Wiping Away the Past

When Michael's ex-wife, Olivia, drops a bomb about Taylor's past, Marisol helps Taylor keep it together. Adrian tries to cheer up his newly divorced friend the only way he knows how, to Evelyn's displeasure. Unbeknownst to Zoila, Valentina and Genevieve team up to get Remi to notice Valentina as more than just a friend. Spence offers to help Rosie out of a bind, but Rosie wonders if his generosity comes with strings attached. Carmen finally gets a meeting with a major music producer and needs Sam's help to sell her diva image.

Plot[]

Olivia doesn't apologize to whores.

Marisol goes with Taylor to the market in order to prepare for a dinner party, only for the two of them to end up running into Michael's deranged ex-wife Olivia. She apologizes to Marisol for the way she acted at Michael's birthday party (see "Pilot"), but she refuses to apologize to Taylor on the grounds that she doesn't apologize to whores - and she's not speaking metaphorically, Taylor was an actual whore; men used to pay her for sex, which is in fact how she met Michael. Back at the house, Taylor explains that she was 20 when she came to LA with plans on being in the movies... but the closest she got was a diner across the street from Paramount. One day, she was approached by a man who told her that he had a lot of rich friends with whom she could make some easy money and, foolishly, she agreed to it. Marisol does not judge her employer, to Taylor's great comfort, and the two of them proceed to tell Michael that Olivia has become aware of his wife's former profession. He decides that they should move to New York before this gets out and, because Taylor has become so dependent on Marisol, he wants to take her with them. Marisol approaches him, saying that she cannot move for personal reasons, but has a plan to make it so that they don't have to move at all. She goes to Olivia and makes up stories about what a bitch Taylor is, then being invited in for tea and managing to convince the divorcee to keep her mouth shut because if she spreads gossip about Taylor then Michael will move and she'll never see him again. Marisol lies also about Michael still having feelings for Olivia, and so Olivia writes a letter to Taylor promising to keep quiet. She says how she learned the news from Evelyn originally, and that Adrian Powell was the one who approached Taylor in the first place. Marisol is shocked to learn that Adrian supports prostitutes, and that Flora was one of them...

Adrian enjoys hurting Evelyn.

Adrian is busy having a sexual fantasy about Flora when his wife interrupts to announce that their old friend, Maxwell Rose, has arrived to stay with them following his separation from his wife, Sheila. Adrian shows intent on introducing Maxwell to his "disgusting little hobby", but Evelyn forbids it, leading her husband to realize that she has a little crush on this man. He points out that the arrangement that they share does not give her veto power, and says that he will do what he will do for Maxwell's own middle-aged good - the fact that it will also hurt Evelyn is a bonus. Later, Maxwell announces that he plans on moving to Beverly Hills, to Evelyn's delight, and he recalls a time when the two of them almost got together, prior to choosing their respective spouses. He makes clear that he came to regret his decision, and he wonders if Evelyn ever came to regret hers as well. By all signification, she did.

Zoila has the excuse she needs to invite Henri over...

Zoila is ushered out of the house by Genevieve, who wants her to go pick up a jar of face cream, which means that Valentina is able to head over to Remi's college dorm and help him move the rest of his stuff. She sees that he's throwing away a shirt simply because it has a rip in it, and quickly she takes out her sewing kit and fixes it, which he finds admirable. The two of them seem to be bonding and, later, Remi asks Zoila if Valentina has a really nice sewing machine, for he'd like to get her a present for helping him. Zoila is shocked that Valentina did this and comes to realize that Genevieve helped set it up, sending her into a fury about how the two of them are now going behind her back. Genevieve champions the idea of young love, but Zoila remains steadfast in the belief that rich boys don't end up with maids. Genevieve realizes that this is because of something that happened in the past, and Zoila replies that "he" made promises to her, and she remembers every single one of them. She then says that Genevieve is to tell Remi that he can't see Valentina anymore, deciding that she and her daughter will be taking a few days off. Remi hears the fight and wonders what it's about, and Genevieve explains how, years ago, Zoila fell in love with her brother, Henri. It ended badly when Henri met and married another woman, Cynthia, who Genevieve introduced him to. She now has to go over and apologize, but she ends up at the wrong house and a loud dog startles her into falling into some bushes. Her wrist is sprained, but she is fine; however, at the hospital, Remi tells Valentina that the two of them should cool their relationship since it's causing so much tension between their mothers. When Genevieve is home, Henri calls to ask how she is doing; Zoila lies and says that she's not doing so well, so as to have an excuse to invite Henri over...

Sam realizes the lengths Carmen is willing to go to become a star.

Carmen is asked out by Sam, who expresses his belief that the two of them would be really good together, but she points out that if she likes him and the two of them start a life together then it could put a full stop to her singing career, which she cannot have. Later, she gets a call from Benny Soro, who heard her demo and wants to meet with her. She gets Sam to drive her in Alejandro's car by finally agreeing to go on a date with him, and the meeting with Benny goes very well. He tells her, however, that her accent is too thick and that she should practice speaking in an American one. The two of them then head out to lunch, with Sam driving, but Benny starts to paw at Carmen, clearly thinking that he can sleep with her after she said that she would do anything to make her dream come true. As it turns out, she really meant it, because when Benny orders Sam to stop at his place first, Carmen reinforces it. Back at the house, she is watching the weather forecast so as to practice her American accent. Sam interrupts her to say that she's smart, beautiful and talented and, as such, shouldn't let men like Benny Soro push her around. He wonders if all that she's doing will be worth it in the end, and she maintains that it will. This forces him to say that she is not the woman he thought she was, and he no longer wants to go to dinner with her. She says that this is okay, but he says it isn't. As she continues practicing her American accent, she starts to cry.

Rosie tells the girls about what happened with Spence.

Rosie asks to borrow money from Peri since her lawyer needs to file some extra documents to bring Miguel to America, but Peri mistakes this for blackmail and refuses to give in to extortion. Spence, who overheard the yelling, later approaches Rosie and gives her the money she needs, and she hugs him as she says thank you. However, as she does, she feels a... certain something. She proceeds to tell the girls that Spence had an erection, and they worry that he might expect a little "something" in return for the money he gave her. They say to ward him off by telling him she has a boyfriend, and so she gets the gardener Raul to pretend for her. She says that he saw Spence hugging her and that he shouldn't do it anymore because it makes him... violent. Of course Raul, not speaking a lick of English, has no idea what's going on, and Spence knows that Rosie is lying to her since the gardener is near 60 and has a wife and kids. He wonders why Rosie would lie to him and she explains that she felt his erection, though she does note that God has been very good to him. He assures that he doesn't expect anything in return for the money, which she is glad to hear, though she is quite taken aback when he says that it was never his intention for her to find out how he feels about her.

The "disgusting little hobby" is indulged.

Marisol returns to Taylor and assures her that she doesn't have to move after all, to the latter's joy. In return, Marisol would like for her employer to explain to her what occurs between Adrian Powell and his prostitutes, and Taylor proceeds to reveal that he gives them as gifts to his friends by staging "intimate get-togethers". The guest list always includes a beautiful woman who Adrian's middle-aged pal has no idea has been hired for the evening. Throughout the night, Adrian supplies him with alcohol, later giving the prostitute a signal. Because Adrian's friend is now drunk, it does not occur to him to say "no" to the whore's advances, and the two of them proceed to have sex. Evelyn knows all about it, but she does not approve. Marisol wonders where Adrian is once the sex starts, but Taylor says that that's the weird thing: he just totally disappears. As she explains all this to Marisol, Adrian is staging one of his get-togethers with Maxwell Rose. We see that, when Maxwell and the whore head into a bedroom to have sex, Adrian uses a secret passageway to head into a hidden adjacent room and watch them through a one-way mirror. It would appear he gets off on watching his friends make love to hired women.

Trivia[]

There is a deleted scene, featured in the first season's DVD extras, of Genevieve being wheeled into hospital as Zoila and Remi watch. She is complaining about the vicious dog that attacked her and vows not to give any more money to PETA.
The episode introduces recurring guest star Alex Fernandez (Pablo Diaz), who had been featured on Desperate Housewives, as Detective Hank Powell in the seventh season.