Mirror, mirror (Desperate Housewives)

"Mirror, Mirror" is the 92nd episode of the ABC television series, Desperate Housewives. It is the fifth episode of the show's fifth season and aired on October 26 2008.

Guest Starring

 * Kathryn Joosten as Karen McCluskey
 * Gale Harold as Jackson Braddock
 * Tuc Watkins as Bob Hunter
 * Kevin Rahm as Lee McDermott
 * Tim Bagley as Dr. Wagner
 * Michael Holden as Dr. Baron
 * Madison De La Garza as Juanita Solis
 * Daniella Baltodano as Celia Solis
 * Nick Toth as Mr. Franklin
 * William Christian as EMT

Plot
The episode begins with Karen arriving at the party where everyone yells "Surprise". Then she accuses Dave of breaking into her house and tries to attack him.

Then the time goes back before the party. Dave suggests that Edie throw a party for Karen McCluskey's 70th birthday and that Susan host so it will be a surprise. Gabrielle is alarmed that her period is late. We flash back to the first time she learned she was pregnant: The doctor proclaimed it a "miracle," and Carlos called it a "one-in-a-million shot" but Gaby wasn't so happy since neither had jobs at the time but Carlos convinced her she'd be a good mother. The second time Gaby got pregnant, she insisted Carlos get a vasectomy. Just as they arrive at Susan's for the party, he blurts out the out the secret he's been keeping: "I never got a vasectomy!"

Jackson asks Susan if he can move in since he spends so much time at her house anyway. She remembers the day she met him, when she was newly separated from Mike and looking for a "change" by having her house painted. Months later, on the day she and Mike signed their divorce papers, she came home, incredibly depressed, and asked Jackson. "Do you like Scotch?" The two ended up in bed together but agreed that neither one of them was looking for something serious at the moment. "I gave romance a shot and I'm ready for something a little more casual," she said and Jackson was delighted to hear it, saying that such women were "an urban legend." But now, just as the guests are starting to arrive, he tells her, "I've fallen in love with you."

Lynette remembers when Tom had a near-death accident at the restaurant which stopped his heart. He was okay, but suddenly went into full midlife crisis mode, including showing up with a red sports car. At the hospital, Lynette had promised him she'd help him find "more" to life, but she balks when he shows up with a brochure for an RV, along with a plan to take the kids out of school for a year and drive around the country. She asks, "Who's going to be running our restaurant while we're off doing the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test?" On the way to Karen's party, he tells her he's going to sell the pizzeria -- and that he's already found a buyer.

Orson plans to announce that Bree has made him a partner at the party but she asks him not to tell anyone yet. We flash back to how she started drinking again after Orson went to jail. "My husband's gone, my son's gone," she tells Katherine when she realizes there's a problem, "I have nothing." Katherine advises her, "So you have a void in your life. Don't fill it with wine, fill it with work. Just think of the woman you could be by the time Orson gets back. " She promises Bree, "It'll be our secret," and that she is moving in to help her get sober. Bree forbids Orson to tell anyone about the partnership and when he refuses, she tells him it was a mistake and that he's fired.

To her great joy, Gabrielle gets her period and Carlos admits he was still holding out hope for another child. Tom calls Lynette a "buzzkill" and is upset that she doesn't "get it" that he's craving more out of life than making pizza. She reminds him, "Scavo's was the adventure. We changed our whole lives so you could live out your dream." Furious that she's favoring Katherine over him, Orson asks Bree for a divorce, so she finally tells him why she owes Katherine so much. Orson thanks Katherine and tells her he won't mind earning a partnership, even if it takes two years. "Oh, honey, working for Bree, you won't last two months!" she smiles. Susan tells Jackson it wouldn't bother her if he was with another woman so he grabs Katherine and kisses her. Jackson wants to know if he and Susan have a future together and when she tells him, "I don't want to think about the future," he breaks up with her.

A few days before Karen's birthday, Dave finds her going through his mail. He asks Edie if she's still "asking questions," and Edie assures him, "Prying is what people who are too old to have sex do to keep life interesting." When she mentions that Karen is turning 70, he suggests they throw her a party. While Edie takes Karen out for her annual birthday drink, Dave sneaks into Karen's house and rearranges a few photos and mementos. When she arrives at the party, everyone yells "Surprise," but they're surprised when she accuses Dave of breaking into her house and attacks the cake with a baseball bat. She tries to goes after Dave and they call 911. Before she's taken away in an ambulance, she tells Dave, "You're up to something, something awful." He admits that he planned the whole thing and says, "You don't know what awful is."