DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES 6.10 – ''Boom Crunch''

WRITERS: Joey Murphy & John Pardee
DIRECTOR: David Grossman
GUEST STARS: Lyndsy Fonseca, Maria Cominis, Dan Castellaneta, Caroline Aaron & Daniella Baltodano

[SPOILERS] Personally, Desperate Housewives is always at its best when its quirky humour is laugh-out-loud hilarious, and while this week's visit to Fairview wasn't the most chucklesome of episodes, the focus on drama -- and disaster -- more than made up for this. Aided by an epic, life changing set piece (not to mention the fact that the show is taking a short break in the UK before resuming April 11th/14th), "Boom Crunch" was a fantastic, if early, mid-season climax which pushed forward all of the plot strands and left them hanging perilously over a cliff...

The episode was framed with warring couple the Bicks' taking their single engine plane into the air during Wisteria Lane's annual Christmas Festival, only for Tom Scavo (Doug Savant) to point out that the airborne vehicle is flying worryingly low... flashback three days to the residents preparing for the event: Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria Parker) is still hostile towards Lynette Scarvo (Felicity Huffman) because pregnant and financially struggling Lynette is suing Gabby's husband Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) for unfair dismal. Lynette's continued attempts to make peace with her friend seem to be in vain, until she -- predictably -- becomes the hero by saving Celia Solis (Daniella Baltodano) in the climatic chaos, but until then their squabble is overshadowed by an ambulance pulling up at Katherine Mayfair's (Dana Delaney) house...

The extent of Katherine's depression really hits home this week, as the stab ''victim'' points the finger of blame at ex Mike Delfino (James Denton), then her returning daughter Dylan (Lyndsy Fonseca) reveals how twisted her mother's lies have become when she is under the impression Katherine is married to Mike and Susan (Teri Hatcher) is the deranged ex... I always like the way former characters return to the show because they always seem to be have a purpose and an impact upon the storyline (as opposed to simply for the ''ahh!'' factor.) Dylan's visit to her mother's bedside is no different.

Sticking inside the hospital -- and following on from last week's drug-induced slip of the tongue -- nurse Mona Clarke (Maria Cominis) is convinced the Bolen family are in the witness protect programme when Danny (Beau Mirchoff) backtracks on asking to be called Tyler, and Nick (Jeffrey Nordling) and Angie (Drea De Matteo) refuse to give over their insurance details. Danny is misled into believing Mona knows the actual truth (as opposed to the fabricated "truth" Angie and Nick led Mona to believe -- I can see why the poor lad got confused!) and confesses, leading a traumatised Mona to blackmail the Bolen's: $67,000 for her silence. It seems the game is up for the enigmatic residents when they can only muster $10,000, but a marauding plane wing may well help keep their secret safe for another week as Mona is knocked off her feet...

Poor, poor Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLauchlan): he may have had his problems and made his share of mistakes in the past, but he really is devastated this week when Bree (Marcia Cross) finally serves him divorce papers. A second blow is dealt when he walks in on a phone conversation between Bree and Karl (Richard Burgi) and he realises she has been having an affair all this time. Holding back the tears in a heartfelt and wounded performance from Kyle MacLauchlan, Orson asks her to respect their marriage by not announcing her infidelity until after their divorce. Unfortunately, Karl didn't receive this message and his attempt at a flashy romantic gesture involved hiring a single engine plane to fly over Wisteria Lane with a banner asking Bree to marry him (see how it all fits together? Nice and snug!) But as Orson and Karl have a juvenile spat inside Santa's Grotto, Karl's romantic gesture comes literally crashing down...

I am ashamed to admit that while watching this episode I was oblivious to the fact that Dan "Homer Simpson" Castellaneta was playing browbeaten husband and single engine plane owner Jeff Bicks, but now that I think back it was clearly him. Suffering a heart attack mid-flight, Jeff's cantankerous wife Daphne (Caroline Aaron) is left to fly the vehicle without any training, and her landing attempt causes no end of injury, damage and misery for the folk in Fairview. Irritatingly, the preview of "Next Week" [sic] made it painfully obvious who is the most seriously injured -- I really should remember to switch off 30 seconds earlier...

31 MARCH 2010: CHANNEL 4 (HD), 10PM

For more of Chris Howard's writing, visit The CRaB Shack.