See Also: 'Silly People' Episode Guide

Synopsis

Every year on Wisteria Lane, Maxine Bennett hosts an elegant dinner party and, as Mary Alice's voice-over explains, Bree doesn't believe Maxine when she claims to have prepared the meal herself. As it turns out, Bree is correct. The FBI soon bursts in and arrests Maxine for keeping a foreign slave.

Susan and Edie team together briefly to question Bree about her sudden friendship with Betty. Bree brushes them off by insisting that they trust her. At the advertising company, Tom pitches an ad which is quickly dismissed by Ed. However, when Tom makes a passing comment about having been in a college fraternity, he and Ed begin joking around. At the Solis house, Carlos has graciously agreed to let Xiao-Mei, the girl that Maxine Bennett was keeping, stay with them until she can be taken back to China. Gabrielle isn't pleased. At dinner, after verbally reprimanding Danielle for spilling the family secrets, Danielle advises that Bree go to Betty and ask what Caleb is hiding. Meanwhile, Susan needs medical insurance in order to have the operation on her spleen. Edie suggests that she marry someone for it.

Again at the ad company, Ed and Tom begin to act up, making childish bets while Lynette looks on, aghast. Gabrielle arrives home to find that Xiao-Mei has mended her clothes. Perfectly. Gabrielle begins to realize that Xiao-Mei might be useful around the house. She asks Carlos if they can hire her but he insists that if Xiao-Mei wants to go back to China, then that's what she'll do. Meanwhile, Edie introduces Susan to a man named Gary who is willing to marry her in order to avoid telling his mother he's gay. Mrs. Tillman brings Noah his mail, in which there is an anonymous letter telling him he has a grandchild.

Using a key that the previous owners of the Applewhite house had given her, Bree sneaks in while Betty is gone in order to talk to Caleb. During the conversation, Caleb admits that Betty had kept him down in the basement most of the time. When Bree asks why, Caleb admits he killed a girl. Back at the ad company, Ed and Tom are again acting childish. Fed up, Lynette talks to Tom to make him stop, but he refuses.

Susan walks over to tell Mike of her impending marriage when a man in a suit arrives. Susan leaves and the man asks about Noah's grandchild. Xiao-Mei is brushing Gabrielle's hair when Gabrielle gives her a bracelet. Xiao-Mei thanks her profusely. At the chapel, Susan meets Gary's life partner, Steve, who is jealous. Steve becomes so jealous that Gary leaves Susan at the altar.

At Susan's house, Karl comes by and Susan informs him that the wedding didn't happen. When she becomes visibly upset about not having insurance, he offers to marry her again and she says yes. They agree to avoid telling Edie. When the time comes for Xiao-Mei to leave, she refuses, saying she wants to work for Carlos and Gabrielle because she thinks of them as "family". Attempting to put a stop to all the bets at the ad company, Lynette offers her own bet: she eats a pound of raw bacon in return for a more professional atmosphere.

Betty visits Bree and Bree tells her what she and Caleb spoke about. Betty elaborates on the story, telling Bree about raising Caleb and the story of how Caleb killed Melanie Foster. At Noah Taylor's house, Mike tells Noah that his grandchild is Zach Young.

Analysis

My first question is what purpose will Xiao-Mei serve being a part of the Solis household. Temptation for Carlos? An awakening for Gabrielle to start helping others? I can bring myself to care, but only minimally. For the most part, this storyline didn't feel very deeply rooted in any sort of plot. That's not to say I believe it had no point...as much as the writing has seemed to go downhill this season, I can't bring myself to honestly believe that the writers don't have some sort of overall game plan of which Xiao-Mei might figure into. Whether she fits into a small part or a large part remains to be seen, however.

Oh, Susan. The whole marriage-for-insurance thing is not helping her pathetic image. I feel bad for her, I really do...but if things are going as well as they seem with her new doctor beau, why didn't she discuss it with him? For one, he might know of some emergency program that she could apply for to get insurance, or at least help with the medical bills. At the very least, considering this is TV, he would have offered to marry her. Hey, she could do worse than a doctor. Oh, wait, it looks like she will. Remarrying her ex-husband? Bad idea. This is a storyline that is just looking for oodles of trouble and, I have to be honest, if the writers handle it well it could be something that appeals to my, and I'm sure many others', gossipy side. It definitely has the potential for drama! Especially if it's the writers' intent to have Susan and Karl fall back in love. Again, bad idea, and probably much too cliche, but how oh-so-deliciously dramatic!

So, as if Tom didn't already seem to feel emasculated enough, Lynette felt the need to put a stop to the "shenanigans" in the office. As Ed put it, it certainly seemed to be that Lynette was trying to "save" Tom. Her only saving grace in the situation was that she truly seemed to want a professional atmosphere, as well as to put a stop to her husband's humiliaton.

I have to admit, the whole Lynette/Tom dynamic continues to throw me off. Just when I feel like I see where the writers are heading with them, pull a 180. Considering Lynette's storyline is the one I'm least interested in, this doesn't necessarily make me like the storyline any more than normal, but at least it makes for some surprising entertainment.

I'm surprised at how quickly the writers are setting up the inevitable meeting between Zach and Noah. Given the track record of the show, I didn't expect Noah to be told so soon that he had a grandson, much less for Mike to admit that it's Zach Young. Given Zach's rather unstable history, it should be interesting to see how he'll react to meeting his grandfather. If, indeed, he's told that he's meeting his grandfather. I don't put it past Mike to come up with some excuse for Zach to meet Noah under false pretenses.

Finally, I've saved the Betty/Bree situation for last since it went a long way towards finally peaking my interest in the Applewhite storyline. It was a nice change to at last see a human side of Betty. When she sat at the table, telling Bree the whole story about Caleb and Melanie Forster, I very nearly expected her to make excuses for Caleb and brush the whole thing off with threats towards Bree, and hide behind the calm-faced facade that she normally maintains. When she choked up and claimed responsibility, I must admit, I was actually quite riveted. Further, it satisfied my sense of logic that Bree reached across the table to console Betty. After all, out of all the housewives, they're the two that ought to understand each other the most. However, I am curious as to how Bree will handle the realization that Danielle is now in the same position Melanie Forster was in. As I said before, my interest in the Applewhite storyline has definitely been heightened and I look forward to next week's episode in hopes that we'll see more unfold.

Overall, while some of the previous episodes have come closer to matching season one's quality episodes, "Silly People" isn't a bad episode by any means. It merely has a suspended quality, setting the viewers up for future drama.

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