See Also: 'They Asked Me Why I Believe In You' Episode Guide

Online reviewers have weighed in on the fifth episode of Desperate Housewives season two.

Here's what they had to say about "They Asked Me Why I Believe In You":

• Lynette Rice reviewing for EW.com while Michael Slezak is on vacation, said the show "continued to unravel":

  [The housewives] almost never seem to come together anymore, and when they do, it feels forced and inconsequential. What happened to those delicious moments when the ladies ruminated about men, marriage, and murder? Oh, that's right—that was last season, when there was one major plotline pulling these women together. Now that we know why Mary Alice killed herself, the ladies only seem to meet out of a sense of obligation. That wonderful sisterly bond that made this show so relatable—who can forget that moment last season when a hysterical Lynette broke down on a playing field while Susan and Bree attempted to console her?—is now sadly and noticeably absent. What's really happening on Wisteria Lane? I know I'm not the first to ask this, but is Housewives facing the dreaded sophomore slump?

  To read her full analysis, where she also says that Mary Alice's voice-over is "lazy exposition", visit EW.com.

• Sarah Gilbert at TV Squad said she adored Wallace Shawn's guest appearence as Lonny. "He's adorably evil. He lies like a master. He's so awesome. I almost wish Susan had finally decided to let him have the contract, so we could see him again. If only he hadn't tried to kiss her... There was so much good in this episode, I'm not going to be able to cover it all and still make dinner. I just have to give a shout out to the funny, funny, funny marriage counseling scene. Oh I could just die from laughter."

• Candice, in her review at Desperatefans.org, said she liked both Susan's scenes and Mary Alice's narration. "The scenes between Susan and her booking agent, Lonny Moon were priceless. It was nice to see a little bit of Susan's life outside of Wisteria Lane and not only that, but away from the Mike/Carl/Edie situation. The casting of Wallace Shawn was also great; I know you all remember him from Clueless as Mr. Hall. One thing that was definitely missing from all episodes prior was Mary Alice's voice narration. In season one they followed this unbreakable format where Mary Alice would narrate for each woman's opening scenes. In season two—not so much. But this episode she did, and at least for me, it made the episode more enjoyable to watch. I love those Desperate Housewives-esque montage narrations, like the one we got in Susan's opening scene describing her relationship with Lonny. There always packed with Housewives humor."

• Dave Anderson at TV Guide Online was decidedly less impressed with Lonny however. "Definite highlight of the episode was Bree's triumphant Steel Magnolias–like monologue at the cemetery, when she was chastising Rex for thinking that she was trying to murder him. Definite lowlight was Wallace Shawn's Lonny trying to kiss Susan. He looked like Wilbur from Charlotte's Web." Anderson was also happy that most of the housewives had a chance to have a poker game again.

• John Duran at InsidePulse.com posted a recap of the episode. He was rather apathetic about the show in his "final word": "Gabrielle, Bree and Betty were interesting, but the rest was the boring stuff that I haven't cared about since the season premiere. Paul's back, so that should add a little flare back to the series as well. Or not."

• Jeff at Desperate for Desperate Housewives wrote a scene-by-scene summary.

• Erin McMaster wrote a recap of the episode at Blogcritics.org.

• There is also brief recap at Television Without Pity, where visitors have so far rated the episode B in a poll.

• Henry Goldblatt at EW.com said that the something has gone "horribly awry" with the show. "Since the show returned for its second season in September, the four titular wives have spent a total of 135 seconds together on screen. (For real.) During that same time, Desperate Housewives has morphed into four series. Call it the Separate Housewives anthology." Goldblatt said the show was still better than most shows, but he has an alternative if things don't improve. "They need to find a way to put these women in a room together—how about bringing back those all-gal poker games? Or integrating [Alfre] Woodard's Betty Applewhite more fully into the cast? Barring that, at least make sure her basement creepo's backstory reunites these women. I really hope it does. Otherwise, reluctantly, here's the show I'll be watching: Family Guy."

• Marc Berman, the Programming Insider at Mediaweek, took a moment out of his ratings report to comment on the show. "Unlike comparable serial Knots Landing, which always managed to tie the core characters together into a season-long plot, the problem with ABC's Desperate Housewives in year two is a lack of continuity. All the storylines are disjointed, Alfre Woodard does not fit in, Rex (Steven Culp) is sorely missed, and an unnecessary subplot with Teri Hatcher (who the writers don't seem to know what to do with) and her agent last night only adds to the lack of focus. There must be some other mystery for Susan, Bree, Lynette, Gabrielle and the severely underused Edie to solve."

• And finally, throwing some cold water on negative reviews, Ellen Gray at Macon.com said negative reviews probably won't affect the show. "That critics will begin to complain that the show isn't nearly as good as it was a year ago," she wrote. She added "that the show's audience will largely stay put and may even grow" because "we critics tend to love new [while] viewers tend to love familiar."

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