Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Final(e) Thoughts: Less Desperate Housewives


A lot of the TV shows I'm following (or used to follow) will have big endings this season. Since I am big fan of TV shows, making lists and making my opinions known (all for posterity's sake), I will write about various TV shows' season finales, and what I think about them. 



Today I will write about Desperate Housewives' two-episode season finale titled "Give Me the Blame" and "Finishing the Hat".

Housewives play poker, too.


Why This Ending is Big:

1. I missed most of Desperate Housewives. I am a big Gabrielle-Carlos fan so I stopped watching when Gabrielle left Carlos and married that white-haired hunky guy. It's nice to watch my fourth favorite couple--after Barney and Robin, Chuck and Sarah, and Brittany and Santana--together for one last time.

Carlos: Gabby! There you are.
Gabby: Yup, just sitting here on the porch, reading the old... sports section.
Carlos: You hate sports and reading.
Gabby: But I love you and you love sports. So I've started to uh, really get into it.
Carlos: Really. What's your favorite basketball team?
Gabby: The... Turtles.

2. It is the series finale. When I read that the show's current season, Season 8, was going to be its last, I knew I had to watch it. Much like the connection I had with House, I felt that Desperate Housewives (brace yourself because this will sound sappy) is special. Despite its acquired monotony and draggy-ness, I just have to watch it for one last time. I had to know what will happen to the women of Wisteria Lane. Will they be like House and Wilson, spending the rest of their lives (or what's left of it) with each other? Will they be like Chuck and Sarah, whose future although uncertain looks promising?


My Thoughts on Desperate Housewives:

1. I watched Desperate Housewives at a time when Studio 23 was my only source of regular American TV programming. I remember getting into Dawson's Creek (who didn't?!), 7th Heaven, Thieves, which starred John Stamos and Melissa George, and no one else but me seem to remember (or have watched), and Early Chronicle, where the guy gets the newspaper a day early and spends his day trying to (and succeeding) prevent one (or more) accidents reported in the newspaper from happening.  It was one of my first loves, so to speak.

2. Desperate Housewives appealed to me because it was a story about friends and family. All 4 women who played the housewives of Wisteria Lane (Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria) are great actresses, and their chemistry despite the constant bickering rumors are equally as great.

3. But, I admit, stories get old and I get bored. I stopped watching it when I skipped-watched (FYI: It's when you watch the first 2 and last 2 episodes of a season) Season 5 (I think) and still got the story, more or less. More importantly, I was not excited to know about the whys and hows--and even the whats--in the gaps in the story I didn't get. It all seemed endless (the girls killing people--most of the time, obliviously--left and right) and became tiring. I had 2 options: (a) Stop watching the show and wait til it gets better or (b) Stop watching it altogether. I obviously chose the latter.


My Thoughts on "Give Me the Blame" and "Finishing the Hat":

1. The two-episode season finale dealt with the past, present and future.

1.a. The first part dealt with the past and the present.

1.a.1 The problems: Bree is in trial for the murder of Gabrielle's stepfather who was really killed by Carlos. Lynette and Tom are on the brink of divorce. Susan has decided to move out of Wisteria Lane but hasn't told her friends yet. Their old neighbor Karen, who I've heard of just now, is dying.

Karen McCluskey


1.a.2 The solution: Karen admits to killing Gabrielle's stepfather with a candlestick. Bree goes free, which Karen's husband, Roy, inspires Tom to say the things needed to be said while he still can; thus, leading to a reunion with Lynette.

1.b The second part dealt with the present and the future. See #4 below.

2. What better way to highlight the past, present and future but to use TV's most used tools for furthering stories: birth and death. The birth of Susan's grandchild and the death of the girls' well-loved neighbor, Karen, served as perfect tools to make the whole story come full circle.

Birth and Death. Beginning and End.


3. There is one golden rule when making the series finale for a TV show: You have to invite the show's former characters and make Season 1 references. The former characters should make an appearance in the last episode, regardless of how they appear and how briefly they do so. Desperate Housewives followed this rule and brought everyone back.

At least I know who Martha Huber, Mike Delfino,  John Rowland the gardener were.


3.1 It was shown how Mary Alice Young moved in Wisteria Lane, confronted by a nosy Martha Huber.

3.2 Mike Delfino, Susan's deceased husband, was mentioned countless of times and even made an appearance as he watched Susan as she drove around Wisteria Lane for one last time.

3.3 Gabrielle's philandering with the gardener, John Rowland, and Carlos' wooing style was both used by Gabrielle and Carlos against each other to prove a point.

3.4 The return of Katherine, who I don't recognize, and the return the ghosts of Wisteria Lane saved the episode around 10 minutes of flashback because seeing the characters made us do the flashbacks in our own minds.

4. In the end, Desperate Housewives is a story of how Wisteria Lane's 4 most desperate housewives became...less desperate.

4.1 Susan met the love of her life and although she lost him their memories together is enough to last her a lifetime.

Susan elated at the birth of her grandchild.


4.2 Lynette becomes a wife, a mother, a CEO and a grandmother.

Lynette reunited with her husband.

4.3 Bree becomes a member of the Kentucky State Legislature.

Bree gets elected to public office.


4.4 Gabrielle has a show on Home Shopping Network and "argued happily ever after" with Carlos (and their 2 daughters) in California.

Gabby and Carlos argued happily ever after.



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You may want to read other Final(e) Thoughts:

How I Met Your Mother Season 7
Chuck Season 5
Glee Season 3 
The Big Bang Theory Season 5
Community Season 3
House Season 8



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