See Also: 'Next' Episode Guide

Synopsis

"Next", with Mary Alice still narrating, starts off with the conclusion of the finale cliffhanger where Susan Mayer is being held hostage by Zach Young. Mike Delfino walks in, a scuffle ensues, and Zach runs off into the night. Afterwards, Susan attempts to give a statement to the police but keeps being interrupted by Mike. Julie later overhears Mike telling the cop that he doesn't wish to press charges.

Meanwhile, John Rowland, assuming that Carlos is out of Garbielle's life for good, shows up at the Solis house with luggage. Gabrielle quickly disabuses him of that notion and throws him out. At the Scavo house, Lynette is getting ready for her job interview while Tom attends to the children. Bree finally picks up the phone and calls her friends to let them know of Rex's death.

At Lynette's interview, it's obvious that the interviewer, Nina Fletcher, isn't too keen on the fact that Lynette will be a working mother. However, she agrees to let her come in for a second interview. Bree's mother-in-law, Phyllis, becomes a nuisance to Bree, insisting that Rex's happiest times were in his childhood. Gabrielle goes to visit Carlos in jail where he insists on a paternity test.

Bree visits the new neighbors, the Applewhite's, to ask if Betty Applewhite would play the organ for Rex's funeral. Matthew Applewhite, Betty's son, mention that he had also lost his father. After Bree leaves, Betty speaks to her son, asking why he pretended his father is dead. Matthew responds that it would help their cover story.

Susan confronts Mike after Julie tells her mother of what she overheard at the hospital. Mike then tells her about Zach's origins and Mary Alice's secret. During this conversation, Mike gets a call to come identify Zach's body. However, the body turns out not to be Zach. It's then that Susan realizes Zach is Mike's son. Garbielle befriends a woman at the testing clinic and takes the woman's paternity test results in order to create fake results for Carlos. Bree and Phyllis, while talking with the pastor, get into an arguement where Phyllis insults Bree's marriage to Rex. Bree then refuses to let Phyllis come to the funeral.

Bree's children plead with her to allow their grandmother to attend the funeral. Bree gives in and asks Phyllis to stay as long as she abides by Bree's wishes. When Lynette is leaving for her second interview, she finds Tom on the floor with a backache. She she ends up taking Penny, their youngest child, with her. Amazingly enough, Ed Farrara, the interviewer, doesn't seem to mind that Lynette multi-tasks during the interview by changing Penny's diaper. She lands the job. Susan goes to talk with Mike and informs him that, since she expects him to want a relationship with Zach when he's found and that she can't be around Zach, she and Mike can't move in together.

At the funeral, Bree sees that Phyllis has had Rex's prep school tie put on him. Before the coffin is sealed, Bree stops the funeral and demands Tom Scavo's tie, which she then proceeds to put on Rex's body.

The episode ends with Mrs. Applewhite and her son taking a tray of food down to the basement. Before they descend, they make sure to take a gun.

Analysis

The sophomore season of Desperate Housewives opens a little less dramatically then one would have expected for a show that is normally so suspenseful. One would think that, since this cliffhanger has had some four months to be digested by viewers, that there would have been more to it than a simple scuffle in which no one got hurt except Susan...who bit her lip when she was tripped by Bongo. Then again, perhaps it's a good thing that this situation was so quickly resolved, considering that a season premiere should often feel somewhat like a fresh start after the changes of the last season. But overall, in some respects, "Next" didn't feel so much like a fresh start since there are loose plotlines from last season that are still in play.

It looks as though Lynette is being set up to have a rough time of going back to work since she has the disadvantage of having one of her superiors disapproving of motherhood. As this seems as though it will become the main conflict of Lynette's life, one has to wonder how often Tom will be depicted as an incompetent father. Will he eventually get sick of the children and wish to go back to work? So far, Tom's character has been rather likable in an exasperating way. It would be a pity if the writers come to decide that, in order to stir conflict, they make Tom out as some sort of chauvinist that demands that Lynette quit her job because he can't stand being a stay-at-home dad. (Granted, he did demand that she go back to work but in his defense, she had that coming in light of what she had done to jeopardize his own job.)

For Gabrielle, a telling piece of characterization happens during her first visit to Carlos in this episode. As she tries to tell him she's sorry for the affair she says that it could have been worse, that "nobody died". This brings to mind Mama Solis, who was struck down after discovering Gabrielle and John together. It was obvious for a while that Gabrielle felt guilty over this incident but, like a child, she eventually managed to convince herself it wasn't her fault. Thus it's out of her mind and none of her concern any longer. She often acts in this way, very self-centered in a child-like way. When she tells Carlos that she was driven to cheat because he constantly left her alone, she's not just saying it to justify her affair, she most likely truly believes it.

Later in the episode, when Gabrielle goes to visit Carlos again, for the first time in a long time (or maybe even ever) Gabrielle and Carlos seem to be somewhat on the same page as they discuss what went wrong in their marriage. Although they're flinging accusations at each other, there comes a point where Carlos says "we're not very nice people, are we?". After agreeing on such a point, is it possible for Carlos and Gabrielle then to move past the affair and start over? Realistically, probably not. However, in television anything's possible and the smallest bit of common ground can breed whatever the writers wish. Of course, then it becomes only a matter of time before Carlos figures out that the paternity test results are fake.

The Susan/Mike relationship seems to be made of the stuff one normally finds in soap operas. At every turn there's some sort of crisis that prevents them from being together. This time it's Zach. In some ways, it's easy to think that Susan is overreacting in this case. Zach hasn't shown any violent tendencies in the past and, truly, he's gone through a lot. He's simply a scared boy who needs help.

On the flip side, though, as Susan had a gun held on her for quite a length of time, it's also easy to understand that she would be skittish about Zach and his mental state. The interesting thing, though, is that she automatically assumes that Mike will want a relationship with Zach. Did she take into consideration that Zach might not want to have anything to do with Mike?

Bree. It's so easy to feel pity for her in this episode. Although she and Rex had their problems, it was always obvious that she loved him. For someone like Bree, extending her obsessive-compulsive tendencies to control her family is how she expresses the fact that she loves and cares for them. Taking this into consideration, the scene where she changes Rex's tie before the coffin is shut becomes more poignant. Sure, it's amusing, but at the same time she's willing to cause a scene (something that had to eat at her, considering she's very big on presenting a calm front on all occasions) so that Rex will be buried looking his best. Even after his death she was "looking out" for him.

New season, new neighbors: The Applewhite's. As was alluded to in "One Wonderful Day" this new family, consisting of supposedly just the mother, Betty Applewhite, and the son, Matthew Applewhite, has a secret. Early in the episode Matthew mentions losing his father and then tells Betty he said it to help their cover story. At the end of the episode Matthew has prepared a tray of food. For exposition purposes, they discuss the tray, as Matthew has decided to add a flower this time. Although the words she says indicates that she thinks her son was raised right and is a good guy, there is a layer of anger and bitterness under them, which seems to be towards an as yet unknown situation. They then take the tray of food down to the basement, making sure to take a gun with them. My guess? The hand that reached out to pick up the glass was that of Matthew's father and he's mentally disturbed in some way.

All in all, "Next" was a good episode with just enough teasing to draw viewers back next week.

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