Desperate Housewives 7.01 “Remember Paul?” Review

The fall season has returned to Wisteria Lane, which means that secrets, lies, blackmail, and revenge are in full bloom.

Desperate Housewives laid some heavy stuff on us tonight, and mapped out quickly where we will be headed with the ladies this year.

Meet Renee Perry

Vanessa Williams made her appearance on Wisteria Lane and it was pretty… muted. However, I didn’t see a problem with the toning down of her entrance to the show. Promotional materials have made sure to plaster Williams in the middle of all the group shots, which struck a chord with some fans. So a ‘muted’ entrance could probably serve to show longtime fans that DH is not about to transform into ‘The Vanessa Williams Hour’, while firmly establishing that Renee Perry is still a force to be reckoned with. Speaking of which, I was actually surprised that Renee’s husband has already left her, which opens the door for her to do what she want with who she wants. Less scandalous, sure. Although, a small part of me thinks Renee is lying.

Honey, I Got A Secret…

So the baby who was switched at birth was Juanita Solis. Talk about a shocker. I had my head pegged that either one of Lynette’s brood or Susan’s son MJ were going to be the kid in question, but choosing the Solis’ to be the unfortunate parents was highly unexpected and will add greatly to Gaby and Carlos’s storyline. It was pretty painful from gate to see these two are holding life changing secrets from one another, and choosing to brush them under the rug is not going to end well for them. This inevitable event scares me, because I really rooted for these two during their turbulent times. However, those were somewhat trivial secrets. The secrets introduced tonight could put a permanent end to their marriage. I just hope that’s not the case.

Paul Young Returns

Creepy. Mark Moses sold Paul tonight, sliding back into his role like a fitted coat fresh out the dry cleaners. His scenes had a perfectly even balance of menace and Mr. Rogers to them, which means that whatever plan he has up is sleeve has to be devious as hell. But Felicia Tillman is back on the scene, and she has “friends”, yall. That woman means business, yall, and if we can see more of her then I will be much obliged. Seriously.

Bree’s Moment of Sheer Desperation

After Orson cleared out, Bree took on a new project of remodeling her house, but in actuality, Bree is about to remodel her whole life, starting with her new potential beau Keith the handyman. When she went commando on the wallpaper, I saw some of Season One Bree then, and God did I miss her. I thought Orson was eerily serene about leaving Bree, which makes me think he’s lying about the length he and his therapist has been fooling around. It was a sort of pleasing goodbye for Kyle McLachlan and I am shock to say that I will actually miss Orson Hodge. Temper tantrums and all…

Susan’s New Gig

I don’t know about Susan’s storyline at the moment. All I could think about was if it didn’t take much for her to relent to work for Maxine, then maybe keeping the strip club shouldn’t have been such a moral issue for her. True, she didn’t know what the deal was with finances at the time she sold the place, but still… Let’s just hope she makes it back to the lane soon. Just saying.

A good solid start for the season, especially with it reminding so much of Season One in terms of a baby being “switched” at birth, Paul and Felicia’s return, a vixen about to wreck havoc, and Bree going through marital problems among some of the symbolic references I picked up. Plus, did anyone else find it weird that Steve Culp was credited for a photo of him? Or did I blink and miss something?

Update: Thanks to the commenters, I realized that I missed the first minute of the show, which included Steven Culp’s Rex in a flashback scene. Thanks guys for filling me in!

Discuss your thoughts in our forums about your favorite season one storylines and if they correlate with any plots introduced tonight!