Moments in the Woods

"Moments in the Woods" is the 152nd episode of Desperate Housewives.

Summary
Believing she's on a winning streak after undergoing a successful kidney transplant, Susan begins to think she's invincible and starts to gamble with the little money she and Mike have, convinced she can't lose. Meanwhile, Bree desperately tries to stop Andrew from admitting to Carlos that he was the one who accidentally killed his mother years ago, and Renee helps introduce Lynette to the world of high class, frivolous shopping now that Tom's bringing in the big bucks with his new, high-powered job. Felicia (guest star Harriet Sansom Harris) moves back into the neighborhood and tries to convince an extremely suspicious Paul that she wants to bury the hatchet and try to be civil to one another.

Previously on Desperate Housewives''
"Tom got a job offer he couldn't refuse. At dialysis, Susan made a friend. Beth took her life, which led to Susan getting a kidney. And Felicia being freed. And Bree helped her son face his addiction."

- Mary Alice Young


 * Tom willingly accepts a high-paying new job to Lynette's pleasure. ("Everything's Different, Nothing's Changed")
 * Susan becomes friends with her dialysis buddy, Dick. ("I'm Still Here")
 * Beth commits suicide. ("Searching")
 * Paul agrees to let Susan have his wife's kidney. ("Everything's Different, Nothing's Changed")
 * Felicia is granted early parole due to humanitarian release. ("Everything's Different, Nothing's Changed")
 * Andrew and his husband, Alex, divorce and Bree decides to step in and help him overcome his alcohol addiction. ("Everything's Different, Nothing's Changed")

Teaser
"When Bree Van de Kamp decided to stop drinking, her recipe for sobriety were the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous... She admitted she was powerless over alcohol, she asked God to remove her shortcomings, she made a list of all the people she had harmed. So when her son, Andrew, decided to stop drinking, Bree was pleased to see him follow those steps as successfully as she had."

Bree is busy baking a sugary dessert. She adds flour and milk to a bowl and begins to mix. From there, we are shown several flashbacks of how Bree overcame her alcohol addiction. We see a former Bree remove a bottle of wine from amongst a drawer of jumpers and shirts and add it to a large basket full of already found alcoholic beverages. In another flashback, Bree is seen sitting on the staircase and holding a golden crucifix necklace in her hand and looking up to the ceiling, praying to God. In the final flashback, Bree is scribbling a list of names down on a notepad at her dining room table. She rips the page out of the pad and places it on a pile of several sheets of paper, also containing lists of names. Back in present day, Andrew is eating a small slice of the dessert Bree was previously seen making. "Let me see it again," Bree asks Andrew, who pulls a small token out of his pocket, "30 days sober. I am so proud of you." Bree tells him. Andrew tells Bree that he's feeling a lot better, but Bree warns him that he must keep attending the meetings and following the steps. The two then jokingly discuss various steps that AA makes its members follow. Andrew tells Bree that there is one person he has been awful to. Bree, thinking it is her, is shocked to hear that she is seventh of his list of people he has hurt. She asks who is at the top of his list, and he tells her; "Mr Solis." Andrew leaves and heads towards Carlos and Gaby's house, with Bree chasing after him.

"Yes, Bree was diligent about following the 12 steps. But even she could recognize a step too far."

- Mary Alice Young

Act I
"We teach our children to apologize when they make a mistake...We tell them that it's wrong to blame others, or pretend it never happened, or try to cover it up. But there are those times when apologizing is the biggest mistake of all."

- Mary Alice Young

Two young children are forced to apologize to each other (after breaking the others' toy) by their mother. Juanita and Celia are standing over a broken vase in the Solis home. Gaby walks behind them, looking stern and angry. Juanita points in Celia's direction. Lee has broken a child's skateboard by riding over it with his car. Comically, he hides the board under his car and pretends nothing has happened. Roy is seen sitting on a sofa, with a glass of wine, and an ugly red stain beside him. Looking around for any witnesses, he quickly places a cushion over the stain and takes another sip of his drink. Andrew is marching down the Lane, with his mother frantically chasing after him. He calls out Carlos' name before Bree grabs his arm and tells him to think about what he's doing. Andrew insists that he must do this because it is one of the steps to recovery, but Bree is not hearing it. Carlos approaches the bickering mother and son. Andrew begins to tell his secret but Bree stops him by making up a false statement. The group joke around before Carlos turns serious and asks if that's all they wanted to tell him. Andrew replies with a profound yes, as Bree drags him back home whispering, "Someone just earned themselves another pie." Across the street, Paul places his trash bags in a container by the curb before noticing the door of Katherine Mayfair's old house (which he bought during his half-way house plan) is open. He is suspicious and heads over to check it out. He reaches the front door and orders whoever is here to get out. A mysterious figure appears and begins to walk down the stairs. A hand, missing two fingers, is placed on the staircase before Felicia Tillman gives a cheerful "Well, hello Paul!" Paul tells Felicia to leave the house. But Felicia isn't going anywhere. She informs Paul that when he was buying all the houses on the lane, he left Katherine's old house in Beth's name, and now she is dead, she owns it after inheriting it. She admires the furniture, before pulling an urn containing Beth's ashes, out of a traveling bag. "I have my daughter with me," Felicia says coldly. Paul is shocked at the sight but Felicia reassures him that he is welcome to come and visit 'Beth' anytime he wants as her door is always open. A furious Paul storms out as Felicia watches him eerily. At the hospital, Susan has arrived for her check-up and the doctor tells her that her transplant has gone well. Susan is told she must wait 2 more weeks until she can have sex again, which she says is no problem, seeing as they've already gone a month. Susan tells the doctor that she is planning to visit her dialysis buddy, Dick, but the doctor explains that Dick has since been admitted to the hospital. Susan goes to see him, where Dick explains that he is suffering from another viral infection. He is happy for Susan and tells her that she is lucky and perhaps she should try her hand at gambling. Dick tells her that once he's better, they should both go to the a nearby casino as he has never won there. A nurse wheels in a wheelchair and Dick excuses himself. Meanwhile, Lynette is washing up when she hears Tom return home from his first day at his new job. Tom slyly pretends to act depressed, before handing over a slip of paper, which details his signing bonus. Lynette and Tom both hug and kiss each other to congratulate. Lynette tries to decide on what to do with the money - some should go in the kids' college fund or go towards starting a retirement account - Tom agrees, but tells Lynette to keep some money for herself to spend on whatever she wants. Lynette is ecstatic and asks Tom if they can go out for dinner. Tom says he is too busy tonight and they both agree on Friday.

Act II
The 'gals are playing poker at Lynette's. Bree throws a chip into the center pile. However, Susan ends up winning the game, and the housewives all joke about how lucky Susan has become recently. Lynette chimes in and asks if anyone can think of something different in her house. Renee makes a snarky comment about Lynette's hair, before Lynette reveals that she bought a coffee maker with Tom's bonus. Renee and Gaby are angry at Lynette for buying a coffee maker when she sound be splurging her new fortune on her appearance. They return to the game, and Bree and Susan go head-to-head. Susan doesn't even look at her own cards before placing everything in. Susan ultimately ends up winning the game. Renee has decided to take Lynette clothes shopping. They are both standing in an expensive clothing store. Lynette feels uncomfortable after the sales woman gives her a dirty look because of her outfit. After Renee gets rid of the shop assistant, she tries to persuade Lynette to try out a pair of fashionable high heel boots. Ultimately, Lynette tries on the boots and falls in love with them. Renee then forces Lynette to put on some trousers, worth $500. Lynette eyes herself up in the mirror with her new jeans and is shocked at how sexy she looks. Renee then holds up an expensive looking blouse and Lynette says she doesn't want to know how much it costs. We cut to Lynette buying all the clothes she tried on. The assistant tells her that her dress will be ready at 10am the next morning. Lynette tells her, "Lets make it 8. And bring croissants." Bree pulls her shopping bags out of the back of her car as Gabrielle jogs over. Gabrielle tells Bree that Andrew should bring his rain gear as she hears it is going to rain. Bree is confused. Gaby explains that Carlos invited Andrew on a hunting trip up at a small cabin. "Andrew is with Carlos, in the woods...with guns?!" Bree exclaims. Bree shoves her shopping bags into Gaby's arms and heads inside quickly. Inside, Bree and Gaby bicker back-and-fourth about the situation. Bree can't get an answer from Andrew's phone and the two both announce how scared they are. They agree to go up to the cabin and intervene.

Act III
Paul answers the front door after the bell rings. Felicia is standing on the porch and quickly apologizes for their encounter yesterday. Felicia then asks if Paul would like to come with her to scatter Beth's ashes. Paul jokes with her and says sarcastically "So you've picked up on the fact that I want to spend more time with you." Felicia's sly smile suddenly vanishes and she begins to tell him how there is a small lake up north and that is where Beth seemed most happy as a child. Paul tells her that she could scatter the ashes on her own but Felicia is determined to take Paul along with her. They agree to meet tomorrow morning at 10 to drive to the lake to scatter Beth's ashes. Felicia begins to leave but turns around and asks Paul if he'd like her to make some sandwiches. Paul says he'll bring his own and closes the door in Felicia's deadly serious face. Susan is visiting Dick again. She enters his room. The hospital curtain is drawn around his bed so Susan asks if Dick his asleep. Susan begins to talk about how right Dick was about her winning streak. She draws back the curtain and to her surprise sees a young man packing up Dick's belongings. Susan learns that Dick passed away the previous night due to complications from his viral infection. The young man, Wally, was Dick's nephew. Susan and Wally introduce themselves and Wally hands over an envelope he found which Dick had left for her. "NEVER WALK AWAY FROM A WINNING STREAK!" is written on the front of the envelope and inside is a poker-chip. Wally tells Susan how he wished he'd have gone to the casino with his uncle before his death, and Susan smiles gently. Bree and Gaby arrive at the cabin. Rain is pounding down on the roof, as Carlos sits inside washing a large bloody cut on his hand. Bree and Gaby storm in demanding to know where Andrew is. Carlos says that Andrew is out hiking on the cliffs. Bree and Gaby both notice the blood stained towels Carlos is using and a muddy shovel standing against the wall in the corner of the cabin. They both frantically ask what Carlos did the Andrew but Carlos denies that he did anything. Gaby tells him that Andrew obviously came clean about the hit-and-run and Bree continues telling Carlos that she is the one to blame as she helped get rid of the car. Just then, Andrew runs into the house, soaking wet, and is naturally shocked to see his mom here. Carlos shouts at Andrew for killing his mother, stands tall, and begins to menacingly move towards him. Gaby tries to hold him back as Bree threatens to shoot Carlos with the gun she brought if he attacks Andrew. She realizes she left her gun in the car, just as a park ranger knocks on the cabin door. The ranger apologizes for the weather and Bree announces that her and Andrew were just leaving. The ranger tells her that he just received a radio transmission that a pine tree is blocking the exit road and they won't be able to clear it until tomorrow. Bree, Andrew, Gaby and Carlos must all spend the night together. The ranger says he can give them a pack of cards to play with if they get bored, before Gaby chimes in adding; "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that..."

Act IV
Renee arrives at the Scavo household just as a sexy dressed-up Lynette prances down the stairs. Lynette walks over to the posh dinner table she has set up ready for a romantic date with Tom. Renee is impressed. Lynette is excited and rings Tom to tell him to come home for their romantic dinner. We cut to Tom sitting in the back of a limousine and he tells Lynette that he is on his way to the airport and that he can't make tonight. Lynette is upset and tells him that she'll take another rain-check. She says goodbye, turns around, and sees Renee sitting down about to tuck into her and Tom's expensive meal. Lynette tells her to get off because her and Tom can eat it tomorrow. Renee tells Lynette that they won't have their romantic dinner tomorrow either because Tom is a big-shot now and she won't be seeing him much anymore. Back at the cabin, there is silence, as Carlos angrily watches the rain pound the muddy ground outside. Carlos begins to ask Bree questions. He asks how she felt when she was his mother's funeral. He asks if she found it funny. Bree replies with a quiet, "Of course not," she pauses and then continues, "It was very...awkward." Carlos sarcastically replies that he is sorry his mother's funeral was so tough on Bree. Bree looks at him, upset. Gaby says that she is hungry and Carlos heads over to his bag and pulls out a bottle of alcohol before saying, "Well, this all I need." He then tries to persuade Andrew into drinking the alcohol to ruin his recovery. Bree angrily stands between them telling Carlos to stop this behavior as Gaby watches on nervously. Bree reminds Carlos of all the years they've been friends. Carlos angrily spits this statement back in Bree's face and begins to get vicious. Andrew tells Carlos to be mad at him, not the people who knew about it. Carlos realizes that other people knew about it too and he turns around to face his wife and adds, "You knew." Gaby explains that what happened is 'ancient history' but Carlos is still furious and says that not a day went by where he didn't think about trying to find the guy who ran over his mom. "To Hell with all of you!" Carlos shouts as he throws on his coat and heads out into the rain as Gaby calls his name after him. Tom is sitting on his private jet, busy doing paper-work before take off. Lynette walks down the aisle carrying a large silver tray. Tom jokingly asks what she is doing here as he is about to take-off. Seductively, Lynette tells him she pushed his flight back by 30 minutes so they can have dinner and a romantic date on the plane. Lynette sits down on Tom's lap and passionately begins to kiss him. However, Tom stops it from going any further because he needs all the time he's got to finish his paperwork before the meeting. Tom's phone rings - its urgent - and he compliments Lynette on her dress, as she somberly leaves the plane in silence.

Act V
Susan is at the casino. She runs into Roy who invites her to sit down and play slots with him, but she declines, and explains that she is going to have a shot at poker. Roy tells her that everyone who plays poker at the casino is a shark but Susan is determined to play in Dick's memory. Paul and Felicia are on their journey to the lake. Paul laughs and says he is wondering what Beth would think if he saw them both right now. The pair begin to talk about Beth. Felicia asks if she suffered in her last conscious moments and Paul tells her that he doesn't know as he wasn't there at the time. Felicia shakes her head furiously, "I didn't mean Beth. I meant my sister," she murmurs, "You were there for that one!" Paul refuses to speak about Martha Huber's murder as he fears Felicia may be wearing a wire. Felicia tells him about how a cycle of death seems to have been set up (first Martha led Mary Alice to kill herself, then Martha died, and now Beth) and she demands that all she wants is 'closure.' Paul slowly moves his eyes down to a handheld gun he has hidden in the side dashboard of the car. He obscures it from view, before adding, "Oh, I'm all for closure." He returns to driving as Felicia smiles at him. Back at the casino, Susan is sitting around a poker table, after spending a day of gambling. Roy enters the room and is angry when he sees Susan bet all of her money. Susan wins $12,000 and begins to cry. She explains to Roy that Dick died yesterday and how frustrating it is how she keeps winning when everyone else loses. Roy tells her about the years he served in the army and how one of his closet friends was killed and leaves Susan with a quote his Sargent told him; "Why ask?" Paul and Felicia have since reached the lake and are deciding on a place to scatter the ashes. "Shall we do it here, honey?" Felicia asks Beth's urn. Paul tells her to stop talking to the urn because it's creeping him out. Felicia snaps at him for bickering. The two argue and Felicia tells Paul that she knows he doesn't trust her because he brought a gun on the journey. "I'd be crazy not to bring a gun" Paul says casually. "I know, and I'd be crazy enough to let you keep it!" Felicia exclaims, just as she pulls Paul's gun from out of her coat pocket. She holds the gun steady in her hand pointing in Paul's direction - Beth's ashes in the other. Paul is shocked that Felicia managed to smuggle the gun from his possession and Felicia announces that it was a trick she learned in prison. "It could end right here if I shoot you now so I could sleep easier," Felicia whsipers, "I could kill you right now." Felicia explains that she'd get away with shooting Paul as she'd plead self-defense seeing as it was his gun. But instead of shooting, Felicia thrusts the gun out of hand, and into the shore of the lake. Subsequently, she hands over Beth's urn and adds, "Here. I think you should do the honors." Paul takes the urn and begins to empty the ashes.

Act VI
Gaby, Bree and Andrew return to Wisteria Lane. Gaby tells the warden on the phone to keep looking for a missing Carlos. Lee comes running up to Gaby complaining about how Gaby left him with Juanita and Celia, who ruined his dinner party. Gaby tells him that Carlos is missing, but Lee tells her that Carlos phoned this morning asking if he could look after the girls for a few more hours as he is on his way to Liddleton. Gaby quickly jumps back in the car and tells Bree and Andrew to tag along. Felicia is back home also. She removes her coat and walks over to a small plastic tray. It is revealed that she replaced Beth's ashes with fireplace sweepings and Paul believed he was really saying goodbye to his wife. She pours the real ashes back into the urn and begins to talk to herself about her master-plan to make Paul suffer for his crime. Gaby, Bree and Andrew arrive at Mama Solis' tomb, where Carlos is sitting. Gaby runs up to Carlos admitting how scared she was for him. Gaby comments on the beautiful flowers Carlos has placed by his mother's tomb, but Carlos tells Gaby to 'save it' because he knows she never liked her. Bree and Andrew both butt in and apologize for everything they did. Andrew tells Bree to go and wait in the car as he wants to speak to Carlos himself. Andrew says Carlos can sue or report him to the police - Andrew wants to do what's right. A proud Bree watches on as Andrew and Carlos talk.

We see Carlos and Andrew sitting outside Mama Solis' grave and talk about what happened. We then see Tom returning home from his business meeting and he hands over a bouquet of luscious flowers to his wife. He and Lynette share a kiss and a hug. And then we see Paul fetching his morning paper from outside his house and watches as a smiling Felicia walks past. Bree places freshly baked muffins into a basket as Andrew smiles at her. We cut to her standing on the porch of the Solis home. She rings the doorbell and Carlos answers. Bree tells Carlos how grateful she is to Carlos for forgiving Andrew. She asks to come into his house, but Carlos bluntly replies, "You can go to Hell." Gaby appears and snaps at Carlos. Bree is confused. "I did forgive Andrew," Carlos continues, "He was a kid that made a mistake. But you were an adult. A friend, who covered up for him. Listen carefully as this is going to be the last thing I am ever going to say to you. We are no longer friends. Not you and me. And not you and Gaby. No BBQs, no cocktail parties and no poker-games. You are not to even wave to us on the street. That's how it's going to be." Bree is shocked and stands motionless. "You can keep your muffins" Carlos adds, before closing the door in Bree's face. Gaby and Bree look at each other through the glass in the front door, before the scene cuts to black.

"Yes, whenever we make mistakes, we need to apologize. And then we need to move on. We must try to accept the changes in our lives, or chose to trust an old enemy, or learn to stop fighting our children's battles. But sometimes the pain we've caused is so great, there is no moving on."

- Mary Alice Young

Production
The episode was written by John Paul Bullock III and directed by David Grossman.

Reception
Desperate Housewives scored an all-time series low with a 2.7 rating in the key demo and an estimated 9.11 million viewers. However, despite the bad ratings, the episode received very positive reviews from fans and critics alike.

Trivia

 * The title of this episode comes from the song of the same name taken from the Stephen Sondheim musical "Into the Woods".
 * Bree delivers her signature muffins to Carlos at the end of the episode. This is the second time she has offered muffins to a neighbor this season.
 * Felicia tricks Paul by giving him an urn filled with dust rather than ashes similar to how Lynette tricked Ida Greenberg's family in "Welcome to Kanagawa".
 * It is revealed in this episode that Paul still owns all the houses he previously bought earlier in the season, despite the fact that he no longer needs them, as his plan of revenge failed in "Down the Block There's a Riot".
 * Very little of this episode actually takes place on Wisteria Lane. Many scenes were shot at different locations, unlike most episodes of the series.
 * Although credited, James Denton (Mike Delfino) does not appear in this episode.
 * Kathryn Joosten (Karen McCluskey), Tuc Watkins (Bob Hunter), Charlie Carver (Porter Scavo), Joshua Logan Moore (Parker Scavo), Darcy Rose Byrnes (Penny Scavo) and Mason Vale Cotton (M.J. Delfino) do not appear and are thus not credited in this episode.
 * This episode ends 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 started with the episode "A Little Night Music". Coincidentally, both that episode and this one only bill one "special guest star", former series regular Shawn Pyfrom (Andrew Van de Kamp).

Bloopers and continuity errors

 * Felicia moves into Katherine Mayfair's old house, who originally only left for Paris for a short amount of time, and was expected to return. She has not been mentioned on the show since her final appearance in Season 6.
 * It is revealed that after Rex Van de Kamp's death, Carlos acted like Andrew's father and helped bring him up. This has never been seen on the show prior to this episode and Carlos was even in jail for several months around the time of Rex's death.
 * In the flashbacks at the beginning of the episode, detailing how Bree overcame her alcohol addiction, Bree's dining room is painted yellow. She was an alcoholic in Season 2 but the room wasn't painted yellow until Season 7.
 * Andrew only hit Carlos's mother. She died by falling down the stairs at the hospital. The hospital staff even took responsibility for this.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the episode.