Assassins (Desperate Housewives)

"Assassins (Desperate Housewives)"

"Assassins" is the 145th episode of the ABC television series, Desperate Housewives. It is the eleventh episode of the show's seventh season and was broadcast on January 2, 2011.

Plot

Mike is back and Susan is thrilled. It’s just the boost she needs after learning her injuries from the riot forced doctors to remove a kidney. Susan is advised to go on dialysis, but refuses to entertain such a notion. Her attitude changes after she collapses in front of M.J. and has a seizure. An emotional moment ensues when Susan asks Lynette, Bree and Gaby if they’ll be there to help Mike with M.J. if something bad happens to her.

Tom is thrilled to learn that Susan isn’t going to say anything to Lynette about his past relationship with Renee. But his problems are nowhere close to being solved as Renee is feeling much guiltier than ever. She says, “If I never tell Lynette what happened, then my friendship with her is not real.” During a lunch meeting with a new client, Lynette scores some oatmeal raisin cookies for Renee because she knows how much she loves them. This causes Renee to have a breakdown. She tells Lynette the truth about her past liaison with Tom. Surprisingly, Lynette takes the news well. Though she’s angry at Renee, she believes she may be a little less angry in the very distant future. For now, she doesn’t want Tom to know that she knows.

Orson is back. He claims girlfriend Judy kicked him out and he needs a place to stay. The timing couldn’t be worse, as Keith is busy moving all of his things into Bree’s place. Unfortunately, Keith and Orson develop a dislike for each other, especially Keith, who is feeling jealous of Orson's 'high class.' Some verbal digs during a dinner lead into an all-out food fight at the dinner table. Later, Bree learns that Orson is the one who left Judy as he is still in love with his Bree. He asks her if she still feels the same, to which Bree agrees, but ends by saying that she is a different person now and loves Keith. Orson declares that he would not be giving up, but later on saw Bree & Keith lying in the dirt, laughing.

A guilty Gaby takes Juanita shopping for an expensive new doll to make up for the whole “I’m not really your biological mother” fiasco. The plan seems to be working until Juanita catches Gaby gazing at Grace’s picture on her cell phone. A therapist says the only way Juanita can heal is if they remove Grace from their lives. All keepsakes and photos of Grace must be disposed. Gaby seems unwilling to do so, to Carlos' frustration, causing him to do it for her. This sends a somewhat despondent Gaby back to the store where she buys a brand new doll, which turns out not to be for Juanita but for herself. This beautiful new doll looks somewhat like Grace.

Paul Young, after being shot in front of his house, is rushed to the hospital and is alive. The police detectives discover that Paul has several enemies on the lane. Beth asks her mother, Felicia Tilman, if she was responsible for Paul's shooting. However, Felicia is genuinely surprised to hear the news. Felicia makes a secret call to the person she believes may have been behind the shooting: Mike Delfino, to which Mike denies his involvement. This leaves Felicia puzzled indeed. Meanwhile, the detectives talk to Paul alone wherein Paul accidentally discovers that his mother-in-law is Felicia Tillman, but covers it up to the cops by claiming that he knew it all along. The episode closes with Paul looking outraged.

Reception

On its original broadcast on ABC, the episode scored 12.194 million of viewers and achieved a 3.8 rating in the adults 18–49 demographic. With the DVR Rating, this episode was up 1.8 in million of viewers (rising to a total of 14.0 million of viewers) and it was up 0.8 in the adults 18–49 demographic (rising to a total of a 4.6 rating).

Notes

• The title of this episode comes from a Stephen Sondheim musical of the same title.
• Kathryn Joosten (Karen McCluskey), Tuc Watkins (Bob Hunter), Charlie Carver (Porter Scavo), Joshua Logan Moore (Parker Scavo), Darcy Rose Byrnes (Penny Scavo) do not appear and are not credited.

International titles

• Arabic: مجرم (Criminals)
• German: Attentäter (Assassins)
• Italian: Nemici (Enemies)
• French: De nombreux ennemis (A lot of enemies)