Come on Over for Dinner

"Come on Over for Dinner"
Episode no.	Season 7 Episode 23
Directed by	Larry Shaw
Written by	Bob Daily
Original air date	May 15, 2011
Guest stars
Jonathan Cake as Chuck Vance Anita Barone as Doreen Vance Darryl Stephens as Terrence Tony Plana as Alejandro Jason Winston George as Edgar Orson Bean as Roy Bender
Episode chronology
← Previous "And Lots of Security..." Next → "Secrets That I Never Want to Know"
List of season 7 episodes List of Desperate Housewives episodes

"Come on Over for Dinner" is the 157th episode of the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. It is the twenty-third episode and the season finale of the show's seventh season and was broadcast on May 15, 2011. This was the second part of the 2 hour finale of season 7.

Plot

Susan and Mike move back into their home on Wisteria Lane. When Susan attempts to visit Bree, Lynette and Gabrielle, each is preoccupied with personal matters and abruptly cuts the visit short. Susan returns home, visibly depressed. The other housewives, realizing they have upset her, visit her together and announce a progressive dinner party to celebrate her return, moving from house to house.

Bree and Renee shop at the boutique run by Chuck's soon-to-be ex-wife; Bree hopes that making a large purchase will encourage her to more rapidly agree to the divorce terms. Instead, Bree and Renee inadvertently tip Doreen off to Bree's dating Chuck; while Doreen expresses sympathy, she uses her knowledge of the romance to make additional property demands.

After Gabrielle's abusive stepfather Alejandro follows her in his car and trails her into a wooded area, she holds him at gunpoint and forces him to admit he raped her when she was a teenager. She allows him to leave, telling him never to contact her again. She later tells Carlos that she nearly killed him, but was satisfied by simply having been able to do so.

That night, while hosting drinks and appetizers, Renee learns her ex-husband is remarrying. She quickly gets very drunk and strikes up a brief "relationship" with the bartender she hired for the evening.

Lynette returns home to prepare the salad course. When Tom is not there, she concludes that he has moved out. When he arrives home from a brief shopping trip, the two discuss their estrangement. Lynette tells Tom that the main emotion she felt when believing he had left her was relief. The couple agree to separate.

Chuck tells Bree that he has agreed to Doreen's increased demands to allow them to move on in their relationship. They go to Bree's home and make love, so distracted that Bree allows the dinner's main course to burn. The guests arrive almost immediately, and the semi-dressed couple makes excuses, to the evident amusement of the others.

Gabrielle goes to her house to prepare the dessert course. Alejandro emerges from hiding, implies he has taken her gun, and accosts her, apparently intending rape. Carlos returns home and strikes Alejandro in the head with a candlestick, killing him. Bree, Susan and Lynette see the body, as Carlos discovers Alejandro did not have the gun. Carlos fears being sent to prison for killing an unarmed man. Bree takes the lead in covering up evidence of the killing in the short time before the remaining guests arrive. As the episode ends, Carlos has apparently forgiven Bree concealing her own son's responsibility for the hit-and-run death of Carlos's mother. Alejandro's body has apparently been hidden inside the storage chest which serves as the centerpiece of the evening's final course.

Reception

The two hour season finale was watched by 10.251 million and received a 3.1 in the 18-49 age group and is the lowest rated season finale in the show's history. Compared to the season 6 finale which was viewed by 12.745 million and received a 4.0 in the 18-49 age group. Between this season finale and last seasons the show lost 2.494 million viewers. Even though this is the least viewed finale it is the highest rated episode since March with Searching which received 11.354 million viewers and a 3.5 in the 18-49 age group.^[1] When the DVR ratings were released the ratings rose 32% from a 3.1 ratings in the 18-49 to a 4.1 in the 18-49 age group. With an increase of 2.306 million viewers the viewership rose to 12.557.^[2]

Notes

• The title of this episode comes from the lyrics of the song "Company" from the Stephen Sondheim musical Company.
• The network broadcast featured unified credits for the consecutive broadcast of two episodes. Several credited performers appeared in only one of the two episodes. In the standalone airing, although credited, Mark Moses (Paul Young) does not appear in this episode.
• This is Bree Van De Kamp's 150th episode because of a seven-episode absence in the third season due to her real-life pregnancy.
• The song which Renee sang is My Funny Valentine.
• The final scene may be a nod to Alfred Hitchcock's Rope, where a dead body is hidden in a chest throughout an entire dinner party.
• For her work in this episode, Brenda Strong was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.

International titles

• Arabian: The Real Dinner
• German: Partytime

References

1. ^ TV Ratings Broadcast Top 25: "American Idol", "The Voice", "Modern Family", "Dancing with the Stars", "NCIS" Top Week 34 Viewing, TV By the Numbers, May 17, 2011
2. ^ Live+7 DVR Ratings: "Modern Family" Top Absolute Gains, "Gossip Girl" Tops % Gains, TV By the Numbers, May 31, 2011