reviewed by: Charity Bishop
             

The second season of the primetime soap Desperate Housewives has many more secrets to be unearthed, numerous complications to already established relationships, impending disasters, and a little blackmail thrown in for good measure.

The established women of Wisteria Lane are an interesting bunch. The hard-working Lynette (Felicity Huffman) heads back to the workplace after a six-year absence when her husband Tom (Doug Savant) is laid off. She finds it much more competitive and hostile toward working mothers than she remembers. This odd arrangement places her husband in something of a difficult position that becomes even more complicated when, with their monstrous twins and younger son in school and the littlest in daycare just down the hall from mommy's office, Tom decides he wants to apply for a position at Lynette's ad agency. 

Bree (Marcia Cross) is dealing with the recent suspicious death of her husband. The police hold her as a prime suspect, but even when attention is diverted elsewhere, it does not prevent never-ending battles with her rebellious homosexual son Andrew (Shawn Pyfrom). While attempting to keep her daughter out of trouble, and occasionally wielding a shotgun to be rid of unwanted guests, Bree struggles in silence with becoming an alcoholic. The drama is no less complicated further down the lane, where Susan (Teri Hatcher) struggles with newfound discoveries about her boyfriend Mike (James Denton). She takes drastic measures to prevent him from being reunited with his son Zach (Cody Kasch). 

When Mike finds out the truth, he leaves her cold. It doesn't help that her ex-husband Karl (Richard Burgi) has moved in with her arch-nemesis, trashy Edie (Nicollette Sheridan). Oblivious to most of the drama are the Solis family. After successfully getting her husband Carlos (Ricardo Chavira) out of prison, beautiful Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) must fight to hang onto him, while the two attempt to adjust to the idea of being parents. Babies threaten her "double zero" size, but as time passes, Gabrielle comes to realize how much children truly mean to her. In the meantime, all of the ladies on Wisteria Lane are curious about newcomer Betty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard), who hides a dark secret in her basement.

If it sounds complicated, that's because it is. Season Two picks up where the first season left off, and carries us with astonishing momentum into the further adventures of its troubled characters. The nice thing is that none of the characters are perfect, but the unfortunate side to this is that none of them have values either. Most of the same disconcerting content carries over, along with a few new attempts to cross the line. Nearly every episode contains something inappropriate or suggestive, whether it's Gabrielle flashing her gardeners in a rage that her husband doesn't seem to care that nude photographs are up of her on the internet, or Bree's son Andrew becoming involved in homosexual trysts.

There's too much to talk about, so I'll hit some of the highlights. Gabrielle faces the consequences of her adulterous affair with a teenage boy, a fact that threatens her marriage. Becoming tired of Carlos constantly berating her about it, she flippantly informs him that he should have an affair so they can be equal again, but when he becomes interested in a less-than-perfect nun, and later carries on with their maid, Gabrielle is intensely jealous. Bree's boyfriend attempts several times to get her in bed, and she finally gives in out of guilt, afraid that he'll abandon her otherwise. Susan wakes up with her ex-husband after they both got drunk. Lynette suspects Tom is having an affair (it's not true). Bree winds up dating a former sex-a-holic. There are quite a few implications between husbands and wives, frequent suggestive dialogue, and  perhaps most disconcerting, two times when homosexual lovers are either shown kissing or sleeping in the same bed.

The latter is not surprising, considering the show's creator is openly homosexual and has modeled various aspects of the show after his own experiences. The uncanny thing about the show is that it also has some extremely emotional and touching moments. Marc Cherry knows a lot about women and how their mind works, and that's what makes the show as strong as it is. Every female is different and unique, but likable in her own respect. The problems they deal with are realistic and practical, if somewhat more dramatic than most of our life issues. It's difficult not to identify with at least one of them -- perfectionist Bree whose life is falling apart, frazzled Lynette with wild children in tow, beautiful but unhappy Gabrielle, or klutzy, accident-prone Susan, who always says the wrong thing.

Problems arise in the morals presented, that adultery is "sometimes acceptable" (although Lynette doesn't think so), that casual sex goes right along with dating, that cheating insurance companies is all right, and church is good only for funerals and weddings. There is absolutely nothing redeeming in these ladies' behavior, and yet women throughout the world keep watching week after week. We all cried when Gabrielle lost her baby. We celebrated with Susan when Mike came around. We rooted for Lynette to put a stop to the nonsense in the office, and prayed Bree could make Andrew pay for the misery he put her through. But if it came to finding a single episode to praise for its moral virtue, I would be hard-pressed to name one.