Alone No More

I'm not in a prolific mood right now, but this is a post I've wanted to write for a week. On Desperate Housewives last week, Mrs. Landingham from the West Wing reunited with her sister. And who is her sister? Lily Tomlin, who played Mrs. Landingham's successor on the West Wing. On the West Wing, Mrs. Landingham was President Bartlett's secretary and friend, and she died in a car accident. The eccentric Lily Tomlin then replaced her. Now they're together on Desperate Housewives. How cool is that?

What's good about Lily Tomlin's presence is that Mrs. Landingham is no longer alone. What do I mean by that? In this season, Edie has gotten married, and her husband was in a psych ward at some point. We the viewers know he's plotting some sort of mischief, but no one in the neighborhood is aware that he was in a psych ward. Everyone thinks he's the friendly neighbor down the street.

Everyone--except for Mrs. Landingham. Mrs. Landingham started to suspect Edie's husband when he stole her cat, then returned it after Mrs. Landingham obeyed his wishes. Mrs. Landingham then asks questions about who this guy is, so he devises a plot to get rid of her: he'll make her look crazy!

He does this by sneaking into her house and rearranging her furniture. Then, he goes to a surprise birthday party that he helped organize for her. When Mrs. Landingham sees her furniture rearranged, she knows he was the one who did it! She takes a baseball bat, goes to her surprise birthday party, and starts swinging. Everyone thinks she's crazy on account of her age, and she's taken to the hospital.

Imagine being alone like that! You suspect something to be true, but everyone thinks you're crazy. I've often feared that sort of thing happening to me. I'd blow up at some jerk putting me down, and he and his clique would look at me like I'm the demented one. No wonder some people are passive/aggressive!

But Mrs. Landingham is no longer alone. Her sister is in town--with damaging evidence about Edie's husband. And that gave me a reassuring feeling.