TV Rehab: 12 steps to a better "Mistresses"

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"Mistresses" is the epitome of soapy summer fun, with gorgeous women having torrid affairs and encountering more than their fair share of crazy people along the way. It also manages to sneak in some lovely moments that have real heart, which is why the show is entering its fourth season even after being panned by some when it first premiered.

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Four seasons in, however, the show keeps getting crazier and crazier. Zap2it doesn"t feel that all is lost with "Mistresses" just yet, but we have a 12-step program for the drama in Season 4 (and hopefully beyond) to help it return to its earlier glory days.

1. No more babies

We already know from the Season 4 premiere episode description that there"s a time jump and Karen (Yunjin Kim) has given birth to baby Vivianne, born out of Karen"s surprisingly sweet threesome situation in Season 3. However, fingers crossed the new baby is seen and not heard -- or better yet, not even seen that much.

There"s already one kid on the show in the form of April"s (Rochelle Aytes) daughter Lucy (Corinne Massiah), and one kid is plenty. This show so does not need to turn into "Mom-stresses."

2. A permanent fourth woman

It would have been nice in the wake of Alyssa Milano"s departure that the show booked a fourth woman who was going to be a permanent fixture in the other women"s lives. Unfortunately, Calista Raines (Jennifer Esposito) was not that woman. Let"s get somebody in the door who will stick around should the show get a fifth season.

3. A fourth who interacts with all of them more

And while we"re at it, let"s get a fourth who is more involved with the group. Calista"s interactions were primarily with Joss (Jes Macallan), which made the group feel very fractured. Sure, it"s fine to have two women off together away from the other two for an episode, but the best part of the early seasons was how cohesive the group felt. Let"s aim for that again.

The introduction of Harry"s sister Kate (Tabrett Bethell) as a series regular in Season 4 is fine, but she needs to find ways to connect to Karen and April, not just Joss.

4. Most all-lady, wine-fueled scenes

Along with a more cohesive group is naturally going to come more scenes that feature all four main characters. Give them some wine and let them make a day of it. It keeps what can at times be kind of a dark show more light and fun.

5. Give April something to do outside men

Out of all the women on the show, April"s non-man life feels the most boring. She runs a store (boring) and had to deal with the awful mess her ex-husband put her in for several seasons, which was dramatic but not overly exciting. It"s time for April to be allowed to gallivant around town like Joss or get shot at by Penelope Ann Miller like Karen. Liven that lady"s life up a bit!

6. While you"re at it, kick Marc to the curb

This may be controversial, but Marc (Rob Mayes) kinda sucks. He seems flighty and easily distracted by shiny objects. April can do better. Frankly, it"s kind of a shame Daniel (Ricky Whittle) is gone, but how about in Season 4 April gets someone more worthy of her awesomeness?

7. Give Lucy a storyline

We"re not done with April. Her daughter Lucy is one of those rare kids on TV who isn"t annoying as all get out. She has spent three seasons being adorable, sad about her father and coolly supportive of her mother. It"s time she gets her own storyline.

8. Let Joss and Harry be happy (for a while)

Sure, it"s still a little weird that Joss would be falling for her ex-brother-in-law. But Joss and Harry"s (Brett Tucker) romance actually came around quite organically, so can they just have a moment"s peace for a bit? Maybe hold off til midseason to drop some kind of Jarry-killing bombshell.

9. Make Karen"s life just slightly less insane

Where April"s life needs some more drama in it, Karen could use a break. She"s been through a lot lately. Is there a way to have her find a new man that"s relatively drama-free? Obviously not 100 percent free of drama because that would be boring, but maybe make it a teeny, tiny less crazy.

10. Road trip!

The girls haven"t had a getaway in a while, which is understandable since the last one took a horrible turn. But it would be fun to watch the ladies get outside of their lives for an episode and have some kind of stand-alone adventure in a new location.

11. More extended family

We"ve met Joss and Savi"s mom, Janet (JoBeth Williams), Savi"s dad Bruce (John Heard) and April"s mom Marjorie (Lynn Whitfield), so how about some one-off appearances by Karen"s mom and/or dad, Joss or April"s dad or even a sibling for one of the women we haven"t yet met. Maybe a long-lost sibling even they didn"t know about!

12. Get Alyssa Milano back

No, not permanently because as awesome as that would be, it"s not going to happen. But what a great guest-starring turn that would be. The viewers were totally cheated out of the Joss-Harry-Savannah fallout, so it would be nice to watch the sisters deal with that.

Source: http://zap2it.com/2016/05/mistresses-season-4-tv-rehab-alyssa-milano-returns-11-more-ideas/