A Little Night Music

"A Little Night Music" is the 132nd episode of Desperate Housewives.

Susan and Gabrielle
Mike gives Carlos his first payment, for what he owes him. Gabrielle tries to persuade Carlos into buying a ski chalet, but Carlos refuses to, saying he’s got a lot of money tied up in a business deal. In the meantime, Susan inherits a Yamaha piano, and hopes to pretend she bought it so she can rub it in Gaby’s face. Mike forbids it, because he fears this way Carlos might think he’s spending the money he borrowed on useless things. Gaby meets with Carlos’ business manager, and learns her husband lent 50 thousand dollars to Mike Delfino. She then goes out to buy some supplies for Susan, knowing they’re in financial problems, and Susan takes the opportunity to tell her about the piano she just bought. Gabrielle is infuriated because she realizes Mike borrowed the money to splurge on extravagant things, and snaps at Susan. However, her friend had no idea of what Mike did, and became extremely upset, eventually telling Gaby her piano was inherited. The two come up with a plan to get back at their husbands. The Delfinos invite the Solises over for dinner, and Gaby tells Mike she thinks Carlos is having an affair because 50 thousand dollars are missing from their bank account. She also thinks Mike’s covering up for his friend because Carlos called his house a lot of times. Meanwhile, Susan pretends she’s dropped a 300 dollar earring that Mike bought her. Carlos is infuriated by this. When they get together to eat, Gaby “realizes” that Susan is the one Carlos is having an affair with, and Susan confesses Carlos paid her to have sex with him so that they could get through their financial issues faster. The two husbands are about to clash when the wives reveal they know the truth, and make them look like fools. Susan takes the opportunity to say she feels really hurt and betrayed by Mike. Later, Mike apologizes to her, and shows her all of his paperwork so she can sort it out and look at how hurt they are financially. As he goes to bed, Susan cries.

Lynette
Lynette is surprised when Eddie comes home bearing supplies. She then asks Porter to help her with the laundry, but he is late to meet with his friends and refuses to. Eddie tries to talk him into it, to no avail, and when Lynette keeps insisting, Porter calls her a “bitch”. This makes Eddie snap and jump on his friend. When he’s about to punch Porter, Lynette breaks them apart. Later that night, Eddie explains to Lynette he is very sorry about what he did, he just couldn’t stand to see her be mistreated by her own son, and he promises it’ll never happen again. Lynette tells him the next time he feels angry, he should take deep breaths and count to ten, which is what her school psychiatrist advised her to do when she was young and frustrated with her family. Lynette assures him that the technique really works, and when Eddie apologizes again, Lynette says it is okay, as long as it never happens again, and thanks him for wanting to defend her nonetheless. When Tom arrives from a business trip and sees that there is no dinner waiting for him, he becomes angry and yells at Lynette, leading Eddie to start taking deeper and deeper breaths and counting to high numbers in order to control himself, becoming apparent he is soon to erupt as Tom keeps being rude to his wife. Lynette tries to calm him down by kissing Tom repeatedly, and Eddie eases up. In their room, Lynette tells Tom about the ordeal between Eddie and Porter, and she suggests Eddie see some therapist, because it is to be expected that a kid from an abusive home has some “baggage”. She takes him to see Dr. McCarthy, who advises Lynette to bring in Eddie’s mother for a session with her son. Lynette goes over to Eddie’s house, but no one answers. Barbara’s neighbor tells her she hasn’t Eddie’s mom in several days, which is weird, because her car is still parked on the street. Lynette becomes concerned.

Bree
Bree and Sam are out shopping, and he notices a woman working at the grocery store. Bree catches the two of them arguing, and asks Sam who she is and what they were fighting about, but he doesn’t answer. Bree goes to meet the woman on a separate occasion, and learns she is Sam’s biological mother, whom he had always claimed to have died from an illness. Lillian Allen, his mother, tells Bree Sam became really angry with her once he found a letter Rex had sent her after he married Bree. Apparently, Rex had just opened his practice and the money was pouring in, and he asked to take in Sam. Lillian refused to let her son go, and therefore denied him of a better life. Sam resented her for this, and started going around telling people she was dead. Bree begins to realize Sam has several issues. She and Orson talk about what happened, and Orson takes the opportunity to remind her he was right all along about Sam. Bree admits it's a hard situation because having Sam around has been like having a piece of Rex back, but it now forces her to remember that Rex was a liar too. Sam walks in, and Orson leaves, so Sam and his wife can have a private chat. Bree tells Sam she went back to the store, and he understands she met his mother. Bree can’t seem to understand why he would claim his mother is dead, and Sam tells her she is dead to him, because she kept him from having a sweeter life. He shows off his jealousy for how easily Andrew and Danielle, his siblings, had it all, and how hard he had to fight for everything he accomplished. In a tantrum, he throws a vase of flowers into a sink, smashing it. Bree becomes horrified, and he then leaves. Later, at her house, Bree apologizes to her son Andrew, who accepts the apology, and the two of them plus Orson try to figure out what to do about Sam. Andrew says they just need to kick him away, but Bree says it can’t be that easy, because she’s afraid of him.

Angie
Mary Alice reveals to us bits about Angie’s back story, of how she and Patrick were lovers and eco-terrorists together, of how they built a bomb as part of a project to save the environment, but something went wrong and someone got killed, and of how she wanted to turn herself in but she was pregnant at the time, and FBI agent Nick agreed to run away with her and raise the child as his own. Patrick goes to The Coffee Cup, where Danny works, and the latter asks him about the novel. In the meantime, Nick walks in, asking Danny to go out for a jog that night, but his son refuses to. Patrick overhears them. That night, while Nick is jogging, Patrick drives by and runs him over, leaving him for dead in the middle of the street. Nick survives the attack, and is hospitalized, warning Angie that whoever did it meant to hurt him, making it possible that the attacker was Patrick. Angie then decides to send Danny away, but she herself refuses to go anywhere, despite Nick’s warnings. Danny humors his mom, and goes to stay at a hotel, despite being skeptic about Patrick still being after them. Nick then informs Angie that he will be put in a coma on purpose in order to recuperate faster, because of the swelling on his brain, meaning he’ll be out cold for a few days. Angie then goes home, and is surprised to see lighted candles everywhere. Patrick is there waiting for her, and he’s got her gun. He’s come back for revenge, and tells her he needs something that only she can provide. He doesn’t worry about her killing him in his sleep, because he knows for sure she doesn’t feel comfortable taking lives. He warns her that if she decides to run, he’ll pay Nick a little visit at the hospital. He then heads for the guest room, leaving Angie worried.

Production Notes

 * The title of this episodes comes from a Stephen Sondheim musical of the same name.
 * This episode was watched by 12.118 million viewers in its original broadcast.
 * Although credited, Dana Delany (Katherine Mayfair), Maiara Walsh (Ana Solis) and Joshua Logan Moore (Parker Scavo) are absent from this episode. Andrea Bowen (Julie Mayer) and Kathryn Joosten (Karen McCluskey) are too absent, and are therefore not credited.
 * This episode starts a streak of 21 episodes for the series that all bill at least one "special guest star", the biggest streak the show's had, which ended with the episode "Moments in the Woods". Coincidentally, both that episode and this one only bill one "special guest star", former series regular Shawn Pyfrom (Andrew Van de Kamp).