November 5, 2006: Bang
I read a lot of advance press about this action-packed sweeps episode, and let me tell you, all the hype did
not let me down. I laughed, I cried, I was on the edge of my seat, and I screamed "Shut up!" so many times I lost count. Definitely one of the best episodes ever, so I must first give kudos to the writer -
Joe Keenan (writer/executive producer of
Frasier) - and the director,
Larry Shaw. The entire cast did an outstanding job, but the three powerhouses were
Felicity Huffman,
Laurie Metcalf and
Marcia Cross.
Several of my coworkers had given me the big spoiler a few weeks ago regarding who was going to die, so I was already prepared for Nora's demise. What I
wasn't prepared for was the feeling of sadness after she got shot. I was one of those "Nora-haters," so hearing that she was gonna bite the dust made me happy. But here I was tonight
crying during her death scene! I really lost it when Nora told Lynette to please watch over Kayla, since she was "the only good thing that I've ever done." So I must throw
Kiersten Warren into that powerhouse-acting category. Sure, we loved to hate the character of Nora, but making us feel sad during her death? That's the accomplishment of a great actress. I also thought Nora was going to get shot by Carolyn randomly, perhaps by a gunshot that was intended for Harvey. But as soon as Lynette gave Carolyn the backstory on Nora, Nora was a goner. Carolyn: "She put the moves on your husband? Why didn't you say so?" Bang. How ironic was it that new neighbor Art Washburn (who just moved into the Young house) was the one who threw the can of peaches at Carolyn's head, knocking the gun out of her hand? Why was that ironic, you ask? Art was played by
Matt Roth, the real-life husband of... Laurie Metcalf. Throwing a can at your wife's head on the first day on the job - all in a day's work.
I loved how the camera didn't reveal who it was who picked up the gun and shot Carolyn. Then, slowly, the camera panned left and then tilted up to reveal it was Maya, the woman whose son Jordan was in Carolyn's Sunday-school class. If that woman looked familiar to you
24 fans, it's because she was played by
Kathleen Gati, who portrayed Anya Suvarov, the Russian first lady this past season. Side note on the subject of Sunday school - I really liked that Tom made Susan feel better about her daughter Julie's being one of the hostages by telling her that Carolyn was a Sunday-school teacher and "a Sunday-school teacher would never hurt a kid." So true.
I predict that this episode will be the one that gets Laurie Metcalf another Emmy (or at least a nomination), and the same goes for Felicity Huffman (although she could also submit last week's episode as well). Marcia Cross can pretty much submit any of the episodes, since Bree gets Emmy-worthy scenes every week.
But back to Felicity: that closing dream of Lynette's had me crying again. Such a beautifully touching scene between Lynette and Mary Alice. How many of us have thought about what we
would have said to a loved one or friend before they passed away? As I've said before, it's always a treat to get to
see
Brenda Strong as Mary Alice, rather than just hear her.
Other highlights:
- The fact that it was Bree who told Carolyn about Harvey's affair with Monique, and that Bree, in a state of shock, couldn't concentrate on anything but cooking for her houseguests.
- The fact that all the neighbors came over to Bree's house to watch the live TV coverage, and that Ida Greenberg (
Pat Crawford Brown, whom I've loved since
Knots Landing) said, "I knew she'd have food."
- The fact that we still don't know the details behind Monique's death and Orson's exact connection to it.
- The fact that Lynette supported the idea of taking in Kayla as long as Nora was out of the picture. Tom: "I never thought you'd want a fifth kid." Lynette: "I don't. But I didn't want the first four, and they're starting to grow on me."
- The fact that Susan had no idea Carolyn was the woman holding people hostage: "There's a crazy woman in there." Carolyn (as she showed Susan her gun): "Yeah, I know."
- The fact that it was Edie who was trapped inside the locked office with Harvey, and that Carolyn accused her of being another one of Harvey's "whores."
- The fact that Ian returned to the scene after seeing the hostage crisis on TV at the airport, and that Susan offered (via megaphone) to switch places with Julie.
The only part that I thought was lame was the Gaby and Carlos story line. I just couldn't buy that Gabrielle would break all of those outrageously expensive household items and Carlos would put an ax through the walls. Thank goodness they ended all the destruction and made up afterward. What redeemed it for me was that Gaby could relate to Carolyn's rage and said to Carlos, "Let's stop being those people."
So what did
you think? Did you feel that the episode lived up to all the hype? Or were your expectations shot down?
