Last episode of the year people! Lots of stuff going down and lots of stuff left open for January. Episode 10 proved how season 7 has gone from solid to amazing and how it has much more yet to offer. A little correction first: Last week or a few weeks ago, I said that Marc Cherry had written the episode when it really wasn’t. Sorry for misinforming everyone.
Spoiler-free zone:
So, thankfully the writers have managed to revitalise their annual disaster theme. This disaster was relevant to what was going on, was big enough to provide thrills and also had room for comedy and plot development. All the storylines progress and are ready for the second part of the season and the mystery, specifically, gets a drastic change of focus.
Spoiler zone:
So let’s begin with Bree. Keith’s father did the inevitable and Keith always had those anger issues so his reaction was inevitable as well. Bree’s relationship with Keith seems to be falling apart but then again, who didn’t see it coming? I knew this was going to happen eventually so the confirmation of it made it a bit sadder (especially in the scene where Keith is unpacking). Bree really got her share of drama but it’s always awesome when that results in her holding a gun. In fact, her shining moment was when she shot the gun in the air and then created an entire mess by making the entire riot really kick off. Her pointing the gun to the entire neighbourhood was quite a funny scene too.
Lynette was more of the central character this week. She organised all the protesters and unfortunately the extreme ones as well. Felicity Huffman’s acting was unsurprisingly spot-on and she just grounded the entire situation. It’s really effective when someone as strong as Lynette, messes things up in such a big scale. I’m also curious to see the outcome of her “Tom and Renee” storyline since it will challenge the strongest marriage in the entire Lane.
Speaking of which, Susan’s main focus this week was this exact “Tom and Renee” thing. It’s nice that she’s getting some one on one with the newest housewife and while her actual storyline isn’t yet fully-fleshed out, she was featured in many of the episode’s tense moments.
Gaby also had her fair share of tense moments. Eva Longoria’s dramatic acting seemed effortless and the little girl that plays Juanita also did a very good acting job. The mother-young daughter relationship hasn’t really been explored in the show so this is one of the things I’m looking forward to seeing.
And last but certainly not least, Paul. The entire pacing of this main storyline was very well made. Nothing felt rushed and nothing felt slow. The riot was blended in well with the rest of the episode and it didn’t come out of the blue since Paul’s overall storyline was relevant to what was happening. Bob and Lee’s part was quite entertaining, seeing as they are probably the most fun supporting characters on the street and thus it’s exciting seeing them together against everyone else. The final shooting of Paul was the best way to wrap up such an intense episode. Right before the shooting, we are allowed to breathe for just a brief moment (since the riot has just finished) which makes the final scene all the more sudden and climactic.
All in all, this hour was jam-packed and very cleverly structured. It left so many possibilities for next year and there were very few gimmicks, so nothing felt off. Another reason the episode shined was how it used its ensemble, since it escaped from the pattern of having most storylines broken into clearly divided segments. Below I made a list of some of the people I suspect of shooting Paul. Hope you enjoy it! See you all in January and I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Possible suspects:
Beth: she’s always had a plan against him, plus she would know he was outside at that time.
Bob and/or Lee: we see that they have a gun, plus the whole neighbourhood was all over them.
Bree: she’s good with guns and Paul’s little gathering ruined her life a little bit more. However, she is a main character, so if Paul had been shot somewhere like the leg, it would have been more believable…
Roy: McCluskey was quite injured. Maybe he grew up in the country and has traditional ways of solving things.
Mitsy: why not? She’s a relatively fresh character and Paul sent her away to a meaningless journey. Maybe she is a bit too impulsive.
Juanita: Oh she’ll take a bitch down if she has to!
