Desperate Housewives S05E12: Connect! Connect!

Connections lead to surprising resolutions, as Susan and Edie are forced to spend time alone together when they accidentally lock themselves in a basement. Bree doesn't like it when Alex (guest star Todd Grinnell) indicates that she is emasculating her husband. Gabrielle loses control of her children and turns to Carlos for help. The ongoing search for Porter leads Lynette to her mother, Stella (guest star Polly Bergen). Katherine and Mike define their relationship. Meanwhile, Dave gets a step closer to exacting revenge.

Location

Desperate Housewives is set in Wisteria Lane, Fairview, Eagle State (fictional). Its appearance reflects an upper-middle-class version of the stereotypical view of American suburbia; perfectly manicured lawns, rows of comfortable houses and white picket fences. It is the main setting of the show, and it includes the homes of its six leading women as well as the less significant characters.

The show is mainly filmed on the street, with a few excursions for special occasions - Mike and Susan's wedding in a forest for example - and also inside the main houses. The interiors are all richly decorated which shows the wealth of the inhabitants. The roads are lined with fancy sports cars, again showing the wealth of the characters. Wisteria Lane is relatively quiet save for a few joggers or kids playing, which highlights the loneliness of some characters, such as Gabrielle when she first arrived from the city. A fairly common other location is a hospital, and sometimes the prison, when characters get ill or are sent to jail (which has happened quite a lot). In this episode it shows a flashback to when Dave found out his wife and daughter were dead, and he goes a bit insane and is taken to an asylum. But then he gets out and meets Edie in a hotel reception. It then skips forward to a registry office showing them getting married.

The weather is almost always sunny and pleasant, as is expected in a "perfect" American suburb, but occasionally there will be a storm to aide the message of the episode.

I enjoy the visuals of the locations because they are always well-furnished and designed (unless they are scummy places to create meaning) and it is nice escapism.