(S01E09) "Do you remember what happened to Gloria that day? Because I do. We both have our secrets, Bun. I'll keep yours if you keep mine." - Darryl

Well, darn. As I mentioned last week, Eastwick keeps getting better and better. This week's episode was the best yet! Funny, dramatic, good characters, and some tense action at the end. And the best part is that the witches are finally realizing their powers and using them for good. If the series continued, we might see that they'd be tempted to use their powers for more nefarious purpose.

We also saw Darryl get a little more evil-ish with Bun. It made me realize that perhaps he's not the gadabout town guy who just loves women and being a big-shot. Then again, maybe he's not as bad a guy as I think (see above quote).

(S01E08) "I am through with tortured relationships and unrequited crushes." - Joanna

Even though Eastwick has gotten the big ol' axe, I'll cover it til the bitter end, gosh darnit. I believe it has one more episode, which airs next week.

At this point, it seems kind of silly to invest more emotional energy into the show, but even though it's had some trouble finding its footing, Eastwick has gotten consistently more interesting. In particular, I was looking forward to seeing where the romance and lust between Darryl and Roxie would go. It got a little more heated this week, and there's plenty of sparks there.

The crush Joanna had on Will seems to have all but vanished, and she seems cool with Kat going out with him. Kat, on the other hand, isn't quite sure what she's doing. When she saw Ray making out with another woman, her furor stirred things up and sent a piano, among other things, flying.

(S01E07) "You say cursed like it's a bad thing." - Darryl to Roxie

Eastwick continues to gel a little bit more with each episode, and it's fun seeing the witches discover and hone their powers.

In last night's episode, I kept thinking that none of what happens should come as any big shock to the witches. For instance, Kat shouldn't be amazed that Joanna says she can move things with her mind, because she's made the weather change, for goodness sake.

But maybe they're trying to make the women more real by not jumping into things. If something weird happened in real life, you wouldn't automatically think, "oh, I'm a witch." You'd probably think it's just a strange coincidence, or at the most, there are forces in the world we know little about.

(S01E06) "It's like you've stepped out of a 70's porno and into my life." - Roxie to Darryl

It's Halloween, and there's no better place to be than Eastwick. Unless you've got an insane pastor on your tail who's bound and determined to make you pay for your past sins (see photo above).

But first, the celebration! Everyone decorates coffins, fills them up with whatever's been bothering them this past year, brings them to the giant witch statue, and watches them burn. Sounds like a party, doesn't it?

(S01E05) "The inner animals of our citizenry will be released." - Darryl

As some of us have said on previous Eastwick reviews and comments, the show seems to be moving along at a snail's pace. But -- as some of you have also said -- that's not always a bad thing. Let things simmer. Let the plot slowly unwind itself. Let the characters evolve organically. Let's just hope it doesn't simmer too long.

But we definitely got lots of simmer with this episode, especially the scene with the red-hot Jaime Ray Newman as sultry Kat atop the piano. I kept thinking about how Darryl's blonde attorney was talking down to Kat, saying her hair was lifeless and such. There was nothing lifeless about her on that piano.

(S01E04) "No, they're boob-iful." - Penny's response when Joanna asks if her boobs are weird.

I'm reluctant to get too invested in Eastwick, because I have a feeling it might be canceled and then I'll just be ticked off. On the other hand, it's getting better, and once again, they twisted things just a little bit in the last 20 seconds of the episode.

But first, let's talk about what's going on with each of the witches:

Kat. Oy, it makes me so mad that she keeps going back to Raymond, even though he's an absolute ass. And I would NOT have fired Ivanka the tigress lawyer. Kat needs her, and I have a feeling her bird's nest plan to let the kids stay in the house and have her and Raymond take turns staying there won't work. He's too much of an ass. Why doesn't she just cast some horrible spell on him? I know ... the kids. On the flipside, it might be fun having her stay at Joanna's.

(S01E03) Eastwick is definitely getting more interesting, even though my husband came in during the last half, said he was creeped out, and promptly declared the show a "dragedy." I think that's a step up from last week when he called it "dribble" (or "drivel" - either one works).

The fact that Roxie kept seeing a dead Gus at every turn was a little creepy. Hey, all she needed to say was "I'm sorry," and he'd go away. Since "screw you" didn't work, she finally made the right call at the end, when she went with her daughter to return something of Gus's to his mom. Then Gus the ghost disappeared.

Hmmm ... I wouldn't have minded him sticking around for another episode or two; maybe Roxie could have found a way to torture him a little more for almost raping her daughter. Oh wait, he's dead, so there's that. Anyway, I'm guessing there will be more ghosts in this show.

(S01E02) About half-way into this episode of Eastwick, my husband came into the room and said, "This is mind-numbing dribble, posing as a plot." My husband never minces words, and while I'm usually the good cop in the relationship, I have to agree with him on this one. It IS mind-numbing dribble. At least, this episode was. I'm a little sad about it, too, because the show seems like it could work. Don't you think?

(S01E01) Is it bad that my favorite character on Eastwick is a supporting character? That would be the fabulous Sara Rue, who starred in Less Than Perfect from 2002 - 2006. I loved that show! She's done other stuff since then, but that's what I remember her for. in Eastwick, she plays the sideline character of Penny, a co-worker of Joanna's (Lindsay Price). Hopefully, Sara will get plenty of screen time.

Let's talk about the show. Eastwick is based on the John Updike book The Witches of Eastwick, which spawned the 1987 movie by the same name, starring Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer. Of note is that Veronica Cartwright, who played Felicia Alden in the movie, is playing the part of Bun Waverly in this new series. There was also a 2002 TV movie starring Marcia Cross that perhaps had three or four viewers.

I got hooked on NBC's Lipstick Jungle during its first season, and can't wait to see what happens with the girls in season two, premiering Wed., Sept. 24 at 10/9c. Look for my reviews of the show on TV Squad, as well.

While I've already found my Mr. Right, I still identify with all three women in one way or another. Like movie exec Wendy (Brooke Shields), I'm doing my best to balance career and family. Like Victory (Lindsay Price), I have a whole bunch of dreams and goals on my list. And like Nico (Kim Raver), I'm an overachieving workaholic. And if not for the aforementioned Mr. Right, I'd have a really tough time saying no to Robert Buckley's bedroom eyes, too.

(S01E07) "When fortune knocks, offer a chair." - Lorraine, the writer

NBC advertised this week's episode of Lipstick Jungle as the "season finale." Yet, about a month ago, they ordered six more episodes of the series saying that season one would get 13 episodes. NBC probably doesn't want LJ to face shows like Lost; so the network probably decided to air those six episodes next season in a less threatening timeslot. Let's face it, the series, even if it definitely got better over time, is not the best out there. It benefited a lot from the strike since it aired without much of competition.

Even if the season finale could have been more rocking, it was a satisfying episode that left viewers with a few questions such as: Was Charles really cheating?, Did Nico take the right decision?, Did Joe have a one-night stand or was this woman a "regular"?, Will Victory forgive Joe since, technically, he didn't cheat?, etc.

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(S01E06) "It must feel like a really horrible surprise party" - Kirby to Wendy

I felt sorry for Wendy as I watched about 4/5 of the episode unfold. (I had to tape the episode and the VCR decided to not be my friend and stopped around 45 minutes in! Thanks NBC for complete recaps of the episodes.) Not only did Wendy go to a meeting she didn't want to go but she had the unpleasant surprise to learn that not only one of her best friend has been lying to her for weeks but that Nico also flew her boy toy half across the world for a booty call!

(S01E05) Well, I am certainly enjoying Lipstick Jungle more than Cashmere Mafia. I like it so much that I jumped at the opportunity to fill in for Isabelle and review this week's episode.

Of course, lots of people expected the two shows to be almost the same (just different nights and channels). And the shows do have similarities: big stars with big paychecks (Lucy Liu, Brooke Shields), female characters in powerful jobs, stupid titles, etc. But as I sat through the first few episodes of Lipstick Jungle, I knew it would be a much more gratifying show. LJ is nowhere near Sex and the City or Desperate Housewives, but it certainly has potential.

Okay, enough preamble. After the jump, I'll talk about "Chapter Five: Dressed to Kill," I promise.

(S01E04) "People like us are easy targets." - Hector to Nico

If we look at what Lipstick Jungle offers us, indeed, people in the movie, fashion, or magazine business are easy targets. Wendy's ex-nanny wrote a book, Victory's career was destroyed by one bad collection, and Nico had to face a fake lawsuit that had some truth to it (even Nico admits that what she did could be seen as sexual harassment).

This week's episode closed the books on the lawsuit Kirby filed against Nico but it didn't end their relationship. Why did he really do it? Even if Mike was the snake behind the ordeal, Kirby agreed to go forward yet all he wanted was Nico...

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NBC's Sex and the City-like fashionable show Lipstick Jungle received an order of six extra episodes. This means that the series will get a first season of 13 episodes.

TV Guide reveals that the series, based on the book of the same name written by SatC author Candace Bushnell, is winning its timeslot among women of the 18-49 and 18-34 categories.

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