Previewing Devious Maids

Even though I was not in its target demographic, I have to admit I did watch Desperate Housewives. Hey, Eva Longoria spent quite of bit of time in her underwear. Plus the show was cheesy fun with a dark undertone; the show did start off with one of the characters committing suicide in the quiet suburban town. After two or three season, not even Eva Longoria’s underwear could keep me watching as the premise got stale. My sources tell me that Devious Maids is a Desperate Housewives spin-off (but not in a Frasier vein where a main character gets their own show but in a Just the Ten of Us kind of spin-off where a random guest star sets off the new series). The show ended up not getting picked up by ABC but ended on Lifetime.

Considering that again I am not really in the demographic that watches the network for woman, I still gave Devious Maids a try because, well, it features the equivalent of five Eva Longoria’s in their underwear, nary an old housewife among them, even if not of the cast members are attractive as Eva and barely reach her beauty cumulatively. Much like its predecessor, Devious Maids stars off with a death, but this time it is murder but the deceased does not end up narrating the show. And if you think the guy with the bloody knife they find staggering out of the room is actually the murderer, you obvious do not watch enough television.

It is a bit odd that the big murder mystery is already solved within minutes because let’s face it; none of these girls are Veronica Mars. Sure some of them have bigger ambitions than cleaning toilets, and one has a very huge secret, but solving a conspiracy is not something any of them I suspect could uncover. The maids range from one that is told by a potential employer that she sounds like she went to college (Ana Ortiz, Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son) but coming from the upper crust of Beverly Hill that actually comes off as an insult. Another is an aspiring pop star (Roselyn Sanchez, Rush Hour 2). While one (Dania Ramirez, Rush Hour 2) want to bring her child stateside while she raises some rich chick’s kid. Lastly there is the single mother (Judy Reyes, Scrubs) who tries to keep her daughter from hooking up with the boy whose sheets she washes.

One big problem Devious Maids has is its humongous cast, like HBO huge. You have the five maids and the five families that they work for making for a main cast of fourteen actors (thankfully one of the houses is usually unattended), that lead to some confusion early on of who is who, and who is working for who. But like the early seasons of Desperate Housewives the show is quick witted with an in-depth murder mystery with rich people, The Powell’s, who steal any scenes may be even more devious than their maids who are quick to ask the police who will clean up the mess after their maid was murder. The only question now is how long until the show falls off the cliff creatively like its predecessor did. Hopefully we can get one entertaining season out of it.

Devious Maids airs Sundays at 10:00 on Lifetime. You can stream the show on Hulu. You can also download Devious Maids on iTunes.