2010 Season Reviews Part 2: Desperate Housewives

Desperate Housewives Season 6

This was a largely formulaic season for Desperate Housewives. After 6 seasons, the new neighbours with a secret has gotten old and although the Bolens weren't bad, their storyline was pretty predictable. Their story felt very similar to the Mayfairs of season 4; housewives with a dark and secret past, a husband who isn't the biological father of the child but protects them anyway and the insolent child who has been hidden from their biological father. The mystery wasn't that much of a shocker and perhaps sensing this bosses decide to reveal all the dirty secrets quite early on, with many episodes to go before the finale. The ending for the family was quite a sweet one though and it was nice to see the family not linger around for longer than needed. Plus they did manage to integrate the family a lot better than they did with the Applewhites or the Mayfairs. Angie actually made a friend in Gaby and this alliance made it a little more interesting; Danny dated Ana and became friends with the other teens and only Nick didn't mix although he integrated somewhat with Julie!

As for the main housewives, they had mixed storylines. First there was Bree's affair with Karl, which was fun and showed a different side of Bree. However after he died, Bree was a little bit adrift, trying to make her marriage with Orson work and having to deal with the annoying Sam. Dredging up Rex's past was a dirty trick to play by the writers and I guess it did make for some interesting family tension with Andrew.

Lynette had a multitude of storylines this year- the impending pregnancy of her twins and miscarriage, her work problems with Carlos, Preston's marriage to his golddigger and perhaps the most interesting one, dealing with the strangler Eddie. Though I wasn't sure of Lynette's pregnancy, bringing up the issue of how it would affect her career was a good one, even if we had seen it in various forms in the past. Making Carlos the villain n the piece was less appreciated and felt a little out of place.

Gabby mostly had parental storylines this year, with her own girls and Ana (who quickly disappeared), plus dalliances with Bob and Lee and wards with the other housewives. None of her storylines were terribly memorable, but she became a lot less self centered this year, but still retained some of her bitchiness.

Katherine spent a lot of time away from the show it feels. Her breakdown, was done very quickly and I'm not sure why she'd go so potty over Mike of all people, but it was one of the few serious stories and Dana Delaney did her best with it. Her lesbian relationship with Robin was actually quite sensitively handled, though it was a shame to see her quietly shuffled off.

Susan as usual had the most boring storylines, first kicking off with her marriage to Mike, Julie strangulation, Katherine going mad, the strip club and then Mike's finances. Though some of these were interesting, her and Mike are easily the most boring couple on the Lane and her child is the most irritating. Julie's reappearance made her more enjoyable for a while, but this was quickly done away with after Julie's swift exit.

Despite my mostly negative review, there were some great episodes, mostly the special episodes- the dream sequence after the plane crash, Robin's tale and Eddie past revealed. There were some other enjoyable arcs and episodes as well.
However, this season felt exceedingly long this year and this definitely wasn't their best. A slew of new characters and some characters from the past may be good for the housewives next year or it may just be a reminder of how it has declined.