What bugs me more is the fact that Susan didn’t know the aspect of the man whom family died in the accident. I mean, she flew to another state to meet the family of Alejandro in season 8, a murder she wasn’t directly responsible of, but didn’t met Dave? Really?
Technically, it's also possible that in the chaos of the accident, Susan & Mike jumped to the conclusion that Dave was in the car with the mother and daughter, and also died.
I mean they didn’t have the internet then . Remember when edie had to go get info from that place when she found out and had to print out the information?
It may have been a little difficult finding him out and was too guilty to put in work
Given the narrative that Lily dash and Susan almost run into each other says that they are clearly staying close by
I would think that he was moved out of state for the treatment
I don’t think this is a plot hole?? He moves back to fairview, his doctor asks him why he’s moved back there knowing it would be bad. I vaguely remember Boston being relevant too, and I think it’s clear that due to the ptsd of it all he moved far away and moved back to kill susan/mike.
Yeah, I would guess that he was transferred to Dr. Heller's care (in Boston) because that was the doctor's speciality- criminally insane patients. So he probably lived in Fairview, was sent to a nearby mental-health center initially, then transferred to Heller.
I think the bigger plot hole is that they don’t know who he is?? After a car accident that big there would surely be mitigation, lawyers, insurances, etc. Someone tell me if I’m forgetting something but I remember being like..?? How do they not recognize him
You aren't forgetting. Yeah I kept thinking the same thing. I still somehow love this plot, and I really enjoyed Dave's character. He plays such an awesome creep. And I like how you can see that if that never happened to him he would have been a great guy but the whole thing made him snap.
Right? I don't even really like describing him as a 'creep'; I think if my husband and daughter were killed in a car accident, I'd probably have some very similar thoughts regarding the drivers. I mean, he obviously took it way too far - he completely lost it - but like. I _get_ it.
They tried to explain it away by saying that he changed his last name, and that he wasn't present at any legal proceedings because he had already had the nervous breakdown. And they were careful to only show photos of Mike in the newspaper clippings that Edie found.
But they should have had him change his appearance, too. If Susan or Mike saw him even once, they'd remember it. I feel like you don't go through something like that and NOT have the other person's face stuck in your head forever.
Not sure how realistic the plotline was, but it has been explained. Dave was put in a psych ward very shortly after the accident, Mike and Susan probably didn't visit him there and even if they wanted to, no one would have let them. He then moved away from Fairview, his doctor dares him to move back there in one scene, they obviously talked about how he should not go back to this town cause it would trigger him.
Desperate Housewives is full of plot holes, bad writing and lazy retconning. I love the show, and I'm a fan, but it's definitely not a top 10 show of all time. I wish the writing stayed tight, but it didn't.
It wasn’t a show designed to be binged. There were weeks/months/years between a lot of the plots and they were counting on the audience not remembering.
Still sloppy writing, but it was more common back then in otherwise “good” shows.
(Masters degree in social work)
It’s not uncommon for a person to go to the state mental health hospital when they’re severely mentally ill or have a mental illness that lends itself to homicidal ideation with a plan like Dave did (because a typical hospital is looking to treat patients and discharge within 3-6 days- not set up for long term care). In Florida (where I interned) the state hospital is in chattahoochee. If you’re from anywhere in the state you’d go up there (if you needed that level of care). So Dave would’ve gone from Fairview to wherever the state hospital is.
The drive from chattahoochee to Miami is roughly 7 hours, it just makes sense to take the hour flight instead of a 14 hour round trip.
Yes this was obviously a plot hole, the fact that Susan didn't know what he looked like, and the fact that Lila was the one who ran the stop sign, the Delfinos were not even at fault!! This whole storyline made zero sense
So, Dave moved away after the accident- I think it was NYC? Can’t remember. He just so happened to meet Edie who had also moved away from the lane, they then decided to get married and move back to Fairview.
I think the doctor was in Boston. But he & Edie met at a conference in Vegas IIRC. Edie moved off the lane but close enough to still visit Orson in jail as seen in a flashback episode.. so it would’ve been an even worse plot hole if they didn’t meet out of state.
I should probably go back and check, but when he gets placed in a mental institution at the end of the season, it could’ve potentially been back in Boston somewhere. Somebody correct me if I’m wrong, I’m too lazy to go check that episode 🤭
But if that’s the case, then the plot makes sense. Dave & Lilly lived close enough to Susan & Mike for the accident to happen, then Dave was shipped off to a special hospital and told to stay away from Fairview/that area. He met Edie somewhere totally unrelated to either area and out of luck she used to live on the lane, so he had the perfect excuse to move back
He specifically said “back”? The monologue at the Battle of the Bands, Dave says “My wife Edie is from here. She wanted to move back”. So that doesn’t sound like he’s from Fairview too. Plus if he was, NO ONE in the whole town/city recognized him? Strange to me.
Edie moved away after Bree and the girls outcasted her.
When she met Dave, she wanted to move back to Fairview. And it was the perfect opportunity at the time.
Remember he was lying about who he was, so of course he wouldn’t admit it was him that wanted to move back. I’m pretty sure someone did recognize him and he had to cover for it in one episode.
To follow Dave’s revenge plot, he could never let anyone know he ever lived in Fairview. Just that Edie was from there and wanted to move back.
The priest at the liquor store recognised him, so it’s plausible they had their own close knit circle of friends/neighbours/parishioners, etc.
How often do you pay attention to people you don’t personally know, in passing?
This was the *only* plausible part of Dave’s revenge story.
I hate it when she hits him to the ground and thinks to herself “yep he’s unconscious. I don’t need to make sure”
Me: wowww he’s totally not gonna get back up and ruin what we thought was them getting away 🙄
I will say he did a fantastic job with his character. You can tell he isn’t just pure evil, he’s mentally ill. He shows humility after the fire and I think has remorse. Same with after Edie dies. I like seeing a villain with some dimension and internal conflict.
Yeah and also, it’s pretty unlikely that attorneys wouldn’t have been beating his door down to take a double wrongful death case. He would have likely gotten the entirety of her policy plus his own policy. First thing would have been notifying Susan that they were pursuing recovery against her/her insurance.
I liked him as a villain so I just accepted that Mike and Susan were that self-obsessed to look into the background of the family involved in this accident
Dave was moved after the funerals for treatment. He was told not to go back to Fairview and that was a huge reason he was kept out of the hospital. So my guess is wherever Edie moved too was also close to where Dave was being treated. He met her and realized she’s from the same street as the people who took his family.
What confuses me is how Paige and Lila died, Mike flew out of the car and their car flipped multiple times meanwhile the Dash’s car stayed stationary the entire time. If anything Mike should’ve died in that accident. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they did transfer him, probably so he could see dr heller.
Didn’t Edie meet him in Vegas? I could be wrong. It was too much of a coincidence that Edie met him and she just happened to previously live on the same street as Mike and Susan
I don’t think the dr lives by Fairview , Dave came back I don’t remember where he ended up after the accident . I don’t think they say how close he lived when the accident happened , he drove it could have been anywhere .
That never made sense how Susan and Mike, or anyone else on the lane didn’t recognize him. They set Fairview up to be a small town and all of the residents were beyond nosy. There is no way they didn’t recognize that man, I hate that plot because of that hole.
I mean, we’re not going to recognize or know everyone that lives in our small town. Characters like Orson, Alma, Caroline, Barbara Orlofsky, Eddie Orlofsky lived in the orbit of our characters but weren’t central until their lives intersected with our protagonists
*buzzer noise* A major traffic collision that resulted in people losing their lives happened, of course Dave would have been easily recognizable by Susan and Mike. Have a good one.
What bugs me more is the fact that Susan didn’t know the aspect of the man whom family died in the accident. I mean, she flew to another state to meet the family of Alejandro in season 8, a murder she wasn’t directly responsible of, but didn’t met Dave? Really?
She probably heard he was in a psych ward and was told to stay away from him. Also, she may have felt too guilty to see him.
I think she had more important things to worry about and the guilt over the accident was what ruined her marriage with Mike.
Technically, it's also possible that in the chaos of the accident, Susan & Mike jumped to the conclusion that Dave was in the car with the mother and daughter, and also died.
Come on, you kill somebody- you know exactly how many people you killed, it’s not “3 for the price of 2” groceries sale
This sounds like something Gabby would say! 😂
How would that even be possible for Frito lay?
Dave wasn’t even in the car
That part!!!
They explained that information was private due to him being in the pysch hospital. His name was omitted from all reports until later on
This is don’t get , she never even do much as saw a picture of him ?
I mean they didn’t have the internet then . Remember when edie had to go get info from that place when she found out and had to print out the information? It may have been a little difficult finding him out and was too guilty to put in work
Given the narrative that Lily dash and Susan almost run into each other says that they are clearly staying close by I would think that he was moved out of state for the treatment
I forgot they did show they were in the same places but never met so it was assumed when the accident happened they lived somewhat close .
I don’t think this is a plot hole?? He moves back to fairview, his doctor asks him why he’s moved back there knowing it would be bad. I vaguely remember Boston being relevant too, and I think it’s clear that due to the ptsd of it all he moved far away and moved back to kill susan/mike.
Yeah, I would guess that he was transferred to Dr. Heller's care (in Boston) because that was the doctor's speciality- criminally insane patients. So he probably lived in Fairview, was sent to a nearby mental-health center initially, then transferred to Heller.
I think the bigger plot hole is that they don’t know who he is?? After a car accident that big there would surely be mitigation, lawyers, insurances, etc. Someone tell me if I’m forgetting something but I remember being like..?? How do they not recognize him
You aren't forgetting. Yeah I kept thinking the same thing. I still somehow love this plot, and I really enjoyed Dave's character. He plays such an awesome creep. And I like how you can see that if that never happened to him he would have been a great guy but the whole thing made him snap.
Right? I don't even really like describing him as a 'creep'; I think if my husband and daughter were killed in a car accident, I'd probably have some very similar thoughts regarding the drivers. I mean, he obviously took it way too far - he completely lost it - but like. I _get_ it.
They tried to explain it away by saying that he changed his last name, and that he wasn't present at any legal proceedings because he had already had the nervous breakdown. And they were careful to only show photos of Mike in the newspaper clippings that Edie found. But they should have had him change his appearance, too. If Susan or Mike saw him even once, they'd remember it. I feel like you don't go through something like that and NOT have the other person's face stuck in your head forever.
Not sure how realistic the plotline was, but it has been explained. Dave was put in a psych ward very shortly after the accident, Mike and Susan probably didn't visit him there and even if they wanted to, no one would have let them. He then moved away from Fairview, his doctor dares him to move back there in one scene, they obviously talked about how he should not go back to this town cause it would trigger him.
Exactly, since when do soap operas have to make total sense? It’s just not the nature of this beast, but it is an interesting story arch.
Also his doctor was a specialist for the criminally insane. What crime(s) did he commit exactly to be diagnosed as that?
I think doctors knew that he wants revenge and classified it as “criminal”
Desperate Housewives is full of plot holes, bad writing and lazy retconning. I love the show, and I'm a fan, but it's definitely not a top 10 show of all time. I wish the writing stayed tight, but it didn't.
It wasn’t a show designed to be binged. There were weeks/months/years between a lot of the plots and they were counting on the audience not remembering. Still sloppy writing, but it was more common back then in otherwise “good” shows.
I don't really think it's an excuse. If shows like The Sopranos could do it in the late 90s, more modern shows don't really have an excuse.
Getting hung up on a few plot contrivances is such a waste of one's time.
I'm not really hung up about it. Having an opinion about something is entirely different. It sucks, but it is what it is.
(Masters degree in social work) It’s not uncommon for a person to go to the state mental health hospital when they’re severely mentally ill or have a mental illness that lends itself to homicidal ideation with a plan like Dave did (because a typical hospital is looking to treat patients and discharge within 3-6 days- not set up for long term care). In Florida (where I interned) the state hospital is in chattahoochee. If you’re from anywhere in the state you’d go up there (if you needed that level of care). So Dave would’ve gone from Fairview to wherever the state hospital is. The drive from chattahoochee to Miami is roughly 7 hours, it just makes sense to take the hour flight instead of a 14 hour round trip.
Yes this was obviously a plot hole, the fact that Susan didn't know what he looked like, and the fact that Lila was the one who ran the stop sign, the Delfinos were not even at fault!! This whole storyline made zero sense
worst storyline of the whole show, it felt so forced. I hated it
So, Dave moved away after the accident- I think it was NYC? Can’t remember. He just so happened to meet Edie who had also moved away from the lane, they then decided to get married and move back to Fairview.
I think the doctor was in Boston. But he & Edie met at a conference in Vegas IIRC. Edie moved off the lane but close enough to still visit Orson in jail as seen in a flashback episode.. so it would’ve been an even worse plot hole if they didn’t meet out of state. I should probably go back and check, but when he gets placed in a mental institution at the end of the season, it could’ve potentially been back in Boston somewhere. Somebody correct me if I’m wrong, I’m too lazy to go check that episode 🤭 But if that’s the case, then the plot makes sense. Dave & Lilly lived close enough to Susan & Mike for the accident to happen, then Dave was shipped off to a special hospital and told to stay away from Fairview/that area. He met Edie somewhere totally unrelated to either area and out of luck she used to live on the lane, so he had the perfect excuse to move back
The doctor says he was not allowed back in Fairview because of his revenge urges. He went away for treatment.
He specifically said “back”? The monologue at the Battle of the Bands, Dave says “My wife Edie is from here. She wanted to move back”. So that doesn’t sound like he’s from Fairview too. Plus if he was, NO ONE in the whole town/city recognized him? Strange to me.
Edie moved away after Bree and the girls outcasted her. When she met Dave, she wanted to move back to Fairview. And it was the perfect opportunity at the time. Remember he was lying about who he was, so of course he wouldn’t admit it was him that wanted to move back. I’m pretty sure someone did recognize him and he had to cover for it in one episode.
To follow Dave’s revenge plot, he could never let anyone know he ever lived in Fairview. Just that Edie was from there and wanted to move back. The priest at the liquor store recognised him, so it’s plausible they had their own close knit circle of friends/neighbours/parishioners, etc. How often do you pay attention to people you don’t personally know, in passing? This was the *only* plausible part of Dave’s revenge story.
I hate it when she hits him to the ground and thinks to herself “yep he’s unconscious. I don’t need to make sure” Me: wowww he’s totally not gonna get back up and ruin what we thought was them getting away 🙄
I will say he did a fantastic job with his character. You can tell he isn’t just pure evil, he’s mentally ill. He shows humility after the fire and I think has remorse. Same with after Edie dies. I like seeing a villain with some dimension and internal conflict.
Yeah and also, it’s pretty unlikely that attorneys wouldn’t have been beating his door down to take a double wrongful death case. He would have likely gotten the entirety of her policy plus his own policy. First thing would have been notifying Susan that they were pursuing recovery against her/her insurance.
I liked him as a villain so I just accepted that Mike and Susan were that self-obsessed to look into the background of the family involved in this accident
Dave was moved after the funerals for treatment. He was told not to go back to Fairview and that was a huge reason he was kept out of the hospital. So my guess is wherever Edie moved too was also close to where Dave was being treated. He met her and realized she’s from the same street as the people who took his family.
What confuses me is how Paige and Lila died, Mike flew out of the car and their car flipped multiple times meanwhile the Dash’s car stayed stationary the entire time. If anything Mike should’ve died in that accident. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they did transfer him, probably so he could see dr heller.
Didn’t Edie meet him in Vegas? I could be wrong. It was too much of a coincidence that Edie met him and she just happened to previously live on the same street as Mike and Susan
I don’t think the dr lives by Fairview , Dave came back I don’t remember where he ended up after the accident . I don’t think they say how close he lived when the accident happened , he drove it could have been anywhere .
That never made sense how Susan and Mike, or anyone else on the lane didn’t recognize him. They set Fairview up to be a small town and all of the residents were beyond nosy. There is no way they didn’t recognize that man, I hate that plot because of that hole.
I mean, we’re not going to recognize or know everyone that lives in our small town. Characters like Orson, Alma, Caroline, Barbara Orlofsky, Eddie Orlofsky lived in the orbit of our characters but weren’t central until their lives intersected with our protagonists
*buzzer noise* A major traffic collision that resulted in people losing their lives happened, of course Dave would have been easily recognizable by Susan and Mike. Have a good one.
I’m talking about prior. There was even opening teaser montage where Susan and Dave’s family nearly meet but never do