I'm Still Here (Desperate Housewives)

"I'm Still Here" is the 147th episode of the ABC television series, Desperate Housewives. It is the thirteenth episode of the show's seventh season and was broadcast on January 16, 2011.

Plot

Bree finds out that a woman, who is looking for Keith, has a son that he knows nothing about. She agrees to help the woman in finding out if Keith would like the opportunity to meet his son and become a father. Bree questions Keith whether he is happy that the two of them can never have children and he responds that there was a time in his life where he would have loved to have been a father but that it doesn't matter to him anymore because he has her. Bree then lies to the woman that Keith didn't want to see his son because she becomes scared of losing him.

Susan tries to have a conversation during her dialysis treatment at the hospital with a rude and angry patient called Dick. Susan continues to attempt to bond with him but he remains cold towards her. When a young patient who is receiving treatment the same time as Susan and Dick receives a phone call telling him that they've found a donor for him; Susan sees the disappointment and sadness in Dick that it wasn't for him. She decides to comfort him and he finally lets her.

Lynette's mother Stella visits and informs Lynette that she is to marry a new boyfriend called Frank Kaminsky. Lynette meets Frank and realizes he's rude, arrogant, sexist, and racist and begs Stella not to marry him. She tells Lynette that she's only doing so because he has a lot of money. Lynette has second thoughts of walking her mother down the aisle but is talked into it by Tom after he tells her that if she refuses she may ruin her relationship with Stella. Lynette asks Stella once more during the service not to marry Frank, but realizes her mother wants to do so as Frank needs her, and nobody else does.

Bob and Lee are confronted by Renee when they decide to hire another interior designer to decorate their adopted daughter's room instead of her. They tell her that they believed she had no maternal feelings and wouldn't get the room how they wanted it, but they agree to give her a chance. When they see what Renee has done to the room they are amazed with how perfect it is and are surprised when they discover that she once dreamed of having children a long time ago. Bob and Lee introduce their new daughter Jenny to Renee first and she is touched when Lee asks her to be there as a mother figure for Jenny should she need one.

Karen finds out about Gabrielle's obsession with her new doll and as a concerned friend, decides to tell Carlos. He confronts Gabrielle who remains insistent on keeping the doll, and he becomes worried as he knows she is using the doll as a replacement for Grace. While going out for dinner Carlos is alarmed to discover Gabrielle has strapped the doll into a car seat and asks her to see a therapist, but she refuses. While driving in a dangerous neighborhood they are carjacked by an armed man. Gabrielle stays in the car, frantic to rescue the doll. Carlos pulls her out to stop her from getting shot and the carjacker drives off, leaving Gabrielle hysterical. Carlos tells her the doll is not Grace and comforts his wife.

Paul becomes emotional after Beth's betrayal and believes that she was the one who shot him. He decides to get revenge and kill her on a trip to a cabin. Before they leave however detectives arrive and show the gun to Paul, who becomes alarmed. The detectives believe the gun did belong to Beth but Paul reassures them otherwise. He then tells Beth that the trip's off and that she "dodged the bullet", which confuses her. The episode ends as Paul looks at a picture of him and Zach, realizing that Zach may have been the one who shot him.

Reception

On its original broadcast on ABC, the episode scored 10.251 million of viewers and achieved a 3.1 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic.^[1] With the DVR Rating, this episode is up 2.1 in million of viewers (rising to a total of 12.3 million of viewers) and it's up 0.9 in the adults 18-49 demographic (rising to a total of a 4.0 rating).^[2] The lower ratings were because the 68th Golden Globe Awards was airing at the same night, resulting in many other shows within the same timeslot to decrease in ratings especially Desperate Housewives since both the award show and the Housewives share much of the same audience.^[3]

Notes

• Although credited, James Denton (Mike Delfino) does not appear in this episode.
• Madison De La Garza (Juanita Solis) and Mason Vale Cotton (M.J. Delfino) do not appear and are not credited.
• Polly Bergen reprises her role as Lynette's mother Stella Wingfield for the first time since season 5.
• As almost always, the episode title is also the title of a song from a Stephen Sondheim musical; "I'm Still Here" is one of the most famous songs from Sondheim's Follies, sung by Carlotta, an aging showgirl who's seen it all. Polly Bergen starred as Carlotta in a 2001 Broadway revival of Follies at the Belasco Theater and received a Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She performed "I'm Still Here" on that year's Tony Awards.

International titles

• Arabic: يتجاوز حدود (Exceed Limits)
• German: Die Puppe (The doll)
• Italian: Rimpianti (Regrets)
• French : Ceux qui se comportent mal (The ones who do bad things)

References