DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: SEASON 3 – THE DIRTY LAUNDRY EDITION
(TV-14)
MOVIE: ** (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5)
STARRING
Teri Hatcher as SUSAN MAYER
Felicity Huffman as LYNETTE SCAVO
Marcia Cross as BREE VAN DE CAMP
Eva Longoria as GABRIELLE SOLIS
Nicolette Sheridan as EDIE BRITT
Created by: Marc Cherry
Studio: ABC
BY KEVIN CARR
Like the Titanic, overloaded with too many passengers and not enough life boats, “Desperate Housewives” is sinking fast. It’s still holding onto its ratings, but the show has suffered.
The biggest flaws become apparent in the third season. Creator Marc Cherry continues to show his short-sightedness by killing storylines too quickly and never quite knowing where things are heading. The writers had to shoehorn Marcia Cross’s pregnancy into this season, and a new love triangle is forced onto Susan (Teri Hatcher) when Mike Delfino goes into a coma and she meets tasty coma husband next door. (I do have to give a shout-out to James Denton, whose coma acting is perfect for his talents.)
Sadly, the only housewife I wasn’t furiously annoyed with was Nicolette Sheridan as Edie Britt, who saw some characterization shine through this season, but her season wrap up is a sore disappointment. Other good elements of this season include Bree’s gay wild child son Andrew (Shawn Pyfrom), who has some fun banter, an appearance by Kyle McLaughlin as Bree’s new neurotic (and possibly murderous) husband and Dougray Scott as a slightly more interesting love interest for Susan.
But none of this makes up for the deification of Lynette (Felicity Huffman), who manages to escape bullets and cancer to be one of the most infuriating and awful characters of the season.
The DVD includes a spotlight on the glut of weddings of the show (often a sign of jumping the shark), a look at the latina version of the show, deleted scenes, bloopers and Marc Cherry’s favorite scenes.