Since October 2004, ABC’s delightfully scandalous Desperate Housewives has proven that everyone has a little dirty laundry – even those that swear they don’t. Yeah, if you’re reading this, I’m talking about you, Aunt Shirley! Yet, I digress. For the past seven years, dedicated viewers and casual spectators alike have been fascinated and intrigued by the continuous exploits (and sexploits) of the women of Wisteria Lane. However, while the core four have been with the show from jump – ditzy Susan, fabulous Gabrielle, breezy Bree, and manipulative Lynette – Housewives fans can attest to the fact that there is also always a fifth housewife – one that stirs up trouble in the lives of the desperate foursome.
This season, that delectable diva is Renee Perry played to perfection by Emmy award nominee Vanessa Williams. Since her memorable arrival in the season seven premiere, the character of Renee has ruffled the feathers of both her fellow housewives and a few fans. You see, Renee was essentially brought in to fill the void caused by the abrupt dismissal and brutal death of neighborhood slut Edie Britt, who by the way, will always be my personal favorite housewife.
While Renee was publicized as a force of nature, a powerful dynamism to be reckoned with, it was quickly established that she wouldn’t be burning down any houses or stealing any husbands away. After all, that was Edie’s forte. Instead of an Edie 2.0, Renee was launched as Renee 1.0 … and, quite frankly, I believe that makes her all the more fascinating.
Ah, Renee. Why do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
For starters, a barbed tongue and sorely missed bitchery isn’t the only thing that Williams brought to the cast. She also managed to add a spark of much needed diversity. Granted, Gabrielle and Carlos do add a touch of ethnic flavor, I always felt the cast needed a sistah’ in the mix to keep things lively. Sorry, guys … but Alfre Woodard’s enigmatic Betty Applewhite doesn’t count. The woman kept her mentally challenged son locked in a basement, and was more isolated than I would have preferred.
No, with Williams onboard, I think it gave producers a chance to show an African-American housewife in a more positive light … although Wisteria Lane is an equal opportunity street for scandal. Just ask gay neighbors Bob and Lee who tussled with lipstick lesbian Katherine Mayfair back in season four. Or Italian broad Angie Bolen whose husband cheated on her with Julie Mayer. Yes, scandalous predicaments certainly abound.
Needless to say, Williams has her share of it. However, she isn’t just armed with scandal, but she also equipped with something else: spunk … and lots of it. While not as sassy as Williams’ former character Wilhelmina Slater was on ABC’s brilliant but canceled Ugly Betty, Renee’s catty exchanges and subsequent encounters with Lynette sizzle every time the two characters share the screen together. From the moment she punched Gabrielle in the face in episode five of season seven, I knew I was in love. While her fashion sense may be hit or miss – and hopefully costume designer Cate Adair continues to improve upon this. May God help her! – Renee is as classy as they come. I like that.
And while we’re on the topic of things that I adore about the character, I also find the fact that she’s essentially the underdog of season eight to be utterly fantastic. Fans have been demanding more screen time for Williams. I’m one of them. While actresses Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria and Teri Hatcher always have concurrent storylines running in every episode, Williams generally gets more of a subplot … not that there’s anything wrong with that. Housewives Edie, Betty, Katherine, and Angie never received as much attention as the core four either. Still, Williams does such a good job with what she’s given that she deserves more. At least, that’s this clacker’s opinion.
Some complained that with no real story or plot for Williams last season, she deserved more of a narrative in this one. Well, it seems the writers are really trying to give her character more to do. Her pristine relationship with shady Australian contractor Ben Faulkner has been rather interesting, as have her key episodes … more notably the past one – episode 10, season 8 – where Renee comes to Bree’s aid after she tries to commit suicide. Some fans would prefer Renee to be involved in the season-long mystery, but I feel her story gives us a break from the humdrum whodunit nonsense and offers us a chance to breath.
So, with that being said and done, love her or hate her, Renee Perry is here to stay … at least for the thirteen more episodes left this season. And if the writers maintain their stand on rewarding Williams with more to do, she’ll undoubtedly continue to leave fans, casual viewers, and this obsessed clacker, charmed, invigorated and utterly desperate for more.
Clacked by Jaylen Christie 
on Jan 13, 2012 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
Loved your article Jaylen. Vanessa Williams is a true talent every since I discovered her awesomeness on Ugly Betty and she’s simply fantastic on Housewives. I truly hope they give her more to do for the final 13 episodes because she was utterly excellent in last week’s episode coming to Bree’s aid.
Thanks again for the great read!
*POST AUTHOR*
Thanks so much! I’m glad somebody read this editorial. I was getting a little worried. LOL I think Vanessa Williams is effortlessly talented. She can do more by lifting an eyebrow than some actresses can do in a lifetime. Just my opinion. (Kanye shrug.) I believe the writers will keep her busy in the remaining episodes. After all, her character is dating the resident mystery man, so I’m sure things are about to heat up!
I still think they have no idea what to do with Renee/Vanessa. Sometimes I even forget that she’s Lynette’s oldest friend (and I think the writers have too). I was very happy to see her get involved with Bree’s well-being, especially with her revelation about her own mother. I hope they can give her more to do for the rest of the season, because I just feel bad for Williams when she gets one line in one scene in one episode. If nothing else, I hope Renee and Ben can live happily ever after.
*POST AUTHOR*
Chuck, I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with you, kind sir. I don’t think the writers have forgotten that Renee is Lynette’s oldest friend considering that Renee has often been paired up with her in practically every episode this season. I would like to see her interact with Susan, Bree and Gaby a bit more. She hassn’t had a single scene with Susan yet this season. It was nice seeing Renee and Bree together. Nice switch from the norm. I was displeased with the little that Renee had to do in the season premiere, but episodes two and three gave her a concurrent storyline and plot of her very own in addition to episode six. She was a part of Bree’s storyline in this last episode, and she had her own subplot in the one before that. All other episodes have had her lending Lynette a hand in the seperation from Tom. That’s not too bad, right? Still, I’m with you, Chuck… Vanessa does need more screentime. But you know what? Desperate Housewives has never been good at juggling characters. Do you remember what they did with poor Dana Delaney as Katherine in season five? She was practically wallpaper. I’m just sayin’. LOL
For the life of me, I can’t remember her barging into Lynette’s house like she seemed to do at least once every episode last season. She’s barely registered this season. And I think you proved my point when you say she had two whole episodes of a story (which only took up a few minutes of screen time altogether), and then it was over. Then she had something to do in another episode. Then she was that proverbial wallpaper again until she started helping Bree. Edie at least was a force to be reckoned with during her tenure on the show (and I just had a thought … maybe she’s not dead and is the one sending the notes!) whether she had her own stories or was involved in the main plot. Renee hasn’t had anything like that, and the fact that they give her what seems to be a juicy story that then peters out after the second episode shows that they really don’t know what to do with her. I think she really got shortshrifted this year because of the surprise decision to end the series a year early so the focus had to be on the core four. I watched Ugly Betty because of Miss Williams, and I was excited to hear that she was joining the show after that was cancelled, but as much as I love what she’s done with what she’s been given, I just don’t think she’s been given much more than a crumb here and there. Renee’s been like Katherine at the end of her run since she joined the show! (Heck, I seem to remember her being in a scene where she didn’t even have a line and that was all we saw of her!) I’m hoping that her next venture will put her, her wit and her style front and center (Willi and Mark today, perhaps?).
*POST AUTHOR*
Chuck, at least we can agree that Vanessa is fantastic…and beautiful too! I guess I can see your point, sir. I wonder what Renee would have been doing this season if it weren’t the last. Would she have a full fledged storyline of her own? Still, I do have to say… if I had to rate her usage in this season versus the last, I’d say the writers are utilizing her better in this one. And Chuck, she really does continue to barge into Lynette’s house this season. LOL That hasn’t changed. Perhaps they don’t know what to do with her all the time, but make no doubt about it, when Renee is on the scene, hilarity ensues. I especially enjoyed the fourth episode this season. She didn’t have a storyline of her own in this one, but Renee accompanied Lynette to the fitness class to spy on Tom’s new love interest, and explained to Bree what a sex swing was. LOL I suppose we all just want more Renee, which is a testament to the talent of Vanessa Williams. I did hear that Williams will be getting her own show after DH ends, so this is a good thing. She really is a powerhouse. And you’re right… Edie was amazing. She’ll always be my fave, but Renee is my dawg. LOL
I guess I just expected (hoped!) that with someone of Vanessa Williams’ stature joining the show, she’d be given more than a few crumbs here and there. But we agree … she’s fabulous and needs more to do. Maybe they’ll develop the relationship between Renee and Ben as the season comes to its conclusion so at least Renee will have happiness and love in her life when we say goodbye.
Renee is the pretty in all this ugly. With such a dark secret hanging over all the other housewives, she evens the show out. I think the writers understand that she is the one most women want to be like. With all the crazy running around, the audience needs some type of normalcy. Therefore, she has sex appeal, confidence, and only a pinch of loony because we all have a bit of bonkers in us. With the right combination that makes her the perfect candidate to live on Wisteria Lane without the overwhelming loom and gloom, everyone is happy. Jaylen, great cover of everything that is fabulous about Renee. Mentioning her wardrobe was a nice touch. In my opinion she is always dressed to kill. It’s disappointing that this is the last season. I would have loved to see her evolve in to Renee 2.0.
*POST AUTHOR*
Thanks for the kind words, Markeyta! I agree that Renee is a nice balance too.
I love Vanessa Williams!!!!
I am hoping that ABC will get smart and hire her to join the cast of REVENGE…She is beautiful and a great actress.
The rest of the housewives I will not miss.
This season is horrible, except for Renee.
Jaylen my dear, I must say, you have done it again! Your details are always on point and accurate…a TRUE journalist to say the least!
But anyways, I think I’m going to have to agree with CHUCK on this one. While Renee is fabulous beyond belief, she just isn’t utilized to her full capability. And like you all mentioned before it’s probably because it’s the last season and they need to bring the other women to a close.
However, I do foresee some more airtime on the horizon as the storyline between the conniving, yet, HOT Aussie and Renee progresses.
If his intentions are to use her for her money — I think we might see Renee show her true colors, thus, becoming the star of a little murder mystery all her own. Just a thought.
I so agree with chuck. I mean, I like mrs. Williams, but you cannot just be blind to cold hard fatcs!! come on, they practically sponsorized her in the promo for Season 7 like this very cool b**ch who was gonna ruffle feathers on the lane and stir up stuff… but NOTHING remarkable has happened with her character. they TRULY don’t know what to do with her (and being a fan of vanessa does not count… it’s not her fault she’s been given this poor material; it’s the writers’!).
I mean, she’s just a boring housewife who sits at gaby’s or lynette’s and makes conversation with the others about which tom would suit lynette or about how many times bree had sex the night before… but other than that, she’s pointless!
it’s like the writers wanna go out of their way to make her character likeable and sympathetic, but truth is we don’t wanna like her! we just want her to cause as much trouble as possible (or at least I do)!! I’m tired of renee being portayed with this woman with a hard exterior but a soft inside. can’t she just be downright mean? she’d be waaaay funnier to watch.
and she’s making friends so easily on the lane: she fights with bree over keith and lets her have him; she punches gaby in the face and then becomes friends with her sharing a box a chocolates in that very episode like nothing happened; she is snarky towards lynette and susan, but then works with lynette (who refers to them as BESTIES for 25 years) and goes with susan to the restaurants. every potential conflict with the housewives dies very quickly in the same episode it blossomed, which makes her “fights” with the ladies even more far-fetched and contrived!!!
I mean: WTF?? she gives up and makes friends sooo easily. isn’t she supposed to be a vixen? marc cherry CLEARLY stated that vanessa williams would be like edie 2 on the lane. well, she is NOT A THING like our edie (whom I miss by the way). and I’m sick of her taking lynette or bree to the bars to meet guys: how many times does she have to do that, huh? it’s getting repetitive as whole hell! not to mention at least last season we HAD some resemblance of conflict with the leads… this season she’s just flat-out her bestie and we don’t have even that anymore!!
I DESPISE RENEE PERRY!! hideous character, get rid of her already! -.-‘
*POST AUTHOR*
Yikes! Lavinia, I will admit that Vanessa isn’t used to her fullest potential, yes. However, I do disagree with what you said about Renee being a hideous character. Granted, I would have preferred Renee cause more conflict…not burning down houses or what not, but blackmailing and backstabbing. That would have been interesting. Nevertheless, I believe she has been a wonderful addition to Wisteria Lane. Why should there be an Edie 2.0? That’s not original. I think the fact of the matter is that Renee was simply hard to factor in to storylines that may have already been established for the seventh season.
I empathize with you in regards to the promo featuring Renee as a force of nature. Even Vanessa Williams said that the marketing team amped it up a bit. Renee is more passive aggressive, but I love her hard exterior. I don’t recall Marc ever saying Renee was the new Edie. He said she’s the new troublemaker, and in season seven, she did cause trouble in the first ten episodes. Afterwards, she just ruffled feathers. Perhaps the conflicts should have lasted longer, but the plots of the main four housewives had to keep moving. It may not have been what you wanted, but I guess I kind of just accepted it for what it was and moved on. I suppose the writers saw this as a mission accomplished. I do think they struggled with Renee for the latter half of season seven, but honestly, the DH writers tend to struggle with all of their new characters. Dana Delaney was wasted during the end of her tenure and practically all throughout season five, and don’t even get me started on Alfre Woodard, Lily Tomlin, and even Nicollette Sheridan herself. Edie may be remembered for causing trouble, but she was never given her due…and this is coming from a true Edie fan. She will always be my fave.
Having said that, do you really honestly think Renee has been a waste this season? Honestly? She’s had more to do so far in season eight, and she’s really coming into her own. Yes, she needs to stop taking the girls to the bars, but dammit, they need to get out more. LOL She’s so much fun to watch! And with Ben suddenly wanting her for her money, it looks like things will heat up. Nevertheless, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so I guess we’ll have to respectfully disagree. Thanks for sharing!
hey jalen, thank you for replying to my message (wasn’t counting on it).
anyway I have to strongly disagree with you on the fact that she ruffled feathers on WL last year for the first 10 episodes. ehm, I don’t think so! I mean, they were nothing but FAKE fights: with bree, she quickly made up after the keith thing (and never fought with her again); with gaby, she did the same after the punch thing (and never fought with her again) and the same goes for lynette and susan.
I think these writers suck big time, because if it had been edie, the girls would’ve not been ok with her nasty behaviour… but with renee, they just tend to gloss over everything she says or does (like susan with the “let’s
make the kids eat on the curb” thing). I mean, come on, gaby got a nosebleed out of renee’s punch and YET AT THE END OF THE SAME EPISODE she says “yeah, you were right, I am sorry… I shouldn’t have pried into your marriage”. seriously?! she PHYSICALLY HIT YOU and you forgive her THAT FAST??!! if nobody makes a big deal about renee’s mean behaviour, it’s gonna be even harder for vanessa to trout the bitch out of her!!!
and don’t even get me started on her relationship with lynette: the writers should’ve been fired (and I don’t mean they should’ve lost their job, but I mean someone should’ve actually set fire to them! XD) for the way they handled it! I mean, in 7.01 penny tells lynette “mom, if renee’s your friend, won’t she like you no matter how you live?” and lynette replied “she’s not that kind of friend”; but, in episodes 7.11 and 7.12 she refers to them as being BEST FRIENDS (like with the client at the restaurant, justifying their “sync” and singing that song together… BLEAH) or with tom: “while I was wondering what my life would be like without you in int, you cheated on me with my BEST FRIEND!!”.
that just goes to show how even the writers don’t know what to do with her and how to portay her!!! I swear, it was the most contrived and preposterous thing I’ve ever seen to see lynette referring to the two of em as BEST FRIENDS! -.-”” at least edie had her moments of freiendship with the gals, but NONe of them ever considered her their bestie!! -.-‘
*POST AUTHOR*
Now, THERE’S something that we agree on! I too found it awkward that Lynette mentioned that she and Renee were best friends. I preferred them as frenemies. I also liked her comment to Penny in the season seven premiere about Renee not being that kind of friend. Furthermore, I liked when Tom told the kids to smile for their mother’s strange and twisted friendship as soon as Renee’s limo arrived. LOL I didn’t mind Bree and Renee making up since it was more of a playful yet serious rivalry. However, I would have preferred Renee and Gaby not getting along for the rest of the season. That would have been better and interesting in my opinion. Vanessa is really capable of a lot. Blame the writers!
So, now that season seven is over, let me pick your brain for this season. Since it’s been established that Renee is more a narcisistic diva instead of a troublemaker, how do you feel about her so far in season eight? Do you find her funny at all? You have to admit that she gets the best lines. I’ve liked her scenes with Mrs. McCluskey. :-)
hey jaylen, actually the main reason I posted here was to pick chuck’s brain on what I wrote (you know, since he was complaining about renee, too, I wanted to know if he agreed with me), but he doesn’t seem to be posting here anymore :-(
back to us, I have to say that, surprisingly, I enjoyed renee in the last episode (8×12) and she did have a lot of screen time: the hair thing was funny and the smashing the vase to the ground thing was very dramatic and convincing, too.
ALTHOUGH (ihihih) I HATED the baby voice thing with lynette: again, this is something you do with your best friend, or someone you’ve known for a while and not with someone you hate or is not that kind of friend to you.
all and all, I’m sick and tired of the sitcomish tone that belongs to this show now: like two housewives argue for some silly reason at the beginning of the episode and they all hate each other, but, 5 minutes later, they sit on the couch or at a table and are all like “OMG I was a bitch. can you forgive me?”-“noo, I was the bitch. can YOU forgive ME?” and it’s like nothing ever happened in the first place.
renee and lynette did it in 8.12, lynette and gaby did it in the episode before, renee and lee in 8.03 and I could go on forever.
I dunno if you read the abc official forum on DH, but scarlet_poison wrote something I totally agree with about renee:
And now I’m tired of Renee. They had their chance with the whole Ben thing, now I’m back to being bored with her character. How can you have Vanessa Williams (Wilhelmina freakin’ Slater) on the show and not do ANYTHING with her character? She’s fantastic! Have her DO something!
ok, they show her more now than they did in season 7, but it’s just for silly jokes (we could’ve gotten from gaby alone) or pseudofunny scenes that have nothing to do with the main plot and are there just to fill the voids in the episodes.
I mean: how is it possible renee still doesn’t know anything about alejandro and the murder and the letters? come on, she was dating that shady contractor ben, get her involved in some mystery! have her snoop around instead of giving her this frasier-leftover-comedy material. I’m so pissed as how she is shut out by the other ladies as far as what happened that night goes. like when, in episode 8.10, she told bree “come on, I can keep my mouth shut” and bree was all like “I can’t tell you, I’m sorry”: it’s like that one girl who’s left aside by the “mean pretty girls” and beg them to share some of their gossisp with her (but yet, they told her “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you” to make her feel that he does not belong).
I wonders what chuck thinks of what I said. :-)
*POST AUTHOR*
You really seem to value Chuck’s opinion. In that regard, I’ll go fetch him for you. Thanks for your comments.
what ever happened to chuck?
Hi Lavinia, I’m still here, just attending to other things (like the Flicks page!). One of the reasons I was happy to turn over my DH posting duties to Jaylen was because I was getting fed up with the whole Tom & Lynette story, but my disappointment with how they’ve incorporated — or NOT incorporated — Renee into the group was another reason (I mean, who wants to read my complaints about those things every week?). I do think they missed a huge opportunity when they brought Ms. Williams into the fold. If she’s such a great, old friend of Lynette’s then why didn’t Lynette bring her into the group? Marc Cherry didn’t want Renee to be another Edie, yet she’s given less screen time than Edie ever had. You’d think that as Lynette’s friend, she’d want to make Renee feel welcome and that never happened. She was rarely invited to hang out, play cards, or do anything else with the core group. And you’re correct, she has sometimes been on the show for just one scene to deliver the punchline to a joke. She’s never had a sustained story of her own, and like you said, she’s not part of the central mystery. As an Ugly Betty fan, I was ecstatic when I heard Ms. Williams was rebounding so quickly from that show’s cancellation. Unfortunately, I have been majorly disappointed with how Cherry and the writers have treated her and her character. And with the show ending, we’ll never know what could have been. She could have been a valuable asset to the show by having her interact more with the core group — therefore giving the writers more to work with than the same tired situations you described that we’ve seen since the show started. Unfortunately, they squandered her talents, relied on the same old formula, the show got stale and perhaps that’s why ABC and Cherry decided to end it. Jaylen is right in that they have given Renee a little more to do this season … but little is the operative word here. I hope her next project is a better showcase for her talents (wouldn’t she be great hosting some kind of old school variety show like Carol Burnett?).