Home Is the Place

"Home Is the Place" is the 98th episode of the ABC television series, Desperate Housewives. It is the 11th episode of the show's fifth season and aired on January 4, 2009.

Plot

Bree meets Alex's mother, Melina Cominis, for the first time. From the offset their relationship hits the rocks as Alex's mother starts to "call" the children for holidays such as Christmas and Thanksgiving. The fight to win over their affections begins as Alex and Andrew start to look for houses. Bree recommends the Adams house which is shown to them by Edie, but Melina suggests that they both move to Oakdale and buy a house there instead. While having a family dinner, Melina announces that a doctor back at Oakdale is leaving and Alex has been suggested to take over the practice. Scared of losing Andrew, Bree lies and states that she's already bought the Adams house for the boys as a wedding gift. While the dinner continues, Bree calls Edie so she can make the arrangements to buy the house.

Susan suffers from boredom while Jackson is away, and witnesses an argument between Lee and Bob. Susan asks Lee if she can go clubbing with him for the night, and they go out together. While at the club, Susan receives a call from Jackson who tells her he's been offered a job away from Fairview, and he asks her to move with him. She and Lee talk about it at the club and Susan decides she's going to move. The next morning, however, she wakes up with Lee in bed next to her and assumes that they've slept together when she goes downstairs to see a Jazz CD in the player and two empty bottles of wine on the table. Susan asks Gaby for advice without telling her who it was, believing she purposely slept with Lee to sabotage her relationship with Jackson. When Bob comes over to ask if Lee stayed the night, Gaby puts two and two together. Later on, Susan directly asks Lee if they slept together, to find to her relief that they didn't. Lee advises Susan that she shouldn't move away with Jackson until she is in love with him and she is sure that is what she wants.

Gaby becomes tired of struggling to provide for her family, and her hopes are raised when she runs into an old work friend of Carlos's, Bradley, who is after someone for a six-figure-salary job. Gaby speaks for Carlos telling him he'll take it, but Gaby discovers Carlos is already after a job at the community center to help the blind. Gaby arranges a dinner with Bradley and his wife to convince Carlos otherwise. At dinner we learn of Bradley's wife's discontent for him. While Gaby is trying to push Carlos to take the job, Bradley's wife convinces Carlos to be a good person and take the job helping people at the Community Center. Carlos declines the job offer, but later on Gaby talks to Carlos again saying she's sick of struggling. He asks her not to make him do it, but in the end he agrees, phones Bradley, and takes the job.

Preston continues to act as Porter for the court hearing, but when Penny calls him Preston in front of Bob, the truth is discovered. Bob says he has to tell the court what he has found out, but he gives Lynette and Tom two days to find Porter before he says anything. Lynette becomes desperate to find him and discovers Preston talking on the phone with him. Lynette takes his phone and calls Porter, who immediately puts down the phone. Preston tells Lynette how Warren threatened to kill him and he won't let his brother risk his life in order to save their restaurant. Lynette drives to a club with Preston where Warren is often seen, and tells him as a mother she will do all she can to protect her children. Preston believes she'd run over Warren and gives in to Lynette, who begs him to ring Porter and tell him it will be safe to return home. Lynette speaks to Porter on the phone and asks him to trust her, but a woman takes the phone off Porter and tells him not to trust Lynette. This woman, who Porter is staying with, is revealed to be Stella, Lynette's mother.

Karen and Roberta continue their search for Dr. Heller and visit his office. His receptionist refuses to give away any details, and after hours she finally reveals Dr. Heller didn't return from a trip he took a few weeks back. While the receptionist is actually on the phone to Dave who is running out of medication, Roberta tells Karen she'll have to find someone else because she's done with this. Just as they leave the room, the receptionist says "Wisteria Lane" out loud, but it is too late for Karen or Roberta to hear. Mrs McCluskey returns home to Wisteria Lane.

Dave's bizarre behavior continues much to Edie's discomfort. During the night, Edie finds he is out of bed and goes down to the kitchen to find him talking to himself, but is unaware he is seeing Lila and Paige again. She touches his shoulder and he turns around quickly and smacks her arm accidentally. The next morning, she demands an explanation. He explains he has had his previous wife on his mind, but she was not aware he was previously married. She gives him the rest of the day to pack his bags, and she throws him out of the house.

International titles

• French: Une jolie maison (A beautiful home)
• German: Ein Schönes Zuhause (A beautiful home)
• Hebrew: הבית הוא המקום (HaBayit Hu HaMakom; The Home is the Place)
• Hungarian: Otthon, édes otthon (Home, Sweet Home)
• Italian: Un posto chiamato casa (A Place Called Home)
• Greek: Σπίτι μου, Σπιτάκι μου (Home Is the Place)

Notes

• The title comes from a song written by Stephen Sondheim and Jule Styne.
• Although credited, Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delany), Mike Delfino (James Denton) and Parker Scavo (Joshua Logan Moore) do not appear in this episode.
• This episode recorded the lowest rating for an original episode ever, rating and share of 8.8/13 which is 14.43 million viewers and 5.2/12 in demo.
• Even though Gale Harold is absent from this episode due to his ongoing recovery from his motorcycle accident, his voice can be heard.