Does Why Women Kill Live Up To The Housewife Dramedy Genre?

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned – this clichéd phrase becomes an unqualified truth in the soap-opera styled dramedies that follow the lifestyles of wealthy suburban women. After Desperate Housewives, a lot of similar shows followed, from Devious Maids, The Real Housewives of Orange County to HBO’s thrilling spin on the formula with Big Little Lies.

CBS recently introduced Why Women Kill, another show that slots perfectly into the category, but does it do the genre justice? Apart from its flawless cast with Lucy Liu (Simone Grove – 1984), Ginnifer Goodwin (Beth-Anne Stanton -1963) and Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Taylor Harding – 2019), it takes a sharp exit from the usual highway in depicting three unrelated generations of couples in the same mansion. The elderly neighbor, who’s lived there since he was a boy, has witnessed three bodies being carried out. Is it the house or the people?

The stark evolution of society on display is something to be appreciated. It clearly shows how women in the sixties were perfectly abiding housewives who catered to their husbands every need. During the eighties, being gay was sinful and people married into heterosexual relationships to mask their ‘flaws’. And nowadays, there’s acceptance of things like bi-sexuality, open marriages, and female breadwinners, all of which would once have been unthinkable.

Although there are blatant differences throughout the decades, some simple truths remain: Humans and relationships are too complex for even the smartest scientists to understand. One thing that has always bothered me about these series is the generalization. It tends to send messages like all men are bad and women are material, hence don’t get married. Even if the writers dig deeper into character personas, on the surface, inexperienced viewers might get the wrong idea.

At the start of the show, it seems like Desperate Housewives with a time deviation. And given the similar structure and style with a deep look into the lives of ‘prosperous’ families that harbor mysterious secrets, that’s exactly what it is. But the confrontation of universal issues like sexuality, marital problems and drug abuse in a dark yet humorous way makes it absolutely worth the watch.

Like its predecessors, Why Women Kill tells the stories of women who thought they had perfect lives until they learn the shameful truths about their husbands – they’re not perfect. These stories all follow the recipe of flawed marriages with a murder mystery twist. Flashbacks, withdrawn narrators or other devices tell you it’s coming, and week after week viewers are glued to the screen, waiting to find out who murdered who and why.

Why Women Kill doesn’t stray too far from the premise, but the biggest differentiating factor is the comedy. It’s hilarious and I love it, from the bad action scenes to the conservative housewife eating a special brownie before an important dinner party. You might think that the humor would break the suspense, and sometimes it distracts attention from the weightier stuff at hand, but using amusement instead of solemnity to get a serious point across is smart. Men can enjoy this too.

The theme of this genre has always been the intricacy of relationships and the complexity of the individuals in each couple. Unless they have a sociopathic or narcissistic tendencies, men stray for a reason such as lack of spontaneity or insecurity. In the same way, women need a strong motivation to turn to poison. It carefully analyzes and explains the characters’ personalities, drives, and desires.

One of the strongest messages this show conveys is that two’s company and three’s a crowd. Beth-Anne learns that her husband is having an affair and decides to deviously befriend the mistress until she starts caring about this other woman. Simone’s husband, Carl (Jack Davenport), is gay, and since that was strictly taboo in the eighties, he married his best female friend, but indulged in numerous infidelities with men.

Eli Cohen (Reid Scott), Taylor’s husband in an open marriage, is a once-successful screenwriter who’s had years of writer’s block. With Taylor being an accomplished lawyer and the main breadwinner, Eli feels unworthy until Taylor’s girlfriend comes to live with them and turns into his muse. Basically, all three cases paints a vivid picture of how marriage is a sacred bond between two people and inviting a third person into that space will have grave consequences.

In essence, both the show and the genre advise that nothing and no one is simply black and white. In between the solid black lines lurk many shades of grey. We are all human and can make mistakes. We have strengths and flaws. Not to endorse any form of cheating but to advocate that marriage is a two-team sport that takes practice and hard work from both participants. It’s easy to point fingers and accuse when more often than not a bit of empathy will do the trick.

Romantic relationships aren’t the only ones under the magnifying glass. While previous shows placed a strong value on friendship and the impact that friends can have on our life, Why Women Kill suggests that we might not know our friends as well as we think. Trust should be earned, but we should listen to the voice of reason from those we do trust.

Does it do the soap opera-styled dramedy genre justice? The answer is yes. While it uses the same ingredients of housewives – or husbands – betrayal and murder, the dark humor and ‘haunted’ house of three different decades adds a strong flavor. As explained, it’s interesting to witness the changes in society over the decades and getting a laugh out of serious but relatable situations is always welcome.

The narrative’s been narrowed it down from a town (Monterey in Big Little Lies) and a street (Wisteria Lane in Desperate Housewives) to a single mansion in Pasadena that might be cursed…or it might just be that all families live their lies behind closed doors regardless of the place or year. The strong cast and intriguing storylines makes for great television – a winning recipe never gets old.