Like It Was

"Like It Was" is the 51st episode of the ABC television series Desperate Housewives and the fourth episode of the show's third season. The episode was written by John Pardee and Joey Murphy and directed by Larry Shaw. It originally aired on October 15, 2006.

Plot

It's open house night at Danielle's high school. Andrew is in attendance, and he runs into an ex-client of his. When Orson sees them talking, he asks Andrew who that was. Andrew tells him, and when Bree sees Orson and Andrew talking, she asks Orson what they were talking about. He then tells Bree that after she dumped him off on the side of the road, Andrew has taken up hustling. When Bree finds out who one of Andrew's clients is, he tells the client's wife, Vera, about it. Vera is upset that she told her. She retalliates by telling Bree that Danielle has been sleeping with her history teacher, Mr. Falati. Bree confronts Danielle about this, and then tells Andrew that she feels like a failure as a mother. Andrew comforts her by telling her that his and Danielle's actions are not her fault.

It's an hour before Parker's little league game, and he tells Lynette he doesn't want to play baseball anymore. Lynette doesn't want him to be a quitter, so she forces him to continue playing. Parker is afraid to hit the ball. At the game, he goes against Nicky Abbot, the best pitcher on the opposite team. He misses all 3 hits. Lynette yells at teenagers attending the game who are booing Parker. Parker's self-esteem is extremely low, so Lynette offers Nicky 50 dollars if he makes it easy for Parker to hit the ball. On the 3rd swing, Parker hits it, but it hits Nicky in the head. Nicky is fine, and he gets up, and the 50-dollar bill falls out of his pocket. His mom asks him where he got it, and he tells her. When the coach hears of it, he kicks Parker off the team, and Nicky is kicked off his team. Lynette begs him to put him back on. He says he'll do it as long as she pays for new team hats. Parker's self-esteem is boosted and he wants to continue playing. At the next game, Parker hits the ball and while running the bases, he trips and sprains his leg. Because of this, he must quit the team until the end of the season.

Lynette is continuing to nag Tom about getting a job. Tom assures her he will, but first he has to find out what he wants to do.

Gabrielle is having a yard sale, selling all of Carlos's things. Carlos is infuriated, and he retaliates by moving back in with her. While Carlos is at work, Gabrielle changes the lock of the front door, so Carlos can't get in the house. Carlos retaliates by breaking the window and coming in. Gabrielle calls the police and tells them that there's a burglar breaking into her house. The police come, and when they find out they're married but going through a nasty divorce, they side with Carlos. Gabrielle gently slaps one of the cops, which results in her being arrested. Carlos picks her up at the police station, and on their ride home, they have a fight. Gabrielle, in order to infuriate Carlos, tells him about her sleeping with John the prior weekend. Carlos loses it and dumps her off on the side of the road. When Gabrielle comes back home, she has another meeting with her divorce lawyer.

The news of Mike waking up from his coma spreads around Wisteria Lane quickly. When Julie hears the news, she tries to reach Susan, who is still on vacation with Ian, but she can't since they're high in the mountains. Edie is at the hospital caring for Mike. Mike has lost his memory of 2 years. He thinks it's 2004 and that Rex is still alive. When Edie is showing Mike pictures, trying to jog his memory, she comes across one with Susan in it. When she finds out Mike doesn't remember Susan at all, she tells him that he and Susan dated for a long time, but she was always mean to him. She tells about him breaking up with her several times. She also tells him that Susan doesn't really love him. When Julie finally reaches Susan, she tells her about the change in Mike's condition. Susan rushes to the hospital. She breaks up with Ian and goes to visit Mike. Mike, believing Edie's lies, tells her to go away.

Orson freaks out when he hears the news that Mike has woken up. He is happy to find out that Mike doesn't remember anything from the past 2 years, which means he doesn't know that Orson was the one to put him in the hospital.

Cast

Although credited, Austin McCann (Josh Henderson), Preston Scavo (Brent Kinsman), and Porter Scavo (Shane Kinsman) do not appear in this episode. Andrea Bowen appears briefly in this episode with only one scene, but she has no speaking lines.

Title reference

The episode title, "Like It Was", is that of a song from the Stephen Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along.

International titles

• Croatian: Kao što je bilo (Like It Was)
• French: Un tissu de mensonges (Web of Lies)
• French (Canada): Un tissu de mensonges (Web of Lies)
• German: Die geheime Geschichte (The Secret Story)
• Hebrew: כמו שהיה (Kmo SheHaya; Like It Was)
• Hungarian: Magántörténelem (Private History)
• Italian: Riscrivere la storia (Rewriting the Story)
• Spanish: Como solía ser (Like It Was)

Awards

Lisa Banes submitted this episode for consideration in the category of "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series" on her behalf for the 2007 Emmy Awards.^[1]

References