DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES 6.6 - "Don't Walk On The Grass"

WRITER: Marco Pennette
DIRECTOR: David Grossman
GUEST CAST: Daniel Booko, Alex Miller, Marianne Muellerleile & Hugh Holob

[SPOILERS] What was so impressive about this week's visit to Wisteria Lane was the perfect balance which was struck between light-hearted comedy and serious drama in all of the five major subplots. Furthermore, it was also a good week for plot development, which was delivered at a more believable pace than in previous episodes. Perhaps all of these factors come down to the fact that so many of the fringe characters were absent, giving the front-runners room to breath, bake a Pineapple Upside-down cake and have a dip in the hot tub (this will all make sense in a few paragraphs), without the nagging feeling that a vital ingredient was missing from the (cake) mix.

Karl Mayer (Richard Burgi) continues to be an unpredictable and untrustworthy chap, while still being irritatingly likeable (at least to the ladies), as ex-wife Susan (Teri Hatcher) discovered years ago and Bree (Marcia Cross) is now discovering for herself. Determined to dump her divorce-lawyer-come-lover, Bree is won over by Karl's smarmy charm and the gift of his grandmother's broach. Until it is revealed Karl originally gave the broach to Susan, before stealing it back in the break-up and blaming her for its "disappearance". What a guy. How is Karl going to wiggle out of this one? Simple: by proposing to Bree as she attempts to walk out on him. And yet, somehow, Bree is unable to turn him down, instead challenging him to prove to her he can change -- and last a month without sex.

All the while, Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLachlan) is still on the scene and still Bree's husband. Adamant they can still save their dying marriage, he goes to the shop Bree lies about buying the broach from, in an attempt to buy her a replacement after Bree lets Susan keep what is rightfully hers. When the antique dealer (Hugh Holob) makes it clear his store only deals in furniture and not jewellery, Orson begins to suspect all is not right, and it will only be a matter of time before Bree and Karl's affair is revealed.

Another revelation on the verge of being revealed is Lynette's (Felicity Huffman) pregnancy, as Gabrielle (Eva Longoria Parker) notices her friend's ballooning weight. Mature student Tom Scavo (Doug Savant) then uses his wife's continuing deception to rationalise his cheating in a statistics exam; he's cheating to avoid failing at school, she's lying to keep her job. Hmm, not the most sound of logic from "T-Scarv" there. No, I didn’t just make that ridiculous nickname up, it's bestowed upon Tom by his school buddies Neidermeyer (Alex Miller) and Mahoney (Daniel Booko), whom Tom is buying kegs for and letting them crash on the Scarvo's couch, in exchange for the statistics answers.

The Solice family were also facing school issues this week, as 7-year-old Juanita (Madison De La Garza) faced severe punishment from strict rule-enforcing principal Ann Peterson (Marianne Muellerleile) for swearing during her school's Thanksgiving Pageant. Defensive mother Gabby lets her tongue get away from her when Ms. Peterson brings her parenting skills into question, first unloading a tirade of profanity (all obscured by the school bell) before pulling Juanita out of ''Shawshank Elementary''. Nice reference. Unable to find his daughter another school, Carlos (Ricardo Chavira) suggests Gabby turns teacher and home schools her first born. While initially opposed (leading to a riotous swear-free "blank" rally), Gabby eventually concedes, only for Juanita to be a rather rebellious student, blaming her mother for getting her kicked out of school, not to mention last week's monkey attack on a clown.

I must give props to actress Dena Delany, who is playing the duplicitous and unhinged Katherine Mayfair with wonderfully quirky verve. After being accidentally shot in the arm by Susan at the end of the last episode, Katherine this week begins her ploy of taking the moral high-ground, whilst hanging the threat of court over Susan's head and still attempting to lure back Mike (James Denton). When her "Jackie Collins-style" seduction is foiled by a suspicious Susan accompanying Mike to "fix" Katherine's hot tub (leading to an underwater cat-fight), Katherine believes the only solution is to sue, which would require the Bolen's gun as evidence. Angie Bolen (Drea De Matteo), however, is unwilling to hand it over.

As well as influencing Katherine, Angie further stirs the Mike-centric rivalry by planting the suspicion in Susan's head that maybe Katherine was Julie's (Andrea Bowen) attacker, mistaking daughter for mother on the day her ex got married. This is, of course, all an attempt to overt attention from the suspicious and secretive Bolen's, which almost immediately comes a-cropper when Katherine –- while delivering the aforementioned exotic fruit cake – catches Angie on the phone to her "dead" mother, whom she refuses to reveal the family's location to. The mystery deepens…

It was apt that "Don’t Walk On The Grass", an episode so engrained with the subject of following rules and learning lessons, did such a great job of learning from season six's previous mistakes to produce an hour of entertainment which really did "rule". I just hope Desperate Housewives doesn't break from this winning formula as the season matures.

3 MARCH 2010: CHANNEL 4 (HD), 9PM