Bang (Desperate Housewives)

Infobox Television episode
Title = Bang
Series = Desperate Housewives


Caption =
Season = 3
Episode = 7
Airdate = November 5, 2006
Production = 307
Writer = Joe Keenan
Director = Larry Shaw
Guests =
Episode list = List of Desperate Housewives episodes
Prev = Sweetheart, I Have to Confess
Next = Children and Art

“Bang” is the 54th episode of the ABC television series, "Desperate Housewives". It was also the seventh 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.

Due to time constraints, the opening credits were completely cut from the episode.

Guest Starring

*Dougray Scott as Ian Hainsworth
*Kathryn Joosten as Karen McCluskey
*Laurie Metcalf as Carolyn Bigsby
*Kiersten Warren as Nora Huntington
*Brian Kerwin as Harvey Bigsby
*Matt Roth as Art Shephard
*Rachel Fox as Kayla Huntington
*Michael Bofshever as Kenny Stevens
*Michael Durrell as Myron Katzburg"Note:" Although credited, Mike Delfino (James Denton) does not appear in this episode.

Co-Starring

*Pat Crawford Brown as Ida Greenberg
*Kathleen Gati as Maya
*Matt Casper as Stockboy
*Christine Clayburg as Reporter
*Maile Flanagan as Cashier
*John C. Moskoff as Judge
*Joe Sabatino as Police Captain
*Anne Bellamy as Female Hostage

Episode Description

"Plot Summary": Everyone’s lives on Wisteria Lane are changed forever when a hostage situation occurs at a local supermarket.

Friday: The episode begins with Carolyn Bigsby sitting in her car at the Field’s supermarket parking lot. She recalls all the plans she had intended to complete that day. But – as we soon discover – nothing seemed to matter for Carolyn anymore. As she walks into the supermarket, she comes across her husband and the owner of the store – Harvey. She questions him about his affair with Monique and suggests that maybe he should be with Monique instead of her. Harvey tries to tell her that Monique is dead, but Carolyn pulls a revolver out from her handbag and shoots at Harvey – narrowly missing. As she chases him through the aisles, he manages to run into his office and lock the door, unharmed. Carolyn attempts to get inside after him, but fails, and turns to find horrified shoppers bystanding. She tries to make the best of a bad situation and threatens them down onto the floor with her gun, making them hostages.

The Night Before: On Wisteria Lane, Lynette suffers a nightmare about Mary Alice.

Friday Morning: We then find Lynette is discussing her nightmare from the previous night about Mary Alice with Susan and Gabrielle. They then see the new neighbour who has moved into the Youngs’ old home bringing boxes inside. They begin to walk over and introduce themselves but when Lynette questions the fact as to whether or not he knows Mary Alice committed suicide in that house, Susan re-thinks their decision and they turn back.

Bree confronts Orson about the police report from the night he supposedly beat Alma. He insists that she suffered her injuries due to a fall after Alma attacked him and he merely defended himself, and Bree is soon convinced by his explanation, however. Orson then asks her how she got the report, and Bree says that Carolyn gave it to her. He exclaims that Carolyn should pay attention to her own marriage, and maybe Harvey would not have cheated on her with a woman named Monique if she did.

Later, Nora arrives at the Scavos’ house to reveal that she is moving to Mexico – and taking Kayla with her. Tom and Lynette voice their disapproval, but Nora won’t listen.

Carlos and Gabrielle are with their divorce lawyers settling the final terms of the separation. As the decision is about to be released, Carlos states that Gabrielle seduced him in order to stall the divorce – as she figured he was coming into some money. She claims he is lying, but Carlos plays a tape he had recorded when they had had sex. After hearing this, the judge decides Carlos gets everything in the house and Gabrielle only gets the house.

Susan is cleaning out her kitchen and comes across the beer can Austin left while Julie was tutoring him. She assumes Julie drank some and gets angry with her, but Julie assures her that she didn’t have any. She then tells Susan that she’s going to the store to buy toothpaste for Susan to bring with her on her trip to Paris with Ian.

As Bree is walking down the street, Carolyn drives past and asks her if she has decided to divorce Orson. When Bree insists she will not be walking out on her husband, Carolyn tries to persuade her to re-consider. Bree states that she should worry about her own marriage instead of everybody else’s, and tells her about Harvey’s affair with Monique.

Lynette later goes to Tom with a proposal that they fight for "FULL" custody of Kayla.

Carlos and Gabrielle arrive home, separately. She is clearly very mad with how her day has gone, and when he sarcastically jokes with her about the settlement, she storms off into the kitchen. Carlos then hears loud smashing noises and goes into the kitchen to find Gabrielle breaking glasses. The two begin bickering and Carlos takes a sledgehammer to the walls. A vicious battle then erupts.

At the supermarket, Julie runs into Austin and tells him that she got into trouble with Susan because of his beer can. He then secretly slips a whiskey bottle into her backpack.

Carolyn rings Harvey at the supermarket, and tells him she knows about Monique. He tries to tell her that Monique is dead, but Carolyn only wants to know who he loved more. He explains that he has to go; two shoppers have been caught trying to steal whiskey: Julie and Austin. Carolyn then goes to a drawer and takes out a gun.

Edie is out for a run, and receives a phone call from Harvey Bigsby. When she finds out what has happened, she assures Harvey she’s on her way.

Ian arrives while Susan is busy packing, and she receives a phone call. It too, is Harvey Bigsby.

At Field’s, Lynette is shopping and runs into the new neighbour – Art Shephard. A conversation is underway, but Lynette soon rushes off after seeing Nora enter the store.

Susan and Edie are in Harvey’s office trying to settle the situation with Austin and Julie, and Susan decides that she’s going to have to cancel her trip to Paris with Ian. She goes out to the car-park to tell him, and walks past Carolyn who is entering the store.

Lynette is frantically rushes in and out of aisles trying to dodge Nora. She soon finds no such luck – Nora begins threatening her to not apply for custody of Kayla. The two begin fighting when a gunshot is heard.

It’s Carolyn chasing Harvey. This time, we see him grab Edie and the two rush into his office. After Carolyn finds she can’t get in, she turns around and takes the horrified shoppers hostage including Julie and Austin.

In the car-park, Susan is breaking the news to Ian. He tries to get her to re-consider, but she has made up her mind. He then chooses to go to Paris alone.

In the supermarket, Lynette and Nora find an employee hiding behind an aisle. They ask him what’s going on, and after he explains, he says they should try and get out. He attempts to escape through the back, but Carolyn spots and shoots him. Lynette and Nora tumble over one another to hide behind the aisle as the wounded employee stumbles out.

Edie and Harvey watch through the security cameras as Carolyn gathers shoppers as hostages.

Lynette and Nora haven’t been discovered by Carolyn yet, and they ring Tom but Carolyn finds them and puts her gun to Lynette’s head before Nora and Lynette can explain the situation to him.

Susan is still in the carpark and it is not long before she discovers what all the commotion is about. She rushes to enter the building, but is stopped as Carolyn locks the door. Susan begs her to let her in because there is a “crazy woman” inside. Carolyn replies “I know,” holding up a gun, and runs back inside.

Back on Wisteria Lane, Mrs. McCluskey interrupts Carlos’ and Gabrielle’s violent argument – which has left their house in pieces – to tell them about the siege down at the store. They then flock to Bree’s house, where everyone has gathered to watch the entire saga on the news.

Down at Field’s, Susan steals a megaphone and attempts to contact Carolyn to convince her to allow for a “hostage-swap” between Susan and Julie, but Susan is soon stopped by the police. At Bree’s, Edie rings from the office to tell them that Julie and Lynette are amongst the hostages. Tom is soon notified about the situation and rushes down to the store.

Bree is in her kitchen preparing snacks for her guests whom are busy watching the news coverage regarding the siege. Orson tells her it isn’t her fault, but Bree’s guilt is too overpowering.

Gabrielle tells Carlos she hates the people they’ve become and that she could easily be in Carolyn’s place at the supermarket. He agrees that they should stop being “those people”. Tom and Susan are at Field's trying to comfort each other but their fear is still present.

In the supermarket, Carolyn is beginning to lose it completely. She catches Nora and Lynette speaking, and tells them to stay quiet. Nora then reveals to Carolyn what they’re discussing – stating that Lynette’s trying to “steal” her child. Lynette yells at her to shut up, but Carolyn questions her. Lynette then says that Nora tried to seduce her husband. That hits too close to home for Carolyn, and she shoots Nora in the chest.

Outside the market, police reveal that a hostage has been shot. Susan breaks down just as Ian pulls up, claiming to have heard about the tragedy at the airport and rushed back as soon as he could. At Bree’s, everybody is shocked after hearing from the news reporter of the latest information but they don’t know who it is that’s been shot.

Inside the market, Lynette and Art are trying to put a stop to Nora’s massive blood loss. They beg Carolyn to let her out to an ambulance, but she won’t allow it. Lynette and Art do their best, but as Nora is dying she asks Lynette to take care of Kayla for her, Lynette promises to do so and says she will raise Kayla like she is her own. Nora, knowing this, nods her head. She then lays her head down and dies with Lynette sobbing beside her.

Lynette sits there drenched in blood – horrified at Carolyn. Carolyn tells Lynette she knows she wanted Nora dead. Lynette reacts in disgust and a heavy quarrel goes on between the pair. Lynette states that a person like Carolyn deserves to be cheated on. Immediately regretting her comment, Lynette backs away as Carolyn brings her gun to shoot Lynette. Art, predicting what’ll go on next, grabs a can and throws it at Carolyn. She wobbles, triggers the gun accidentally and therefore only shoots Lynette in her arm. The two fall to the ground, and Carolyn loses her gun as Lynette falls onto Art. Austin tackles Carolyn and a struggle erupts, just as one of the hostages picks up the gun and shoots Carolyn in the head. Austin returns to Julie as blood pours from Carolyn’s head.The hostages are released, and reunited with their loved ones waiting outside.

In the hospital Lynette has a final dream of Mary Alice; she sees Mary Alice with the note she just took out of the mail. Lynette asks Mary Alice if she is okay; Mary Alice says she’s fine but Lynette knows she is lying. Lynette puts down her shopping bag, walks over to Mary Alice and asks if she can save her. When Lynette asks if there is anything she can do, Mary Alice tells her she can’t, because “we can’t prevent what we can’t predict.” Mary Alice says she has to “enjoy this beautiful day, as we get so few of them.” Lynette nods and breathes in the fresh air as she turns around, Mary Alice has disappeared. Mary Alice, in voiceover form, says that it is the last time Lynette would ever dream of her and for her sake she is grateful.

Goofs

In the supermarket shootout, Carolyn Bigsby was carrying a gun that could only carry five bullets, although six shots were fired from it during the episode.

Notes

*Lynette (Felicity Huffman) is held at gunpoint again, later on during this season.

*Laurie Metcalf portrayed a character in "Scream 2" who was also killed by being shot in the head.

*Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong) is seen in this episode, her only appearance in season 3.

*As of this episode, all of the four main characters have been held at gunpoint.

*This episode marks the final appearance by Kiersten Warren.

*“"Bang"” aired in Austria on April 16, 2007 which happened to be the day of the "Virginia Tech massacre". Regarding the content of this episode, this might be seen as risky and controversial. German television channel ProSieben showed the episode the next day keeping "Desperate Housewives"’s usual weekly slot.

Title Reference

The title of the episode, "Bang", is also the title of a song cut from A Little Night Music.

Awards notes

*Felicity Huffman submitted this episode for consideration on her behalf in the category of “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series” at the 2007 Emmy Awards.cite web|title = 2007 Emmys CONFIRMED Episode Submissions|url = http://goldderbyforums.latimes.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1106078764/m/53610293|publisher = The Envelope Forum, Los Angeles Times|accessdate = 2007-06-18]
*Matt Roth also chose this episode for consideration in the category of “Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series”. cite web|title = 2007 Emmys CONFIRMED Episode Submissions|url = http://goldderbyforums.latimes.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1106078764/m/53610293|publisher = The Envelope Forum, Los Angeles Times|accessdate = 2007-06-18]
*Brenda Strong also submitted this episode for consideration of her work in the category of “Outstanding Voice-Over Performance” for the 2007 Emmy Awards.

References

International Titles

*French (Canada): "Bang"
*French: "La mort aux courses"
*German: "Peng" (Bang)
*Italian: "Bang"
*Polish: "Strzał" (Shot)
*Spanish: "Adiós" (Goodbye)
*Hungarian: "Bumm!" (Bang)
*Montenegrin: "Beng!" (Bang)