neal mcdonough

(S05E11) "No one's better at plastering a fake smile and pretending to like someone than Bree Hodge." - Orson

Our favorite desperate characters are back! Sadly, not with a vengeance. But still, you have to admit they were entertaining this week. My favorite scenes were definitely those with Susan and Lee and those with Bree and Delina. But before we get to why these scenes were my favs, let's deal with the ongoing mystery: Dave Williams... err... David Dash.

(S05E10) "I'll be with you soon." - Dave

I must admit that I didn't expected the episode to end the way it ended. Oh, I'm not talking about the actual reveal, which I'll talk about after the jump. I'm talking about the fact the last new Desperate Housewives episode before the holidays actually didn't end with a huge cliffhanger (there are a few loose ends and questions but nothing that will prevent me from sleeping until January) and, instead, offered us some answers. Yes, actual answers. Let's talk about them, shall we?

(S05E08) "Hang in there. I'm not done with you yet." - Dave

There you have it, people. The most advertised episode of ABC's Desperate Housewives so far this season (we first heard about it in August) has finally aired. Even if I was entertained by Julie's return, Anne's storyline, Lee's joy after hearing dirt about Bree, and Virgina's antics, it was once again Dave's storyline that got my full attention. How should we interpret the new clues we were given thanks to Dr. Heller visiting Wisteria Lane?

(S05E07) "Knock it off!" - Gaby to a creepy, clingy and too generous Virginia

Last week, I mentioned how I thought the arrival of Gail O'Grady, Frances Conroy and Lily Tomlin spiced things up on Wisteria Lane. This week, they definitely brought on new spice because the three storylines got more complex and twisted. Sometimes, TV series push guest stars down our throats for sake of ratings (see Britney Spears on How I Met Your Mother for a recent example). However, this is not the case with the three actresses guesting on Desperate Housewives. Tomlin is especially a delight to see in her role as McCluskey's sister and Conroy, as I've mentioned last week, finally gives the Solises a reason to still get air time.

(S05E06) "When the time comes, an alibi would be nice." - Gaby

Sweeps is a time for closure, new twists, guest stars, and OMG!/WTF? moments. This week's episode of Desperate Housewives, which is the first November Sweeps installment of the series this season, definitely offered us new twists and guest stars thanks to the arrival of Gail O'Grady, Frances Conroy and Lily Tomlin. All three actresses will appear in a few episodes of the series and, as we saw in "There's Always a Woman," will be involved in some important way in the storylines.

(S05E05) "A night full of surprises." - Mary Alice about McCluskey's surprise birthday party

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, please tell me who's the most secretive of them all! The answer to this, when Desperate Housewives is concerned, is more than likely: it's a tie. Every character has a bunch of skeletons in the closet as well as tons of secrets. But based on this week's episode and, let's face it, since episode 5.01, Dave wins it all. The episode may not have focused much on Dave's mystery (more about the flashbacks later) but it did give us another glimpse at what the person is capable of and gave us a clue as to who is his target.

(S05E04) "Orson, we're partners. We share everything. Any success I have is just as much yours as it is mine." - Bree

It's no secret Bree is my favorite character. Yet, I didn't enjoy this week's Bree-centric episode that much. It wasn't bad but it's not one of the episodes I'll watch again. I get why Bree told Orson that they share everything and that any success she has is also his; after all, they are husband and wife. But what is Orson's share of Bree's success? He wasn't there when she launched the company and worked hard to make it successful. Does he really deserve a "we were named business woman of the year"?

(S05E03) "This guy is up to something." - McCluskey about Dave

There were much better lines said in this week's episode than the one I just put above (more on those lines later). However, what McCluskey said is what has been interesting me the most since the season premiere: what is Dave really up to. We get that he doesn't like McCluskey at all and that he is trying to befriend everyone on Wisteria Lane. But what is his ultimate game plan? Who is he really after and why? These questions, and the fact that Dave is so creepy and well played by actor Neal McDonough, help keep me glued to my TV during Desperate Housewives and make me think that Dave's storyline may turn out to be as good as, if not better, than Katherine's storyline last season.

Last season's Desperate Housewives' finale was pretty much a game changer. The denizens of Wisteria Lane jumped five years into the future and into completely different lives. Just to recap: Gaby (Eva Longoria Parker) is a mom, Bree (Marcia Cross) is the new Martha Stewart and is back with Orson (Kyle MacLachlan), Lynette's (Felicity Huffman) sons are juvenile delinquents, Susan (Teri Hatcher) has a new man and Edie (Nicolette Sheridan) is nowhere to be found. So basically things are a little ... different. Executive producers Bob Daily and Sabrina Wind discuss just how different life on Wisteria Lane is going to be this season.

Daily says that the five year jump has allowed them to wipe the slate clean, "We keep talking about this first episode likes it's another pilot. We're starting over and each woman has a new drive now." For more information on what to expect on Desperate Housewives this season, follow me after the jump.

WARNING: SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP

One thing you have to say about the powers that be at Desperate Housewives, they're really great with casting. Great looking guys, beautiful women, quirky character actors; we've seen them all on Wisteria Lane and usually they leave a lasting impression.

The latest name to check in to Desperate Housewives is Neal McDonough. He'll be appearing in the new season and Hollywood Reporter is wondering how he'd do with Nicolette Sheridan's character, Edie Britt. Is that wondering or playing matchmaker? How do we know that Marc Cherry isn't setting him up as a mystery man from Bree's past? Cherry is nothing if not inventive, so good luck trying to anticipate his plotlines!

(E03) So, I thought that last night's Tin Man was a vast improvement from the first night. Sunday night felt like a Sci-Fi Channel rip-off of the original story -- slightly modernized with scarier special effects (scarier in comparison to the overall-wearing lollipop-holding munchkins).

By contrast, Monday night proved that Tin Man had its own story to tell. This was a story that would use the Wizard of Oz as a jumping off point and rethink the classic.

According to preliminary data, and as reported by Variety, Tin Man appears to have beaten virtually every record the Sci Fi channel has ever seen. It's 6.4 million viewers surpassed the 6.1 million who saw Steven Spielberg's Taken, back in 2002. Demo ratings were equally as strong, where Tin Man unseated 2000's Dune in adults 18-49, and Taken again in adults 25-54.

With reviews coming in either mid-range to downright negative, it'll be interesting to see how these numbers continue through the mini-series' three-night run.

(E02) After reading the comments about last night's part one of Tin Man, I'm a bit skeptical about how many people will (or won't for that matter) tune in tonight. Sure, plenty of people found it entertaining but those who hated it seemed to really loathe it.

For myself, I thought it was pretty good but I like the original story enough to find almost any variation of it amusing. I also know not to expect much from a Sci-Fi channel miniseries. So, I fully anticipated that the special effects would be inconsistent and the dialogue would be insipid.

Nevertheless, the actors were good, great even. Alan Cumming is a genius and Neal McDonough is good enough as the embittered ex-Tin Man. I didn't think that Zooey Deschanel was that bad either--so many people complained about her. She does have an abrupt delivery though (which doesn't work well with some of her mediocre lines).

(E01) Like many people, I am a big fan of The Wizard of Oz. For a little warm fuzzy nostalgia, I'll put on the original movie with Judy Garland. I've read Gregory Maguire's The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (and loved that version too). I even own the soundtrack to Wicked (although I've yet to see the show). And who can forget The Wiz?

I guess it was only a matter of time until the Sci-Fi channel added their version to the ever-evolving list of stories about Dorothy and her journey through Oz. Tin Man aired last night on the Sci-Fi channel from 9-11 p.m. ET/PT and will continue tonight and tomorrow night (same channel, same time).

We began last night with D.G., the Midwestern waitress who speeds to work on her motorcycle, has weird dreams, and believes there's something more to life than waiting tables and windy prairies. D.G., unlike the gentler Dorothy, is a little too tough at times. I don't mind her talking back to everyone but I do mind her going after longcoats with a stick when she sees the men beating up Tin Man's family.

(S01E08) Well... that sucks. Not the episode, but the fact that there won't be any more episodes. I actually thought that the show had hit full speed at the end of last week's episode when Will popped up with his gun trained on Marlow. With the three boys back together again working to bring down Freed, and Marlow more convinced than ever that things were not what they seem, it could have been the perfect kickoff to the second half of the season.

Instead, we are left with what was a pretty entertaining hour of television, but one that suffered greatly from ten pounds of plot stuffed in a five pound bag, and the fact that so many of the questions that were brought up will never have an answer. Really, short of confirmation that the TV Squad readers correctly fingered Agent Chambers as Freed's man inside the FBI, they didn't really give us much at all in the way of answers.