The 2011 season finale of Desperate Housewives is perhaps controversial. The whole show in fact treads on ethical issues. In the episode, Carlos killed his wife’s stepfather, and the killing was something that probably anyone of us would do. It seems justifiable. The stepfather had stalked Gabby for weeks and he raped her when she was a young teenager, so she was terrified of him. When Carlos saw him threaten Gabby after he had apparently entered their home illegally, Carlos hit the man with a heavy object. While he did not expect to kill him, the man died, and later they learned that he did not have the gun they believed he possessed. When Carlos realized he killed an unarmed man, he feared the worst, but the neighbors who were their friends covered everything up.
It is not surprising that friends cover up murders on Wisteria Lane. That is what they do. But is that what a good friend should do, or is that something that goes against our moral inclinations?
I think that sometimes we have to re-examine our convictions. Is it always ethical to obey the law? Martin Luther King engaged in civil disobedience. We all cheer the innocent convicts who illegally escape their prison cells because we know that they do not deserve to be incarcerated. There are some things that just seem unjust. That we should not cover up murder seems like a no-brainer, but I can’t help appreciating the friendship between the women on that block. Would we like Bree better if she dialed 9-1-1 instead of coming up with a solution that served everybody well?
