‘Desperate Housewives’ Recap: Bree Gets Another Scary Letter

 

Another week, another twist in the season-long mystery. Who do YOU think has been sending these letters?

We may not know exactly who killed Chuck Vance (Jonathan Cake), but we got a pretty major clue on the Jan. 8 episode of Desperate Housewives — and like all good clues, it was saved until the final minutes. The same mystery person who sent the Mary Alice-esque letter to Bree (Marcia Cross) in the season premiere gifted her with a follow-up note this week: “You’re welcome.” Politeness has never been so chilling.

And the fact that Bree was even alive to receive said note means she didn’t end up killing herself, like we feared she would. Right when she was about to pull the trigger, she got an angry visit from Rene (Vanessa Williams), who was convinced Bree was shacked up at the motel with Ben (Charles Mesure). Once she figured out what was happening, Rene took it upon herself to become Bree’s personal watchdog — eventually becoming one of the best friends she’ll ever have.
While Carlos (Ricardo Chavira) may not have killed Chuck — as far as we know — he did spend some time at the police station. Apparently, after checking himself out of rehab, he drove drunk to the station and tried to confess to Alejandro’s murder. Fortunately that’s when the call came in about Chuck’s murder, so Carlos used the chaos to make his escape.
And to those who hoped that Lynette (Felicity Huffman) letting Tom (Doug Savant) in on her secret would help bring them back together, this week probably came as a major disappointment. Although Tom did spend some quality time with Lynette and the kids this week, Lynette realized Tom needed to be in Paris with Jane. (Is anybody else super-bored by Tom and Lynette these days? I thought their separation would re-invigorate their story line — not suck the life out of it.)
Despite everything I’ve written about, somehow Susan (Teri Hatcher) managed to be the craziest person this week. After trying to ditch her problems by escaping to New York City, Susan ultimately decided she needed to go to Oklahoma to tell Alejandro’s family about his death. Yeah, because I don’t see that blowing up in her face. Not at all.
I’d also like to take a minute to acknowledge Vanessa Williams for her work this week. It’s no secret her character has been completely misused during the past two seasons, so it was great to be reminded that — despite being completely wasted as an actress — she can still put on an incredible performance. If you didn’t get all misty-eyed during her speech at the church, you have no soul. Period.
So, what did you think of the winter premiere? Any new guesses about who sent the letter(s) to Bree? And do you think Susan made a huge mistake by going to Oklahoma? Drop your thoughts in the comments section below!

— Andy Swift