Desperate Housewives: The Complete Fourth Season
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DVD details
Actor: Eva Longoria Parker, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, Ricardo Chavira, Teri HatcherBrand: Buena Vista Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 721 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-09-02
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Box set; Color; DVD; NTSC
DVD Reviews of Desperate Housewives: The Complete Fourth Season
DVD Review: Another mediocre season with a few improvments
Summary: 3 Stars
We all know the story of how Desperate Housewives turned from a must-watch Sunday night event to a mediocre inconsistent over-the-top suburban bloodbath with a body count that rivals NBC's crime shows. After the first seasons groundbreaking finale concerning a depressed suburban mother who would do anything to protect her child, 30 million viewers wondered how the shows second season would turn out. Would it be another shocking, well-written, groundbreaking season on Wisteria Lane, or merely another failed attempt to surpass the first? Season 2 of Desperate Housewives premiered, and from the second the first episode of the new season finished, there was a groan heard around America. Some fans waited to see if the show got better, which it did after 10 shaky episodes, but all in all 5 million viewers left and creator Marc Cherry got criticism from every critic in television for letting the quality sink and promised things would return to normal for the shows third season.
Season three started out fresh and clean. The first episode was rather good, but then followed a few mediocre ones and then 'Bang', the seventh episode of the third season that won back a few million more viewers, and America once again fell in love with the Housewives. Right when the third season took a break, we were greeted with Orson's once missing and presumed dead ex-wife, Alma, and we were once again sucked in, hoping the third season would continue on this ascending scale and provide more twists and turns for the seemingly simple mystery concerning Orson's dead mistress and Alma's disappearance.
When the third season returned, Marcia Cross became noticeably more pregnant and could only finish 4 more episodes. The mystery, and Marcia Cross, two of the biggest reasons Desperate Housewives remains a hit, were forced to end quickly and thus we were left with 7 episodes with really no purpose. Many people were disappointed by Desperate Housewives' once again declining quality. I stayed around because I thought despite the changes and difficulties, Cherry and co. did the best they could with what they were given. It was also a very unexpected insight that I hope Cherry and co. realized that the show *needs* a stable mystery and Marcia Cross. Without it, Desperate Housewives is just another soap with a few comedic moments. The darker satirical tone of the first season is gone, and what we're left with is sitcom-like humor that has changed this show from a dark and funny one to just another slapstick comedy with obvious jokes and obnoxious music cues.
As usual, Cherry promised a better season, this time with more Housewife interaction, more scandal, and better storylines. The fourth season of Desperate Housewives premiered September 30th, and with that being said...
The set-up:
After Edie seemingly ended her life in the season three finale, Mary Alice explains that Edie did not intend to die, rather she was staging a suicide to get Carlos to stay with her. The only man Edie should be seeing is Doctor Phil for severe co-dependency issues, but more on that later. After almost letting her die in a darkly comedic fashion, Carlos saves his needy ex-girlfriend and takes her to the hospital...
Meanwhile, Gabrielle's plan to sneak away with Carlos has been thwarted, so she is forced to remain in a loveless relationship with corrupt politician, Victor Lang. Bree is continuing to pretend to be pregnant to save Danielle's reputation (which was a thankless task), Lynette tries to hide her cancer from her friends, and Susan... is again... just there.
Meanwhile, Katherine Mayfair, Susan's old neighbor from 12 years ago returns after an extended departure, but there's something awfully strange going on in that family. Julie, Susan's inquisitive daughter, says that there's something very wrong with Dylan, as she doesn't remember her, or anything about herself for that matter. Meanwhile, Katherine and Adam have a brief conversation about something terrible that happened in Dylan's old room that "she can't remember". Seeing as though Desperate Housewives does not dwell into supernatural elements (and if it does, then asta la vista!), there's not really too many sensible reasons to explain Dylan's memory loss except for maybe some brain trauma, drugging, or maybe... as Julie suggested, Dylan isn't really Dylan?
The mystery-
I preferred this mystery to last years because it for once, did not focus on a murder. Instead, a seemingly puzzling question about Katherine's parenting. Unfortunately, the writers made this one much too obvious, as you could have guessed the outcome at end of the first episode. Still, other questions concerning Adam's secret in Chicago and what role Aunt Lilly played in this whole equation slowly unfold, and by episode 11 the answer stares you in the face. By the finale, everything is spelled out for you in a pivotal flashback, like all the other seasons, and everything is crystal clear. The outcome is pretty dark and twisted. I won't spoil it for those awaiting the DVD release, but it probably the saddest storyline Desperate Housewives has ever come up with. It's creepy and gothic, but at the same time human and plausible. This was the most realistic mystery the show has dealt with so far, and its only downfall was its predictability.
The housewives-
Lynette- This season mind as well be renamed as the "let's torture Lynette show". Everything bad that you can imagine happening to her has. She has developed cancer and is going through chemotherapy for the first 6 episodes. After recovering, an incredibly random tornado reeks havoc on Wisteria Lane, and after surviving Lynette tries to better herself. While this is happening, Kayla Scavo, Nora's devil of a daughter devises one of the most evil plans an 11-year-old could come up with, and after getting Lynette framed for a crime I won't mention (don't want to spoil it), Tom finally gets a backbone and decides that the sociopathic gene skipped a generation and manifested in Kayla's evil head. Thus, she gets the boot.
Susan- After 3 years of off and on romance, Mike Delfino and Susan finally marry. Susan discovers she's pregnant, and her and Mike... do their usual routine. Mike becomes addicted to pain killers, and after hitting rock bottom by assulting a doctor, takes himself to rehab. While this is happening, Orson confesses he's the one who made Mike roadkill and instead of beating his lights out, Mike takes a very zen approach to life and after Susan gives birth to Maynard (the worst name EVER), her and Mike are finally, seemingly happy.
Bree- After hilariously getting away with pretending to be pregnant, Bree adopts baby Benjamin for her own. She also tries to make nice with Katherine, her rival but after trying to sabotage eachother decide that maybe they could in fact be very good friends. Her and Katherine start catering, and form a bond. After two very useless characters, a gay couple named Bob and Lee (their personalities are as boring as their names) move in Bree and Katherine agree to cater their wedding unaware of the dangers that present itself in the finale...
Gabrielle- Married to workaholic and control freak Victor Lang, Gabrielle starts an affair with Carlos, her ex-husband. After Edie is shoved to the side, she makes it a personal effort to expose Carlos to get him on Victor's bad side. Gabrielle and Carlos dispose of Victor, or so they think, and when he returns unharmed (minus the sunburn), vows revenge on the both of them. This is very conveniently resolved in the very random natural disaster on episode 9, and Gabrielle is now remarried to Carlos, but there's a catch- he's blinded by the storm. Gabrielle, struggling with a blind husband, enlists some help, a new tenant named Ellie who deals drugs. This was the best storyline between the Solis' in quite some time, I liked how the integrated Gabrielle's friendship with Ellie as a motive to keep her safe. This was very real, despite how farfetched her other storylines have gotten.
What they did right-
*The mystery
*The new characters. Season 3's characters were mostly obnoxious, but I actually really liked Katherine's family.
*The first 3 episodes were great! Unfortunately, the quality declined. Episodes 11, 15, 16, and 17 were pretty good too.
*The body count (minus episode 9) was appropriate. This is Wisteria Lane, not the Bronx, and still more people die on this street than your most rundown ghetto in Detroit.
*The villian. Wayne was a great psychopath.
What they need to work on-
*New ideas. I seriously think this shows biggest downfall is the lack of creativity. Every year there's a new murder, a new mystery, and new neighbor, a new love interest for Susan, and the same old drama between Carlos and Gabrielle.
*The tornado. Seriously... it looked fake, it was fake. Just a ratings ploy, and a sell-out moment.
*The humor. I was never very fond of the sitcom tone the show adopted last year. What happened to the dark satire?
*The music cues. Why does every scene have to sound like a musical? It's very annoying, except for the dramatic or mysterious tones.
*The consistency. This show is never consistent, whether it's the quality, relationships, humor, everything.
*More Edie. I think we all love Nicollette's suburban diva.
What they need to drop-
*The 5-year-jump. From the second I heard of it, I thought it was terrible. Seeing the last 3 minutes of the finale, my opinion hasn't changed. Personally, I can't even buy it because everything looks so 2008. There will be so many technological advances in 2013 and changes elsewhere. I just can't buy the timeline. It was a huge red flag that the writers are out of ideas and ruined an otherwise good finale.
*Hostages. We get it. How many times have they played that card?
*Carlos being blind. I still don't get the motivation for this... can't he and Gabrielle have a decent storyline?
*What's the point of Bob and Lee? They're useless and are only used for bad cliche gay jokes. I say, either make them important and interesting, or give them the boot and give Betty's old house to someone more interesting.
Seeing where season five is going, I doubt I will watch it, but we'll have to wait until September to see how this show will sink. I seriously doubt any good will come of this, but I'm going to give them a chance to prove me wrong.
Description of Desperate Housewives: The Complete Fourth Season
Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 09/02/2008Bestsellers in DVD
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