The Miracle Song

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"The Miracle Song" is the 56th episode of the ABC television series, Desperate Housewives. It was also the tenth episode of the show's third season. The episode was written by Bob Daily and directed by Larry Shaw. It aired on November 26, 2006.

[edit] Guest Starring

• Dougray Scott as Ian Hainsworth
• Kathryn Joosten as Karen McCluskey
• Matt Roth as Art Shephard
• Jennifer Dundas as Rebecca Shephard
• Valerie Mahaffey as Alma Hodge
• Alec Mapa as Vern
• Mark Deklin as Bill Pearce
• Alison LaPlaca as Rita Patterson
• Dixie Carter as Gloria Hodge

[edit] Co-Starring

• Pat Crawford Brown as Ida Greenberg
• Juliette Goglia as Amy Pearce
• Kathleen Bailey as Lauren
• Maria Cominis as Mona Clark
• Chase Kim as Paramedic
• Lenny Schmidt as Neighborhood man

[edit] Plot

Gabrielle convinces Vern to take a girl named Amy Pearce out of the pageant because Gabrielle doesn't think she has the gravitas to pull it off. Vern doesn't want to because her mother died a year ago and she suffered enough already, but eventually sees Gabrielle's point. They meet with Amy's father, Bill, to tell him they're taking Amy off. Gabrielle immediately changes her mind because she has a crush on Bill and wants to date him. The two end up getting along and getting affectionate with each other. When Amy finds out about their relationship, she is furious and orders Gabrielle to stop seeing him. She has made plans with her best friend, Sheri, to have their parents marry each other so they can become sisters. Gabrielle makes a plan to rip Amy and Sheri apart; she sets Amy and Sheri up to dance with each other at the pageant. Sheri is upset, because she thinks Amy is a terrible dancer. Per Gabrielle's advice, Sheri tries to talk to Amy about why she doesn't want to dance with her, but Amy gets mad and their friendship is ruined. Gabrielle's plan has worked, and now she can continue seeing Bill.

Ian tells Susan his parents are flying in from Chicago, Illinois and he wants her to cook dinner. Susan tries to convince him she lacks talent in the cooking department, but he is insistent and she reluctantly agrees. She asks Bree for help, and Bree says yes. The residents of Wisteria Lane are shocked when Mike is arrested for Monique's murder. The dirt on Mike's wrench that Mrs. McCluskey advised him to clean off is revealed to be Monique's blood. Edie breaks up with him, which leaves Mike helpless for bail. That is, until Susan offers to get him a lawyer, even when she learns it will cost a million dollars to do so. During the housewives' weekly poker game, which is being held at Bree's house, Susan and Bree have a fight. Susan wants Bree to tell the police that she thinks Orson killed Monique, but Bree countered that she had 'concerns', which disappeared when Mike was arrested. Bree tells Susan that she won't help her with dinner, and Susan storms out, but not before she steals the key to Orson's dental office. When she's snooping around the office, she learns that Orson was committed to a mental hospital starting in 1981 and lasting for about a year due to psychological depression. On the way home, Susan picks up fried chicken for Ian's parents. Ian is furious when she's 40 minutes late. His parents couldn't come because their flight was cancelled due to a snowstorm. Ian promises to get Mike a lawyer and pay every cent of it, as long as Susan agrees to never have contact with him again, otherwise he'll just fall in love with her again. Susan reluctantly agrees.

The residents of Wisteria Lane have a holiday block party. Art dresses as Santa Claus, but all the parents won't let their kids near him, because Mrs. McCluskey has spread the word that he's a pedophile. Art's sister, Rebecca, confronts Lynette by telling her that her and Art's lives are ruined because she couldn't keep her trap shut. She tells her that the pictures were just Art's swimming students whom he was proud of. Lynette is not convinced and gets together with a few of her friends to discuss Art. She is surprised to find them organizing a protest to go on in front of Art's house. The protest ends up getting out of hand, leading Tom to put the kids to bed early, not wanting them to witness such an event. Lynette tries to stop the protest, claiming that she doesn't feel safe, and an ambulance comes to take away Rebecca, who is in cardiac arrest. As Art is leaving to go in the ambulance with Rebecca, a protester throws a rock at his head. Lynette tries to apologize but Art won't hear of it. Later Rebecca dies, and Lynette apologizes to Art for everything. Art tells her that while he was taking care of Rebecca, he didn't want to do anything that would hurt her, saying he couldn't 'slip up'. However, now that she's gone, he can go back to his old ways. He tells Lynette to take care of her 'beautiful' family and informs her that he's moving away. Lynette, clearly disturbed, takes his words to mean that he is indeed a pedophile. Although, Art could possibly have been making the story up, as a way to get back at Lynette for inadvertently killing his sister and ruining his life in Fairview.

Bree pays Orson a visit at his office and tells him that if he doesn't tell her the complete truth about Alma and Monique, she will divorce him. Orson tells her that he never loved Alma, as Gloria pushed the two together. When Alma learned she was pregnant, they got married. However, Alma had a miscarriage a month after the wedding. He wanted to divorce her, but Gloria told him it was not the Christian thing to do. He lived in a loveless life until he met Monique. He knew having an affair was wrong, but he didn't care because he loved Monique more than he loved anyone else, until he met Bree. After hearing the story, Bree takes him back. She and Orson buy Gloria a condo in a retirement community as a "Christmas present". When Bree is not around, Orson tells Gloria that he told Bree everything, but Gloria doesn't believe him because he still has secrets. Orson responds by saying that she has secrets too, and if she doesn't reveal his, he won't reveal hers. Gloria calls someone on her cell phone and tells the person that Bree took Orson back. This mysterious person comes to pick Gloria up — and it is revealed to be Alma, alive and well.

[edit] Notes

• Deceased season one character Martha Huber's house key is still in Bree's cupboard in this episode. However, when the camera closes up, Huber's name has been swapped with Manager.
• Title scenes were cut due to time.
• This is the first episode of the series to be set at Christmas time. Although Christmas has been touched before in the show, when Zach Young broke into Bree's house and put up Christmas decorations.

[edit] Title reference

The episode title, The Miracle Song is taken from a song from the Stephen Sondheim musical, Anyone Can Whistle.

[edit] Quotes

• Rebecca (to Lynette) - "Those boys were on his swim team. He was proud of them. Turning that into something dirty says more about you than him."

• Rebecca - "Have you considered, even for a moment, that you could be wrong? That you misinterpreted what you saw? That you're ruining my brother's life and mine? Over nothing?
  Lynette - "I have kids. Okay? Better safe than sorry."
  Rebecca - "As long as you're safe, what do you care who's sorry?"

• Mike - "I'm gonna need a good lawyer. And that may take a little research."
  Edie - "Uh huh."
  Mike - "And whoever takes my case will need a retainer, so if you don't mind, I promise I'll pay you back."
  Edie - "Oh, okay."
  Mike - "And make sure he knows about my wrench. Apparently, they tested it and found traces of Monique's blood. What's wrong?"
  Edie - "I don't know if you picked up on this, Mike, but...I haven't been happy."
  Mike - "No, I didn't pick up on it."
  Edie - "Well, I wanted to tell you this weeks ago, and I wish that I had, because now I know you're gonna think that I'm breaking up with you over this whole blood on the ax thing."
  Mike - "Wrench."
  Edie - "Whatever. But believe me, that's not it. It's just...we are moving too fast."
  Mike - "What are you trying to say?"
  Edie - "Well, maybe we should just take a break. You know, date other people."
  Mike - "You're telling me this on the day I'm put in a men's prison?"
  Edie - "Well, I said the timing was bad. I am sorry. I, I really am. I just can't do this."

[edit] International Titles

• French: Quand Billy rencontre Gaby (When Billy Meet Gaby)
• German: Eskalation (Escalation)
• Italian: Natale a Wisteria Lane (Christmas at Wisteria Lane)
• Polish: Święta na Wisteria Lane (Christmas at Wisteria Lane)
• Spanish: Época de Milagros (Time of Miracles)
• Hungarian: Varázsének (Miracle Song)