This season's narrative tool of moving 5 years into the future sure has served its purpose. Where most soap operas encounter storyline problems symptomatic of the heightened reality that Desperate Housewives fits so neatly into, Marc Cherry has aptly used the zoom forward as a way to avoid the pitfalls of boring storylines, repeated storylines, or eventually (as evidenced by Marlena's demonic possession on Days of Our Lives, murder-suicides on the O.C. or anything on Passions), the storylines so absolutely ridiculous even the loyal fan-base can no longer stomach the absolute lack of believability.
Notably missing this season, however, are the details of what happened in between. Last night we got some answers and they were compelling. As always, Gaby and Carlos' marriage issues or Katherine and Bree's tenuous work relationship were examined with the sassy yet tactful attention to character and plot development I've come to expect, and I did end the program satisfied with some answers. But it's this satisfaction that interested me so much.
I've discovered that Cherry's adventurous narrative tool did more than simply open plenty of creative doors. It also allowed for a formulaic revisiting of the elements that made the first season of Desperate Housewives so successful. It wasn't just the sassy dialogue, the sex lies and intrigue, the fact that we all knew an Edie, Susan or Lynette, it wasn't even the slowly unfurled mystery that made the show so good. Or rather, it was all of these things added together...but the real meat of the mix was the mystery of the characters themselves. Finding out how Susan's marriage had ended or why Bree's had become so disintegrated. After last season of the show perhaps the viewer had, as in any long-term relationship, become so accustomed to these people and their stories that nothing felt new. What's the point? No matter how many tornadoes come sweeping through town the women had become as predictable as a Bree Van de Camp Sunday pie. And then suddenly, as though our wives had taken up a pole dancing cardio class at the local gym, a breath of fresh air came sneaking into my living room every Sunday night. Who are these women? I'm not so sure I know anymore, but you can be sure that I'll be tuning in every week to find out.
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