In the episode, Susan (Teri Hatcher) recovers from having been held hostage while Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) attempts to salvage her marriage to her incarcerated husband, Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira).

Meanwhile, Bree (Marcia Cross) deals with her mother-in-law following her husband's death and Lynette (Felicity Huffman) goes back to work.

The episode received general positive reviews, with Cross earning universal praise for her performance.

In previous episodes, Mike Delfino (James Denton) learns that he is the biological father of Zach Young (Cody Kasch), whose adopted parents, Mary Alice (Brenda Strong) and Paul (Mark Moses), killed Mike's previous girlfriend and Zach's biological mother years earlier.

[1] Gabrielle Solis's (Eva Longoria) affair with her teenage gardener, John Rowland (Jesse Metcalfe), is exposed just as she discovers she is pregnant and her husband, Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), is sentenced to time in prison.

[1] Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross) learned that her husband, Rex (Steven Culp), died while awaiting surgery.

[1] Also, Betty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard) and her son, Matthew (Mehcad Brooks), moved to Wisteria Lane.

Despite these unusual circumstances, Lynette manages to impress Nina's boss, Ed Ferrara (Currie Graham), who hires her on the spot.

While developing storylines for the second season, series creator Marc Cherry stated, "I want to keep finding new ways to talk about issues that relate to everyday women," explaining that the show needs to focus on "small, real, everyday issues" in order to keep the audience interested.

"[2] Huffman recognized that her character's storylines needed a change of pace, but hoped that Lynette's domestic life would still play an integral role this season.

[2][8] Woodard played Betty Applewhite, a "deeply religious, overbearing single mother" while Mehcad portrayed her son, Matthew.

[11] While the Applewhites are regarded as the first major black characters on the series,[9][12] Cherry stated that the role of Betty was originally offered to two white film actresses, both of whom turned it down due to financial and time commitment issues.

[20] He praised the scene in which Bree changes the tie on Rex's corpse and called Cross' performance throughout the episode "pitch-perfect.

"[20] Though he criticized the repetitive nature of the Susan and Gabrielle storylines, Slezak thought that the Applewhite mystery would help reduce the show's chances of falling into a sophomore slump.

He praised Woodward's acting as well as her character's storyline, opining, "there's something so inherently warm and maternal in Woodard's performance, such apple-pie wholesomeness, that it makes her touches of menace all the more chilling.

"[20] Gael Fashingbauer Cooper of MSNBC complimented that Applewhite storyline, writing: "Forget Lynette's career stress, Gabrielle's baby daddy drama, and even Bree's new widowhood: This story has legs, and apparently arms.

"[12] She found it strange that the Bree, Andrew, and Danielle characters showed little emotion in regards to Rex's death.