When Nostalgia Turns Nauseating: 20 Pop Culture Nightmares From 2004 That Make You Cringe (and Wonder What We Were Thinking)
Added on May 10, 2025 inCelebrity News Cards, Entertainment News Cards
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Ever wonder if the cosmos had a hand in some of TV’s most eyebrow-raising moments? Well, on this oddly tension-filled day, with Mars squaring off against stubborn Saturn — you know, the celestial tug-of-war that just screams “control issues” — it feels only fitting to dig into one steamy, messy saga where control literally meant messing with birth control. Yep, we’re talking about Carlos and Gabrielle Solis from Desperate Housewives, a couple whose drama is as tangled as Mercury in retrograde at full throttle. Carlos just couldn’t resist trying to micromanage Gabrielle’s choices about having kids — tampering with birth control and fibbing about vasectomies — like some controlling Mars-in-Scorpio type refusing to take no for an answer. And Gabrielle? She wasn’t just having it; she was the lone wolf on Wisteria Lane who dared to say “No thanks” to motherhood’s shiny tiara, and boy, did the show never let her forget it. It’s a wild ride that reflects how certain stories push women into boxes… and how the stars might be rolling their eyes at that kind of nonsense. Ready to dive deep into this volatile, and frankly infuriating, chapter of suburban soap?
“Carlos tampers with Gabrielle’s birth control throughout the series! Carlos and Gabrielle Solis had a volatile relationship throughout the show, mostly stemming from how Carlos could never fully ‘control’ his wife. She expressed multiple times her lack of desire for children, mostly for vanity reasons. Nonetheless, it was her decision. Carlos wasn’t having it, so he tampered with her birth control. Naturally, she doesn’t react kindly to the news. It’s seen as a good thing, though, because it’s what he wanted, and they’re married, they’re supposed to have children. In any case, Carlos’ plan sort of backfires: Since she was cheating on him with John, the teenage gardener, the baby was most likely John’s, but we never get to find out since she suffers a miscarriage.
That being said, this was not the end of Carlos’ tampering with birth control. In a later season, he lies to her about having gotten a vasectomy when she had adamantly told him to get one after the birth of their youngest daughter. When she finds out, she is rightfully upset, but Carlos makes her take pity on him by expressing that he lied because he hoped that they would finally be able to have a son. It always felt that Gabrielle was being punished throughout the series because she was the only one of the women of Wisteria Lane who did not want children. Even when she finally has them, she is painted as a bad mother because she seems not to love her children; she could never win in this series, it seems. It was sort of the same case for Lynnette, who kept having children seemingly against her will, because she wanted to keep working, but was discouraged from doing so because of the kids. This series treated women who dared to dream a life outside of motherhood not too kindly.” ― Gabriela Burgos, the co-host of the “Film Posers” podcast
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