"Desperate Housewives" Keeps Me Rooting for More!

As Season 7 of the US series Desperate Housewives drew to a close in Asia (in the US the season had concluded in May).... the hour starting at 9.50 p.m has started seeming a bit incomplete and desolate! I am already looking forward to when Season 8 will be aired (which sadly is being tipped as the last season of the series). Every weekday night for the past many weeks, I have looked forward to that time of the day when I am through with all household chores, my son is asleep and I can just wind down with a glass of cold water or a hot cocoa (depending on the weather and my mood!) and allow myself to be transported to another world- a world situated at Wisteria Lane, a world where any thing can happen, where fantasy meets realism, where tears can mix with smiles and grimaces can turn to guffaws in moments!

I am hardly a TV buff, I can actually go through a week without even a backward glance at the Television and not miss it! My only other constants include Castle, Frasier, Friends, X-files, Indian Idol, X-factor India and Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who wants to be a millionaire?) and whenever these are off air, my television set goes into a hibernation of sorts!

I don't consider myself desperate but I do have my moments of despair! And I most certainly don't consider myself a housewife - actually I have always detested the term, why women should be deemed wedded to their houses, not even homes, beats me! I whole heartedly welcome the term homemaker which is much more dignified. The new terminology has been further refined with stay at home moms (SAHMs) which correctly emphasizes the crucial job of parenting that stay at home moms do! And since I do earn a pittance for my writing and editing work, I have recently been promoted to the position of a Work-at-Home Mom (WAHM)!

Coming back to the topic - why exactly do I love this series? Maybe because it has all of these- the SAHMs, the WAHMs, the soccer moms, the beta moms, the alpha moms, the tiger moms and even the sloppy moms! Maybe because the protagonists in this series are nowhere desperate but just like me they have their moments of doubt, anguish, pain, frustration and despair which makes them so real, so approachable. And then whoosh, one of these desperate women does something utterly ridiculous, utterly inconceivable and I am reminded that it is after all just a television series designed to entertain and titillate!

Yes, the racy promos, the numerous strings of boyfriends and the dollops of infidelity thrown in generous proportions do spice up the narration but at the same time the insecurity of a spouse earning more or an old secret destroying a new life keeps one rooted to the tv set asking for more. All the 4 main female protagonists- Bree, Susan, Lynette and Gabrielle are power women in their own right- strong, resourceful, opinionated and fiercely independent. Yet, they are soft in parts, vulnerable in love, loving in motherhood, loyal in friendship! The ladies are shown growing wiser as the series progresses-maturing and lending more sensitivity to their roles with every successive season!

There is Lynette (played by Felicity Huffman) , the mom of 5 kids (the oldest a teenager and the youngest an infant), whose 20 year old rock solid marriage with Tom Scavo is tragically facing rough weather. Lynette is the perfect soccer mom handling 5 kids, household chores, a career, then a home-grown interior designing business and in between all this she still finds time to host community meetings. Ironically, the very plush job which she pushes her husband to accept is the very factor that pulls them apart in the end.

Bree Van (played by Marcia Cross)- the quintessential diva of perfection - who cooks perfectly, bakes perfectly, dresses immaculately and keeps her house perfect. But what is not perfect is her life and her relationships - her relationships with men and her relationship with her children is far from perfect forcing Bree into an alcohol addiction In times of crisis, Bree shows resolve and mettle and when her boyfriend (17 years younger than her) is faced with a choice between her and his son from another woman, Bree convinces him to go even though she is heartbroken....though she quickly recovers to find another love interest in her life- Detective Chuck!

Susan Mayer (played by Teri Hatcher) is my favorite character- beautiful, vivacious and compassionate- Susan swears by loyalty to her friends and family and does crazy stuff on instinct which she ends up regretting each time. Financial hardships, humiliation at her son's school, kidney transplant and a food poisoning accusation- Susan faces all with a calm resolve and manages to trump it all as lady luck befriends her and Mike again!

Gabrielle Solis (played by Eva Longoria), an ex-model who believes in living it up with designer bags, shoes and clothes goes through personal hell in this season. She discovers that her elder daughter was exchanged in the hospital at birth and even after going through lengths looking for her biological daughter and finding her, she loses her again. When she recovers from that, her step-dad who abused her when she was a kid comes back to stalk her forcing her to take lessons in shooting.

The season finale took the cake bringing closure in some quarters and heralding new beginnings in others. Lynette and Tom make the big decision to go separate ways; Bree finds a new boyfriend in Detective Chuck after making sure he is not gay and otherwise eligible; Susan moves back on Wisteria lane and the residents organize a dinner to welcome her back and Gaby gets her revenge on her step-dad who molested her when she was a child. The finale also saw Paul Young handing himself to the police and the very wicked Felicia dying in a road accident.

Once again the season ended with a murder-that of Gabrielle's abusive step father who was supposedly dead but who returned to stalk Gaby....Carlos accidently killed the man when he hit him on the head in a bid to protect Gaby. And as dessert was served to all the guests in Gaby's house - the crime scene; the four friends made a silent pact to cover up Carlos's crime. The murder cover-up proved yet again that the friendship of the 4 women is the predominant and triumphant emotion in every season. The plot also ensured that the Desperate Housewives of Wisteria lane collectively carry the burden of this secret forward to Season 8! Looking forward to a scintillating season 8 !