Putting It Together

"Putting It Together" is the 166th episode of Desperate Housewives.

Summary
Chuck calls Gabrielle, Susan and Lynette individually for questioning about the disappearance - and possible murder - of Alejandro, inciting panic, and Bree's life begins to spiral into despair when her friends abandon her after they blame her for scorning Chuck and causing him to take out his revenge on them. Meanwhile, Lynette asks a favor of Tom that could ruin his relationship with Jane, and Susan is made a once-in-a-lifetime proposition to become a real artist.

Previously on Desperate Housewives
"''Renee confronted Lynette. Carlos agreed to go into rehab. Susan's secret work of art fueled the detective's suspicions, and drove a wedge between friends."

- Mary Alice Young


 * Renee tells Lynette that she should forget about Tom, as he's moved on with Jane. ("Suspicion Song")
 * Tom and Jane attempt to have sex. ("Suspicion Song")
 * Carlos's drinking problem continues, so he agrees to go into rehab. ("Suspicion Song")
 * Susan tries to take her painting down from the gallery, but Chuck sees it, and understands it's true meaning. ("Suspicion Song")
 * Susan and Gabrielle dump Bree as their friend because of her secrets. ("Suspicion Song")

Teaser
"Whenever Bree Van de Kamp was feeling low she found solace in the act of baking. When her first husband passed away, she made coffee cake. When her second husband went to jail, she made sugar cookies. And when her teenage daughter got pregnant, she made crème brûlée''. So when Bree's best friends stopped speaking to her, she hoped that her warm cherry scones might thaw their chilly relationship."

We see Bree sorrowfully staring out of her kitchen window. She takes out some baking powder from her cabinet, and then we see flashbacks of when Bree baked to cure her grief. We see her making coffee cake, after Rex died. Then we see her making sugar cookies, after Orson went to jail. And then we see her making crème brûlée, after discovering Danielle was pregnant. Back in the present, we see Bree packing numerous cherry scones into a wicker basket. A little while later, outside Susan’s house, Bree knocks on the door, but there’s no reply. She then looks around and sees Susan stupidly watching right in front of the window. Bree notices Susan and calmly calls out to her, but Susan slams the curtains shut, upsetting Bree. A little while later, outside Gaby's house, Bree knocks on the door and Juanita answers. Bree kindly says hello and asks if Gaby is home, but Juanita nervously says she’s at Church. Bree questions why she’d be at Church on a Thursday, and then realizes Gaby told Juanita to lie. Juanita then shuts the door, upsetting Bree even more.

Outside Lynette’s house, Bree knocks on the door numerous times, forcing Lynette to rush out and ask her to stop as Paige is sleeping. Bree apologizes and explains that nobody is talking to her. She then tells Lynette she wants to make it up to everyone for lying. Lynette asks if Bree thought she could bake her way out of the situation, but Bree explains it’s a piece offering to start a conversation. However, Lynette says they have nothing to talk about after she lied to her. Bree begs Lynette to understand and she says she was trying to protect her. But Lynette states she wasn’t, and that she was trying to control everything, as she always does, but Bree doesn’t agree. Lynette continues, saying that the four girls were supposed to trust each other and stick together. Bree says everything will be fine as long as the girls have their friendship, but Lynette says there isn’t a friendship anymore. As she heads back inside, she tells Bree she’s on her own, as is everyone else. When Lynette’s gone, Bree depressingly walks home, tips the scones into a bin and then takes a bottle of wine and wine glass from a cabinet in her kitchen, making it apparent that her drinking problem has returned. "''Yes, Bree had always taken comfort in baking. But when baking failed her, she took comfort in something else."

- Mary Alice Young

Act I
"''In a place as peaceful as Wisteria Lane, the smallest crime can prompt a call to the police. When a neighborhood kid makes a reckless mistake, when children need to be taught a lesson, when the teenagers next door start a band. Yes, the women of Wisteria Lane were used to calling the police, what they weren’t used to was having the police call them."

- Mary Alice Young

We’re introduced to an overview of Wisteria Lane on an average, peaceful day. We then see flashbacks of times when the police needed to be called to the Lane. Firstly, we see Gabrielle walking onto her front porch to find a flower pot smashed, so she angrily starts to call the police. We then see Lynette stood in her kitchen with younger Preston and Porter. She’s holding firecrackers in one hand, looking disappointed, so she begins to call the police to teach them a lesson. And finally, we see Susan and Mike in bed. Mike is asleep, but Susan is kept awake by the noise of a garage band next door, so she begins to call the police.

Back in the present day, we see Lynette walking nervously into a police station. She stops when she sees Susan and Gaby sat down on separate benches, waiting to be seen. Lynette, still upset with the girls, asks them what’s going on. Susan says she isn’t sure because nobody has talked to them yet. Lynette asks if they need a lawyer, to which Gaby sarcastically replies that Susan could paint them one. With that, Chuck, who’s stood in a nearby doorway listening to them, says that lawyers won’t be necessary as it’s not an official investigation. He then says if they do want lawyers, he could open a case file and take fingerprints, but Lynette says a casual talk is better. Chuck then announces that the first person he’d like to talk to is Susan.

Moments later, in Chuck’s office, Susan is sat nervously at his desk. He kindly, yet dauntingly offers her some coffee. She politely declines and says that she’s trying to cut down on caffeine. Chuck asks her if it makes her "jittery and nervous", she says it does, and then he asks if she’s "jittery and nervous" right now. Susan quickly says "no", to not let him catch onto her nervousness, and then she drinks some of the coffee to make him less suspicious. However, as she drinks it, he notices her hands slightly shaking. Chuck then shows Susan a photo of her painting and asks her why she painted it. She says it’s hard to explain why artists paint what they do, and Chuck, playing along with her excuse, says they sometimes might not know why they paint something, to which Susan shakily agrees. He then shows Susan a photo of Alejandro and says she may have painted the picture because of her guilt over what she did. Susan looks at the photo and edgily says she doesn’t know who he is, so he says it’s the man in her painting. But Susan says it came from her imagination. Chuck calls “bull” and says it’s Ramón Sanchez (Alejandro). Susan stays adamant that she doesn’t know anything, so Chuck says her painting isn’t art, but a guilty conscience that won’t be relieved until she tells the truth.

Later on, it’s Lynette’s turn for the grilling, and she’s also sat on a chair at Chuck’s desk. He slides the photo of Alejandro towards Lynette and asks if she’s ever seen him. She confidently tells him no, so Chuck tells her she’d make a good cop because she can contain her true emotions. Chuck then approaches Lynette and tells her she’s “one of the good people”, but he can tell she’s covering something up. He tells her to forget him as a cop, and to see him as a friend for a moment. He explains that a jury will forgive people if they understood why something happened, but firstly she has to stop lying. Lynette insists she’s not lying, frustrating Chuck. He sits down on his desk and asks how much more of a toll she’ll let the secret take on her, as the secret she’s keeping is clearly the reason Tom walked out on her. Infuriated, Lynette strongly slaps Chuck across the face. She unremorsefully apologizes, saying he told her to forget he was a cop. She then stands up and begins to leave the office. As she reaches the door, Chuck, smiling, points out that she let her emotions slip. Lynette doesn’t answer.

Finally, it’s Gabrielle’s turn to be interrogated. He puts the photo of Alejandro in front of her and asks if she’s recognizes him. Without even glancing at it, she pushes it away and says she doesn’t. Chuck puts it back in front of her and tells her to look at it, so she does, but she just shakes her head and says she’s “got nothing”. She then gets up to leave, but Chuck begins to explain that Alejandro is a human being with two daughters and a family. Gabrielle, feeling slightly awful inside says she doesn’t know him and then she asks to leave again because she has things to do. As she walks away, Chuck asks if she’s visiting Carlos in rehab, shocking Gaby. He apologizes for Carlos’s problem, but Gabrielle says they “nipped it in the bud”, leading Chuck to ask what recent event triggered his drinking. He asks if anything stressful happened to Carlos (implying Alejandro’s disappearance), so Gaby, trying to think of an excuse quickly, says he had an affair. Chuck expresses his disbelief, and Gabrielle says she understands because of how pretty she is, but Chuck says he meant Carlos seemed like a good man. Gaby says he isn’t, but he’s a philandering S.O.B, who she still loves. Chuck then asks Gaby if he went to Carlos tomorrow and asked if he had an affair, that he’d get the same answer. Gaby assures him he would, so Chuck says he very well might visit him.

Later that night, Bree is sat alone at a bar drinking several glasses of wine. When she finishes one, she asks for another, and she’s clearly tipsy. As the bartender pours Bree her third glass of wine, he asks if she has a friend to drive her home. She sort of laughs and tells the man she is currently friendless, but assures him she’ll call a cab. With that, Bree hears three women laughing loudly at a table in the bar. She turns to them, and they’re all spitting images of her three best friends. She approaches them with her wine and says they seem to be having fun and she asks why they’re out. Kelly, the Susan look-alike says it’s a girl’s night out without children or husbands. The three girls cheer and tap glasses together, so Bree joins in too saying you don’t need family when you have girl friends, puzzling the women. Deirdre, the Lynette look-alike asks who Bree is, so Bree apologizes and introduces herself. She then tells them she’s been feeling disconnected lately, so she thought human contact is what she needed. Jill, the Gaby look-alike, tries to politely get Bree to leave by saying they haven’t seen each other in a while, but her plan only makes Bree want to stay more. She then yells for a bottle of champagne for the four girls and then she sits down with them. Bree asks how everyone knows each other, so Deirdre says she knows Kelly and Jill from college, and she knows Bree from randomly sitting at their table, making Bree chuckle, thinking she’s joking. Bree states that she “misses this”, worrying the three women even more.

A while later, Bree is now very drunk and still sat at the table with Kelly, Deirdre and Jill; she tells them that one day she woke up and realized she had nothing. The three girls just sit staring horribly bored and fed up with Bree talking. She then continues to say that her children abandoned her, even the gay one, and she states gay men are supposed to be obsessed with their mothers. She then tells the girls about her relationships, that two of them left her and three of them are dead. She explains that she thought if she had her friends, she’d be able to make it through the difficult times, but now they’ve abandoned her, as has everything she’d ever loved. Kelly then awkwardly announces that it’s time the girls should get going, Bree tries to stop them by saying it’s barely midnight, which is early for four single girls to leave, but Deirdre reminds Bree that she, Jill and Kelly are all married. Bree tells “Lynette” not to rub it in, so Deirdre asks her to stop calling her “Lynette”, as it’s freaking her out. Bree then asks the girls to come back to hers for a sleep over, but they just ignore her and quickly leave the bar, highly upsetting Bree. The bartender then approaches Bree and asks if she wants a cab to be called yet, but she says she’ll finish “Lynette’s” champagne.

Act II
The following morning, a very hung-over Bree answers her front door to find Ben stood there. She says hello and Ben asks how she’s feeling. She tells him she’s fine and then asks him why he asked. Ben then giddily states that Bree doesn’t remember the night before. She says she does, so Ben asks her what she remembers. She tells him that she went out for dinner with some “girlfriends”, then came home and went to bed. Ben tells her she’s close and then he tells her she knocked on his door at 2 a.m., asking to borrow money because the cab driver wouldn’t take a fried zucchini she kept in her purse. He then tells her she swore at him for not making pancakes and then stumbled back to her house. Throughout the whole story, Bree has a humiliated face, and then when he’s finished, she lets him in the house, utterly embarrassed. A little while later, in the kitchen, Ben asks house long Bree’s “been off the wagon”. She explains for a few days and then asks him not to tell anyone because she’ll be able to control herself. Ben tells Bree that isolating herself from others won’t help, so she should reach out to her friends. Bree explains that she and her friends aren’t speaking at the moment. Ben says she could fix that, but Bree tells him she tried but they all seem to hate her. Ben then suggests that she start with the woman who hates her the least. Another while later, Ben and Bree both exit the house and Bree is blinded by the sun. Ben tells her she should enjoy the beautiful day and then Bree thanks him. They both hug, but nearby, in a car, is Renee, watching them both, looking shocked and angry (clearly thinking they're having an affair).

At Susan’s house, Susan is in the kitchen with Mike, panicking. She tells Mike that she knows Chuck could tell she was lying because she always does a “thing” when she lies. Mike asks her “what thing?” but she says she isn’t going to tell him. She then explains how frightening the interrogation was, so Mike tells her to have a drink. She says she doesn’t want a drink, Mike doesn’t seem to believe her, and then Susan quickly tells him she was lying so she’s obviously a bad liar. Mike then assures Susan and says if Chuck had concrete evidence then they’d know. Susan says Chuck won’t give up and he’s waiting until she cracks. Mike assures Susan again and reminds her that Chuck doesn’t have a case without Alejandro’s body, and everything will only fall apart if someone talks. Susan then explains that she talks and she’ll be the one who sends them away to prison. She then suggests leaving town for a couple of weeks. However, Mike says leaving would look suspicious and they don’t have the money to leave. Susan suggests a garage sale, but Mike says they’re staying and everything will be fine. Susan then just stares at Mike with dismay and says he’s a worse liar then her. They then both hug each other comfortingly.

At Sterling Recovery Center, the rehab center Carlos is staying at, Gabrielle hurries in to the main lobby and approaches a man at his desk. She interrupts him while he’s reading his book - The Help - and she says she needs to speak to her husband, Carlos. The receptionist asks if it’s an emergency, but she says she just needs to tell him something. The nurse then tells Gabrielle that Carlos is under restricted access so she cannot see him. Gaby emphasizes that she really needs to talk to Carlos, but the man apologizes and says he can’t break the rules. Gaby then flirtatiously leans over the desk, flaunting her chest in his face and say’s rules are made to be broken, but the man hints to her that he is gay. As Gaby walks away, frustrated, a distraught family enters. A mother and father drag their son into the clinic, and they’re followed by the boy’s grandmother and sister. As the family walk through the clinic, Gaby mingles in with them and sticks with the grandma and comforts her... slightly. She then pushes the grandma aside and begins her search for Carlos, but she’s found by a nurse. She asks where Gaby is supposed to be, so she quickly says she’s with the Manzani family. The nurse explains if Gaby is with the family then she needs to stay for the group counseling. Gaby tries to wiggle her way out, but the nurse ensures that she stays and she leads her to the room.

Over at Tom’s apartment, Lynette is stood outside the main doors, trying to ring Tom’s room with the radio outside. There’s no answer, so Lynette rings another resident’s room; a woman answers. Lynette puts on a Mexican accent and says she forgot her key to Tom’s apartment and asks to be let in. The woman says Tom isn’t there, so Lynette explains that she’s a maid. Suddenly, Chloe, Jane’s daughter, arrives, listening to Lynette and tells her she’s pathetic for impersonating a maid stereotype. Lynette tells Chloe that she knows Tom and Jane are leaving for Paris, but asks to speak to Tom for five minutes. However, Chloe says they left for the airport one hour ago. Lynette asks Chloe if she knows the flight name because she tried ringing Tom and he wasn’t answering, making Chloe call her a stalker. Lynette says she isn’t a stalker, so Chloe tells her she knows about the “hiding under the bed incident”. Lynette then says that something happened and Tom needed to be there for the children’s sake. Chloe gives in and takes Lynette to her room to give her the flight information.

Back at Sterling Recovery Center, the Manzani family and Gabrielle are sat in a circle together while a nurse talks about the patient, Jimmy. She reminds everyone, while they cry, that they’re helping Jimmy because they love him. She asks the family to start by saying how Jimmy’s drinking has affected their lives. Gabrielle asks to go first, and then the family suddenly notice Gabrielle sitting there, and they’re confused over who she is. Jimmy’s mother asks who she is, so Gabrielle says she’s Jimmy’s ex-girlfriend. Jimmy says he’s never seen Gaby before, so Gaby says that his drinking is the reason why he doesn’t remember her. Jimmy’s mother asks why she’s wearing a wedding ring, so Gaby explains that she’s moved on with her life, shocking Jimmy. He then starts to get emotional as he realizes that he was with a woman as beautiful as Gaby and he doesn’t remember it. He then announces to his parents that he wants to get better, pleasing them greatly. Gaby then snatches the nurse’s lists of patients and starts to look through them, saying there are a lot of people just like him who can help him. When she finds Carlos’s room, she gives the list back and hurries out of the room, wishing him good luck.

Act III
Outside Carlos’s room at the rehab center, Gabrielle finds Carlos vacuuming, and he’s surprised to see her. He asks if the kids are okay, so she assures him they’re fine. She then notices the Vacuum cleaner and asks why he’s cleaning when he doesn’t “lift a finger” at home. Carlos explains that it is his group task and that recovery is based on two principles, responsibility and total honesty. Gaby then drags Carlos into his room so she can tell him a lie. Minutes later, Gaby tells Carlos that when Chuck asks what made him start drinking, he has to say he had an affair. Carlos asks with whom, but Gaby says it doesn’t matter, but it has to be someone ugly. Carlos then confirms the events that happened and points out that one lie won’t throw him off track. But Gaby points out he has nothing else, leading Carlos to explain that Chuck will know a lot more than she thinks, worrying her. He then gets frustrated and states they need to stop him and it’s a bad time for him to be stuck in rehab. Gaby tells him to focus on getting better as it will be fine, so he says he’ll try. She then says she needs to go, so Carlos asks her to tell the girls he misses them. She says they both miss him too and then they kiss.

Meanwhile, at Felix Bergman’s office, Susan anxiously edges in and says hello to him and asks if he remembers her, while he’s sat at his desk. The moment Felix sees Susan he stands up and says he obviously remembers her, as she sold 5 paintings in 20 minutes of her first art exhibition. He then asks if she’s come to “revel in her glory”, but she tells him she’s in a rough spot at the moment; this concerns Felix. He asks if she’s thinking of committing suicide to leave him some work to sell. However, Susan tells him she just needs her money from the paintings. Felix tells her that he’s just started on the paperwork, and it should be ready within four or six weeks, but Susan says she needs it immediately because she has to leave Fairview for a while. This intrigues Felix, so he tries to guess what’s forcing her to leave. Susan explains that she can’t say what it is, but she just needs the money. Felix then awkwardly explains he’s currently having a cash flow problem so she’ll get the money in eight to ten weeks, upsetting Susan. As Felix leads Susan to the door, she tells him it’s really important, so he says he’ll do what he can. As she leaves, he calls her his “mysterious little housewife”.

Outside Ben’s house, Ben is watering his lawn while Renee sneaks up behind him. When she reaches him, she gives him a tight hug, much to his delight. Renee says that a hug should be for something… like the one she saw him giving Bree. She then asks why he hugged her, so Ben assures her it was nothing. Renee asks if he’s just going around giving hugs to everyone, so Ben explains that there’s nothing between him and Bree, and she was just upset. The two then hug and kiss. Meanwhile, Chuck pulls up in his car and approaches the two. He apologizes for interrupting, and then tells Ben he needs to ask his girlfriend a few questions. Confused, Renee tells him she’s stood right in front of him so he should ask her. Chuck tells Renee that he was talking about Bree, angering her. She then storms off, and Ben tries to stop her. When she’s gone, Ben turns to Chuck and angrily asks why he did that. Chuck honestly says he’s trying to make his life miserable and then tells him that Alejandro’s last phone signal came from somewhere near his construction site. Ben says he doesn’t know anything about it, but Chuck says it’s still enough to close his project down. Ben asks how long until that happens, so Chuck says about 2 weeks or 1 month, making Ben realize it’ll be how long it takes for him to lose his investment. As Chuck leaves, Ben say he won’t getting on the property without a warrant, making Chuck laugh and sarcastically wonder were a detective would get one. Ben evilly stares at Chuck as goes back into his car.

Over at the airport where Tom and Jane will be boarding to fly to Paris, they’re both sat in a lobby waiting for their flight. Jane compliments the champagne she’s drinking, so Tom says it reminds him of one of his holidays with Lynette. Jane awkwardly asks Tom to stop talking about Lynette, so Tom apologizes and says he has old habits. He then assures Jane that it’s the last she’ll hear of Lynette, however, Lynette suddenly comes running through the airport. She finds Tom and Jane, so she hides behind a janitor. Tom and Jane kiss, sickening Lynette. After Tom and Jane’s flight is announced to be leaving in 5 minutes, Tom quickly goes to the bathroom. Lynette sees this as the perfect opportunity to talk to him, so she follows him into the bathroom. Minutes later, as Tom washes his hands, Lynette enters the bathroom and Tom sees her via the mirror. He casually says hi to her, and then is suddenly shocked by her appearance. He asks what she’s doing, so she tells him they need to talk. Lynette quickly checks if the bathroom is empty as she prepares to tell Tom the secret. However Tom begins to exit the bathroom, reminding her that he’s going to Paris with Jane. He then apologizes if she’s having a hard time accepting it, but Lynette assures him she’s fine as she’s taken off her wedding ring. Tom appears happy for Lynette, and then asks why she’s at the airport, so she tells him he can’t go, confusing him. She begins to get upset and Tom gets frustrated. When he tells her he’s leaving to board his plane, Lynette quickly reveals that she’s an accessory to murder, horrifying Tom.

Act IV
Outside the Solis house, Gabrielle is bringing her bags of groceries in from the car. An unwelcome Bree grabs one of the bags and says she’ll help. Gaby snatches the bag off Bree and tells her she’s helped enough in an unforgiving tone. She begins to walk away as Bree begs her, saying she can’t stand not talking anymore. Gaby says she’s “talked out” after what Chuck put her through, confusing Bree. She tells Bree that Chuck interrogated her, Lynette and Susan. Bree wonders why he didn’t call her to the police station, so Gaby explains that Chuck wants revenge for breaking up with him. She tells him that he wants to bring Bree down and that they’re all gonna go down with her. Bree says she’ll figure out a way to make things better, but Gaby bluntly says “no, you won’t”. She tells Bree that it won’t stop until Chuck is stopped and then she walks into her home, leaving Bree with a tone of mixed emotions going through her.

Meanwhile, at the airport toilet, it’s moments after Lynette explained the events of the night Alejandro was killed. Tom is stood speechless, so Lynette tells him to say something. He asks why he didn’t tell her before, so she tells him she wanted to but it seemed wrong to drag him into the situation. Suddenly, Jane slowly enters the bathroom looking for Tom because the plane is boarding. The moment she sees Lynette, she is full of disbelief. Lynette apologizes for what the situation must look like, angering Jane because she thinks she’s chatting Tom up. Tom explains that she isn’t, so Jane sarcastically admits that she’s the crazy party. She then begs Tom to just leave because she can’t deal with it all. However, as she begins to leave, Tom just stands still as he’s standing by Lynette. Jane begins to get upset, so Tom assures her they’ll go to Paris at the end of the month. Jane suddenly exits the bathroom, so Lynette runs after her. She tells Jane it isn’t Tom’s fault. Jane ignores her and approaches Tom; she begins to tell him that Lynette is trying to break them up. Tom apologizes and explains there are extenuating circumstances. Jane calmly asks what they are, but Tom keeps quiet, protecting the secret. Jane gives Tom his flight ticket, tells him she’s going to Paris and then explains he can meet her there if he wants. When Jane’s gone, Lynette apologizes, but a clearly distraught Tom tells her not to say anything. This then fills Lynette with even more guilt.

Over at the Delfino house, the doorbell rings. Susan answers to find Felix proudly holding her check; she’s overjoyed to see it. Felix then raises his arm to try and keep the money out of reach as he tries to make a deal, but because of his height, Susan grabs it with ease. Felix then enters the house and continues to explain that he has a proposition. He tells her than she’s got something that makes her a great artist, maybe talent or mental illness. He explains that Fairview is not the proper place for her to develop her skills, so he suggests moving her to New York City. Susan seems reluctant and says she needs to move away for a few weeks. Felix explains what would happen if she moved to New York, but Susan expresses her worry for her family, mainly MJ. Felix tells her New York have the best public schools in the world. Susan, still seeming reluctant, tries to politely turn Felix’s offer down again. However, he then asks what’s keeping her in Fairview, making her realize not much is. Felix tells her to think it over and then explains if she turns his offer down, he’ll know she’s got mental illness.

Meanwhile, at Chuck’s office, Bree knocks and enters. She tells him she wants to make a deal, intriguing Chuck. He asks what the terms are, so Bree says she’ll sign a confession to whatever Chuck thinks she’s done if he leaves her friends alone. Chuck tells her he isn’t interested in the deal anymore and he goes back to work. Bree asks what he hopes to gain from harassing her friends and she loudly asks what he wants. He bluntly says he wants her to be in pain. He explains he couldn’t ever figure out a way to hurt her like she hurt him as she’s bounced back from dead husbands, children walking out on her, and her business’s collapse. He then explains if someone threatens her friends, then she gets hurt. Bree begs Chuck to stop as she loves her friends and she has nothing else without them. Chuck again says he won’t make the deal and sarcastically apologizes. As Bree leaves, Chuck reminds her of the deal he wanted to make with her; “you marry me and I take care of you for the rest of my life” and he says she maybe should’ve taken it.

Act V
Over at Karen’s house, Renee knocks on the door. Karen answers and Renee lets herself in, explaining Karen’s old and pretty much housebound. She then asks if Ben has been “entertaining” recently as she thinks Ben is cheating on her. Karen disagrees and says he seems like a great guy. However, Renee explains that her ex-husband was a great guy, and that she could ask any stripper in New York. She then begins to panic, explaining she can’t go through it again. Karen tells Renee she’s not her biggest fan and doesn’t even like her, but nobody can argue that she isn’t hot. Renee is surprised, so Karen explains she’s a “knock out”. Karen points out Renee’s greatest assets and then compares her to herself 35 years ago. Renee is horrified to find out she’ll look like Karen in the future. Karen shrugs the remark off and explains that the other woman can’t “hold a candle to her”, implying she can’t be as gorgeous. Renee thanks Karen and Karen tells Renee to go and fight for her man. Renee leaves to prepare herself for the night, and as she leaves, she tells Karen she wish she’d knew her 35 years ago as they would’ve made a great team. Karen jokingly suggests a “threesome”, disgusting Renee.

Back at Susan’s house, Susan is frantically packing her clothes into a suitcase. Mike tells her to stop packing as they’re not moving. Susan asks if he can see how great the opportunity is, living in New York and getting paid to paint. Mike reminds her they’ll be uprooting their family and moving somewhere they’ve never lived before. Susan suggests going for a few weeks to see how they like it, so Mike tells Susan if Chuck wants to take her down then moving to New York won’t stop him. Susan explains she understands that, leading Mike to ask why she’d want to leave. She explains that it’d be different and that she no longer believes she has a true friend in Fairview. Mike asks if she thinks she’ll find that in New York and tells her she’s just running. She admits she’s running but then explains if she gets caught she could go to prison for a lot of years, so she wants to live the life she’s dreamed of while she can. Mike says it isn’t the life he dreamed of and then tells Susan if she wants to leave then she’s on her own.

At Gabrielle’s house, Chuck knocks on the door. Gaby answers and is mortified to see Chuck. Chuck hears Juanita and Celia fighting in the background, so he asks if he arrived at a bad time. Gabrielle awkwardly tries to make a joke by saying she’s got two young children, so it’s always a bad time. As she tries to head back inside, Chuck asks her to step outside for a moment. She asks if he talked to Carlos and says he’s obviously ashamed of the affair. He says he didn’t and explains he took a different angle on the investigation and she was the reason for it. Confused, she asks what he means, so he explains that when he showed the girls the photo of Alejandro, Susan nearly “passed out”, Lynette tried so hard to show no emotions and Gaby smirked, which made him wonder. Gaby sort of laughs and asks why she’d do that. Chuck says that’s what he wanted to know, so he explains he began to do some research into her background, and he found out that Alejandro (now known as Ramon) is her stepfather. Gaby tries to wiggle out the situation, but Chuck says she shouldn’t say anything without a lawyer present. She asks if she’s under arrest, but he says she isn’t yet. However, he explains from the new evidence he can now start an official investigation, so he tells her to come to his office tomorrow, and if she doesn’t, he’ll send a squad car to get her.

Act VI
Later that night, Gabrielle is on the phone to the receptionist at Carlos’s rehabilitation centre. She tells him she needs to speak to Carlos immediately. The man apologizes and begins to explain that Carlos can’t talk, so Gaby says it’s an emergency. The man explains that Carlos cannot talk because he checked himself out two hours earlier. Gabrielle is shocked and asks why they didn’t stop him from leaving, so the man explains that Carlos was not in a mood to be stopped. Gabrielle hangs up on the receptionist and then begins to get highly worried about Carlos.

Outside Ben’s house, Renee is stood wearing a tight leather dress holding a bottle of wine as she knocks on the door. There’s no answer so she yells that she’s cold and wearing leather, hoping he’ll hear her. There’s still no reply, so Renee begins to knock louder and call of for Ben even louder. There’s still no reply so she walks to the side of the house and looks through one of his windows. With that, there is the sound of a door closing. Renee looks over and sees Bree exiting her house with a blank expression on her face as she enters her car. Renee looks in horror as Bree drives away, thinking she’s secretly rendezvousing with Ben.

Over at a small garage, Chuck exits with a coffee and he begins to dial Bree’s phone number. Leaving a voice message for her, he tells her there’s no need for her to ring him back as he’s purely explaining that his investigation is about to go official. He tells her to meet him at the police station in the morning for an interrogation. As he crosses the road, he stops to put his phone is his pocket. When it’s away, a car suddenly appears from nowhere travelling at high speeds. It slams into Chuck with great force and he rolls over the top of the roof and then crashes to the ground. The car speeds away, leaving Chuck lying on the floor for dead.

Epilogue
We are shown an overview of Wisteria Lane at night. Everything is quiet and peaceful. We’re then shown Gabrielle running out of her house in a desperate search for her missing husband, Carlos. We then see Lynette arriving home from the airport, still burdened by the guilt of what she’s done to Tom and Jane. And finally, we see Susan packing her bags, knowing she doesn’t belong in Fairview anymore and that her husband won’t support her choice to move to New York City. She closes the suitcase and then zips it up, ready to go.

"''Just when my friends needed each other most, they found themselves utterly alone; one with the frantic need to find her husband, one with the consequences of revealing a painful secret, and one with the feeling that she simply no longer belonged. But for one of my friends, the sense of isolation was so complete, there might be no escaping it."

- Mary Alice Young

We see Bree entering a small room in a motel; it’s the same room she used to come to when she was having her affair with Karl Mayer. She’s got a haunting and abandoned look on her face as an employee explains that breakfast is available until 10:30 and then tips her saying the good stuff if gone by 8:00. Bree thanks the man but assures him she won’t be having breakfast. He gives her the keys to the room and tells her to suit herself before he leaves. Bree sits down at the small table that’s in the room and she pulls a bottle of wine from her purse and a gun. She places the gun on the table on just stares down at it, coldly. She looks up the slightest bit, and she notices something that makes her smile joyfully. It’s a vision of Mary Alice sat at the other end of the table, smiling at her. Bree asks her if she remembers how wonderful life was on the lane; Mary Alice slightly nods.

Bree smiles as she remembers her perfect life, doctor husband, two beautiful children and amazing friends. She begins to cry and asks what happened to her life, so the vision of Mary Alice says “Things change, Bree”. Bree tells Mary Alice that she’s so unhappy, and after a moment of silence, she asks if Mary Alice is happy now. After a moment of thinking, Mary Alice says “I'm not unhappy”. With that, the vision fades away and Bree is left alone, confused and distressed. She then picks up the gun with both her hands as she begins to contemplate suicide.

Production
This episode was directed by David Warren, marking his 15th directing credit with the series, and written by co-executive producer Sheila Lawrence, her first writing credit on the show. It will be the last episode to air in 2011, marking the first time in a season that the 9th episode serves as the winter finale, with the exception of season 4, in which the 9th episode, "Something's Coming", served as the last one aired in the fall due to the WGA strike shortening the season's production. It was speculated for a while that this episode would mark a change in the timeslot for Desperate Housewives. The timeslot had remained the same for the first 165 episodes to air, Sundays at 9/8 central, pm. But the first teaser promo released for this episode (featuring characters from "The Muppets" and Vanessa Williams as herself) indicated that the timeslot had changed to 10/9 central, pm. However, the press release for the episode indicated no time change, and eventually the episode aired in the same timeslot, as it still is broadcasted. This episode marks the last appearance for Jonathan Cake (Chuck Vance) as a series regular. He is then lastly shown, in an uncredited performance, as a ghost in the series finale.

Reception
According to Nielsen ratings, this episode was watched by 8.20 million viewers and held 2.7 rating in the key demo (18-49 years of age). The episode was competing against Sunday Night Football on NBC, which averaged 18.90 million viewers and a 11.5 rating/18 share, The Good Wife on CBS, which was watched by 9.94 million viewers and held a 1.9 rating, and Family Guy on Fox which was watched by 7.14 million viewers and held 3.6/8 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The episode gained an additional 1.8 million viewers and 0.8 rating in the week following the original broadcast due to DVR recordings. "Putting It Together" became the least watched episode of the series in terms of total viewers, and tied a previously set series low in the 18-49 demographic.

Trivia

 * The title of this episode comes from a song of the same name taken from the Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George.
 * The three girls Bree drinks with at the bar resemble Gabrielle, Susan and Lynette.
 * This episode marks the return of Kathryn Joosten (Karen McCluskey), who had last been seen in the episode "Making the Connection". With a total of six straight absences in between these two episodes, this is the longest she's ever been absent from the series since the episode "Thank You So Much".
 * This was the third episode of the season to feature the entire "starring" cast, after "Secrets That I Never Want to Know" and "Always in Control". All three episodes also featured supporting actor Charles Mesure (Ben Faulkner), who would eventually become a main actor starting with episode 8.11.
 * Brenda Strong (Mary Alice Young) is physically seen in this episode, marking her 16th on-screen appearance in the series.

Bloopers and Continuity Errors

 * During the initial airing of this episode on CTV, several credits were mistakenly omitted. After Madison De La Garza (Juanita Solis) was credited, the rest of the "starring" cast, the "also starring" cast and the "guest starring" received no on-screen billing whatsoever, and neither did several production members.
 * In episode "My Husband, the Pig" Orson mentions that he told Bree by phone that his stepdaughter/her daughter was pregnant. At this time Bree was at her parents house. However, in this episode, it seems that she was at home during the revelation.
 * Gabrielle did not lie to Chuck about affair of Carlos. Solis had brief romance with Xiao-Mei, 11 years earlier, at the end of Season 2.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the episode.