The Little Things You Do Together

"The Little Things You Do Together" is the 62nd episode of Desperate Housewives.

Summary
While collecting his wife's belongings at the hospital, Ian accidentally comes across the ring Mike was about to propose to Susan with the night of his accident. Tom and Lynette prepare for the opening night of their pizzeria, but there is a mix-up with the chairs. Zach convinces Gabrielle that they had sex, and Gabrielle tries to get Carlos to scare him off. In the meantime, Orson's mother Gloria plots to kill Bree. At the night of the pizzeria opening, Susan and Ian become engaged, and Gloria makes her move.

Previously on Desperate Housewives
"The Scavos prepared for a grand opening. While Gabrielle had a few too many drinks. And a cry for help made Orson lose his cool. Mike got arrested. And a friendship hit the rocks. Orson's mom was determined to bring Alma and Orson back together. Alma became a prisoner. Bree was set up to take a fall. And Mike was finally able to remember the past."

- Mary Alice Young


 * Lynette and Tom are ready to open their pizzeria. ("I Remember That")
 * Gabrielle falls asleep in Zach Young's arms. ("I Remember That")
 * Danielle tries to kill herself and Orson lashes out at Andrew who mocks his sister's attempted suicide. ("Nice She Ain't")
 * Mike is arrested, which causes a rift in Susan and Bree's friendship. ("The Miracle Song")
 * Alma rapes Orson, per Gloria's instructions. ("Come Play Wiz Me")
 * Alma subsequently becomes a prisoner. ("I Remember That")
 * Bree falls off a ladder at great height. ("I Remember That")
 * Mike remembers the night Monique died and confronts Orson, who falls off the roof of a car-park. ("I Remember That")

Susan
Susan Mayer meanwhile takes her relationship with Ian to the next level, but whilst on her way to collect Ian’s dead wife Jane’s things with him, Andrew Van de Kamp bumps into Susan and informs her of Bree's fall from a ladder. Bree's delighted that Susan's willing to be her friend again after telling Susan she knows Mike Delfino wasn't to blame but doesn't let on to Susan who really did it.

Later on that night, the residents of Wisteria Lane, all except Bree, Orson, his ex-wife Alma and his mother Gloria turn up at the opening of Pizzeria Scavo where some bizarre things occur. After Tom and Lynette say their thank yous, Ian and Zach both have some propositions of their own. Ian proposes to Susan in a typical “Susan Mayer moment” and she agrees to marry him, leaving a watching Mike upset.

Lynette
It's opening day at the Scavos’ Pizzeria, but Lynette ends up getting into some big trouble with Tom. A delivery man shows up with some baby seats but brings more than what is required. However, there aren't enough adult seats, so Lynette has to borrow some from her neighbors, including a hungover Gabrielle who ended up spending the night with Zach Young.

Gabrielle
Gabrielle's a little taken aback when her ex-husband Carlos confesses to her that he's still not yet over her, but is stunned to learn that Zach spent the night with her. – That is until he takes a trip to the bathroom and can't help noticing the big size of Zach’s genitals. Carlos informs Gabrielle of what he saw in the bathroom reassuring her nothing happened between her and Zach, because even if she was under the influence of alcohol, she would've remembered.

Zach, after seeing Ian propose to Susan, proposes to Gabrielle. She's absolutely horrified and takes Zach outside and tells him she doesn't want to be his friend anymore because she knows he'd always be wanting more than a friendship from her. This is the last time Zach's seen in season 3.

Bree
Just as Orson Hodge is falling off the hospital roof, due to Mike Delfino pushing him off the parking-lot border at the end of the last episode, he starts to flash back about what happened the night when Monique Polliet died. Orson returns home to find Monique on the floor surrounded in blood, with his mother Gloria standing right next to her with one of Mike’s plumbing tools. The doorbell rings. Mike is at the door waiting for Monique to answer but before he walks in the house to find Orson in a rather suspicious position, Orson and Gloria quickly hide Monique’s body behind the kitchen counter and Gloria hides in the pantry. In order to stop Mike from seeing the murder scene, he quickly tips Mike off and says he can carry on the plumbing job from there. Mike leaves, and soon after Gloria and Orson are at the country club digging a hole, Orson gets into a row with his mother, as his mother is trying to remove Monique’s teeth (so she cannot be identified by dental records, which Orson regards as disrespectful to the corpse) and instead of burying Monique, he pushes Gloria into the ditch, causing her to break her hip (which explains why she walks with the aid of a stick). It cuts back to Orson just as he is about to meet his death, but he’s in luck. A tree breaks his fall and paramedics standing by call for help. The narrator Mary Alice states that Orson’s departure into the “white light” was not scheduled for this day.

Gloria Plans to kill Bree whilst she's in the hospital but ia stunned to learn Orson was admitted. When Bree's home, Andrew Goes to work at the Pizzeria's opening night and leaves Danielle to look after their mother. Danielle however is furious as she wanted to be with her friends at the opening and yells at Andrew. Gloria, having heard and saw the exchange decides to take advantage of the situation. Gloria gives Danielle some of her homemade soup to bring upstairs to Bree and suggests to Danielle that she says shetake credit– unbeknownst to Bree and Danielle, Gloria put sleeping pills in it. Gloria offers to take care of Bree so Danielle can go to the pizzeria. As Danielle heads outside, Alma escapes from the attic Gloria locked her in. While Alma's on her roof, she tries to get Danielle’s attention, but accidentally loses her balance and falls off the roof, ultimately leading to her death. Danielle fails to notice Alma’s fall and goes to the pizzeria.

When Bree wakes, after being sedated by the spiked soup, Gloria admits to the pills being in the soup as Bree starts to fall asleep. As Bree's out cold Gloria admits that it was easy to kill Monique as she was a “slut” and that that she'll feel remorse after killing Bree, remarking she's "a good Christian woman" who got caught up in the affairs of the Hodge family.

Gloria believes the vows Orson made to Alma under the eyes of God are still sacred, and that Orson's divorce from Alma meant nothing, making Bree Orson’s mistress. Gloria goes to run Bree a bath, and stages it with photographs of Orson and Bree together, as well as candles. Gloria’s idea is that she will get Bree into the bath, and cut her wrists, making it look like a suicide.

Andrew's stunned when Danielle turns up at the pizzeria and shouts at her for leaving Bree when she's most in need, Danielle tells him to calm himself, as she left Bree with Gloria. Suspicious of Gloria, Andrew heads for the house. Meanwhile, Orson has escaped from the hospital and is intent on getting home, to rescue Bree from Gloria. Gloria hears Andrew come through the door and he runs up the stairs to try and rescue Bree. Gloria hits him with her walking stick and he takes a fall, rendering him temporarily unconscious. Orson comes to Andrew’s rescue and confronts Gloria as she's about to slit Bree’s wrists. It strikes him as to the fact that Bree’s staged suicide resembles his own father’s. He then realizes that his mother was responsible for that death also. Gloria used Orson’s father's alleged suicide as something against him, as she told him that he could have saved his father's life. He fights with Gloria, throwing her to the floor. Gloria falls and begins to have a stroke, leaving Orson and Andrew free to rescue Bree. Bree wakes up and tells Orson that his mother was trying to kill her. Orson fills her in on what happened. He left Gloria (who is unconscious after the stroke) next to Alma’s body as well as the fake suicide note, which she wrote when trying to attract Orson's attention, and the bag of teeth belonging to Monique, removed by Gloria. His reasoning is that Alma will be held responsible for Monique's death, and that Gloria had a stroke once seeing her beloved Alma dead, rendering her permanently paralyzed and unable to speak.

In the morning they're found. The police, much to Orson's planning, believe Alma committed suicide because she felt guilty for killing Monique and that Gloria found her and had a stroke. The doctors tell Orson that his mother, though completely paralyzed physically, still has the same mental capacity. Orson feels relief that the fact that he was an accomplice in Monique’s burial will remain secret and with his mother. He tilts her head so that she can see him walk out of her life for the last time. On leaving the hospital he imagines his future life with Bree.

Production
The episode was written by series creator, Marc Cherry and Joe Keenan, and directed by David Grossman.

Reception
"The Little Things You Do Together" was watched by 18.51 viewers. This marked an increase in viewers from the previous episode, who watched the show to see the season's mystery be resolved. It garnered positive reviews from television critics, and holds high regard among fans of the show.

Trivia

 * The episode title, The Little Things You Do Together is a song taken from the Stephen Sondheim musical, Company.
 * Shawn Pyfrom and Kyle MacLachlan both submitted this episode for consideration in the category of “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series” on their behalf for the 2007 Emmy Awards.
 * We finally learn who killed Monique Polier. The season mystery revolving around Orson's dark past ends in this episode because of Marcia Cross's (Bree) maternity leave, as she was put on bed rest before finishing her final scenes.
 * Although credited, Preston Scavo (Brent Kinsman), Porter Scavo (Shane Kinsman), and Parker Scavo (Zane Huett) do not appear in this episode.
 * This episode marks the final appearance of Dixie Carter as Gloria Hodge, who died on April 10, 2010.
 * This episode is the last time Marcia Cross (Bree) is seen until the season finale, due to her maternity leave.

Bloopers and continuity errors

 * Hospital workers, due to company policy, are not supposed to give out information on their patients outside of the hospital, as the employee speaking to Orson's mother on the phone had done, telling her that Orson jumped off the roof.
 * The word 'Exit' on the door reads backwards due to the camera.