With So Little to Be Sure Of

"With So Little to Be Sure Of" is the 176th episode of the ABC television series, Desperate Housewives. It is the nineteenth episode of the show's eighth season and was broadcast on April 1, 2012, and was second in their timeslot behind The Country Music Awards on CBS.^[1]

Plot

Bree throws Renee a bridal shower to celebrate her upcoming wedding. During the party, Bree is arrested by police for the murder of Ramón Sanchez, who was previously known as Alejandro Perez, Gabrielle's stepfather. After Bree is bailed out of jail by Bob, Lynette and Susan tell Bree that they cannot let her take the blame for his murder alone. Bree tells them that the police haven't got enough evidence to convict her so it will be better for all of them if she takes the heat. Susan, Lynette and Gabrielle tell her that they will pay for all her legal costs. Bob recommends Bree to a brilliant lawyer called Trip Weston; however, he refuses to take on Bree's case as it's not a big enough challenge for him. Detective Murphy and Detective Heredia later find belongings that Alejandro had left in his hotel room, including a map that had Wisteria Lane circled on it. Murphy, who has a vendetta against Bree as he believes she's responsible for Chuck's death, writes Bree's house number on the map and later shows it to her at the police station. Trip Weston later sees Bree struggling to cope and agrees to become her lawyer, much to the dismay of Murphy.

It's Tom's birthday and Lynette decides to make a cake for the occasion as part of her plan to win him back. Meanwhile, Jane tries to pressure Tom into delivering Lynette their divorce papers but he tells her it's not the right time. Jane takes the papers anyway and ends up having green icing thrown over her. Lynette shows up at the restaurant where Tom is about to meet Jane for dinner and he is furious to find out that Jane had sent the papers. Lynette asks Tom if he wants to end their marriage, when he doesn't reply, she signs the papers, leaves and breaks down in her car. Later on, Tom and Jane arrive home to their apartment where Jane tells him he needs to start putting her needs before Lynette's but Tom makes it clear that as the mother of his children, Lynette is always going to be important to him, and it's she who needs to learn to accept that.

Carlos is unimpressed when he discovers Gabrielle has been taking off her wedding ring to flirt with male customers at her new job in order to get them to spend huge amounts of money. Gabrielle tells Carlos she's doing what she needs to do. She later treats him to a meal in a fancy restaurant and he wonders if they can afford it, but Gabrielle tells him that he doesn't have to worry about it, as it's her treat. A male client of Gabrielle's turns up during the meal and Carlos becomes angry and leaves when Gabrielle refers to him as her brother. Later on, Carlos tells Gabrielle that he hates the fact that she is the one making the money and calling the shots but she tells him that he was the one who wanted to quit his job.

Lee and Susan begin to sort through Mike's belongings and Susan becomes curious when Lee finds a locked box. Lee tells her that he should be the one to open it alone as if it's a bad secret then it's best for Susan not to know about it. Susan is later shocked when Lee leaves with the box, telling her it's best if she doesn't know what's inside it. Susan goes to Julie for advice, who tells her that it's better not to find out as it may tarnish her memory of Mike. Susan ignores the advice and demands that Lee tells her what's inside. He tells her that every month Mike sent out a check to a woman, children's drawings also appear to be in the box, making Susan assume that Mike had a secret child. Susan and Julie later head out to find out who the woman is, but they're shocked when the woman runs a care home and that the checks were for Mike's autistic sister Laura. Susan wonders why Mike would keep Laura a secret from her. The following morning, Susan comes downstairs to find Julie still awake and reading through Mike's things, she tells Susan that Mike only kept Laura a secret because his mother, Adele, had given Laura away as she knew she wouldn't be able to cope with her and that she's regretted it ever since. Susan is relieved to find out that Mike only kept it a secret because Adele asked him to, as she didn't want the family thinking bad of her. Julie begins to cry and tells Susan that she doesn't want to make the same mistake with her child just because it's an inconvenience; she then tells Susan that she wants to keep the baby.

Reception

Ratings

On its original broadcast on ABC, the episode scored 8.49 million of viewers and achieved a 2.6 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic. This episode was aired against the Academy of Country Music Awards on CBS which was watched by 13.1 million viewers and received a 3.1 in the 18-49 demographic, the combination of Family Guy and American Dad! on Fox which averaged 4.62 million viewers for the hour, and had a 2.3/6 rating, and Celebrity Apprentice on NBC, which averaged 5.96 million viewers and held a 1.8/5 rating in the 18-49 demographic, and . The awards show topped the night both in total viewers and the demographic.^[2] The episode gained an additional 2.0 million viewers and 0.9 rating in the week following the original broadcast due to DVR recordings.^[3]

Critical reception

Christina Trann of TVFanatic.com gave the episode a positive review, branding it "unforgettable". Trann praised the comedy in the episode, writing "With only two remaining episodes prior to the series finale, I didn’t expect the sort of LOL-worthy moments delivered here. But, hey, I'm not complaining!". Trann also praised the Gabrielle storyling stating "I loved almost everything about Gaby’s storyline as a personal shopper. Like always, she had several witty and amusing remarks. It’s just a shame that she didn’t find her calling years ago. The one thing I didn’t care much for was Carlos’ issue with having her in the driver’s seat now. I get partially why he was upset about her losing the ring and using her “girls” to bring in the clients, but he was also the one who wanted to take a back seat in supporting their family". Trann did however criticise the character of Ben by saying "wouldn’t the police want to talk to Ben again, as well, after his mysterious conversation with Bree just last week? Sure, that one detective is unbelievably relentless and obsessed with pinning the murder on Bree, but I’m getting sick of Ben constantly playing the disappearing act when it’s perfectly convenient for him". Trann summed up the episode by writing about the Tom and Lynette storying by stating "It's time for Jane to go away".^[4]

Daniel Sperling of Digital Spy gave the episode a mixed review. He did praise the return of Bob and Lee characters by writing "After being criminally neglected for most of the season, Lee and Bob finally get to break out from the background". Sperling did however criticise Gabrielle's storyline by saying "As for Gaby, well, her storyline is looking to be a bit of a dud in my opinion. Yes, I do like the idea of her trying to make it in the world, but I feel it's a waste merely showcasing her promiscuous, manipulative ways in a new setting". Sperling summed up his review with "So, pretty much business as usual there on Housewives, with some bits working and some bits flopping. Tom and Lynette were great again, Susan's life after Mike continued to intrigue and some of the neglected characters got a bit more to do, but Gaby's working girl storyline and the bloody body thing still kind of limped about at the back".^[5]

Notes

• Although credited, James Denton (Mike Delfino) does not appear in this episode.
• Charles Mesure (Ben Faulkner) and Madison De La Garza (Juanita Solis) do not appear and are not credited.

International titles

• Polish: Tak mało do bycia pewnym (So little for being certain)
• German: Ein Strich durch die Rechnung (A spanner in the works)

References