| Thomas Scavo | |
| |
| General Information | |
| Nickname(s): | Tom
|
|---|---|
| Gender: | Male
|
| Age: | 47
|
| Occupation(s): | Vice President of Carlos' Company
Former Pizzeria Owner |
| Relationships | |
| Marital status: | Married
|
| Relationships: | Lynette Scavo (wife)
Kayla Huntington (daughter) Porter Scavo (son) Preston Scavo (son) Parker Scavo (son) Penny Scavo (daughter) Patrick Scavo (miscarriage son) Unnamed child Rodney Scavo (father) Allison Scavo (mother) Vito Scavo Stella Wingfield (mother-in-law) Glen Wingfield (father-in-law) Lydia Lindquist (sister-in-law) Lucy Lindquist (sister-in-law) |
| Series Information | |
| First appearance: | "Pilot"
|
| Portrayer: | |
"Don't give me that! I know that you told the cops that Porter set that fire!"
Thomas "Tom" Scavo is the longtime husband of Lynette Scavo and the father to Kayla Scavo, his daughter with Nora and Preston Scavo, Porter Scavo, Parker Scavo, Penny Scavo, the deceased Patrick Scavo and the newborn baby girl Scavo, his children with Lynette.
Overview[]
Season One[]
Tom Scavo was previously frequently out of town. He also seemed to be completely oblivious to Lynette's concerns and problems. Tom has been keeping a secret from his wife that only his father, Rodney Scavo, knows about. This is speculated to be his secret child Kayla. Tom decides to become a house-husband after he loses his promotion to Annabel and subsequently quits his job. He seems to genuinely care about Lynette, being prepared to discuss family matters with her if she feels that they need to.
Season Two[]
Midway through the second season, Tom returns to the workplace, sharing an employer with his wife for the second time. But when Lynette's boss asks Lynette to send instant messages to his wife to help him heat up his sex life, his wife finds out and threatens she'll 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 decides to have a chat with Ed. Through a 'forensic accountant' Ed discovered that Tom has been falsifying expense reports. It ends up 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.
Season Three[]
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 finale 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 with Lynette but it turns into a disaster. Yet they still have anniversary sex when they realise that nothing is worse than the routine.
In the episode, "Dress Big" Lynette and Tom fight over the restaurant uniforms, and when Tom does not come home, Lynette leaves Gabrielle and Susan to babysit the children and goes to confront Tom, discovering him lying on the floor of the restauarant unconscious. Lynette is now in charge of the restaurant as Tom is unable to do so (his back being thrown out again and needing surgery).
Tom and Lynette's relationship continues to regress with the new manager, Rick, on the scene. He used to be a chef at his former job, which was working at a four-star restaurant. To deal with the stress of the job, he took cocaine, but kicked the habit. Because of his former cocaine addiction, Tom doesn't approve with Lynette decision to hire him.
He attempts to bring in new types of food and to change the menu at the pizza parlour. Despite Rick's cooking skills, Tom doesn't feel the need to change the menu. Lynette and Tom argue about this and despite Tom's decision, Lynette goes over his head and changes the menu. Kayla then finds a review of the pizzeria in the paper and reads the report on how they've become a much better place now they've changed the menu to Tom, who feels threatened and inferior by this. Lynette begins to have growing feelings for Rick and stays late at the restaurant 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. Tom becomes aware of the dangers of Lynette cheating.
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. Toms 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.
Season Four[]
In the fourth series Lynette kicks Tom out of her chemotherapy for being too emotional, so Gabrielle attends her sessions with Lynette. Meanwhile, in the third episode "The Game" 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 before they can eat them but ends up accidentally pushing Gabrielle into new resident Adam Mayfair and spills wine all done him which causes 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.
Tom is later thrilled a few episodes later when the doctor reveals Lynette's cancer has been completely cleared.
Season Five[]
Lynette enters her restaurant to find her teenage twins Porter and Preston have set up an illegal casino, with drinks. She sends the twins’ friends home. She’s upset her boys have been doing this -- for a month -- and grounds them, even though homecoming is coming up. As Tom cleans his convertible, Lynette tells Tom to talk to the boys about their misbehavior. But later, as she’s listening in to Tom’s conversation with the twins, she hears Tom laughing and enjoying himself. When Lynette confronts Tom, she realizes he’s enjoying living vicariously through their escapades, since he was such a nerd in high school. Lynette’s not happy to learn Tom ungrounded the boys so they could go to Homecoming. With Tom standing next to her, Lynette tells Porter and Preston they can go to Homecoming -- in Tom’s convertible, no less. Tom’s shocked by this, but Lynette hands the boys the keys to the car. Later, with the twins more than a half hour late coming home, Tom and Lynette talk. He needs to lay down the law because their kids are growing up and clearly haven’t learned what they need. The twins finally return home and Tom chews them out, grounds them, and knocks off the side mirror. He confides in Lynette he’s already bought a new mirror.
Lynette finds it difficult to strike a conversation with Porter, so Parker introduce her a social website named "Silverfizz" which allows online chatting. Then, Lynette created an alter ego "Sara J" who is a teenage girl to chat with Porter. Tom warns her to stop chatting with Porter before things gets out of hand. Lynette refuses to listen and she is ecstatic to learn Porter has an interest in poetry. Her plan soon backfires when Porter falls for her and sends her an erotic poem. Panicked, she decides to write a Dear John letter to Porter to end the relationship. The situation turned worse when she accidentally signed off the message as "Love, Mom". Porter learns his crush is actually his mother and is heartbroken.
Dave sees Tom’s cleaning out the garage. He invites Tom to watch a game on the TV in a few hours, but Tom’s stuck working in the garage. Lynette notes Tom has a huge pile of stuff from the garage he’s still keeping. She wants Tom to toss more stuff. Dave notes Tom’s bass and learns Tom used to jam. Dave plays the drums and would love to jam some time. Lynette finds Tom and Dave who are going to have a garage band with Orson and Mike. Tom thinks they can even get a couple of gigs. Lynette reminds Tom that he’s running a restaurant and being a husband and dad. Tom says Lynette can’t decide for him and he plays his bass. Tom and Dave practice while Lynette realizes, after 3 hours, that this phase of Tom’s is not passing fast enough. When Penny almost broke the guitar, Lynette decided to use this for her own uses; she made sure the guitar got destroyed, even as Tom was horrified. Dave knocks on Lynette’s door. He comes in; he’s heard about the accident and has bought Tom a guitar. Lynette doesn’t want to accept it. Dave says he thinks Tom needs the fun. He suggests Tom’s having a midlife crisis as he’s thinking of the things he’ll never be able to do. Dave wants Lynette to give the bass to Tom. As Dave rides his bike past the Scavos, he sees Tom getting his new guitar from Lynette.
Tom and Dave audition a guy for their band; Tom’s enthusiastic about him, but Dave wants Mike in the band.
Mary-Alice talks about a surprise party that went badly. We see Lynette splash a drink in Tom’s face, Susan watch Jackson kiss Katherine, Gabrielle get mad with Carlos, and Orson asking Bree for a divorce. Lynette checks for gray hairs in the mirror before going to the party. She calls for Penny, who’s sitting in Tom’s convertible. She goes out; Penny wonders if Tom’s dying, as she heard her brothers talking about it. Lynette thinks Tom’s going to live to a ripe old age. She flashes back… Lynette rushes into a hospital to learn Tom got a massive electrical shock at the restaurant but was revived. Was there any tissue damage, though? It will take 36 hours to find out. In another flashback, Tom wakes up in his hospital bed to find Lynette there. He tells her he thought he was going to die in a pizza place. He wants to find more in his life. In yet another flashback, Tom surprises Lynette with his new car! She’s skeptical but he’s keeping the car. She gets in for a ride. Back in the present, Tom comes home, late for the party. He reveals he wants to take the kids out of school for a year and go around the country in an RV! Oh, and he’s already made plans to sell the pizzeria! Tom heads towards the party as Lynette stares at him in disbelief.
Lynette suspects Tom is cheating on her. Anne Schilling, a real estate agent who may have her eye on Porter.
There's a big fire at a club where the men's band is playing in a battle of the bands. One of the other bands competing is Cold Splash, played by real-life band Tokyo Police Club.
Porter is arrested for arson and Lynette sells Tom's heirloom baseball to a Japanese businessman to raise bail, but then Lynette needs to get it back before Tom learns what she's done.
Lynette and Tom are forced to sell the restaraunt to pay for Porter's court-case and bail so Tom decides to be a stay-at-home-dad. Tom soon grows bored of his decision and realises that he wants to go back to college when Preston is being shown around. Tom takes the test and passes but Lynette tells him that she is pregnant with twins the day he finds this out.
Season Six[]
The morning after Lynette finds out she is pregnant, Tom comes downstairs for breakfast. He asks Lynette what he smells and she says that it is her despair. He remarks that he thought it was waffles. Lynette then tells Tom that when their unborn twins finish high school Lynette and Tom will be in their 60's. She then goes on to say that Preston is moving out and that they can't keep having more twins every time one moves out and then storms off crying. Tom then mutters he can't handle Lynette's hormones for another 8 and a half months.
During an ultrasound, Lynette doesn't seem excited about seeing her babies. Tom asks her why this is and Lynette tells him that she doesn't love them. Tom gets angry at this and tells her that when she holds her babies in her arms she will love them the same as all her others.
The morning after Susan and Mike's wedding, Parker aks Lynette if she was getting sick earlier that morning. Lynette tells Parker that she did but lies and says that its is because she ate bad seafood the night before. Tom almost tells the kids the truth about Lynette's pregnancy but she tells him that she doesn't want anyone to know until after the first trimester. They are then interuppted by Kar en McCluskey's screams and they all run outside. After learning of Julie Mayer's attack, everyone discusses why anyone would want to hurt her. Tom, Carlos and Orson then become suspicious of the Bolens and decide that it is time that they get to know them. Later, when Angie and Nick are bringing food over to Mike and Susan's, the guys stop them and start questioning Nick. When Nick isn't able to answer their questions, Angie comes over and tells Nick that his mother is on the phone and the two walk away.
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. 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. Tom was the one who broke the news to Lynette that their unborn twin boy, Patrick didn't survive the surgery. However, after Lynette saved Gaby and Carlos' youngest daughter, Celia Solis, their friendship with mended and Tom got Lynette's job until if and when she decides to return. His oldest son, Porter, returned from Europe with a fiance, Irina. Tom seems to like her but his wife, Lynette, believes she is just with him for his college fund.
Season Seven[]
Doug Savant will be returning this season as Tom, as will Lynette (Felicity Huffman), Porter (Charlie Carver) and Parker (Joshua Logan Moore). Kendall Applegate, however, will not be returning as Penny, so she will be recast. Max Carver has not yet been confirmed as a Season Seven character, so he may not return as Preston. One of the storylines this season will be that one of the children on Wisteria Lane is with the wrong family. This was revealed by Teresa Pruitt in 'I Guess This Is Goodbye' (6.23). The child could be Parker or Penny as Teresa was one of the nurses that helped Lynette give birth. It will probably not be Porter or Preston as they are twins.