Tom Scavo
Encyclopedia
Thomas "Tom" Scavo is a fictional character
on the ABC
television series Desperate Housewives
, played by actor Doug Savant
.
Tom originally was a recurring throughout the first season but became a regular in season two. Early storylines often revolve around Tom's working habits and that he is alway from the family. However a turning point occurred in season three and now Tom's storylines often revolve about him being insecure about his life, to the point where he opens a pizzaeria, has a mid-life crisis and starts to go through depression.
it is revealed that she had apparently conceived his child, a daughter named Kayla Huntington, from their one night stand. This is news to Tom as the one night stand took place about eleven years ago and Nora had never told him about her pregnancy
. Tom later confesses to Lynette that he wishes to go into the business of pizza
-making. Nora however consistently undermines him behind his back and tries to get Lynette to tell him to drop the idea. Her plan is to show support to Tom, to get him back from Lynette. Tom, however, does not fall for Nora and rejects her seduction. He tells Lynette about it, who threatens Nora never to speak to Tom again.
Tom and Lynette plan to battle for Kayla's custody, but before anything happens, Nora gets shot and dies during the hostage crisis in the local supermarket. Lynette promises the dying woman to take care of Kayla. He then goes on with his pizza place and together with Lynette's help get it ready for the grand opening although not without some troubles along the way. He then tries to celebrate his 9th wedding anniversary rant every night. Tom and the kids come to the pizzeria to surprise her, where Kayla sees chemistry between Lynette and Rick. Kayla tells Tom she thinks Lynette likes Rick, and Tom suggests to Lynette he should come back to work and fire Rick, only to receive objections from Lynette.
After Lynette getting stuck with him in a freezer as a result of the pizzeria being robbed, the two cuddle close together. Tom confronts Rick after seeing a surveillance tape, in which Lynette and Rick were having dinner together before the pizzeria was robbed. Tom makes a speech about how although his marriage to Lynette is shaky, it is rock solid and Rick would never break it up. Tom asks Rick to quit, and he says he won't leave unless Lynette fires him personally, because "she doesn't want him gone". Rick and Lynette are alone in the restaurant and Rick talks about his lunch with Tom. He said he had feelings for her. He told her it was obvious she has feelings for him. This enraged Lynette and she fired him. After finding out Tom was returning to work, Lynette sobbed in her bathroom, obviously distraught over the loss of Rick.
Lynette and Tom’s marriage continues to decline and Lynette doesn't speak to Tom for five days. In an attempt to rebuild their marriage, Tom gets his old college friend and marriage councillor to try and speak to them without Lynette knowing, but she clocks on to Tom’s actions and becomes even more frustrated with him over his 'ambush therapy'. With Tom’s doctor informing him on his back recovery, Tom suggests to Lynette they have sex as it's the only way they can communicate unless they talk instead. Lynette agrees to sex and refuses to talk but becomes violent with Tom. In a moment of anger, Tom seizes Lynette and asks why she's mad at him, and she reveals it's because he had lunch with Rick and because she had to fire him. Lynette then shoves Tom back onto the bed, hurting his back. Tom then has back spasms and he moves suddenly causing Lynette to fall off the bed, banging her head on the side table. She goes to hospital for her injury and Tom finds out Lynette fell for Rick and misses him. The doctor performs a CAT scan on Lynette and finds swollen lymph nodes and suggests they do a biopsy as it could be lymphoma (a form of cancer).
" Tom attends Susan's small games party however Lynette remains at home because she is sick, Lynette's mother Stella secretly gets marijuana from Andrew
and bakes it in some brownies she makes for Lynette so that it would ease Lynette's pain. It works and Lynette attends Susan's party high and she had brought the drugged brownies with her for everyone else to have. Stella arrives over and tells Tom why no one can have a brownie and Tom takes them off everyone's plate before they can eat them and ends up accidentally pushing Gabrielle into new resident Adam Mayfair spilling wine on him, sparking a feud between Gabrielle and Adam's wife Katherine Mayfair
. Tom later appears at the end of the episode when Lynette discovers the truth from him about what Stella did. A tornado hits Wisteria Lane and the Scavos take shelter in Karen McClusky's basement with Ida Greenbberg. Tom and the children were left in the basement while Lynette and Mrs. McClusky went out looking for Ida's cat. When Lynette and Mrs. McClusky hid from the tornado in a bathtub, Tom was knocked out with asthma from the cat. After the tornado hits, Tom and his children are okay and so are Lynette and Mrs. McClusky. Ida Greenberg did not make it. She saved Lynette's and Tom's children from the Tornado.
Rick returns announcing that he is opening a new restaurant near Scavo's pizzeria. Tom lied to the police when they investigate the vandalism happening to the restaurant, but later admitted to Lynette that he did vandalize Rick's restaurant out of jealousy.
Tom came under investigation again when a fire took place Rick's restaurant. He was confronted by Lynette, to whom he swears he left the founders ball to listen to the game on the cart radio, and again by Rick after he found a matchbook from Scavo's. The incident broke out into a fight and Tom was brought in by the police and later released after Lynette lies to them to provide him an alibi.
Tom and Lynette are constantly arguing about the kids: the twins started the fire and he suggested taking them to therapy; Lynette discovers the boys got the idea from Kayla and she took Kayla to therapy behind Tom's back. Tom's denial about the problems Kayla causes for Lynette lead to her lying to the therapist and getting Lynette arrested for child abuse.
In the season's penultimate episode, Tom sends Kayla to live with her maternal grandparents after she told Tom she lied about everything and she wouldn't stop if Lynette came back.
In the season finale, Tom and Lynette help with catering Bob and Lee's wedding. Tom's advise to Lee about standing up for himself (for wanting the ice sculpture be castle rather than a cherub) escalated to Bob and Lee arguing then canceling the wedding. Lynette and Tom get the two in the same room and Tom tells them that if they cannot decide over small decisions that they might as well not marry at all; that they should ask themselves whether they love each other enough that no problem can possibly tear them apart. His speech gets Bob and Lee to reconcile and to reaffirm to Lynette that their marriage is stronger than she thought.
and he buys a Ford Mustang
. It's shown he has difficulty disciplining his teenage sons as they treat him far more cool than Tom was used to when he was their age. Lynette uses that against him by tricking Tom into letting the twins borrow his Mustang for a dance. When they come back a half hour late, Tom angrily grounds them. When they claim he's more worried about the car than them, he kicks a mirror off it but confesses to Lynette that it was already broken and he had ordered a replacement, impressing her. In "Mirror, Mirror," flashbacks show that Tom was electrocuted in an accident and nearly died, which pushed him to enjoy life as much as he could. In the present, he tells Lynette his plan to sell the restaurant, buy an RV and spend a year traveling the country with his family. Lynette is not happy about this and tensions have risen over it. When Tom contacted one of his son's friends' mothers, Ann Shilling, who is a real estate agent, she found him a rehearsal space for the garage band he and some of the other Wisteria Lane men have started. He has been spending a lot of time there, and Lynnette confronted him about him sleeping with the Mrs. Shilling, who has 'dropped by' with some items for the rehearsal space, among them a futon. Tom denied it—then stepped on a condom wrapper on the floor to hide from Lynnette. He deduced that Porter is sleeping with some girl there—but Lynette sees Mrs. Shilling leaving from the rehearsal space when Tom is there, so Lynette thinks Tom is cheating. In the next episode, Tom and Lynette realize that Porter is, in fact who is sleeping with the realtor. After much deliberation, Lynette decides to pay Mrs. Shilling off, but this backfires when Porter disappears, claiming that he wants to be with her. In the last episode we find out that because of the bad economy Scavo's Pizzeria lost its business to low sales, and Tom was forced to throw a Going Out of Business sale to raise the money to repay his loans and pay Bree her money.
Tom sinks into some depression being out of work with Lynette getting a new job and in the fifth season finale, decides to go to college as a Chinese language major. Thinking this is part of his middle-age syndrome, Lynette attempts to sabotage Tom by getting him drunk the night before his entrance exam. It's only afterward that Tom says he was taking Chinese in hopes of getting a new job in that market. Incredibly, Tom managed to score in the top five with the exam despite being hung over. However, his college plans are jarred when Lynette reveals she's 3.5 months pregnant with twins.
. He is then prescribed marijuana as a cure for this which stuns Lynette. In the episode "Let Me Entertain You
", Tom decides to hire his own mother as a nanny for the new baby.
After a big argument, Lynette fires her mother-in-law, but Tom overrules her, telling her that she is going to stay. After Lynette and Allison's talk, Tom's mother shows symptoms of dementia to Penny, unknown to Lynette and Tom. Tom and Lynette finally discover Allison's dementia on Halloween, after she collapses outside Gabrielle Solis' house after going out to buy more candy, despite Tom telling her they had plenty. Allison is later admitted to a nursing home and Tom and Lynette agree to visit her there. Tom is deeply upset by his mother's illness. In episode 9 Susan walks in on Tom and Lynette having sex on the nursery floor and is in awe at Tom's huge penis; she then confronts Lynette about why she has never mentioned it before.
A drunken Renee reveals to Susan she once slept with him putting Susan in uncomfortable situation. When Susan is injured in a riot, a guilty Renee tells Tom she should reveal the truth but Tom insists she keep it quiet. Renee finally confesses to Lynette, revealing the affair took place when she and Tom were engaged but having one of their regular "break-ups." Lynette is naturally upset but keeps it quiet and begins a series of pranks against Tom as payback. When Renee find out what Lynette is doing, she tells Tom about it. Tom confront Lynette and tells that he wanted to tell her about Renee, but there was never a good time for that because he did not want to ruin the wonderful life they have together. Lynette then forgives Tom.
Tom finds himself getting a major promotion at a new company and enjoys the work. Lynette is concerned about his over-working but Tom tells her he feels more alive than ever. When Tom attends a conference, Lynette is upset that she's kept from the business talks and forced to attend spas and other projects with the other wives. She goes so far as to steal an ID from a woman only to find out she's the keynote speaker for a lecture. Back home, Tom snaps at Lynette that after so many years supporting her, it hurts that she can't do the same for him. Renee tells Lynette that she has to choose between her own wants or being a good wife. Tom then hires the duo to decorate his office like a Donald Trump-style boss but Lynette thinks that it is not right for him and goes a different way. Renee overrules her to give Tom the office he wants and Lynette yells at Tom over how he's changing but he retorts that he has to be this way in order to succeed and Lynette needs to stop thinking of him the way he's been at home the last several years.
When Tom decides to book a luxurious holiday for the family and announces it Lynette is annoyed and consults Tom about why he did not consult her about it first. The two then pitch to the kids what they think is the best holiday which leads to yet another fight between them; this time however they insult each other. Lynette calls Tom a "Pompous Ass" while Tom labels Lynette as a "Raving Bitch" leaving them to decide that it is only them who need to spend a holiday together. The holiday turns out badly and the relationship deteriorates and becomes extremely awkward. When they return home Tom leads Lynette to believe that he will be spending a while in an apartment near to his work offices. Before Lynette attends a street dinner party, Penny reveals to her that Tom had left her a note. Lynette is surprised and finds that Tom's unpacked suitcase from the holiday is not in the bedroom, convincing her that Tom had left her. After revealing to Susan that she thought Tom had left her, Lynette walks into her house, finding Tom, chopping up salad ingredients. He tells Lynette that he had only gone to buy the ingredients. Lynette questions him why it had taken him two hours, leading Tom to reveal that he had left but came back when he considered that Lynette would have to lie about where Tom was to her friends at the dinner party. The two talk for a while and Lynette confesses that when she thought Tom had left, she felt relieved, leading the pair to finally decide to separate.
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television series Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
, played by actor Doug Savant
Doug Savant
Douglas Peter "Doug" Savant is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Matt Fielding on Melrose Place and Tom Scavo on the ABC dramedy series Desperate Housewives.-Career:...
.
Tom originally was a recurring throughout the first season but became a regular in season two. Early storylines often revolve around Tom's working habits and that he is alway from the family. However a turning point occurred in season three and now Tom's storylines often revolve about him being insecure about his life, to the point where he opens a pizzaeria, has a mid-life crisis and starts to go through depression.
Season 1
Tom Scavo was frequently out of town and seemed to be completely oblivious to Lynette's problems. Tom has been keeping a secret from his wife that only his father, Rodney Scavo, knew about. This is speculated to be his secret child, Kayla. Tom decided to become a house-husband after he lost his promotion to Annabel and subsequently quit his job. He seems to truly love Lynette, being prepared to discuss family matters with her if she feels that they need to.Season 2
Midway through the second season, Tom returns to the workplace, sharing an employer with his wife for the second time. When Lynette's boss asks Lynette to send instant messages to his wife to help him heat up his sex life, his wife found out and threatened to leave him unless he fires the person who sent the IMs. Feeling he cannot fire Lynette, he tells his wife it was Tom and decides to fire Tom instead. Tom has a chat with Ed and via a 'forensic accountant', Ed discovered that Tom was falsifying expense reports. It ends with Tom punching Ed in the face. Since the necessary grounds of dismissal have been met, double grounds in fact, Tom is fired. Tom is found out to be meeting another woman after Lynette follows him to Atlantic City and sees first hand what she believes to be them embracing. Lynette later finds out that this woman is actually the mother of his daughter - born before he met Lynette.Season 3
It is later found out that this woman is Nora Huntington, a woman with whom he had a one night stand years before he had met Lynette. In the second season finaleSeason finale
A season finale is the final episode of a season of a television program...
it is revealed that she had apparently conceived his child, a daughter named Kayla Huntington, from their one night stand. This is news to Tom as the one night stand took place about eleven years ago and Nora had never told him about her pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
. Tom later confesses to Lynette that he wishes to go into the business of pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
-making. Nora however consistently undermines him behind his back and tries to get Lynette to tell him to drop the idea. Her plan is to show support to Tom, to get him back from Lynette. Tom, however, does not fall for Nora and rejects her seduction. He tells Lynette about it, who threatens Nora never to speak to Tom again.
Tom and Lynette plan to battle for Kayla's custody, but before anything happens, Nora gets shot and dies during the hostage crisis in the local supermarket. Lynette promises the dying woman to take care of Kayla. He then goes on with his pizza place and together with Lynette's help get it ready for the grand opening although not without some troubles along the way. He then tries to celebrate his 9th wedding anniversary rant every night. Tom and the kids come to the pizzeria to surprise her, where Kayla sees chemistry between Lynette and Rick. Kayla tells Tom she thinks Lynette likes Rick, and Tom suggests to Lynette he should come back to work and fire Rick, only to receive objections from Lynette.
After Lynette getting stuck with him in a freezer as a result of the pizzeria being robbed, the two cuddle close together. Tom confronts Rick after seeing a surveillance tape, in which Lynette and Rick were having dinner together before the pizzeria was robbed. Tom makes a speech about how although his marriage to Lynette is shaky, it is rock solid and Rick would never break it up. Tom asks Rick to quit, and he says he won't leave unless Lynette fires him personally, because "she doesn't want him gone". Rick and Lynette are alone in the restaurant and Rick talks about his lunch with Tom. He said he had feelings for her. He told her it was obvious she has feelings for him. This enraged Lynette and she fired him. After finding out Tom was returning to work, Lynette sobbed in her bathroom, obviously distraught over the loss of Rick.
Lynette and Tom’s marriage continues to decline and Lynette doesn't speak to Tom for five days. In an attempt to rebuild their marriage, Tom gets his old college friend and marriage councillor to try and speak to them without Lynette knowing, but she clocks on to Tom’s actions and becomes even more frustrated with him over his 'ambush therapy'. With Tom’s doctor informing him on his back recovery, Tom suggests to Lynette they have sex as it's the only way they can communicate unless they talk instead. Lynette agrees to sex and refuses to talk but becomes violent with Tom. In a moment of anger, Tom seizes Lynette and asks why she's mad at him, and she reveals it's because he had lunch with Rick and because she had to fire him. Lynette then shoves Tom back onto the bed, hurting his back. Tom then has back spasms and he moves suddenly causing Lynette to fall off the bed, banging her head on the side table. She goes to hospital for her injury and Tom finds out Lynette fell for Rick and misses him. The doctor performs a CAT scan on Lynette and finds swollen lymph nodes and suggests they do a biopsy as it could be lymphoma (a form of cancer).
Season 4
In the third episode "The GameThe Game (Desperate Housewives)
"The Game" is the 73rd episode of the ABC dramedy series Desperate Housewives. It was written by Joey Murphy and John Pardee and directed by Bethany Rooney. It is the third episode of the show’s fourth season and aired on October 14, 2007.-Plot:...
" Tom attends Susan's small games party however Lynette remains at home because she is sick, Lynette's mother Stella secretly gets marijuana from Andrew
Andrew Van De Kamp
Andrew Van de Kamp is a fictional character in the ABC television series Desperate Housewives played by Shawn Pyfrom, and is the son of Bree Van de Kamp and the late Rex Van de Kamp....
and bakes it in some brownies she makes for Lynette so that it would ease Lynette's pain. It works and Lynette attends Susan's party high and she had brought the drugged brownies with her for everyone else to have. Stella arrives over and tells Tom why no one can have a brownie and Tom takes them off everyone's plate before they can eat them and ends up accidentally pushing Gabrielle into new resident Adam Mayfair spilling wine on him, sparking a feud between Gabrielle and Adam's wife Katherine Mayfair
Katherine Mayfair
Katherine Mayfair is a fictional character created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry for the ABC television series Desperate Housewives...
. Tom later appears at the end of the episode when Lynette discovers the truth from him about what Stella did. A tornado hits Wisteria Lane and the Scavos take shelter in Karen McClusky's basement with Ida Greenbberg. Tom and the children were left in the basement while Lynette and Mrs. McClusky went out looking for Ida's cat. When Lynette and Mrs. McClusky hid from the tornado in a bathtub, Tom was knocked out with asthma from the cat. After the tornado hits, Tom and his children are okay and so are Lynette and Mrs. McClusky. Ida Greenberg did not make it. She saved Lynette's and Tom's children from the Tornado.
Rick returns announcing that he is opening a new restaurant near Scavo's pizzeria. Tom lied to the police when they investigate the vandalism happening to the restaurant, but later admitted to Lynette that he did vandalize Rick's restaurant out of jealousy.
Tom came under investigation again when a fire took place Rick's restaurant. He was confronted by Lynette, to whom he swears he left the founders ball to listen to the game on the cart radio, and again by Rick after he found a matchbook from Scavo's. The incident broke out into a fight and Tom was brought in by the police and later released after Lynette lies to them to provide him an alibi.
Tom and Lynette are constantly arguing about the kids: the twins started the fire and he suggested taking them to therapy; Lynette discovers the boys got the idea from Kayla and she took Kayla to therapy behind Tom's back. Tom's denial about the problems Kayla causes for Lynette lead to her lying to the therapist and getting Lynette arrested for child abuse.
In the season's penultimate episode, Tom sends Kayla to live with her maternal grandparents after she told Tom she lied about everything and she wouldn't stop if Lynette came back.
In the season finale, Tom and Lynette help with catering Bob and Lee's wedding. Tom's advise to Lee about standing up for himself (for wanting the ice sculpture be castle rather than a cherub) escalated to Bob and Lee arguing then canceling the wedding. Lynette and Tom get the two in the same room and Tom tells them that if they cannot decide over small decisions that they might as well not marry at all; that they should ask themselves whether they love each other enough that no problem can possibly tear them apart. His speech gets Bob and Lee to reconcile and to reaffirm to Lynette that their marriage is stronger than she thought.
Season 5
In the first episode of season 5, Tom is going through a midlife crisisMidlife Crisis
"Midlife Crisis" is a song by the American rock band Faith No More. It was released on May 26, 1992 as the first single from their fourth album, Angel Dust...
and he buys a Ford Mustang
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car. Introduced early on April 17, 1964, as a "1964½" model, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A...
. It's shown he has difficulty disciplining his teenage sons as they treat him far more cool than Tom was used to when he was their age. Lynette uses that against him by tricking Tom into letting the twins borrow his Mustang for a dance. When they come back a half hour late, Tom angrily grounds them. When they claim he's more worried about the car than them, he kicks a mirror off it but confesses to Lynette that it was already broken and he had ordered a replacement, impressing her. In "Mirror, Mirror," flashbacks show that Tom was electrocuted in an accident and nearly died, which pushed him to enjoy life as much as he could. In the present, he tells Lynette his plan to sell the restaurant, buy an RV and spend a year traveling the country with his family. Lynette is not happy about this and tensions have risen over it. When Tom contacted one of his son's friends' mothers, Ann Shilling, who is a real estate agent, she found him a rehearsal space for the garage band he and some of the other Wisteria Lane men have started. He has been spending a lot of time there, and Lynnette confronted him about him sleeping with the Mrs. Shilling, who has 'dropped by' with some items for the rehearsal space, among them a futon. Tom denied it—then stepped on a condom wrapper on the floor to hide from Lynnette. He deduced that Porter is sleeping with some girl there—but Lynette sees Mrs. Shilling leaving from the rehearsal space when Tom is there, so Lynette thinks Tom is cheating. In the next episode, Tom and Lynette realize that Porter is, in fact who is sleeping with the realtor. After much deliberation, Lynette decides to pay Mrs. Shilling off, but this backfires when Porter disappears, claiming that he wants to be with her. In the last episode we find out that because of the bad economy Scavo's Pizzeria lost its business to low sales, and Tom was forced to throw a Going Out of Business sale to raise the money to repay his loans and pay Bree her money.
Tom sinks into some depression being out of work with Lynette getting a new job and in the fifth season finale, decides to go to college as a Chinese language major. Thinking this is part of his middle-age syndrome, Lynette attempts to sabotage Tom by getting him drunk the night before his entrance exam. It's only afterward that Tom says he was taking Chinese in hopes of getting a new job in that market. Incredibly, Tom managed to score in the top five with the exam despite being hung over. However, his college plans are jarred when Lynette reveals she's 3.5 months pregnant with twins.
Season 6
Tom is excited about becoming a dad again but Lynette tells him that she is not sure if she loves her unborn children. Tom then tells her that when she will hold them in her arms, she will love them with all her heart. These twins are Tom's sixth and seventh children, but Lynette loses the boy. Tom was cheating in school because he was afraid of failing but he has since stopped. Lynette references that Tom had to drop out of college because Lynette was fired. He takes over Lynette's job with Carlos while she is on maternity leave.Season 7
He is diagnosed with Postpartum DepressionPostpartum depression
Postpartum depression , also called postnatal depression, is a form of clinical depression which can affect women, and less frequently men, typically after childbirth. Studies report prevalence rates among women from 5% to 25%, but methodological differences among the studies make the actual...
. He is then prescribed marijuana as a cure for this which stuns Lynette. In the episode "Let Me Entertain You
Let Me Entertain You (Desperate Housewives)
"Let Me Entertain You" is the 139th episode of the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. It is the fifth episode of the show's seventh season and was broadcast on October 24, 2010.-Plot:...
", Tom decides to hire his own mother as a nanny for the new baby.
After a big argument, Lynette fires her mother-in-law, but Tom overrules her, telling her that she is going to stay. After Lynette and Allison's talk, Tom's mother shows symptoms of dementia to Penny, unknown to Lynette and Tom. Tom and Lynette finally discover Allison's dementia on Halloween, after she collapses outside Gabrielle Solis' house after going out to buy more candy, despite Tom telling her they had plenty. Allison is later admitted to a nursing home and Tom and Lynette agree to visit her there. Tom is deeply upset by his mother's illness. In episode 9 Susan walks in on Tom and Lynette having sex on the nursery floor and is in awe at Tom's huge penis; she then confronts Lynette about why she has never mentioned it before.
A drunken Renee reveals to Susan she once slept with him putting Susan in uncomfortable situation. When Susan is injured in a riot, a guilty Renee tells Tom she should reveal the truth but Tom insists she keep it quiet. Renee finally confesses to Lynette, revealing the affair took place when she and Tom were engaged but having one of their regular "break-ups." Lynette is naturally upset but keeps it quiet and begins a series of pranks against Tom as payback. When Renee find out what Lynette is doing, she tells Tom about it. Tom confront Lynette and tells that he wanted to tell her about Renee, but there was never a good time for that because he did not want to ruin the wonderful life they have together. Lynette then forgives Tom.
Tom finds himself getting a major promotion at a new company and enjoys the work. Lynette is concerned about his over-working but Tom tells her he feels more alive than ever. When Tom attends a conference, Lynette is upset that she's kept from the business talks and forced to attend spas and other projects with the other wives. She goes so far as to steal an ID from a woman only to find out she's the keynote speaker for a lecture. Back home, Tom snaps at Lynette that after so many years supporting her, it hurts that she can't do the same for him. Renee tells Lynette that she has to choose between her own wants or being a good wife. Tom then hires the duo to decorate his office like a Donald Trump-style boss but Lynette thinks that it is not right for him and goes a different way. Renee overrules her to give Tom the office he wants and Lynette yells at Tom over how he's changing but he retorts that he has to be this way in order to succeed and Lynette needs to stop thinking of him the way he's been at home the last several years.
When Tom decides to book a luxurious holiday for the family and announces it Lynette is annoyed and consults Tom about why he did not consult her about it first. The two then pitch to the kids what they think is the best holiday which leads to yet another fight between them; this time however they insult each other. Lynette calls Tom a "Pompous Ass" while Tom labels Lynette as a "Raving Bitch" leaving them to decide that it is only them who need to spend a holiday together. The holiday turns out badly and the relationship deteriorates and becomes extremely awkward. When they return home Tom leads Lynette to believe that he will be spending a while in an apartment near to his work offices. Before Lynette attends a street dinner party, Penny reveals to her that Tom had left her a note. Lynette is surprised and finds that Tom's unpacked suitcase from the holiday is not in the bedroom, convincing her that Tom had left her. After revealing to Susan that she thought Tom had left her, Lynette walks into her house, finding Tom, chopping up salad ingredients. He tells Lynette that he had only gone to buy the ingredients. Lynette questions him why it had taken him two hours, leading Tom to reveal that he had left but came back when he considered that Lynette would have to lie about where Tom was to her friends at the dinner party. The two talk for a while and Lynette confesses that when she thought Tom had left, she felt relieved, leading the pair to finally decide to separate.