A Desperate Return

The major problem with Edie dying, was not that she was a man eating whore, or that our wish that she might finally kill Susan was crushed, it was that suddenly Desperate Housewives just became desperate. She may have been an under utilised character but her brief appearances filled the Wisteria Lane drudgery with some much needed humour. A underhand comment here, a bitchy quip there, she never failed to bring a smile. It was only when we she disappeared from our screens for good that I realised the void that had replaced her. Whilst writer Marc Cherry marched on with thrilling plots and dramatic twists, it always came down to Edie to provide a brief chuckle, to lift the mood and to remind us that this was indeed a comedy.

The episode post her death - aka "Rose's Turn" was truly dreadful. Edie's last words - "I let go of picket fences, of cars and driveways" made me wish that I too had not bothered to tune back in. However, in a return to what is, at its roots, a family driven drama with some murder mystery thrown in, "Bargaining" was truly back on form.

Edie's dead, so to it seems is the series

Whilst Gaby tackled her daughters insecurities over her looks, Lynette strived to keep her marriage strong as Tom started to slide down a slope to depression. Katherine's worries were realised when she discovered Mike didn't want to re-marry whilst the return of Jackson caused a lonely Susan to let her feelings gush out in a torrential out pouring. Unluckily for her - as is to be expected - though Jackson's marriage proposal was real, its intent was not for the romance and love that she craved. Across town Brie's efforts to tackle Orson's comical kleptomania failed miserably and upon discovering he was entitled to recieve half her assets, solicited help from Susan's ex and divorce vulture, Karl.

It was a welcome return to family issues, to the everyday problems that people across the world face. Even more welcome was the return of the comedy, Lynette and Tom in action whilst on a conference call, MJ's one liner about macaroons. Carry on like this and perhaps this black comedy will finally be comedic again.