'DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES' 6.19 – "We All Deserve To Die"

[SPOILERS] As the sixth season hurtles ever nearer to the upcoming finale, the pace was ramped up this week with a thrilling episode which juggled a multitude of plot progressions for all the major characters, without putting a foot wrong with any of them. Furthermore, a genuinely unpredictable twist revelation at the death (pun fully intended) finally put to bed one of the season's longest running mysteries and tipped an already great episode into a classic. But more about that later...

Firstly, after refusing wife Susan's (Teri Hatcher) help with paying off his business debts, proud family provider Mike Delfino (James Denton) saw his work truck get repossessed. While Susan is busy paying-off the neighbourhood to call on her husband's plumbing services in the most unsubtle and clichéd fashion possible (putting cutlery in the food dispenser, clogging a bath's plughole with soil), Mike quietly confesses to friend Carlos (Ricardo Chavira) that his debts are far beyond what Susan imagines. Chequebook in hand, Carlos comes to the rescue. It's handy having rich neighbours, isn't it? Still, it was great to see James Denton flex his acting muscles with his defeated declaration, even if I do agree with Susan's statement that in a marriage there is no you and I, but a united team who should share the load.

Speaking of sharing the load, Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria Parker) made perhaps her least selfish decision ever in "We All Deserve To Die", when she agreed to donate her eggs to help gay couple Bob (Tuc Watkins) and Lee (Kevin Rahm) have the child they so desperately want. Of course she was only privy to the information because she was eavesdropping on the exasperated partners arguing, but it's a start. Right? Well, not quite, as Gaby eventually comes to the realisation that she wouldn't be able to deal with giving away "her" child, and when she backtracks on her "gift", Bob and Lee get into another row which sees Lee dump his love and leave town. Accolades all round for the scene where Gaby is -- for once -- rendered speechless and helplessly walks away from a heartbroken Bob, who is left surmising "it was a lot to ask". Am I alone in hoping Lee makes a quick return and the plucky pair give things another go?

Someone else who I hope makes a quick return is Andrew Van De Kamp (Shawn Pyfrom), after Bree (Marcia Cross) is reluctantly forced to fire her own son. Again. In an attempt to discredit his smarmy half-brother, Sam Allen (Sam Page), Andrew is outed as a thief when Sam points out the company's books don't tally; clearly this relative stranger is not to be messed with. Not that Bree can see past his perfect smile, even when a make-or-break dinner to certify a book deal is sabotaged and either Andrew or Sam is culpable... Orson (Kyle McLachlan) is on hand to plant the suspicion in his wife's mind, but what is Sam set to gain from such underhanded scheming?

I commented in my review last week of how disappointed I was by Patrick Logan's (John Barrowman) somewhat underwhelming introduction, having been characterised as the "big bad" (to coin a Buffy the Vampire Slayer phrase) all season. To my surprise, he continued his measured approach to confronting runaway ex Angie (Drea De Matteo) this week (well, it has taken him 18 years to get this close, why rush into it now?), but with a menacing undercurrent which made his befriending of Danny Bolen (Beau Mirchoff) all the more villainous. Innocuously telling his estranged son his life story in the form of a novel he is supposedly writing, Patrick asks for feedback on how his final chapter should end. How wickedly twisted to have poor Danny naively sealing his -- and his mother's -- own fate by brainstorming "dark" conclusions.

On the subject of fate, Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) is certainly not resigned to allowing her son, Parker (Max Carver), to marry Russian bride-to-be, Irina (Helena Mattsson). The housewife is more convinced than ever that the beautiful blonde is after nothing but money, especially after a mystery man phones Irina's mobile to rant at her in Russian about involving the police... a quick visit to immigration later and Lynette is hopeful of something incriminating being uncovered before the fast-approaching big day. An eleventh hour reprieve sees the delivery of Irina's colourful file -- the polygamous gold-digger has been marrying men from around the globe and draining them of their finances before moving on to her next victim. Busted. Watching Lynette make a teary-eyed vow to always be there for her silent and heartbroken son, even if he hates her now, was absorbing television which really highlighted Felicity Huffman's range as an actress. Stunning.

But wait, this rollercoaster episode isn't over yet! The sting in the tail is still to come... her bags hastily packed, Irina is power walking down Wisteria Lane and out of the show as Eddie Orlovsky (Josh Zuckerman) -- long-haired, unfunny friend to the Fairview youth -- pulls up and offers her a lift to the airport. How odd, I thought, given how he was to be a guest at the wedding and surely would support his deceived friend at his time of need. Yet, regardless, he tries his luck at coming on to the sexy Russian who bluntly knocks him back. Bad move. Eddie's quirky (read: irritating) attitude quickly dissolves as he runs his car off the road and into the forest...

In an episode which rarely let up, this was a superb and unanticipated twist -- the weedy, innocuous guy has been parading in front of our eyes the entire series, and now it turns out it was he who strangled Julie Meyer way back in episode one and, no doubt, the waitress in the Coffee Cup also! And there was me blaming Nick Bolen (Jeffrey Nordling)! I don't want to get my hopes up, but judging by the preview clip, next week's episode looks like another corker as we jump around in time to discover just what has unhinged Eddie to the extent that he would commit murder. Looks like season six of Desperate Housewives is going out with a bang.

WRITERS: Josann McGibbon & Sara Parriott
DIRECTOR: Larry Shaw
GUEST CAST: John Barrowman, Shawn Pyfrom, Sam Page, Helena Mattsson, Max Carver & Josh Zuckerman
AIRDATE/CHANNEL: 9 JUNE 2010 - CHANNEL 4/HD, 9PM