DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: COME IN, STRANGER (TV)
Summary
One in this darkly comedic soap opera about the denizens of Wisteria Lane, a suburban neighborhood with a seedy underbelly that is thrust to the forefront after the suicide of one titular housewife. Susan is asked by her neighbor Alberta Fromme to take care of her cat while she’s away. While caring for the cat, Susan and Julie discover evidence of a robbery in Alberta’s home, although they narrowly miss catching the perpetrator. A neighborhood watch meeting is called, and it is decided to institute volunteer patrols in order to keep the neighborhood safer. Susan presents Rick Thompson, a police officer at the meeting, with a screwdriver she found at the scene of the crime; she believes it was used to pry open Alberta’s drawers. Later, while cleaning up, Gabrielle tells her that Rick was staring at her all night. Lynette asks Bree to help her enroll Porter and Preston in an upscale private academy by lying about their demeanor, as she can no longer tolerate their constant misbehavior. Bree refuses, unwilling to jeopardize her reputation at the academy. The next day, Gabrielle is surprised when her mother-in-law, Juanita Solis, comes to visit unannounced. Juanita despises Gabrielle but acts genial towards her. Lynette and Tom go to an interview with the headmaster of the academy, who acts coldly towards them. However, Bree has put in a recommendation after all, and the fact that Porter and Preston are identical twins piques his interest; he hopes that their inclusion might increase diversity at the academy. He decides to bring in Porter and Preston for “observation,” to see how they interact with the other children and gauge their responses to the academy’s staff. Bree’s children are going away on a camping trip, and she asks Rex to spend the night with her, since she is afraid of being alone. However, Rex notes that she may have to grow used to being alone, and chooses not to remain. Rick stops by and chats with Susan, but she reveals that she “sort of” has a boyfriend. However, he manages to persuade her to go out with him anyway. Carlos speaks with his mother in private; he is concerned that despite his best efforts Gabrielle is unhappy with her life and may be cheating on him. She slaps him and promises that she will take care of Gabrielle. In order to curb their wild behavior, Lynette makes Porter and Preston engage in strenuous exercise the morning before the observation, leaving them both quiet and docile. Gabrielle gets a text message from John and she tries to leave unobtrusively, but Juanita insists on coming along despite Gabrielle’s various excuses. Susan speaks to Mike about her upcoming date with Rick, and Mike doesn’t give her a clear answer before she leaves. Unbeknownst to her, there is a screwdriver missing from Mike’s garage, indicating that he is the one who broke into Alberta’s home. Bree visits the Young household, where she finds Zach meticulously cleaning the place, explaining that his father is out of town. He is focusing in particular on the spot where his mother died, constantly rubbing it with varnish. Bree feels sympathy for Zach and invites him to her house for dinner. While out shopping with Gabrielle, Juanita argues with her about how she and Carlos haven’t had children, but Gabrielle yells that she feels her life is fulfilling the way it is. Susan talks to Lynette about Mike, believing that she may have been letting her desire for a relationship cloud her judgment about him. Meanwhile, Mike meets with Noah and reveals that he accidentally left the screwdriver behind in Alberta’s house. Mike wants to get out of town, but Noah tells him to keep at it and be more careful in the future. Gabrielle finally has an opportunity to sneak off and see John, who is upset that she did not meet him earlier like he asked. He considers that he should be dating someone his own age, but Gabrielle convinces him otherwise and promises to meet him the next day. Lynette and Tom run against an obstacle when it appears that they will have to make a $15,000 contribution to the academy in order to enroll Preston and Porter, leaving them to seriously consider home-schooling them. Over dinner, Bree reveals to Zach that her mother was killed in a car accident when she was very young. She recounts the circumstances of her death and her reaction to it, noting that she never told anyone that before. Zach believes that he is responsible for his mother’s suicide, but stops himself from elaborating any further and abruptly leaves. Bree tells Susan and Gabrielle about this the next morning, and at their suggestion she has Zach over for dinner the following night, using “old-fashioned” eggnog to get him drunk. At the mall, Gabrielle tricks Juanita into getting seized by mall security while she goes out to meet John. Rex calls Bree and asks her out to dinner, and she heads out, explaining to Zach that she can’t make their dinner appointment. Susan goes out with Rick on patrol, and they both enjoy themselves before “officially” beginning their date. Lynette threatens to resume working, thus leaving Tom alone with the kids to home-school them, but he rejects this idea and they return to their plan of enrolling Preston and Porter in the academy. To raise the necessary money, they decide to sell Tom’s boat. Susan spots the screwdriver she found in Rick’s police car, and he admits that no one was willing to authorize a laboratory inspection of the screwdriver due to its relatively low priority. Susan is unhappy that Rick lied to her about it and leaves him immediately, pointing out that he is too similar to Karl. Zach secretly breaks into Bree’s house, and the police are soon on hand along with Bree and Rex. They enter and find that the entire house has been adorned with Christmas decorations, owing to her earlier conversation with Zach about their memories of Christmas with their mothers. Bree notes with distress that Zach has even set up stockings, including one for his mother. Zach, in police custody, admits to Bree that he is unsure of why he did it, and Bree insists that he be released immediately. Paul arrives, seemingly confused at the situation. Susan calls Julie to pick her up, as her date with Rick ended in a bad part of town. Mike arrives to pick her up, and she reluctantly goes along with him. He notices that she has the screwdriver with her, and Susan reveals that it was never sent to be dusted for fingerprints. Juanita is eventually sent home with Gabrielle, and she tells Gabrielle about her own disastrous marriage to an abusive husband. She recounts that the arrival of Carlos was the only thing which kept her going. When her husband beat Carlos, she became enraged and she implies that she murdered him in retaliation and lied to Carlos, telling him that his father left with another woman. Mike brings Susan home; she dislikes that she feels attraction towards Mike without knowing anything about him. When she asks him how he feels about her, he kisses her. Bree passes by the Young house and overhears Zach arguing with Paul. She gets concerned when she hears something break, and knocks on the door to speak with Zach. He insists everything is fine, although inside Paul has been knocked to the floor, injured by Zach. Porter and Preston are accepted into the academy, although they have resumed their rambunctious ways. Bree’s suspicions concerning Zach continue. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: October 31, 2004 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:01:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:85646
- GENRE: Comedy; Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Drama
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2004-2012
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV – Commercials – Applebee’s restaurants
- TV – Commercials – Capital One credit cards
- TV – Commercials – Celebrex joint pain medication
- TV – Commercials – Dyson vacuum cleaners
- TV – Commercials – Ford automobiles
- TV – Commercials – Halls lozenges
- TV – Commercials – Hummer automobiles
- TV – Commercials – KFC restaurants
- TV – Commercials – Lenscrafters eyewear
- TV – Commercials – L’Oreal hair coloring
- TV – Commercials – MasterCard credit cards
- TV – Commercials – Maybelline cosmetics
- TV – Commercials – McDonald’s restaurants
- TV – Commercials – Outback Steakhouse restaurants
- TV – Commercials – Prempro estrogen treatment
- TV – Commercials – Royal Caribbean cruise line
- TV – Commercials – United States Postal Service delivery service
- TV – Commercials – Vaseline skin cream
- TV – Commercials – Visa credit cards
- TV – Commercials – “After the Sunset” motion picture
- TV – Commercials – “Alfie” motion picture
- TV – Commercials – “Christmas with the Kranks” motion picture
- TV – Commercials – “Shrek 2” home video release
- TV – Commercials – “The Incredibles” motion picture
- TV – Promos – “ABC Primetime”
- TV – Promos – “American Music Awards”
- TV – Promos – “Boston Legal”
- TV – Promos – “Desperate Housewives”
- TV – Promos – “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”
- TV – Promos – “Life of Luxury”
- TV – Promos – “Lost”
- TV – Promos – “The Bachelor”
- TV – Promos – “Wife Swap”
CREDITS
- Michael Edelstein … Executive Producer
- Tom Spezialy … Executive Producer
- Marc Cherry … Executive Producer, Created by
- Kevin Murphy … Co-Executive Producer
- Tracey Stern … Producer
- Patty Lin … Producer
- Larry Shaw … Producer
- George W. Perkins … Producer
- Alexandra Cunningham … Producer, Writer
- David Schulner … Co-Producer
- Charles Skouras III … Co-Producer
- Stephanie Hagen … Associate Producer
- Charles Pratt Jr. … Consulting Producer
- John Pardee … Consulting Producer
- Joey Murphy … Consulting Producer
- Arlene Sanford … Director
- Steve Jablonsky … Music by
- Danny Elfman … Theme Music by
- Teri Hatcher … Cast, Susan Mayer
- Felicity Huffman … Cast, Lynette Scavo
- Marcia Cross … Cast, Bree Van De Kamp
- Eva Longoria … Cast, Gabrielle Solis
- Nicollette Sheridan … Cast, Edie Britt
- Steven Culp … Cast, Rex Van De Kamp
- Ricardo Antonia Chavira … Cast, Carlos Solis
- Mark Moses … Cast, Paul Young
- Andrea Bowen … Cast, Julie Mayer
- Jesse Metcalfe … Cast, John Rowland
- Cody Kasch … Cast, Zach Young
- James Denton … Cast, Mike Delfino
- Doug Savant … Cast, Tom Scavo
- Lupe Ontiveros … Cast, Juanita "Mama" Solis
- Bob Gunton … Cast, Noah Taylor
- Steven Eckholdt … Cast, Rick Thompson
- Harry S. Murphy … Cast, Headmaster Lentz
- Shane Kinsman … Cast, Porter Scavo
- Brent Kinsman … Cast, Preston Scavo
- Shania Accius … Cast, Shonda
- Mark Brady … Cast, Patrolman
- Pat Crawford Brown … Cast, Ida Greenberg
- Laura Milby … Cast, Saleswoman
- Lorna Scott … Cast, Helen Vale
- Betty Murphy … Cast, Mrs. Fromme
- Cheyenne Wilbur … Cast, Bob Fisk
- Brenda Strong … Voice, Mary Alice Young