Bang (Desperate Housewives)

Template:Desperate Housewives episode "Bang" is the 53rd episode of the ABC television series, Desperate Housewives. It was also the 7th episode of the show's third season. The episode was written by Joe Keenan and directed by Larry Shaw. It aired on November 5, 2006.

Guest Starring

• Kiersten Warren as Nora Huntington
• Rachel Fox as Kayla Huntington
• Dougray Scott as Ian Hainsworth
• Laurie Metcalf as Carolyn Bigsby
• Brian Kerwin as Harvey Bigsby
• Matt Roth as Art Shephard
• Michael Durrell as Myron Katzburg
• Michael Bofshever as Kenny Stevens
• John C. Moskoff as judge
• Maile Flanagan as cashier
• Matt Casper as stockboy
• Kathleen Gati as Maya
• Kathryn Joosten as Karen McCluskey
• Pat Crawford Brown as Ida Greenberg
• Christine Clayburg as reporter
• Joe Sabatino as police captain
• Anne Bellamy as female hostage

Episode recap

Art Shepherd and his sick sister that has some kind of rare degenerative disease move into the Youngs' old house. The women almost welcome them, but decide not to probably due to to the fact that Lynette could reveal too much information to Art, such as the fact Mary Alice committed suicide in the very house he is about to move in to .

Lynette dreams of the last time she saw Mary Alice Young. In the dream, Mary Alice was reading the blackmail letter in the front yard. Lynette asks Mary Alice if she is alright, and Mary Alice says yes. Lynette moves on, only to hear the self-inflicted gunshot that got the series started.

The episode begins with Carolyn in her car following Bree who is walking, wondering if Bree will soon be leaving Orson. Orson tells Bree that he didn't hit Alma, but he did push her because Alma was hitting Orson with a frying pan because of his criticisms on how she was cleaning up spilled red wine. Bree responds to Carolyn's questions by telling her that her husband Harvey had been having an affair with Monique, the mysterious dead woman in the morgue.

Carolyn responds by going to Harvey's supermarket. She shoots at Harvey who ducks into the manager's office where Edie had been waiting, and Carolyn holds everyone in the store hostage. Lynette, Nora, Edie, Austin, Julie, new neighbor Art, and others are stuck there.

Julie is shopping and bumps into Austin, who stashes a cheap bottle of whiskey in her bag. The whiskey bottle falls out at the checkout, Julie and Austin are held for shoplifting, and both Edie and Susan are called to the store. Susan had been planning to go to Paris, France with Ian, but she is now worried about leaving Julie home alone. After talking with Harvey, Susan goes out to the waiting limo to tell Ian that she cannot go to Paris. The standoff begins, and Susan is locked out of the supermarket.

Tom Scavo wanted hamburgers. So Lynette went to the supermarket. There she bumps into Nora, who is planning on moving to Mexico to work at a strip club and is bringing her daughter, Kayla, with her. The standoff begins.

When Bree learns of the store incident on the news, she feels guilty because she's the one who told Carolyn about the affair. She doesn't think she can forgive herself if Julie, Lynette, Austin, or Edie get hurt. Nonetheless, Bree hosts a hostage watch party, which is attended by various neighbors, including the feuding Carlos and Gabrielle. Carlos and Gabrielle spent the first half of the episode destroying each other's future divorce settlement property.

During the standoff, Lynette and Nora cannot stop bickering. Carolyn demands silence, and Lynette apologizes, but Nora yells that Lynette is trying to steal her daughter. Lynette, getting defensive and scared, says that Nora tried to seduce her husband Tom. Carolyn calmly shoots Nora because of her strong dislike of "whores". Lynette tries to calm Nora, but Nora knows she is going to die. She tells Lynette that "Kayla is the only good thing I've ever done in my whole life." Lynette promises to look after Nora and Tom's daughter, and love Kayla like she was Lynette's own. Nora dies, and Lynette begins screaming at Carolyn, saying "We all have pain, but we swallow it, and get through it and go on," and saying that they don't go shooting strangers in a supermarket. Lynette and Carolyn argue, and Lynette says maybe Carolyn deserved to get cheated on. She freezes, then shakily apologizes. Carolyn aims the gun, and Art hurls a can of food at Carolyn, who is knocked back, but not before the gun fires a shot into Lynette's left arm.

Austin wrestles with Carolyn, and another hostage, Maya, picks up the gun and shoots Carolyn in the head.

Carlos and Gabrielle call a truce, both admitting their hatred of who they have become.

Julie and Austin seem to grow closer and understand each other more.

And Lynette has a dream. It was the day Mary Alice Young received a blackmail letter. Lynette asks if Mary Alice is OK, who responds with a yes. But this time in the dream, Lynette approaches the fence between their lawns and says no you're not. She wants to save Mary Alice, but Mary Alice says "Sweetie, you can't prevent what you can't predict." Lynette asks Mary Alice what she can do, and Mary Alice tells her to "Enjoy this beautiful day. We get so few of them." Template:Endspoiler

Note

• Although credited, Mike Delfino (James Denton) does not appear in this episode.
• Brenda Strong (Mary Alice Young) makes her first on-screen appearance of season 3.
• Due to time constraints, the opening credits were completely cut from the episode.
• It states in TV Guide Magazine, that when Kiersten Warren auditioned for the part of Nora, she knew right away that her character would die.
• In real life, Laurie Metcalf and Matt Roth are married to each other.
• Laurie Metcalf's character of killer Mrs. Loomis in Scream 2 was also shot dead in the head.

Trivia

• Marc Cherry considers this episode to be one of the best episodes of the entire series.

Quotes

• Mary Alice - "Sweetie, we can't prevent what we can't predict.."

• Nora - (to Lynette when she is dying) "I don't have later...you stupid bitch."

• Carolyn - "Attention shoppers: We have a special today for not getting shot, but it is only available at the back of the store!"

• Lynette - (to Nora before Carolyn fires the first gun shot) "You went after my husband. If anyone should be afraid, it's you!"

• Carolyn - (Telling Lynette Nora deserved to die) "She deserved it."

• Lynette - (To Carolyn) "Well maybe you deserved to be cheated on"

Title reference

The episode title, Bang is taken from a song which was cut from the Stephen Sondheim musical, A Little Night Music.

International Titles

• German: Peng (Bang)