What's the Good of Being Good?

"What's the Good of Being Good?" is the 169th episode of Desperate Housewives.

Summary
Bree's life continues to spiral out of control as her alcohol consumption rises - along with her lust for men. In the meantime, Lynette goes out on her first date since separating from Tom... with Renee's hairdresser. Alejandro's current wife suspects foul play is afoot and has a confrontation with Susan, whereas Gabrielle discovers that Alejandro also abused his other step-daughter, Marisa. Ben has special plans in store for Renee.

Previously on Desperate Housewives
"''Susan tracked down the wife of the man she helped bury and tried to make things right. Lynette adjusted to life without Tom. Mike stopped Ben from making a mistake, then told him something he didn't know about Renee. And Bree's falling out with her friends led to some dangerous behavior."

- Mary Alice Young


 * Susan visits the family of Alejandro and gives them a large check. ("Who Can Say What's True?")
 * Lynette tells her children that she needs to learn how to fix the things Tom would normally fix. ("Who Can Say What's True?")
 * Mike stops Ben from making a deal with a Loan Shark. ("Who Can Say What's True?")
 * Mike tells Ben that Renee got $12,000,000 when she divorced Doug. ("Who Can Say What's True?")
 * After Bree falls out with her friends, she begins drinking and picking up random men at bars. ("Who Can Say What's True?")

Teaser
"''Bree Van de Kamp had always enjoyed a sterling reputation. She was known for being kind to strangers, and for greeting them with a warm welcome. She made sure every guest felt comfortable and that no part of her home was off limits. She never had the heart to turn anyone away, because no matter how many guests she was hosting, or how late she was entertaining, her generosity knew no bounds."

We’re shown flashes of the many conquests of Bree Van de Kamp after she began drinking and sleeping with random men. Firstly, we see Bree approaching her house at night with an unknown man. She gracefully takes his hand and leads him inside. When then see Bree entering her house through the front door with a different man. She begins to passionately kiss him and then she takes of his coat. We then see Bree taking off the coat of another man as they kiss and then she begins to lead him upstairs. In the bedroom they begin to kiss again, and then she pushes him onto the bed. We then see another man get pushed onto the bed and then she crawls on top of him. They then roll over and then we see the final man.

After sex they both lay beside each other. The man, Greg, says the sex was nice. Bree adds that it was unexpected. Greg explains that when he bought her a glass of wine the previous hour it was a good “investment”. Bree says she doesn’t waste time when she sees something she likes and they begin to kiss again. Greg calls her decisive and sexy and says she may be the perfect girl. They then start to make out again, but an alarm bell suddenly rings, so Bree throws Greg off her. She bluntly tells him to “get out”, confusing him. As she gets out of bed to put her dressing gown on, she corrects herself and tells him it’s time to go. Greg explains that it is 4am, so Bree tells him Karen McCluskey wakes up at 5am so she’ll be able to see him leave the house. Greg quickly gets dressed and asks why she’s bothered if Karen sees him, so she explains that she doesn’t want to be the gossip of the neighborhood.

Moments later, downstairs, Greg finishes getting dressed as he tells Bree she was terrific. However, Bree seems uninterested and she hurries him to get dressed so he can leave. Greg tells her he’d love to see her again. Bree acts flattered and then gives him his jacket, saying it’ll be chilly. She then opens the door for him and they kiss goodbye. Greg says he wants to see her again and he suggests Friday, but Bree tells him she’s busy. As she tries to close the door on him, he suggests Thursday or Wednesday, he then asks for her number or last name. Bree suddenly realizes that Greg actually likes her, so she comes clean and says she doesn’t want a relationship, just a person in bed with her. Greg asks if she’s just going to kick him out, so Bree quickly hurries to get something, stating “where are my manners?” She returns with a basket full of muffins. Greg awkwardly takes one and Bree says “it was lovely having sex with you, have a wonderful day”. She then closes the door in his face, smiles, and goes on with her day as normal.

"''Yes, Bree had always enjoyed a sterling reputation and she saw no reason that should change."

- Mary Alice Young

Act I
"''In the life of every housewife there comes a time for renovation; when an eager child learns a new skill, when a romantic evening becomes an unsightly mess, or when a dinner party comes to an unexpected end. But sometimes the only thing that needs to be removed is a memory"

- Mary Alice Young

We see Gabrielle stood in her living room holding a cup of coffee as she looks down at some color schemes for a new carpet she’s having placed in her living room. We then see flashes of times in the past when Gabrielle need to renovate parts of her house. We see Gabrielle in her kitchen, looking at the counter with horror because one of her children has written the alphabet on it with crayon. We then see Gabrielle looking at a burnt drape on her bed near some candles after a romantic evening. And then we see Gabrielle looking worriedly at the floor of her living room, the night of the dinner party. Alejandro’s body is rested on the floor wrapped in a red cloth, and there’s a blood stain on the carpet.

Back in the present, Gabrielle is in her living room telling Renee and Lynette that she wants her living room to have a complete makeover. Renee asks if they can get rid of her Virgin Mary painting, but Gaby says her religion is important to her. Lynette, not believing Gaby, asks her to name three apostles. Unsurprisingly, she can’t, so she tells them to move it to the guest room. She asks if they can get it done in two weeks, so Renee says they could, and then asks why she’s in a rush. Gaby explains that Carlos is soon leaving rehab and she doesn’t want him to come into “the” room because it freaks him out. Renee asks why it would freak him out, panicking Lynette and Gaby as they knew it’s the room where he killed Alejandro. Gaby then lies and says it was where Celia was conceived and she’s been nothing but trouble. Gaby then abruptly changed the subject and asks if Tom’s returned from Paris. Lynette explains that he and Jane decided to visit London for a few days. Renee calls Jane a slut and Gaby apologizes to Lynette. However, Lynette tells them that she’s done feeling sorry for herself and that she’s ready to date again. She then asks the two girls if they could set her up with someone, worrying them both and they give each other an odd look. Lynette asks what the “look” was about, and then they both awkwardly do it again, unable to answer. Gaby goes on to “politely” explain to Lynette that her personality will make it hard for her to date, when Lynette catches on they’re trying to call her a “bitch”, she becomes upset. She admits she can come on a bit “strong” at times and she says there must be a man that likes that. She tells them that they’ll help her find him, so they give in and says she won… like she always does.

Over at Bree’s house, Bree is in bed when she’s woken up by someone knocking on her door. She checks the time and realizes there is still one of the men in her bed, horrifying her. She gets out of bed and asks the man, Don, why he’s still here and if the alarm went off. He explains it did, but he turned it off because it was too early. As she gets dressed, Bree bluntly tells him that he should’ve left at that time, because that’s when “all the mean leave”. The door knocks again, so Bree tells Don she’ll get rid of them so he can sneak out. As she runs downstairs, she tells Don to stay where he is, confusing him.

Moments later, Bree answers the door to find Karen. Karen enters the house as she tells Bree that she’s angry. She then tells Bree that she needs help. Bree impatiently asks what with, so Karen explains that Helen Simpson decided to make the lemon bars for this year’s Church Bake Sale. She then tells Bree that she can’t compete with Helen because Helen uses real lemons. Bree asks what Karen uses, but all she says is that she’s on a fixed income. With that, Bree notices Don sneaking downstairs, behind Karen, naked, and she panics for a moment. Bree then tries to distract Karen, so she comfortingly says it must be hard having a fixed income. Karen asks what to do, so Bree asks if she’s considered “covering her lemons” (which was really directed to the naked Don). Don quietly grabs his underwear, and Karen becomes confused. Bree corrects herself and says Karen has the lemon bars covered and she assures Karen she’ll ask Helen to make something else. Bree then asks Karen to leave, but she reveals that she’s waiting for the naked man behind her to finish getting dressed (revealing she’d seen his reflection). Don suddenly apologizes to Bree, stating he had a meeting. As Don goes to get his trousers, Karen gives Bree a judgmental look. Bree tells her not to and explains that Don is a close friend. As Don returns, Bree says “see you later, Dan” as he exits to house, but he tells her his name is Don, making Bree hurry him out. Karen gives Bree a judgmental look again, so Bree explains she met Don when her car broke down near a bar. Karen asks about Greg, a man she saw leaving the other night, shocking Bree. Karen then worriedly asks Bree what’s wrong because she hasn’t been acting herself lately. Bree assures her she’s fine, then Karen notices a bottle of wine, but just takes Bree’s word for it. Karen then leaves the house, leaving an embarrassed and upset Bree.

Later on, at Ben’s house, Ben is covering Renee’s eyes as he leads her into the living room. Renee asks what the surprise is, and then asks if it’s a three way, and she points out that’s how she met Doug. Ben gives Renee an odd look but then removes his hands. Renee is shocked to see his giant sword fish stature in a large bin. Ben says he knows how much Renee hated it, but Renee is still in shock because it meant so much to him. Ben then says if he needed to pick either his fish or Renee for the “long haul”, he’d pick Renee. Renee questions what he means by “long haul”, so he asks her to dinner tomorrow night. Renee jokingly says there must be more to it than just dinner, so Ben says she’ll need to attend the dinner to find out, which intrigues Renee. Ben’s phone suddenly rings, its work, so Renee flirtatiously tells him she’ll be upstairs as she walks away. When Renee’s gone, Ben starts to talk to the man on the phone. He asks the man to not send out the lay-off notices and he explains that he’s about to come into a lot of money (meaning Renee).

At the Delfino house, Susan is interrupted while she’s vacuuming when there is an aggressive knock on the door. She opens it and is shocked to see an angry Claudia. Claudia asks where her husband is, but Susan just slams the door shut. Claudia knocks again, so Susan anxiously opens the door and then apologizes, saying the door slipped. Claudia runs into the house and starts shouting for “Ramon”, thinking he’s living with Susan. Susan tells Claudia he isn’t here, and then she asks Claudia how she found her. Claudia tells her the address was on the check and she continues to shout for Ramon. Susan offers Claudia some tea to calm her down, but she says she just wants her husband. Susan then asks we Claudia thinks she knows she knows where Ramon is, so she explains Marisa told her what she said. Claudia then asks Susan if she thinks it’s so easy to steal “her man”. Susan is surprised to hear Claudia thinks she’s having an affair with Ramon. Claudia sees some flowers and asks if Ramon gave her them, but Susan explains her own husband gave them to her. Claudia calls her a “whore” for cheating on her own husband too. Susan assures Claudia she’s not having an affair, but Claudia doesn’t believe her and she picks up the vase to hit her with. But, MJ suddenly enters the house. Susan quietly begs Claudia not to hit her in front of her child, so she pushes the flowers into Susan’s chest and walks away angrily, after calling her a home wrecker. When Claudia’s gone, Susan grabs MJ and holds him tight to comfort herself.

Act II
Renee and Lynette enter a hair salon as the latter complains that they need to visit the carpet store. Renee explains that she only needs to confirm her appointment. She approaches a receptionist and asks if she still has her appointment. With that, Frank, Renee’s hairdresser approaches them and says that nobody has forgotten what happened the time her appointment was messed up. Renee greets Frank and then introduces him to Lynette. Admiring her hair, Frank asks Lynette who is “doing” her. Thinking he meant sex, Lynette says nobody is because she just separated from her husband. Renee tells Lynette he was talking about her hair, so Lynette tries to leave. Frank stops her and says her hair is amazing and he asks to style her. Lynette says she’s been going to someone else for years, so she’d feel like she’s cheating. Frank says her loyalty makes him want her more, puzzling Lynette. Renee interrupts them and asks for a bottle of conditioner. When Frank’s gone, Lynette says he’s great and asks to be set up with him. Renee seems hesitant and says he doesn’t seem right for her, but Lynette disagrees. Renee tells Lynette “no” because she doesn’t want to see Lynette get hurt. Lynette then puts on a baby voice, much to Renee’s disliking, and starts begging. Renee gives in, just as Frank returns with the conditioner. Renee then tells Frank that she’s single and begins to ask if he wants to go on a date, but Frank interrupts by saying “he’d love to”. Frank tells Lynette to leave her number with Linda, the receptionist, so he can call her later. Lynette thanks Renee by assuring her she’ll never do the “baby voice” again. But she quickly states that she still has the “British one”, and as they exit the salon, she starts saying goodbye in as stereotypical English phrases.

Outside 4353 Wisteria Lane, Susan picks up a newspaper and opens it to find a piece of paper with a picture of Alejandro, saying “Have you seen this man? Your slut neighbor Susan Delfino has!” Susan is horrified when she looks up to see hundreds of the same paper scattered all around Wisteria Lane, they’re on cars, fences, lampposts, doors, windows… everywhere. Meanwhile, Gabrielle is exiting her house with Juanita and Celia. Juanita asks why they can’t walk to the bus by themselves, so Gaby says she can’t trust her with Celia. As they reach the path, Gaby notices something that horrifies her. She tells Juanita and Celia to go by themselves, so they quickly run away. Gaby removes one of the fliers on her mailbox and reads it. She immediately starts to look for Susan, who, she sees removing more fliers.

A little while later, Susan has just explained the situation with Claudia as they both collect all of the fliers. Gabrielle calls her unbelievable as Susan tries to explain herself. Gaby asks Susan why she’d go to Alejandro’s family, so she says she felt guilty. Gaby complains that Susan does stupid things when she feels guilty and asks when it’s going to stop. Susan says she needed to know they were okay, because they didn’t do anything. Gaby explains they were in the clear but now Susan messed that up. Susan explains she never told Claudia, just Marisa. Gaby angrily asks who Marisa is, so Susan tells her it was Alejandro’s 15 year old step daughter. Gaby is stunned for a moment with shock. Gaby asks if Susan thinks Alejandro hurt her, so she nods “yes”. Gaby loses balance with the horror and sits down on a nearby bench. She asks Susan if Marisa told her, but Susan explains that she didn’t need to because she’d only seen the look Marisa had in her eyes in one other person… Gabrielle’s. Distraught, Gaby asks Susan if she thinks Marisa had told her mother, so Susan says it seemed like she’d told nobody. Gaby says she needs to because keeping a secret like that tears a person up. Susan apologizes one last time and says she doesn’t know how they’ll get out of their situation. Gaby states that she does and then tells Susan to call Claudia, saying she wants to talk. Susan asks who to say she is, so Gaby says “the woman who’s gonna tell her the truth about her husband”.

Act III
Frank and Lynette are sat at a table in a restaurant. Frank asks Lynette’s opinion on Carpaccio, and he is delighted when she says she likes it so much she wants to be covered with it. He then tells Lynette that his ex-wife wouldn’t let him eat anything raw without a lecture. Frank suddenly apologizes for mentioning his ex-wife, but Lynette tells him she’s glad to hear other people’s marriage problems for a change. Frank then jokingly says there’s no problem in his marriage… as long as everything was done her way. As he complains about some things she used to say, Lynette awkwardly says it must be frustrating (knowing her marriage ended for the same reason, but she was on the nagging end). Lynette then impulsively tells Frank his ex-wife may have been trying to help him, but he disagrees because she made him always feel like a failure. Lynette then, subconsciously defending herself, says his ex-wife maybe meant it as a motivational technique. Frank asks if she agrees with his ex-wife, but Lynette says she simply wants to understand what she was thinking. She asks him if he wants to be a hairstyle forever, so he answers “why not?” Lynette tries to discourage him, telling him he won’t want to be cutting hair when he’s 60. However, Frank just tells Lynette that he likes to cut hair. She says that’s all that matters, and begins to read her menu. But, after a few moments, she goes back to “defend” herself one more time.

At a bar, Bree compliments a young man who’s sat nearby on his biceps as she feels them. Suddenly from behind, Reverend Sikes approaches and sarcastically asks if she wants to feel his. Shocked, Bree asks what he’s doing at the bar, but Sikes just asks her the same question. She lies and says she was helping younger people get on the path of righteousness. Sikes asks the young man to leave and then he tells Bree he knows she’s drinking again. Bree pushes an empty glass on wine that’s in front of her away and says it’s not hers, but the bartender just fills it up and passes it back to Bree, ruining her lie. Bree admits she may have slipped into some old habits, and then Sikes tells her he came to stop her slipping further. He gets up and then tells Bree to come too. As she gets up she tells Sikes he must be disappointed in her, but he tells her he’s known her for years and she’s not being her true self at the moment. Offended, Bree asks how he can say he knows who she is when she doesn’t even know herself. Sikes tells her they can discuss it later and then tells her to follow him out. Bree tells him after years of following him, she’s still lost and that alcohol is maybe the place to look. As she sits back at the bar, Sikes tells Bree if she continues the way she is, she cannot lead the Women’s Auxiliary, shocking Bree. She tells him the bake sale will be a disaster without her, but Sikes tells her that she is a much bigger one. She tells him he’s being cruel and not ministerial, but Sikes explains he came as a friend also, but she doesn’t seem concerned about either. He then leaves Bree in the bar to continue drinking wine.

Back at Lynette and Frank’s date, Lynette explains the benefits of Frank opening his own hair salon, but he doesn’t seem at all interested. A waiter approaches them to take their order, but Lynette turns him away to continue persuading Frank. When she says he’ll consistently make a profit, he politely asks to talk about something else. However, Lynette explains that she’s only trying to help. She then explains that half the money people give to Frank at the salon goes to his employer. Frank tells Lynette the conversation they’re having is making his stomach hurt, so Lynette asks if it’s because he’s scared. Frustrated, Frank says she knows nothing about him. Lynette explains her confusion over why his stomach is hurting after she presented a perfectly good five year plan for a business. Lynette soon apologizes for her behavior and then says it’s great that he’s happy with what he’s doing and being “average”. Frank tells Lynette he’s not average, so she corrects herself by saying “adequate, comfortable settled”. Frank says they should just order their food, so says that’s a good idea. After looking through the menu, Frank says the Salmon looks good, but Lynette, yet again, criticizes Frank’s opinion and mock’s his choice for fish at a steak house, but she awkwardly and quickly says it’s probably “adequate, comfortable or settled”. They then both go back to looking at their menus and individually give each other an awkward look, knowing the date is going horrible.

The next morning, at the hair salon, Renee is sat on a chair with Frank stood behind her, ready to cut her hair. She tells Frank she doesn’t know what Ben has up his sleeve for their meal, but she says it’s going to be a special night so she wants to look great. As Frank puts the cloak around Renee’s neck, she asks how his date with Lynette went. Clearly angry at her for pairing him up with Lynette, Frank chokes her subtly with the cloak. Frank apologizes and says the date was interesting, so he “owes Renee one”. He then picks up some huge scissors and stares into the mirror evilly, wanting to get revenge on Renee.

Later that day, at 4355 Wisteria Lane, Lynette opens her front door to see a highly unhappy Renee stood there with a giant afro for her hair. Shocked, Lynette asks what happened, so Renee tells her she did. Renee enters the house and complains that Frank was the only person in Fairview who knew how to relax a black woman’s hair and that she’s ruined Frank and hers relationship. Lynette tells Renee she didn’t think the date was that bad, so Renee yells asking if she gave him a five year plan on a cocktail napkin. Lynette explains she only made a few suggestions because she saw potential in him. Renee tells Lynette that Frank likes who he is, so he doesn’t need Lynette criticizing him. Lynette refuses to apologize to Frank because she was only trying to help. Renee asks if it was Frank’s fault she tried to control him, like it was Tom’s fault that she tried to control him. Renee, referring to them both leaving her, tries to think what they both have in common. Lynette sarcastically offers Renee a thinking cap to help, but then states there won’t be one big enough for her hair. Renee says she can at least cover up her hair, but Lynette will take a lot more work to fix. She then storms out of the house, leaving Lynette in shock.

Later that night, Renee and Ben are at Ben’s house, drinking wine. Ben tells Renee to take off the scarf that’s covering her hair to make it look acceptable. She tells him it looks bad, and then asks him what the big occasion is. Ben makes a toast to Renee first, and then he tells her he knows they’ve only been together for a few months. He then explains that he’s “falling” for her, flattering Renee. He then takes out a diamond ring and tells Renee he knows a “keeper” when he sees one. Renee is amazed by the ring and tells him it’s happening very fast. Ben allows Renee some time to think, but she tells him she doesn’t need time to think and she immediately says yes. They hug and then Ben tells Renee she’s made him so happy.

Renee then explains that after her divorce with Doug, she felt betrayed and she thought she’d never trust anyone again…until she met Ben. As she cries happily, Ben shows signs of regret and guilt. She tells Ben she knows marrying him is right, forcing Ben to say “he can’t do it”. He takes the ring off Renee and asks her to forget what just happened. Renee is confused, so Ben explains he’s an awful person. Renee tells him he’s an amazing person and asks what’s going on. Frustrated, Ben tells Renee she’ll hate him if he tells her the truth. He explains that he’s having financial difficulties, so Renee realizes him he wanted to marry her for her money. He apologizes and when Renee tries to leave, he tells her he truly loves her. She tells him she can’t know for sure and then storms out of the, smashing a vase on the way.

Act IV
The next day, at 4349 Wisteria Lane, Gabrielle opens her door for Claudia and Susan. Gaby welcomes Claudia, saying it’s nice to meet her. Claudia asks what she wanted to talk about, so Gaby invites her inside. Susan waits outside and allows the others some privacy. As they head inside, Susan notices Marisa sat in a car on the street. Back inside the house, Gaby leads Claudia through the living room and she explains it’s being redecorated. One of the decorators stops Gaby and asks her about a red stain under the carpet. Knowing its Alejandro’s blood, she lies and tells him its red wine. He tells Gaby they’re going to remove it after lunch, pleasing her. Gaby leads Claudia into the kitchen and offers her a drink, but she demands to know where Ramon is. Gaby awkwardly tries to find a way to begin, so she explains that Ramon’s real name is Alejandro Perez. Claudia denies this claim, but Gaby explains she knew him before they met. Claudia asks how she knew him, so Gaby explains he was her stepfather.

Meanwhile, back outside, Susan approaches Marisa, who’s in the car studying. She says hi and asks if she’s okay, so Marisa replies that she just wants everything to be over. Susan says she does too. Marisa then explains that her mother won’t stop looking for Ramon because she loves him. Susan asks if she told her mother about what happened, so Marisa replies “no way” and states that she would never believe her. Susan then asks if she’s told anyone, and she says she hasn’t. Susan tells Marisa that she knows someone who went through the same thing as her and she said keeping the secret only made things worse. Marisa seems to understand this becomes silent with fear.

Back in Gabrielle’s kitchen, Claudia is trying to make sense of the story she was just told. She asks why he’d come back to see Gaby after he changed his name and started a new life. Gaby explains that she visited her hometown and said things about him and he wanted her to stop. Claudia asks what things she said, so Gaby explains she’s uncomfortable, but Claudia just asks louder what things she said. After a slight pause, Gaby tells her when she was fifteen he molested her. Claudia sort of laughs in disbelief and then asks if she expects her to believe that. Gaby states she was a virgin and he hurt her, but Claudia walks away and calls her a liar. Gaby chases her and says she knows it’s hard to hear. Claudia explains she doesn’t know what happened to her husband, but she knows what she’s been told is a lie. Gaby insists it isn’t and calls him a child molester. Claudia yells at Gabrielle, telling her to shut up. She tells her she can say all the horrible things she wants, but she’ll never believe her. With that, Marisa, who’s standing in the doorway, asks her to believe her. Claudia turns around to see Marisa crying and saying she was too scared to tell her. Claudia suddenly realizes Gaby was telling the truth. Marisa explains she thought he would eventually stop, and they both begin to cry. Claudia then walks up Marisa and she hugs her to comfort her.

Act V
At 4362 Wisteria Lane, Renee opens the front door to fine Lynette, looking sad. Lynette admits everything is her fault, so Renee invites her inside. A little while later, Renee and Lynette are sat on the living room couch as the latter admits she controlled Tom. Renee tries to comfort her and says he needed pushing, but Lynette realizes he didn’t. She then says that Frank didn’t need pushing either because he was perfectly happy with his life until she came into it. Renee smiles and is happy to see she recognizes her flaws, saying it’s the “first step”. Lynette then admits she knew she was wrong during the date, but she couldn’t control herself. She then panics because she thinks she cannot change who she is. Renee reminds Lynette that when she was in college, so stopped her habit of biting her nails, so Lynette tells her it was by taking up smoking. Renee then asks how she stopped smoking, so Lynette tells her yoga. Renee explains she was always so relaxed when she took the yoga classes, but Lynette is unsure. Renee tells her she’s the most determined person she knows, but Lynette says she just wants to change. Renee assures her it’ll get better and that she’ll find someone. Lynette hopes she’s right, and then says if Renee found Ben, she’ll be able to find someone. However, Renee stays quiet and looks away sadly. She tells Lynette they split up, so Lynette comforts her.

That night, Ben is exits his house and he gets into a car parked on the lane. It’s the Loan Shark, observing the neighborhood unpleasantly. Ben says “hi” to the man, but he just looks over to Mike’s house and see’s him unloading some boxes. He asks if that’s where the “tough guy” lives, but Ben just tells him to get on with business. The loan shark grabs a suitcase and explains that he has to pay weekly and if he misses a payment, it’ll cost him and then threatens him saying he doesn’t want to miss two payments. Ben assures the man he’ll get his money, but the loan shark tells him to take his time because he knows Renee is rich. Ben angrily warns to man to leave Renee out of their deal…making him say there is lots of “tough guys” on Wisteria Lane. Ben takes the suitcase and leaves the car. When he’s out, he stops for a sigh of relief, and then he heads back home.

Meanwhile, at 4349 Wisteria Lane, Gaby answers her door to see Claudia and Marisa. Gabrielle kindly invites them in, but Claudia politely declines, saying they came to say goodbye. And Marisa adds “thank you”. Gaby asks if they’re sure they don’t want to stay, but Claudia jokingly says Marisa has missed too much school. Claudia then asks for a moment alone with Gaby, so Marisa hugs Gabrielle before heading back to the car. Claudia says Gaby must think she’s the worst mother ever for not realizing what was going on, but Gabrielle says it’s good she believes her, as her mother never did. Claudia explains that she brought Ramon into her life, but Gaby says she didn’t know, as did everybody else. Claudia thanks Gaby for letting her know what a monster he was. She then looks over to the old carpet and notices the blood stain. Claudia realizes that the stain is blood, and says that she should get rid of the “red wine stain”. Gaby sees that Claudia knows the truth, and she gives her an assuring nod.

Act VI
The next morning, Bree walks out of her house to collect the newspaper. She notices Karen walking by with lemon squares for the Church Bake Sale and she is given a judgmental look. Bree storms inside, gathers ingredients and starts to bake. However… she also begins to drink more wine. She cracks the eggs, rolls the dough, chops the strawberries and is all the time, drinking more and more out of a bottle of wine.

Later that day, at the Bake Sale, Bree is dressed elegantly as she carries her tart. But she’s clearly drunk and as she walks, she wobbles to around slightly. She approaches Karen, who asks what she’s doing there. Bree explains she’s ran the bake sale for eight years. Reverend Sikes approaches and explains he’d told everyone she wouldn’t be attending due to illness. Bree says she’s feeling better and every bake sale needs a tart (hinting herself). Reverend Sikes tries to ask Bree to leave politely, but Bree says she’s fine. Reverend Sikes notices she’s been drinking and he asks her not to embarrass herself. Bree says she can’t take care of herself, and then she puts her dessert with the others.

A little while later, Bree is handing out slices of her dessert. She calls out for the next person, and is shocked to see Greg (one of her one night stands). Clearly agitated, Greg asks what she’s doing here. Bree asks Greg if he’s a member of the church because she’s never seen him there before. He tells her he just joined and then tries to leave. Bree stops him and offers him some strawberry tart, but he tries to leave again. Bree stops him once more, but this time, a woman notices and approaches them. The woman over hears Bree invite Greg to her house, and she’s mortified. She asks who Bree is, so he explains she comes to the church. The woman, Audrey, says it doesn’t sound like they met in church, so Bree asks why she cares how they met. Audrey tells Bree she’s Greg’s wife, shocking Bree in a strange way. Audrey complains to Greg how when he’s supposedly doing late shifts at the office, he’s actually picking up “trash” from bars. Offended, Bree says she doesn’t like her accusations. Audrey loudly says she doesn’t like Bree sleeping with her husband. Reverend Sikes once again tries to make Bree leave, she asks why she’s being kicked out because Audrey is making a scene… and a dry batch of cupcakes. Audrey thanks Bree but says she doesn’t want baking tips from the “town whore”. Karen tells Bree not to worry as Audrey doesn’t know who she really is, but Bree says she does. Bree announces to everyone at the sale that she knows they’re anxious to dig into the juicy gossip she’s provided and that she needs a drink. As she leaves, she “tuts” Greg for his adultery.

As Bree leaves the bake sale, everyone there is lined up and they watch her as she leaves. At Gabrielle’s house, Gaby watches as one of the decorators installs the new carpet, to try and get rid of the memory of the night Alejandro was killed. At Renee’s house, Renee walks towards a picture of her and Ben and she throws it to the ground, smashing it. And at Lynette’s house, she places a yoga mat on her floor ad she begins to exercise to relieve her stress. We then see Bree outside her house, making out with a random man. As two neighbors walk by, they give them a disgusted look, discomforting the man. He suggests moving inside the house, but Bree disagrees, ignoring the opinion of the neighbors. They both then start to kiss once more.

"''Yes, in the life of every housewife there comes a time for renovation. She may be doing away with an unpleasant memory, breaking up a once happy relationship, or making the necessary changes to prepare for a new one. But no matter how much a housewife may embrace the way her life is changing, the people in her neighborhood may take a different view."

- Mary Alice Young

Production
This episode was written by executive story editor Jason Ganzel, his 8th writing credit with the series, and directed by Ron Underwood, marking his 1st directing credit. The title for this episode was released without the inclusion of a question mark at the end, although it is clearly a question and a question mark is included in the lyric on which the title was based. The omission of said question mark was probably a mistake on the writers' part.

Trivia

 * The title of this episode comes from a lyric in the song "Prologue: Into the Woods", taken from the Stephen Sondheim musical, Into the Woods.
 * Although credited, Ricardo Antonio Chavira (Carlos Solis) and Doug Savant (Tom Scavo) are absent from this episode. This marks the first time Carlos is absent from at least two episodes in a row.
 * James Denton (Mike Delfino) appears with no lines.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the episode.