Desperate Housewives

Sunday

Season 4, Episode 11, Aired 04/12/08

Episode Summary

Katherine can't keep herself from thinking about her dark past and the secrets she's been keeping and the horrors she's been running from. However, her daughter Dylan is more than determined to find out the truth, so she goes to the one source she can trust: her stepfather Adam (guest star Nathan Fillion). In the meantime, the women of Wisteria Lane learn about the Mayfairs' separation, and try to comfort Katherine. Susan receives a visit by her cousin Tim (guest star Chris Carmach), who came to help her with her taxes while Mike is in rehab, and she worries that Tim might be interested in Dylan. Lynette has a sudden realization that she has a lot to thank for, which is why she decides to become more devoted to God, but when Bree tries to help her friend choose a religion things don't go as expected. Meanwhile, Gabrielle decides to remarry Carlos, but Edie tells her the unpleasant truth about his condition.moreless

8.8

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Cast & Crew

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Teri Hatcher

Susan Mayer
Felicity Huffman

Lynette Scavo
Marcia Cross

Bree Hodge

Fan Episode Reviews (21)

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Sunday.........

9.0

"Superb"

By danny7277, Jun 09, 2011 Report Abuse

this was another solid episode from season 4 of desperate housewives with some nice storylines i thought gaby tricking carlous was pretty funny im glad she forgave him in the end however i am looking forward to see how gaby manages being maried to a blind man
lynette and bree had a nice storyline as lynette wants to find some faith however bree disopoints her
susuan had another good week i thought her reaction to finding katherine in bed with her cousin was pretty funny
also this episode decvelop the mystery storlyine which certainly is getting more exciting after each and every episodemoreless

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Reflection Written by Lori Kirkland-Baker And Alexandria Cunningham Directed by David Grossman

7.0

"Good"

By shawnlunn2002, Jun 09, 2011 Report Abuse

Katherine (to Susan): "Okay, before you get some sordid image in your head...".
Tim: "She took my virginity".

Given that the previous episode aired three months ago in the US and had been both the last episode filmed before the writers strike took and was also an event episode of sorts, the first new episode post-strike isn't as ground breaking. That's not to say it's a terrible episode, it's just lacks a little something.

For instance, there's the ongoing Katherine saga. In the space of ten episodes, we've already learned that she has established history with Fairview, is an adept liar, has managed to irritate nearly all of the ladies and also made herself unloved with both Bob and Lee, who were able to get dirt on her.

Worse still is that in the previous episode, Adam discovered that she did something so horrible that his affair with Sylvia paled in comparison. This was also the same thing that disgusted Dylan upon her own discovery of it and it was enough to also haunt Aunt Lily before she died.

The big question is what the hell did Katherine do so awful to generate so many different reactions. To this episode's credit, there is thankfully some attempts to forward this storyline on but don't exactly expect much in terms of shocks.

First off this entire episode opens up with a flashback of Katherine's former husband Wayne. It appears that she was actually telling Dylan the truth when she admitted that Wayne used to slap her around the place. Wayne is seen to do this repeatedly until Katherine got the upper hand and decided to hit back.

Wayne was an abusive husband so as far as I'm concerned, Katherine did have every right in the world to strike back. However judging by the fact that she's later seen visiting a little grave in the woods, I have the feeling that Katherine might have killed her ex-husband. Now I can argue that Katherine shouldn't have taken the law into her own hands but if Wayne was really this dangerous, I'm not exactly sure I want to condemn her either. Then again, knowing how this show likes to turn things on its head, was it Wayne's grave that Katherine was visiting? Is Katherine really a killer?

Dylan definitely seems to think her mother is capable of murder. Given how evasive and mean Katherine can be, it's hardly unrealistic that Dylan would think so badly of her mother but instead of moaning about things, at least Dylan makes the effort to try and find out for sure if her mother killed her father.

The only person who could've given definite information was Aunt Lily and on account of her being dead, Adam is the next best thing. I like that Adam and Dylan do seem to have a really good relationship given that the two of them haven't interacted as much as you would think they would've done.

It's also terrific that even though he and Katherine have split up, Adam still cares enough about Dylan to take her fears about her mum being a killer seriously enough. If Mary Alice's closing narration is anything to go by, Dylan certainly does view Adam as a father figure.

It's just a pity then that although Adam does care for Dylan he also cares enough for Katherine to lie to the girl. Adam either doesn't know for sure or does but either way he manages to convince Dylan that her mother isn't a killer. Funnily enough, Dylan does end up buying it rather quickly at the end.

There are some surprise reactions to things involving the Mayfairs. Adam was pretty disgusted with Katherine at the end of "Welcome To Kanagawa" but he was willing to protect Katherine here and also Katherine was desperate for Adam to come home when previously she couldn't wait to get rid of him.

With only six episodes left in the season, it's going to be very interesting to see what role Adam will play into things, especially if he and Katherine don't get back together. There was also a light moment at the start of the episode where all the women came to sympathise with Katherine, only for her to shoo them out of the house.

However what is really interesting regarding the Katherine mystery is the inclusion of Susan's cousin Tim. His arrival came due to the lack of Mike and also because Susan isn't so hot with doing her own taxes but it did get amusing when Susan freaked out about his predilection for younger woman.

Susan naturally freaked out when she kept catching him talking to Dylan and given that she was in a specific age range, Susan did have good reason to worry. It should also be pointed out that Tim also likes the older woman too and there's nothing more embarrassing for Susan when she catches him shagging Katherine.

Even more interesting is that Tim and Katherine have had a sexual history. It seems that Katherine and Gabrielle might actually have something in common and it's a good moment of irony when Katherine is caught doing the same thing she was only happy to berate Gabby about in "The Game".

Apart from being a bit of a goer, Tim does have another use he saw Katherine violently hit her husband. However it's a bit too convenient that he didn't even think about it until Susan asked him about Katherine. How much about Wayne does Susan actually know? As for Chris Carmack, well he's not the greatest of actors in the world but he did a decent job here as Tim so points there.

Whether or not Tim goes on to play a bigger role in the season remains to be seen but it's rather to see some more of Susan's family and in all fairness, Tim and Susan do seem to have a normal enough relationship. Plus it also helps that Susan wasn't quite as needy in this episode as she had been in the last.

As for Mike, well he doesn't really get to do much here, even though Susan and Julie visit him in rehab. All that can be seen is that he's getting much better and Susan jokes about Mike scaring Julie straight off drugs. I'm hoping that later episodes will give Mike something more substantial as he copes with imminent fatherhood.

Meanwhile if Mike is getting better, then poor Carlos is getting worse. He might be lucky to survive both a tornado and Victor's thirst for revenge but he's still royally screwed with his blindness being permanent. Carlos is also still determined not to tell Gabrielle about his condition, which isn't his best move.

First off all Gabby literally has to twist Father Crowley's arm into agreeing to remarry her and Carlos. If you're a big fan of these two, I bet you're disappointed with the lack of a romantic setting but given that these two are poor, the low key wedding isn't the worst thing that could happen with these two. I mean after all, you've still got Edie who at first seems to be in a forgiving mood but then takes pleasure in telling Gabby that she's married a blind man. I go to great lengths not to feel for Gabby but even here I felt a little bad in the way Edie was so thrilled to drop that bombshell on her.

Of course that then subsided when Gabby's selfish streak came back with a vengeance. Instead of worrying about her husband being permanently blind, Gabby thinks it's a lot more fun to make him suffer so that he can tell her the bad news. She even goes to the lengths of preparing a stew made out of dog food.

Fortunately she does manage to slightly redeem herself by being angry that Carlos assumed she would abandon him because he was blind. C'mon Gabby, if Carlos didn't think that of you, then I would be worried but if the writers are smart, then the remainder of this storyline is going to show me why I should root for these two to be together.

If Carlos is willing to put his faith in Gabby, then it's interesting to see Lynette willing to do the same with religion. At first she enlists Bree's help into finding a faith but Bree's annoyance at Lynette being audacious enough to actually ask Reverend Sykes in the middle of mass questions creates a divide with the two of them.

In fact Lynette is justified in her annoyed towards Bree this week. Bree can be a good friend when she wants to be but she also is rather insensitive as well and the fact that Lynette had to spell out why she was questioning her faith showed density on Bree's part.

Given the amount of craziness that has been going on with Lynette's life in the last couple of months, her sudden desire to find out why she's still standing is believable. There are some particularly great scenes with both Felicity Huffman and Marcia Cross and it's also a relief that towards the end of the episode Bree gives Lynette something real to believe in their friendship.

As for Tom and Orson, neither bloke seems to be given much to do beside support their wives. That being said Orson did make a point of telling Tim that he didn't want Benjamin to turn out like either Andrew or Danielle. Given that Danielle is the real mother, that's obviously easier said than done.

Also in "Sunday"

Although Gary Cole is credited and appears in this episode, he has no dialogue and we don't clearly see his face.

Susan (to Katherine): "This was Bree's idea".
Bree: "Susan!"
Susan: "I wanted to bring flowers but I was shot down".

This episode confirmed Bree and Orson as Presbyterians. Lynette and Tom are Catholic.

Lynette: "We should go to church".
Tom: "Why, what did we do?"

Lynette: "By the way, what am I now?"
Bree: "Presbyterian".

Lynette is wearing her wig mostly throughout this episode. We'll have to wait longer to see her hair grow back.

Father Crowley: "Okay but promise you'll stay married to Carlos for the rest of your life".
Gabrielle: "Absolutely but if I don't I promise I will change religions".

Tim: "How old did you say you were?"
Dylan: "I turn eighteen next week".
Tim: "Really, eighteen?"
Susan: "Julie, Dylan's here to study!"

Post-strike episode and I notice that Susan still isn't actually showing yet.

Edie (to Carlos): "I just spat in one of your Jell-O cubes. Happy hunting".

Edie: "I guess you win".
Gabrielle: "Edie it was never a competition but yeah, I guess I do".

By all means, that nurse could've been fired for telling Edie confidential information about Carlos' health.

Carlos: "Gabby, I'm poor and blind and there's nothing about that that is your type".
Gabrielle: "Well thanks for the vote of confidence".

Lynette (to Bree): "I've been through cancer and a tornado and I don't know why I survived when so many people didn't".

Andrew and Danielle were the only missing regular people in the episode. Danielle doesn't really get mentioned that much.

Bree: "I want you to have faith in me and our friendship".
Lynette: "Well there are some things that are easy to believe in".

Chronology: Two weeks since "Something's Coming".

For the first episode post-writers strike, "Sunday" often felt more low key compared to what you might have expected. Katherine's mystery is fine but if she really killed her husband, then it does feel somewhat anticlimactic but at least the other plot kept it interesting.moreless

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A pretty boring episode, not the way to get started after the strike.

4.0

"Poor"

By krazy4crack, Jun 09, 2011 Report Abuse

Bree & Lynette: She finds trouble dealing with Lynette and her need to find a religion and to believe in something ever since she has decided to go to Bree's church. The only good thing that came out of those was that we finally are reminded on what has happened with Lynette in the past two seasons and how much she has been through.

Gabby: She eventually finds out about Carlos's condition and seeks revenge on him for lying, but she assures Carlos that nothing will stand in the way of their relationship. This was just way too boring, I think Gabby and Carlos have lost their luster. They were fun in the first two seasons, but now they're just getting annoying.

Susan: Her nephew comes to visit her to help with financial issues, but she eventually finds out one of his secrets with one of her neighbors. This was boring as well, as fun as it was to see Chris Carmack on this show, he still played a very boring role and the only good parts were Susan's hilarious reactions to the stuff he was doing.moreless

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I don't know if this was the writer's intention, but even if the criticism to church was made on purpose, I didn't enjoy it. I am against church (the institution), but I didn't like the episode.moreless

3.0

"Bad"

By g_anatomy, Jun 09, 2011 Report Abuse

To begin with, and with historical reasons, I never liked church. By taking land and money from people to confess, even knowing that "god doesn't need money"; by stopping knowledge development by book burning, by considering heretic anything that is not related to god and by answering "god" to every question; and because of the irrational need of represent god in the earth by a physical institution, even if preaching is possible without a specific place to be in, are just enough reasons to be against the institution, but not against the religion itself. About religion, I don't criticise people if they believe in something and go to a place to pray, but my beliefs are in other place (read Grey's Anatomy 04x11 review).
This episode showed that the institution is still not flexible, and I loved when Lynette asked those sharp questions that the institution doesn't like to hear. In a way, those questions reminded of me. But Bree wasn't flexible, and that's because of church's lack of flexibility.
The other storylines didn't catch my eye. Katherine's fling was boring (but not Susan's reaction)and Gaby's selfishness, unbearable when it comes to Carlos.
However, in this episode, Gaby represents people who have a flexible use of church. It was funny indeed to see church as a cafeteria, showing how naive church people are.

It was a good criticism, but the episode was boring anyway...moreless

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1 4
Season 4, Episode 11.

9.5

"Superb"

By Wanted23, Sep 27, 2008 Report Abuse

Great first post-strike episode! Gabrielle looked incredibly sexy in the beginning when the women visited Katherine. She was also hilarious when she found out that Carlos' blindness is permanent, and she put dog food and dish detergent in his stew. LMAO! Then she started tripping him! Gabby rocked in this episode. I really enjoyed the episode, a lot. You may ask why this episode is a series classic... Well because Gabby and Carlos got married! YAY! I enjoyed the Susan/Tim/Katherine thing, and I liked the Katherine/Adam interaction, then the Adam/Dylan interaction. The Lynette/Bree storyline was OK, nothing excellent, but the way it was played out was good. Pretty good episode.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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Notes
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- International Episode Titles: Czech Republic: Nedělní ráno (Sunday Morning) Slovakia: Nedeľa (Sunday) Edit
- Ricardo Antonio Chavira submitted this episode for consideration of his work in the category of "Outstanding Supporting Actor - Comedy Series" for the 2008 Emmy Awards. Lyndsy Fonseca also submitted this episode for consideration in the category of "Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series" for the same awards. Edit
- Although credited, Shawn Pyfrom (Andrew Van de Kamp) and Joy Lauren (Danielle Van de Kamp) are absent from this episode. Edit
Quotes
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- (Bree and Orson are coming downstairs) Tim: You guys are out of here? Bree: Yes, I'm gonna run some errands and Orson is taking Benjamin to the park. Orson: Actually, I thought I might take him to the museum. You know how much Benjamin loves Matisse. Bree: Benjamin doesn't love Matisse, he loves purple. Please, stop trying to turn our son into an intellectual. (she kisses Orson goodbye and leaves)Orson: If you saw how her first two turned out, you would understand how important it is to me to fight the Van de Kamp DNA. Edit
- (Susan and Julie are visiting Mike at rehab) Julie: How's your occupational therapy going? Do they still have you scrubbing pots in the kitchen? Mike: Oh, no. Once they found out I'm a professional plumber I got promoted to scrubbing toilets. Susan: Well, maybe you won't mind doing a little scrubbing when you come home next week. Mike: Actually, the doctors kinda frown on that. They encourage us to leave that sort of stuff behind. Susan: It doesn't have to be toilets. I mean it could be sinks, bathtubs. Mike: You're making me wanna use, Susan. (turns to Julie) This junkie thing is awesome. Susan: Oh, I forgot. Tim has some questions about the taxes. Do you mind talking to him? Mike: No, I don't mind. Though I can't believe he'd have any trouble with your cookie tin filing system. Edit
- Carlos: Dammit! What the hell is going on?! Gabrielle: I'll tell you what's going on! In three months! Four, tops!! Carlos: Uh-oh. Gabrielle: Uh-oh is right, you blind bastard! Carlos: Ow! All right, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have lied! Gabrielle: Oh, no, no. I think it was a fantastic plan. I mean there's no way I ever would've figured out that I was married to a permanently blind guy! Carlos: Ow! All right, I just thought that by the time you did, you'd be used to the idea and maybe then you wouldn't leave me! Gabrielle: Leave you?! Why would I leave you? Do you really think I'm that shallow? Edit
Allusions
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- Episode Title: The title "Sunday" comes from a song in the 1984 Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday In The Park With George. Edit