More than fifteen years ago (already), the pilot of Desperate Housewives was broadcast. Almost eight years after the end of the series, Bree, Lynette, Gaby and Susan are still present in the lives of many and their (mis)adventures do not tire us! So let's take a look back at the 10 episodes that marked us the most…
10 – Twists and turns at Wisteria Lane (Remember) : Part 1 – Season 2 Episode 24
Why do we love? For flashbacks! It is in this episode that we see housewives move into Wisteria Lane for the first time. They each get to know each other in turn over the years. First failed impressions, Susan locking herself in the moving truck, first flights from the children, in short, beautiful bursts of laughter to relax the rather heavy atmosphere of this episode. Indeed, as the first part of the final season, all the mysteries of the season are revealed and sacred twists occur: murder of Melanie Foster, Zach who kills Noah, Danielle runs away with Matthew while Bree is in a mental hospital, Susan finds herself living in a trailer and Lynette discovers the existence of Kayla, Tom's illegitimate daughter.
Mary-Alice: "Everyone has to choose the path to take in their lives. For the most special of them, this road leads to Wisteria Lane."
9 – Look Into Their Eyes and You See What They Know – Season 5 Episode 19
Why do we love? For the emotions! After Edie's death, the housewives (and Karen) gather to donate Edie's ashes to her son. During this long car ride, the five women remember the moments spent with her, and that despite the rivalries each had had with her, Edie was a good person. Susan recalls their first meeting : when Edie catches her retrieving the doughnut she had just dropped… at the bottom of her garbage can, mistaking her for homeless. Lynette talks about the time when just before taking her to chemotherapy, Edie dragged her to a bar to change her mind. As for Bree, Edie had helped her when Orson was in prison, and Gabrielle recalls a night when they challenged themselves to seduce as many men as possible. In short, a very beautiful episode that pushed our tear glands to the limit!
Edie: "The good news is that I died the way I lived: the center of attention."
8 – What if… (If…) – Season 6 Episode 11
Why do we love? For flashsideways, aka alternate lives! Following the plane crash that devastated the Christmas village in Wisteria Lane, housewives wonder what their lives would have been like if they had made other choices. For Susan, if she had stayed with Karl, she would have taken refuge in food and would have grown a lot. Bree imagines her life if she had married Karl, who had proposed to her before dying in the crash. Celia having been saved by Lynette, Gabrielle dreams that it is because she is special and destined to be an actress and Lynette thinks about the life she would have had with a disabled child, since she is pregnant and does not know how her babies are. Between Karl's death, Orson's paralysis and the loss of one of Lynette and Tom's babies, this episode (preceded by a very long hiatus that kept us in suspense) was sadder and heavier than some, but the little touches of humor allow the episode to be very well balanced.
Mary-Alice: "What if? And if he hadn't died… ? And if my choice hadn't been that one… ? What if I had made that mistake… ?"
7 – Women and Death – Season 8 Episode 17
Why do we love? For the farewell to Mike. If there's one death we haven't forgotten in Desperate Housewives, it's Mike 's! With a death occurring without warning at the end of episode 16 of season 8, our favorite plumber is buried in episode 17. As with every tribute episode, the characters recall their best moments with the deceased. Beside this, Bree learns that the investigation into Alejandro's murder (committed by Carlos and covered up by the housewives) continues, despite the death of the detective in charge of the investigation. We also have many flashbacks to the characters, such as the Scovo' s first date and Bree's childhood, where she first learned to wear a constant mask so as not to let her emotions show. Another very moving episode that adds to the very long list of episodes that made us cry and as a bonus, a little poem that still remains in our minds today:
Susan/Mike: "I love you once. I love you twice. I love you more than rice and peas."
6 – Life hangs by a thread (Something's Coming) – Season 4 Episode 9
Why do we love? Because it's a disaster episode. With the arrival of a very powerful tornado , the lives of all the inhabitants of Wisteria Lane are threatened. Who will survive? Who will be injured and who will come out unscathed? Forty minutes that keep us in suspense with characters fighting to survive… or who are fighting at all. Gabrielle and Carlos are about to leave Wisteria Lane after Victor discovers that Gaby cheated on him and tried to kill him. Katherine and Adam must face Sylvia, a former Adam-obsessed patient who locks herself in their bathroom. Susan discovers that Orson is giving Mike pain medication that he is addicted to. In addition to injuries, such as Carlos' loss of sight, a total of four people died that day: Ida Greenberg, Victor Lang, Sylvia et al.
Mary-Alice: "While the tornado ravaged everything, everyone learned about friendship, forgiveness and redemption. And some have learned the hardest of all lessons… that life hangs by a thread and is very often unfair."
5 – Nice is Different Than Good – Season 6 Episode 1
Why do we love? For Susan and Mike's wedding! After the cliffhanger at the end of season 5 where we see Mike marry either Katherine or Susan, the identity of the bride is finally revealed! And it is Susan who marries her lifelong love, in a marriage less calm than expected, since Katherine gets involved and even finds herself locked in a closet so that the couple has peace! This is also the episode where the Bolen family moves in with one of the series' heaviest secrets. For her part, Gabrielle learns to live with a teenager not easy since Ana, Carlos' niece, comes to live with the Solis, while Lynette must manage her new pregnancy as she can. For her part, Bree begins an adventure with Karl, her lawyer and Susan's ex-husband, and to conclude this beginning of the season, Julie is strangled by a stranger at the end of the episode…
Mary-Alice: "Finding sin is easy in residential suburbs. Just look behind closed doors."
4 – Irony of fate (Pilot) – Season 1 Episode 1
Why do we love? Because that's where it all started… Where it all started twelve years ago : a quiet neighborhood of residential suburbs, with flourishing inhabitants and pretty flower plants that adorn the perfectly mowed green lawns. But this tranquility is quickly disturbed by the suicide of the one who will accompany us throughout the series: Mary-Alice. We then discover these families who get along more or less well, we see the difficulties they encounter, but we are far from imagining what will await the inhabitants of Wisteria Lane for the next eight years! So we look back with nostalgia at the first meeting between Mike and Susan, we think back to when Paul was just the nice neighbor who had just lost his wife, we discover Gabrielle as a superficial woman and Lynette as an overwhelmed mother whose husband is very absent. And Bree, who has undergone a meteoric transformation in eight seasons, makes her first impression of a perfect mother with viewers. This episode is the beginning of a series that has marked the history of television and that has accompanied many of us for years. And it was with these words that the series was launched:
Mary-Alice: "My name is Mary-Alice Young… "
3 – A Day Like Any Other (Bang) – Season 3 Episode 7
Why do we love? Because this is the first disaster episode. This first disaster episode remains engraved in many minds, and marks the first turning point of the series in a more catastrophic and serious story for the rest of the seasons. With a season 2 quite failed, the producers have worked hard and have proven that Desperate Housewives was not just a series good to be watched by housewives in the middle of the afternoon. In this episode, Lynette, Nora, Art, Julie, Austin and later, Edie, are taken hostage in a supermarket by Carolyn Bigsby, a woman who has just learned that her husband – store manager – cheated on her. The hostage taking itself was very thrilling and the panic of the relatives back home is transmitted to the viewer. But the best part of this episode which is one of the most moving moments of the series is the release of the hostages. The pressure falls for all, everyone finds his family, while others have perished in the attack and will turn the lives of their loved ones upside down… A beautiful and unforgettable scene that propels this episode to third place in the ranking, as we still shed tears to this day watching the episode for the tenth time.
Mary-Alice: "You can't prevent the unpredictable from happening."
2 – As time passes… (You're going to Love Tomorrow) – Season 5 Episode 1
Why do we love? For the leap in time. We find the housewives five years after season 4 and many things have changed… Gabrielle no longer takes care of herself and has two overweight daughters . Mike and Susan divorced, had a child, and Susan now attends her painter. Bree has become a wealthy and famous cook who has published a cookbook and is jealous of Katherine, her partner. Edie returns to Wisteria Lane with a mysterious new husband after a long absence, and the Scavo children have grown up…
Mary-Alice: "We will all get to that point one day. At that moment when we will ask ourselves: where has time gone?"
1 – Finishing the Hat: Parts 1 and 2 – Season 8 Episodes 22 and 23
Why do we love? Because it's the end of a great adventure. These two episodes mark the end of eight long seasons spent following the stories of Bree, Gaby, Susan, Lynette and all the other characters who touched us as much as the main characters. The trial for Alejandro's murder is settled, and housewives just have to bid farewell to the audience. They play one last game of poker to conclude this ten years where they will have shared their lives with others, before separating over the years to never see each other again. Each will lead her life on her own to achieve great personal and professional successes. As a final tribute to the series, almost all the actors of deceased characters meet for a big final scene when Susan leaves Wisteria Lane, surrounded by these ghosts dressed in white, under the benevolent gaze of Mike… This end of the series divided the audience and some people are still struggling to recover, but overall it was a nice way to continue the story of housewives and conclude a chapter of their lives that we shared with them.
Mary-Alice: "These ghosts are watching, hoping people remember that even the most desperate of lives is so beautiful. But only a lucky few realize the gift they have been given. Most of them live day after day, trying in vain to keep secrets… who will never remain hidden."
And for you, what is the best episode of Desperate Housewives ?
