Season 8
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES - "School of Hard Knocks" - After disobeying the rules of student drop-offs at the front of Juanita's school, Gaby makes it her mission to get even with a parent volunteer who banishes her to a faraway parking lot; Bree discovers that daughter Danielle's new business may not be as wholesome as first thought; Lynette begins to suspect that Tom may be dating; and Susan tries to ease her guilt by taking an art class with no-nonsense instructor Andre Zeller (Miguel Ferrer), on "Desperate Housewives," SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/RON TOM)ANDREA PARKER
School of Hard Knocks
Season 8 | Episode 4 | Aired 10/16/11

Susan is taking a painting class taught by a no-nonsense artist named Andre Zeller (guest star Miguel Ferrer). The guy doesn't care for her children's book illustrations. He only wants to teach real, suffering artists. So Susan shows him a painting of a lonely, isolated tree. It doesn't take Andre long to deduce that she's the tree. He mocks her to the point where Susan becomes very angry. She ends up destroying one of Andre's canvases before storming off. Hey, she really is a tortured artist!

Mike knows that Susan's meltdown is all about that night in the woods. Things are never going to be the way they were. When Susan returns to Andre's class to retrieve her portfolio, he invites her to stay. There's a condition though. He wants to see that same scary, crazy woman who trashed his canvas show up every, single day. Susan says that woman scares her. To that, Andre says "good."

Detective Chuck Vance is still stewing over his breakup with Bree. He's not ready to let go of this one. That's too bad. The guy has a lot of work to do. There's a stack of missing persons reports on his desk. Sitting at the top of the pile is a file bearing a familiar name and face: Gaby's dead stepfather, Alejandro.

Episode Photos See all
  • Not Such a Plain Jane Lynette signs up for Chloe's aerobics class to size up the completion. She brings Renee along on this covert workout mission. As it turns out, Chloe is also a lingerie model. Lynette believes Tom could never get serious about a woman like her. But when her hubby shows up, Lynette learns that he's not dating Chloe. He's seeing her mom, Jane, who happens to be a nice lady she chatted with during the class. Now this is a woman Tom could really go for. Needless to say, this was a rough workout for Lynette.
  • Sizing Up the Competition Tom's been whitening his teeth and getting into shape. This has Lynette suspecting he may be dating someone. She presents Penny with a brand new iPad that comes complete with a camera. This way she can get a look inside Tom's new place during video chats. The plan works and Lynette catches a glimpse of Chloe, her hubby's bikini-clad neighbor. She gets pretty darn chummy with Tom by the pool. Uh oh.
  • Not Such a Plain Jane Lynette signs up for Chloe's aerobics class to size up the completion. She brings Renee along on this covert workout mission. As it turns out, Chloe is also a lingerie model. Lynette believes Tom could never get serious about a woman like her. But when her hubby shows up, Lynette learns that he's not dating Chloe. He's seeing her mom, Jane, who happens to be a nice lady she chatted with during the class. Now this is a woman Tom could really go for. Needless to say, this was a rough workout for Lynette.
  • Sizing Up the Competition Tom's been whitening his teeth and getting into shape. This has Lynette suspecting he may be dating someone. She presents Penny with a brand new iPad that comes complete with a camera. This way she can get a look inside Tom's new place during video chats. The plan works and Lynette catches a glimpse of Chloe, her hubby's bikini-clad neighbor. She gets pretty darn chummy with Tom by the pool. Uh oh.