Smiles of a Summer Night

"Smiles of a Summer Night" is the 72nd episode of Desperate Housewives.

Summary
After realizing Tom has been letting her win at card games, Lynette kicks him out of her chemotherapy sessions, therefore becoming in need of a buddy. In the meantime, Katherine organizes a little luncheon for Lynette, and she wants to bring dessert: a lemon meringue pie. However, Bree, who is always in charge of desserts, insists Katherine should just bring a salad. During the little get-together, Lynette realizes her friend Gabrielle doesn't want to accompany her during chemo, something which upsets her deeply.

Gabrielle and Carlos are still going on with their romantic affair, as Edie tries desperately to get Carlos to propose to her. Meanwhile, Julie Mayer wants to go to a party, but Mike tells his wife she probably shouldn't let her daughter go, and Susan becomes torn between her husband's opinion and her daughter's wish.

Previously on Desperate Housewives
"The new neighbor turned out to be an old friend of Susan's, who had a problem making friends. Her daughter couldn't recall the past. But her husband had news for Susan. Lynette revealed her condition. Gaby and Carlos began a secret affair. And Edie uncovered a secret of another sort."

- Mary Alice Young


 * Katherine Mayfair, an old friend of Susan, returns to Wisteria Lane. ("Now You Know")
 * Katherine and Bree developed a rivalry. ("Now You Know")
 * Dylan, Katherine's daughter, couldn't remember ever living in Fairview. ("Now You Know")
 * Susan learns she is pregnant. ("Now You Know")
 * Lynette tells her friends she has Cancer. ("Now You Know")
 * Gabrielle and Carlos start an affair. ("Now You Know")
 * Edie finds out about Carlos' illegal off-shore bank account. ("Now You Know")

Teaser
"The great crime wave hit Wisteria Lane on a Tuesday afternoon. That's when residents found their barbecues upended..."

It's a sunny afternoon on Wisteria Lane. And all is quiet. We learn from Mary Alice's narration that a crime wave has hit the lane. We see a BBQ lying on its side, the coal and grill scattered across the lawn. Bree looks down at the mess annoyed.

"...Their clean laundry trampled..."

Katherine Mayfair pulls a white shirt out of the rose bush in her garden. It is covered in mud. She looks around confused.

"...And their skateboards missing..."

One of the Scavo twins (which one?) is looking for his skateboard. He walks back home, scratching his head.

"...Naturally, everyone began to ask who could be responsible for such carnage? The answer lay in the home of a neighbor, who, 20 minutes earlier, had been engaging in an altogether different type of crime..."

Bree and Katherine stand in the middle of the lane discussing the possibilities of who could have made such a mess. The camera pans to Gabrielle Solis' home up the block. Inside, Gaby and Carlos are making out on the sofa in their underwear. "I gotta get back. I told Edie I was just going for a jog," Carlos interrupts, "Do I look sweaty enough for a five-mile run?" The two kiss a final time, before Gaby asks Carlos when will he dump Edie. Carlos explains that "it's complicated" and then tells Gaby that he doesn't see her in any rush to dump to Victor. "Generally speaking, women don't leave their husbands for guys who have girlfriends," Gabrielle replies, "Just boot the bitch! What are you afraid of?" Carlos angrily starts to tell Gaby and he isn't afraid of his girlfriend, but he quickly jumps down on the floor and hides underneath the table. Carlos announces that Edie has just arrived outside. Frantically, Gaby pulls on her dress and opens the door and greets Edie. Edie informs her that she is looking for Carlos and that Ida Greenberg said she saw him on her porch. Edie takes a step inside and begins to nose around. Gabrielle, desperate to get Edie out of her home to stop her finding Carlos, says she just saw Carlos over at Edie's home and that he just let himself in. Edie thanks Gaby and leaves. Just then, Gaby realizes that she's messed up and heads outside, calling after Edie. "You have a birthday coming up, and I don't know what to get you" Gaby says, leaning up against Edie's Audi convertible. Meanwhile, Carlos dashes behind the two woman, across the street, and into a neighbors back garden. He crashes through a side-gate, knocking over a BBQ, as he rolls around on the ground. We cut back to Gaby and Edie. "...Or maybe a coffee pot, or scented hangers, or a nice clock radio." Edie tells Gaby to surprise her for her birthday, before putting her foot on the pedal, and speeding up the lane towards her house. We quickly cut back to Carlos dashing through bushes and eventually getting tangled up in a clothes line. He escapes the trap, leaving clothes in bushes and on the grass and continues his race back home. A football bounces across the street in front of Edie's car and she stops and yells at the kids. Meanwhile, Carlos spots a skateboard. We then see Carlos hanging onto the back of Edie's bumper, on the skateboard, and being driven up the lane. Edie is oblivious to what is going on. The two of them reach the house, Carlos dashes towards the back door, which he discovers is locked. Edie enters his house to find Carlos standing by the back door with a shattered pane of glass on the floor. "Can you believe this? Someone broke into our house?" Carlos says, innocently.

"...And so ended the great crime wave on Wisteria Lane. No one ever found out who was responsible..."

Edie walks over and hugs Carlos. "Ew, you're all sweaty. Go clean up." She tells him and prances off. Carlos watches her leave, with a cheeky grin on his face.

"...Because it was an inside job."

- Mary Alice Young

Act I
"You will never see despair here or rage. You will never see the tiniest bit of regret. You see, the people who live here have learnt there is one sure way of hiding their secrets from their neighbors..."

Wisteria Lane is perfect. A man walks his dog and smiles at Ida Greenberg, who is busy watering her lawn. An elderly postman hands over the mail to a housewife, who is waiting on her porch for the delivery. Across the street, Orson Hodge leaves his home for work. Edie walks past, power-walking, and the two smile and greet each other.

"...That's why, in the suburbs, there is nothing more deceptive than a smile."

- Mary Alice Young

As Katherine Mayfair collects her mail from her postbox, she spots Susan, Bree and Gabrielle across the street, and suddenly plasters a smile on her face and waves friendly.

The three return to chatting. Susan explains that Julie thinks that Dylan isn't the same girl, as she doesn't remember anything about living on the lane. Bree suggests that maybe Dylan blocked it out and asks Susan if something bad ever happened to her when she was young. "I'm not sure. But there was something odd about the way they left" Susan replies. "So, if it isn't the early morning gossip brigade!" a voice calls out behind them - it's Katherine. Katherine asks who they're talking about. Gaby rather foolishly tells the new neighbor that they're bitching about Susan. Susan is standing right there. Katherine smiles smugly before moving on and asks the three women if they'd like to bring some food to Lynette, since she's been so tired from chemotherapy. They all agree. Bree tells Gabrielle to bring her vegetable lasagne, Susan to bring the beverages and asks Katherine if she'd bring a simple green salad. "I'd rather bring dessert!" Katherine chimes. Bree explains that she is the one who always brings dessert, and decides to bake a lemon meringue pie. "Yeah, here's the thing. The movers lost my salad bowl. My pie plates on the other hand..." Katherine adds. "Will not be needed," Bree replies politely, "As I said, I always bring dessert." An awkward silence transcends upon the group of housewives. Trying to clear the silence, Susan tells Katherine that she is more than welcome to borrow her salad bowl because she really shouldn't miss Bree's pie because it always turns out to be so perfect. "Who am I to argue with perfection?" Katherine snarlingly tells Bree. "I'm sorry. It's just that something has been driving me crazy," Katherine says, as she pulls out a small pair of scissors, bends down and snips a loose end of Bree's dress, "Ah, now you're perfect!" Katherine walks off, as Bree watches, flabbergasted.

Production
It was written by Bob Daily and Matt Berry and directed by David Grossman. It is the second episode of the show’s fourth season and aired on October 7, 2007.

Reception and ratings
Smiles of a Summer Night scored an 11.7/17 in Nielsen ratings with 17.817 million viewers tuning in, down from season premiere Now You Know, which scored 12.2/18.

Critical reviews
TV Squad writer Isabel Carreau was quite pleased with Smiles of a Summer Night. Carreau called Bree’s sub-plot “delicious” and claimed that it was another reason for calling Bree her favourite character from the programme. She was critical of Susan’s behaviour, noting that she should act more mature.

Trivia

 * This is the first episode since season three’s Bang in which the character of Mary Alice Young is seen.
 * Although credited, Andrew Van De Kamp (Shawn Pyfrom), Danielle Van De Kamp (Joy Lauren), Parker Scavo (Zane Huett) and Kayla Huntington (Rachel Fox) do not appear in this episode.
 * The title of the episode “Smiles of a Summer Night”, comes from the film of the same title. Like almost all the other episode titles, this one has a connection to Stephen Sondheim as his musical A Little Night Music is based on the film.
 * This is not the first time someone has snipped a thread from someone else's piece of clothing. When Katherine did this to Bree, it was a throwback to when Bree did this to her marriage counselor back in season 1.

Bloopers and continuity errors

 * When Bree Hodge is sneaking from Katherine Mayfair’s home (after overhearing some Mayfair secrets), the reflection of a camera man’s head can be seen momentarily in the moving door’s glass pane.
 * In episode 3.21, titled "Into the Woods", it is stated that Edie's birthday is after two weeks, meaning that it is around the season 3 finale. In this episode they mention that it's her birthday and she celebrates it with Carlos, even though there is a period of more than a month between the finale and this episode.
 * When Katherine is picking up her mail at the beginning, it's obvious that her hair is straight. Moments later, when she walks to Susan, Gaby and Bree who were standing across the street, her hair suddenly turns curly.