Friday 23 May 2008

Desperate Housewives

Desperate Housewives is arguably my favourite American serial. It has been a while since I've really appreciated one of these shows, since the demise of Six Feet Under and the way Channel 4 failed to show the final series on terrestrial television (at a time when I lacked freeview and the luxury of E4) I haven't really found a drama series I've adored. Lost was, well, lost on me and Brothers and Sisters failed to capture my heart when I watched the first episode last year.

Now on its fourth series over here, Desperate Housewives is an absolute guaranteed win in terms of quality programming. Putting Terri Hatcher aside (clearly the programme's only downfall) every character has been created from the minds of geniuses. I can never choose a favourite and as a result am constantly proclaiming my favouritism for each one. I suppose the only one I wouldn't choose is that cold calculated newbie on the street, whose constant lies make it impossible to sympathise with. Though an equally intriguing and brilliant addition to the story and obviously not intended to capture hearts in the way others might, her addition to the new series has been vital in keeping it fresh.

Although, having said that, her mysterious return to Wysteria Lane hasn't really been enough to turn me on. The confusion doesn't allow for intrigue and waiting but more downright frustration. I'm not sure if I can be arsed with knowing what the deal is with that girl's father and why she remembers nothing. She's been sneaking about with it for so long and she's just too clever. Did she find that bit of paper the old lady dropped on the floor before she died? Goodness knows, frankly I can't remember and I don't care.

Though I've been ensuring to keep up this series, nothing could have prepared me or make me want more more more as much as this weeks hugely destructive panic-stricken tornado episode. It was the narration at the start which drove the episode and left a viewer guessing, wanting. Someone would lose a husband...everyone would lose a friend...and as you watch you're trying to figure out who the husband is, who the friend is. Victor still counts as a husband, are they just going to fob him off once and for all? Before the going gets too tough for Gabrielle and Carlos. Or, is it simply Susan's loss of Mike to rehab? Who can they realistically kill off? None of the main girls, that wouldn't be proper.

The guessing made every minute that much more tense and the papers, those 10-million dollar papers flying off in the wind was, though completely predictable, a necessary inclusion. The devastation at the final moments of the episode was so incredible, so intriguing and forced me to download the next episode even though I vow to keep up only with terrestrial scheduling. I still haven't watched it, but my god I want to.

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