooking up with Edie. On this quiet street Edie is the most traveled road around.

The above represents only the broadest strokes in what happens in this season. This is a series with so many sub plots that you may need to go to the ABC site to keep track of them all. Some of the scenes do border on the ridiculous but considering the soap opera format this is not only acceptable it is something to be expected and embraced. A large part of the appeal of a show like this is that it is able to take the audience out of their mundane lives and look at people more messed up then they could ever be. When a farce like this is done with creative people it can be extremely funny and this one has a great set of creative people on both sides of the camera.

The cast here is incredible. My favorite is still Teri Hatcher. She makes Susan human; allowing the audience to sympathize with her many plights. She is a loving mother who needs to have a special someone in her life. Of all the housewives Hatcher makes Susan the only one who is motivated only by pure love. Felicity Huffman is one of the great actresses around today. Few have received both an Oscar nomination and Golden Globe nods in the same year. Actually she was nominated at the Globes for both her small and big screen work in the same year. Huffman makes Lynette into a person many women can identify with. She is torn between her love for her over active kids, her husband and needing a career of her own. Even good soap opera needs a villainess and Nicollette Sheridan gives us one of the best. She is delightfully wicked as Edie. Marcia Cross makes Bree into someone the audience can both cheer and jeer at the same time. Cross makes her character into a multi-dimensional person who tries to control the details of her life as it spins out of control. Eva Longoria proves that a beautiful actress can do well with comedy. She is just plain fun to watch.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment keeps to the same format with the release of this season set to DVD. Titled ‘Desperate Housewives: The Complete Second Season - The Extra Juicy Edition’ it lives up to the moniker thanks to the extras provided. The anamorphic 1.78:1 video is exceptional with a great color balance and contrast. The Dolby 5.1 audio is crisp offering a full bodied sound track. For the extras series creator Marc Cherry picks his favorite scenes to share with the fans. There are two featurettes to keep you interested. The first is ‘Here Comes the Bride’ which offers a behind the scenes look at the dramatic season finale. The second is ‘Amas De Casas Desperadas’. This offers a little extra look at the ladies. As guilty pleasures goes this is one of the better to have, watch and enjoy.

Posted 08/27/07