The Miracle Song (Desperate Housewives)

"The Miracle Song" is the 57th 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. Title scenes were cut due to time.

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, also revealing that she cares about winning the pageant more. 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. 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 canceled 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, and when she expresses that she didn't anticipate this, Tom replies "You tell people Frankenstein's on the loose then you're surprised to see the torch-wielding villagers?".

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, revealing to viewers that he actually is a pedophile.

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's revealed to be Alma, alive and well.

Ratings

This episode attracted 21.4 million viewers in its original US airing.

Cast

Although credited, Danielle Van de Kamp (Joy Lauren) does not appear in this episode.

Series continuity

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, as well as when the Scavo family posed for their Christmas photo with Tom's daughter, Kayla, and her mother, Nora.

Title reference

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

International titles

• French: Le temps des miracles (Time of Miracles)
• German: Eskalation (Escalation)
• Hebrew; שיר הקסמים (Shir HaKsamim; The Magic Song)
• Hungarian: Varázsének (Miracle Song)
• 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)