"Desperate Housewives" Recap: Something's Coming (12/2/07)

Here it is.  The big Tornado Episode.  Who will live?  Who will die?  Who will save their muffins from the oven before The Tornado hits?

"It was supposed to be a beautiful day."  Mary Alice says.  "But at 2:26 that afternoon, a Tornado came to Wisteria Lane.  Bringing with it unbelievable destruction.  No one could have anticipated it.  Especially given how the day started."

The day started with Gabby telling the wives she and Carlos are back together and have to leave town to keep the Chicken Lipped Albino from killing them.

The wives are at first surprised Gabby's marriage to Victor is over, then sad that Gabby's leaving.

Queen Bree however has her priorities straight, hilariously pointing out the very expensive wedding gifts Gabby received from some of them.  I'm with you on that one Bree.

In the midst of this touching scene McCluskey drives by and tells them a tornado hit Mount Pleasant and they better get their asses in gear 'cause one might hit Wisteria Lane.  Gabby says her final goodbyes and insists they'll all see each other again.

"In four short hours. One of these women would lose a husband and all of them would lose a friend.  But how could they have known this?  It was supposed to be a beautiful day."

Opening credits.

There's a tornado watch on Wisteria Lane and while everyone is stocking up bottled water and outfitting closets for the duration, Gabby's packing and worried about Victor leaving the hospital the next day.  Carlos is going to the bank to get his passport and he instructs Gabby to wait for the accountant with the very important papers for the $10 million Cayman Island account. 

He notices she's packing a whole lot of stuff when supposedly she was only bringing essentials.  For Gabby that includes a feather boa.  When Carlos points this out, Gabby says if he's taking her somewhere she can't wear a boa, she doesn't want to go.  Heh.

When Carlos mentions he wants to say something to Edie, Gabby's like, the only thing you can say to her is "rot in hell you maggoty whore.  Thanks to her I'm giving up my friends, my home and half my wardrobe."

Lynette goes over to McCluskey's to "check up on her."  McCluskey's touched by that until she finds out Lynette wants to bring the family over to ride out The Tornado in her basement.  All seven of them.

So what, the Scavos don't have their own basement?  I didn't quite get that, but okay.

McCluskey's like, no way am I inviting the seven of you to my basement.  Especially since I only like four of you.  My guess:  Parker, Penny, and just barely, the twins.  Heh.

She's invited homophobic Ida over to ride out The Tornado with her.  They're going to play cards and survive it all in peace and quiet.  McCluskey suggests Lynette take the family over to the public shelter. 

Lynette says she doesn't want her kids around a bunch of winos.  McCluskey retorts, Ida's off the wagon so it won't be much better in her basement.  Lynette begs and pleads and when she promises to keep her devil children reined in, McCluskey agrees to let them come. 

Kat's on the phone with Dylan.  She and Julie are conveniently away on a class trip and out of tornado danger.

As she gets off the phone she spots Stalker Sylvia outside across the street.  Kat goes out to confront her.  I'd like to point out a lot of confronting goes on in this episode.  This is Confrontation Number 1.

When Sylvia starts in with her, Adam and I are in love rant, Kat's like, Adam doesn't want to see you, you skank.

Sylvia's all, it didn't seem that way when I saw him yesterday.  What, he didn't tell you?  I hope that doesn't mean he's lying to you...again.

Kat's face gets stony and you just know Dr. Adam's in deep doo. 

Meanwhile Bree and Little Ben drop off some survival supplies to Susan 'cause Bree correctly guesses the only survival gear Susan has in the house are a toothbrush and an umbrella.

Susan takes the opportunity to ask Bree to tell Orson about Mike's pill problem in case Mike tries to get Orson to write a prescription.  Bree confesses she already told Orson a couple of weeks ago.  Susan realizes that was before Orson wrote the prescription for the pills Susan found in Mike's car.

As Bree wheels Little Ben back across the street, she sees Kat and Stalker Sylvia going toe to toe and comes in right when Sylvia's taunting Kat about sleeping with Adam.  Kat spits right in her face.  Definitely called for, but ewwww.

Sylvia jumps in her car and drives off.

Ever the nosy Queen Bree, she goes over to Kat pretending concern.  "I couldn't help noticing..." 

Kat retorts, "Of course you couldn't."

Undeterred Bree asks if everything's all right.

Kat's like, everything's fine.  Just peachy.  Just ducky.  No problems, no way, no how.  She stomps home.

Thwarted, Bree sees Sylvia's car down the street and approaches it.  She asks Sylvia if she's okay and when a teary eyed Stalker says no, Bree invites her in for some tea and sympathy.  Or rather dirt digging.

Cut to weather reports on television about The Tornado and Bree is comforting Stalker Sylvia while simultaneously pumping her for information.  Sylvia says she was one of Dr. Adam's patients and they fell in love.  They tried to fight it but they couldn't.  Kat's just jealous.  She tries to pretend that she and Dr. Adam are happy but they're not.

Bree makes the mistake of saying, "They seem content," and that sends Stalker Sylvia right off her meds so to speak.  She goes on and on about how no one believes her, how she and Dr. Adam were lovers and she can prove it 'cause she knows he has a snake tattoo on his right shoulder. 

When Bree sees she's coming unglued she tries to get her outta there but instead Sylvia locks herself in the bathroom.  The room which was supposed to double as the family's shelter from The Tornado.  I suppose they don't have a basement either. 

Anyway, Sylvia insists that she won't leave until she sees Adam.  Bree goes to get him.

Susan confronts Orson at his office in front of Mrs. Kawalski who's in the middle of a procedure.  This is Confrontation Number 2.  Orson gives Susan the lame excuse about Mike's shoulder pain and then has no answer when Susan asks why he would give drugs to a druggie.

She warns him if he ever gives Mike a prescription again, "There is not enough Novacane in this office to numb the pain I will inflict on you."  Good for ballsy Susan.  Way to go protecting her man. 

An obnoxious little boy comes to Edie's door and tries to sell her bottled water for 20 bucks a pop.  Edie tries to send the price gouging scamp over to Gabby only to find out Gabby's packing to leave.

Mike goes to his former pill stash in his car and what he finds is a note from Susan that says, "See me."

Cut to Confrontation Number 3.  Susan thinks Mike has a problem.  Mike thinks he doesn't have a problem.  Susan hangs tough and tries to convince him he needs help.  Mike gets a little crazy and demands to know where the pills are.  Susan's carrying laundry to the stairs as they're talking and when Mike grabs her arm, she loses her balance and falls down the stairs.

Cut to Mike carrying Susan into the emergency room of the local hospital.  The room is filled with tornado victims and potential victims and pregnant or not, unless Susan's bleeding from every orifice in her body, she'll have to wait. 

Cut to Confrontation Number 4.  Kat hits Dr. Adam right between the eyes about Stalker Sylvia.  She's pissed that she was blindsided by the wacko because he didn't have the courtesy to tell her she was in town.  There's a knock on the door and it's Bree.  She needs help with Stalker Sylvia.

Cut to Adam knocking on the locked bathroom door, yelling for Sylvia to come out.  Kat questions Bree about what Stalker Sylvia was doing there in the first place.  Bree says she invited her 'cause she wanted to help.

Kat's like, sure you did.  "You wanted dirt and I bet she told you plenty."

As Adam continues to bang on the bathroom door, Kat and Bree go in the kitchen.  Kat tells Bree, Stalker Sylvia was a psycho patient who took one kiss from Adam to mean they were in love.  When he spurned her, she sued for sexual assault.  Kat wanted to fight it, but Adam was afraid of losing his license so they settled out of court and they lost everything.

After hearing all this, a sympathetic Bree says, "I would have spit in her face too."  Bonding over bitch hatred.  Nothing like it.

McCluskey and Ida are playing cards in the McCluskey Basement Tornado Shelter when there are ominous banging and damaging noises coming from upstairs.

Ida: "What's that noise? Is that The Tornado?" 

McCluskey:  "Worse. The Scavos."

And then, there they are.  Penny starts banging on the hot water heater and the boys go crazy.  Tom gets all weird looking and then looks sick.  It turns out he's allergic to Ida's cat, Toby and he might have an asthma attack.  Lynette, being Lynette asks if Toby can go in a closet upstairs, where he'll still be safe.

Ida retorts, "Why don't we put Penny with him.  Since it's safe."  Good one, Ida.

"Toby is Ida's baby, Lynette," McCluskey says.  After all she invited Ida first and if Lynette has a problem with the accommodations she and her brood can leave.  The cat stays.

I'm with you on this one McCluskey.  Daisy wouldn't be going upstairs in anybody's closet either.  Too bad, Tom.

At the hospital MIke's got the DTs and he wants to know when someone can see Susan.  He accosts a harried hospital worker who wheels in some bleeding patients ahead of Susan.  When the hospital worker gets pissy, Mike attacks him.  You can count this as Confrontation Number 5.  Someone calls security.  Poor Mike's losing it.

Cut to Mike handcuffed to a chair in the waiting room.  The security guard says they'll let him go after Susan's been seen by a doctor and they are ready to go home.  Susan comes out and tells Mike the doctor said the baby's okay.  All she has is a mild ankle sprain. 

Though Mike apologizes, Susan says he has to go to rehab.  Mike says he doesn't need rehab.  He kicked drugs by himself before and he'll do it again. 

A nurse comes up and gives Susan some pain killers for her ankle and Mike looks at them like a starving man at a plate of roast beef.  When Susan sees that, she's disgusted.  Mike asks for one of the pills, just to take the edge off.  Susan says no.

Mike pleads with her.  Susan hesitates, but still says no.  She also says he either goes to rehab right now or she'll "take this baby and leave you."  See now, this is the Susan I'm loving.

Mike sees she's serious and agrees.

A guy comes up Gabby's steps and finds Edie checking out the suitcases on the porch.  The guy's the accountant Gabby's waiting for.  He thinks Edie is Gabby and gives her a folder with the papers containing all the Cayman Islands account info. 

The accountant stresses that these are the only papers in existence with the info to get into the account.  If they're lost, or say, blown away in a tornado, so's the $10 million.  Uh oh.

Edie pretends to be Gabby and accepts the folder.

Upstairs Gabby hears the accountant's car drive away and when she sees Edie reading the papers in the folder she realizes what's happened and takes off after her.

In the McCluskey Tornado Shelter Tom's having trouble breathing and not looking good at all.  McCluskey's fixing the television and everybody else but she and Lynette are asleep.  When McCluskey's not looking, Lynette gets Toby out of the cat carrier and takes him upstairs.

The winds are picking up as Gabby bangs on Edie's front door.  Edie won't open it and threatens to call the police.  Next thing she knows Gabby tosses a chair through the patio doors and she's in.

McCluskey catches Lynette upstairs with the cat and she's royally pissed.  Here we are at Confrontation Number 6.  McCluskey demands the cat back 'cause she doesn't want Ida to wake up and find he's gone.  Lynette says Tom is suffering and is this any way to treat friends?  McCluskey correctly points out they're  only friends when Lynette needs something.  Ida's her real friend. 

Just then the front door blows open and Toby runs out to the street.  McCluskey goes after him and Lynette goes after her.  The sky is dark and the winds are getting stronger and disaster is about to strike.

Gabby and Edie are still fighting for the folder.  Gabby gets it and runs outside into the flying debris.  She and Edie are both grabbing for the folder when the winds pick up and the papers blow away.  Gabby's devastated and screams at a Edie.  Edie catches a glimpse of something and looks horrified.  She turns Gabby around so she can see it too and then yells at her to get in the house. 

Across the street McCluskey is trying to get Toby from under a car when Lynette grabs her and they too see the funnel cloud coming.   I must say, it's pretty menacing looking.  Just as they're about to go back to McCluskey's house a flying bar-b-que drops right in front of them so Lynette drags McCluskey back to her house across the street.

Edie and Gabby are in Edie's living room.  Edie remembers she has a crawl space and she thinks they can both fit.  She pulls up the rug and grabs for a panel in the floor.  At first Gabby doesn't want to go in the crawl space with Edie because Edie lost the papers, but when she hears breaking glass she kicks Edie into the crawl space and follows right after her. 

At Stalker Sylvia's Tornado Shelter Party, Orson literally blows in the front door and yells and at everyone to get in the shelter.  When he finds out Stalker Sylvia's in there and won't come out, he says there's a funnel cloud coming and they all better get into a closet instead.

Lynette and McCluskey climb into a bathtub and Lynette puts a mattress over their heads as the windows blow in.

Edie and Gabby are in the crawl space and Gabby thinks she's gonna die so she apologizes to Edie about sleeping with Carlos.  Edie admits she doesn't hate Gabby but she knew he would always go back to her.  They hug in fear.

At the Van De Camp Shelter, Little Ben's diaper is stinking up the place, Bree and Kat are busy pointing fingers at each other, and Orson and Dr. Adam are trying keep the peace.  When Bree says she listened to Stalker Sylvia rant for an hour, Orson wants to know what she said.

Bree says stuff about an affair with Adam and a snake tattoo on his shoulder.  Bree knows she was lying because she's seen Adam at the pool and he doesn't have a tattoo.   When Bree mentions the tattoo Kat realizes Stalker Sylvia is telling the truth about the affair because Dr. Adam did have a snake tattoo.  He got it removed after Chicago. 

Adam looks very guilty and Kat now knows that's why they paid the settlement and lost everything.  Dr. Adam tries to apologize but Kat cuts him off.   The only sounds are from The Tornado outside.  Bree grasps Kat's hand in comfort.

Carlos comes home and yells for Gabby to get in the basement.  So Gabby and Carlos have a basement but the Scavos and the Van De Camps don't.  Hm.  Interesting construction patterns on Wisteria Lane.

Anyway, Gabby's not home, but the Chicken Lipped Albino's there and he's got a gun.  He doesn't know where Gabby is, but he's waiting for her also.

Carlos, knowing he's got a problem on his hands, apologizes to Victor for sleeping with Gabby.  In response Victor takes a shot at him and Carlos runs outside.  Victor follows him into the wind tossed street and they fight for the gun.

It's actually pretty funny.  A funnel cloud is barreling down on them but they're fighting for a gun.

A car falls right next to them and the winds get even rougher.  That ugly fountain of Bob and Lee's is wonderfully decapitated by flying debris and I can't help myself from wondering where the two of them are riding out the storm.

The usually perfect pickets of all those white picket fences are being peeled off one by one.  Carlos knocks out Victor and breaks through the front door of a nearby house to find shelter.  Right then Victor comes up behind Carlos swinging a pipe.  Carlos turns around just in time to see Victor impaled by a white picket.  How appropriate.  Carlos turns to go into the house and is knocked out by a flying rock.

Stalker Sylvia chooses this time to come out and tell everyone she's not going to take their abuse anymore.  She's leaving.  Obviously she's even more Cuckoo for Cocoa puffs than usual.  Anyway she opens the front door and gets sucked up quicker than you can say "Toto, too."

Whoever does the stunt is attached to a wire and pulled out of the shot.  Cool. 

Edie and Gabby are holding onto each other for dear life.  Lynette and McCluskey are holding onto the mattress for dear life.

Then...we dissolve to the aftermath.

"It was supposed to be a beautiful day," says Mary Alice.  "But then the winds came and changed everything.  And not just the houses and the lawns. The people had changed too.  While the storm had raged, each of them had learned something."

"About friendship"  That's Bree and Kat emerging unscathed.

"And forgiveness." That's Edie and Gabby emerging unscathed.

"And redemption." That's Mike and Susan leaving the hospital. 

"And some had learned the hardest lesson of all."  That's Lynette and McCluskey emerging unscathed.

"That life is always fragile.  And very often unfair."  Lynette sees McCluskey's house is a pile of rubble.  She starts screaming at the top of her lungs, and even I feel sorry for her.

She and McCluskey start climbing over the debris and we pull out further and further to see the destruction that was once the pristine Wisteria Lane.

Okay, so who's the husband and friend that are lost?  Well the most obvious answers are Victor, Gabby's husband, and Ida, McCluskey's friend.  But I hope the writer's make it more interesting than that.

As much as I like Tom, Lynette would become a much more interesting character if she became a widow.  And though I never want to see children die, even in fiction, it would also be really interesting to see her character after her whole family's been wiped out.

All in all, a really good episode.  And unfortunately, the last new one until the writer's strike is over.  So keep your fingers crossed those negotiators in LA work around the clock and get this thing settled.

Lynette goes over to McCluskey's to "check up on her."  McCluskey's touched by that until she finds out Lynette wants to bring the family over to ride out The Tornado in her basement.  All seven of them.

So what, the Scavos don't have their own basement?  I didn't quite get that, but okay.

McCluskey's like, no way am I inviting the seven of you to my basement.  Especially since I only like four of you.  My guess:  Parker, Penny, and just barely, the twins.  Heh.

She's invited homophobic Ida over to ride out The Tornado with her.  They're going to play cards and survive it all in peace and quiet.  McCluskey suggests Lynette take the family over to the public shelter. 

Lynette says she doesn't want her kids around a bunch of winos.  McCluskey retorts, Ida's off the wagon so it won't be much better in her basement.  Lynette begs and pleads and when she promises to keep her devil children reined in, McCluskey agrees to let them come. 

Kat's on the phone with Dylan.  She and Julie are conveniently away on a class trip and out of tornado danger.

As she gets off the phone she spots Stalker Sylvia outside across the street.  Kat goes out to confront her.  I'd like to point out a lot of confronting goes on in this episode.  This is Confrontation Number 1.

When Sylvia starts in with her, Adam and I are in love rant, Kat's like, Adam doesn't want to see you, you skank.

Sylvia's all, it didn't seem that way when I saw him yesterday.  What, he didn't tell you?  I hope that doesn't mean he's lying to you...again.

Kat's face gets stony and you just know Dr. Adam's in deep doo. 

Meanwhile Bree and Little Ben drop off some survival supplies to Susan 'cause Bree correctly guesses the only survival gear Susan has in the house are a toothbrush and an umbrella.

Susan takes the opportunity to ask Bree to tell Orson about Mike's pill problem in case Mike tries to get Orson to write a prescription.  Bree confesses she already told Orson a couple of weeks ago.  Susan realizes that was before Orson wrote the prescription for the pills Susan found in Mike's car.

As Bree wheels Little Ben back across the street, she sees Kat and Stalker Sylvia going toe to toe and comes in right when Sylvia's taunting Kat about sleeping with Adam.  Kat spits right in her face.  Definitely called for, but ewwww.

Sylvia jumps in her car and drives off.

Ever the nosy Queen Bree, she goes over to Kat pretending concern.  "I couldn't help noticing..." 

Kat retorts, "Of course you couldn't."

Undeterred Bree asks if everything's all right.

Kat's like, everything's fine.  Just peachy.  Just ducky.  No problems, no way, no how.  She stomps home.

Thwarted, Bree sees Sylvia's car down the street and approaches it.  She asks Sylvia if she's okay and when a teary eyed Stalker says no, Bree invites her in for some tea and sympathy.  Or rather dirt digging.

Cut to weather reports on television about The Tornado and Bree is comforting Stalker Sylvia while simultaneously pumping her for information.  Sylvia says she was one of Dr. Adam's patients and they fell in love.  They tried to fight it but they couldn't.  Kat's just jealous.  She tries to pretend that she and Dr. Adam are happy but they're not.

Bree makes the mistake of saying, "They seem content," and that sends Stalker Sylvia right off her meds so to speak.  She goes on and on about how no one believes her, how she and Dr. Adam were lovers and she can prove it 'cause she knows he has a snake tattoo on his right shoulder. 

When Bree sees she's coming unglued she tries to get her outta there but instead Sylvia locks herself in the bathroom.  The room which was supposed to double as the family's shelter from The Tornado.  I suppose they don't have a basement either. 

Anyway, Sylvia insists that she won't leave until she sees Adam.  Bree goes to get him.

Susan confronts Orson at his office in front of Mrs. Kawalski who's in the middle of a procedure.  This is Confrontation Number 2.  Orson gives Susan the lame excuse about Mike's shoulder pain and then has no answer when Susan asks why he would give drugs to a druggie.

She warns him if he ever gives Mike a prescription again, "There is not enough Novacane in this office to numb the pain I will inflict on you."  Good for ballsy Susan.  Way to go protecting her man. 

An obnoxious little boy comes to Edie's door and tries to sell her bottled water for 20 bucks a pop.  Edie tries to send the price gouging scamp over to Gabby only to find out Gabby's packing to leave.

Mike goes to his former pill stash in his car and what he finds is a note from Susan that says, "See me."

Cut to Confrontation Number 3.  Susan thinks Mike has a problem.  Mike thinks he doesn't have a problem.  Susan hangs tough and tries to convince him he needs help.  Mike gets a little crazy and demands to know where the pills are.  Susan's carrying laundry to the stairs as they're talking and when Mike grabs her arm, she loses her balance and falls down the stairs.

Cut to Mike carrying Susan into the emergency room of the local hospital.  The room is filled with tornado victims and potential victims and pregnant or not, unless Susan's bleeding from every orifice in her body, she'll have to wait. 

Cut to Confrontation Number 4.  Kat hits Dr. Adam right between the eyes about Stalker Sylvia.  She's pissed that she was blindsided by the wacko because he didn't have the courtesy to tell her she was in town.  There's a knock on the door and it's Bree.  She needs help with Stalker Sylvia.

Cut to Adam knocking on the locked bathroom door, yelling for Sylvia to come out.  Kat questions Bree about what Stalker Sylvia was doing there in the first place.  Bree says she invited her 'cause she wanted to help.

Kat's like, sure you did.  "You wanted dirt and I bet she told you plenty."

As Adam continues to bang on the bathroom door, Kat and Bree go in the kitchen.  Kat tells Bree, Stalker Sylvia was a psycho patient who took one kiss from Adam to mean they were in love.  When he spurned her, she sued for sexual assault.  Kat wanted to fight it, but Adam was afraid of losing his license so they settled out of court and they lost everything.

After hearing all this, a sympathetic Bree says, "I would have spit in her face too."  Bonding over bitch hatred.  Nothing like it.

McCluskey and Ida are playing cards in the McCluskey Basement Tornado Shelter when there are ominous banging and damaging noises coming from upstairs.

Ida: "What's that noise? Is that The Tornado?" 

McCluskey:  "Worse. The Scavos."

And then, there they are.  Penny starts banging on the hot water heater and the boys go crazy.  Tom gets all weird looking and then looks sick.  It turns out he's allergic to Ida's cat, Toby and he might have an asthma attack.  Lynette, being Lynette asks if Toby can go in a closet upstairs, where he'll still be safe.

Ida retorts, "Why don't we put Penny with him.  Since it's safe."  Good one, Ida.

"Toby is Ida's baby, Lynette," McCluskey says.  After all she invited Ida first and if Lynette has a problem with the accommodations she and her brood can leave.  The cat stays.

I'm with you on this one McCluskey.  Daisy wouldn't be going upstairs in anybody's closet either.  Too bad, Tom.

At the hospital MIke's got the DTs and he wants to know when someone can see Susan.  He accosts a harried hospital worker who wheels in some bleeding patients ahead of Susan.  When the hospital worker gets pissy, Mike attacks him.  You can count this as Confrontation Number 5.  Someone calls security.  Poor Mike's losing it.

Cut to Mike handcuffed to a chair in the waiting room.  The security guard says they'll let him go after Susan's been seen by a doctor and they are ready to go home.  Susan comes out and tells Mike the doctor said the baby's okay.  All she has is a mild ankle sprain. 

Though Mike apologizes, Susan says he has to go to rehab.  Mike says he doesn't need rehab.  He kicked drugs by himself before and he'll do it again. 

A nurse comes up and gives Susan some pain killers for her ankle and Mike looks at them like a starving man at a plate of roast beef.  When Susan sees that, she's disgusted.  Mike asks for one of the pills, just to take the edge off.  Susan says no.

Mike pleads with her.  Susan hesitates, but still says no.  She also says he either goes to rehab right now or she'll "take this baby and leave you."  See now, this is the Susan I'm loving.

Mike sees she's serious and agrees.

A guy comes up Gabby's steps and finds Edie checking out the suitcases on the porch.  The guy's the accountant Gabby's waiting for.  He thinks Edie is Gabby and gives her a folder with the papers containing all the Cayman Islands account info. 

The accountant stresses that these are the only papers in existence with the info to get into the account.  If they're lost, or say, blown away in a tornado, so's the $10 million.  Uh oh.

Edie pretends to be Gabby and accepts the folder.

Upstairs Gabby hears the accountant's car drive away and when she sees Edie reading the papers in the folder she realizes what's happened and takes off after her.

In the McCluskey Tornado Shelter Tom's having trouble breathing and not looking good at all.  McCluskey's fixing the television and everybody else but she and Lynette are asleep.  When McCluskey's not looking, Lynette gets Toby out of the cat carrier and takes him upstairs.

The winds are picking up as Gabby bangs on Edie's front door.  Edie won't open it and threatens to call the police.  Next thing she knows Gabby tosses a chair through the patio doors and she's in.

McCluskey catches Lynette upstairs with the cat and she's royally pissed.  Here we are at Confrontation Number 6.  McCluskey demands the cat back 'cause she doesn't want Ida to wake up and find he's gone.  Lynette says Tom is suffering and is this any way to treat friends?  McCluskey correctly points out they're  only friends when Lynette needs something.  Ida's her real friend. 

Just then the front door blows open and Toby runs out to the street.  McCluskey goes after him and Lynette goes after her.  The sky is dark and the winds are getting stronger and disaster is about to strike.

Gabby and Edie are still fighting for the folder.  Gabby gets it and runs outside into the flying debris.  She and Edie are both grabbing for the folder when the winds pick up and the papers blow away.  Gabby's devastated and screams at a Edie.  Edie catches a glimpse of something and looks horrified.  She turns Gabby around so she can see it too and then yells at her to get in the house. 

Across the street McCluskey is trying to get Toby from under a car when Lynette grabs her and they too see the funnel cloud coming.   I must say, it's pretty menacing looking.  Just as they're about to go back to McCluskey's house a flying bar-b-que drops right in front of them so Lynette drags McCluskey back to her house across the street.

Edie and Gabby are in Edie's living room.  Edie remembers she has a crawl space and she thinks they can both fit.  She pulls up the rug and grabs for a panel in the floor.  At first Gabby doesn't want to go in the crawl space with Edie because Edie lost the papers, but when she hears breaking glass she kicks Edie into the crawl space and follows right after her. 

At Stalker Sylvia's Tornado Shelter Party, Orson literally blows in the front door and yells and at everyone to get in the shelter.  When he finds out Stalker Sylvia's in there and won't come out, he says there's a funnel cloud coming and they all better get into a closet instead.

Lynette and McCluskey climb into a bathtub and Lynette puts a mattress over their heads as the windows blow in.

Edie and Gabby are in the crawl space and Gabby thinks she's gonna die so she apologizes to Edie about sleeping with Carlos.  Edie admits she doesn't hate Gabby but she knew he would always go back to her.  They hug in fear.

At the Van De Camp Shelter, Little Ben's diaper is stinking up the place, Bree and Kat are busy pointing fingers at each other, and Orson and Dr. Adam are trying keep the peace.  When Bree says she listened to Stalker Sylvia rant for an hour, Orson wants to know what she said.

Bree says stuff about an affair with Adam and a snake tattoo on his shoulder.  Bree knows she was lying because she's seen Adam at the pool and he doesn't have a tattoo.   When Bree mentions the tattoo Kat realizes Stalker Sylvia is telling the truth about the affair because Dr. Adam did have a snake tattoo.  He got it removed after Chicago. 

Adam looks very guilty and Kat now knows that's why they paid the settlement and lost everything.  Dr. Adam tries to apologize but Kat cuts him off.   The only sounds are from The Tornado outside.  Bree grasps Kat's hand in comfort.

Carlos comes home and yells for Gabby to get in the basement.  So Gabby and Carlos have a basement but the Scavos and the Van De Camps don't.  Hm.  Interesting construction patterns on Wisteria Lane.

Anyway, Gabby's not home, but the Chicken Lipped Albino's there and he's got a gun.  He doesn't know where Gabby is, but he's waiting for her also.

Carlos, knowing he's got a problem on his hands, apologizes to Victor for sleeping with Gabby.  In response Victor takes a shot at him and Carlos runs outside.  Victor follows him into the wind tossed street and they fight for the gun.

It's actually pretty funny.  A funnel cloud is barreling down on them but they're fighting for a gun.

A car falls right next to them and the winds get even rougher.  That ugly fountain of Bob and Lee's is wonderfully decapitated by flying debris and I can't help myself from wondering where the two of them are riding out the storm.

The usually perfect pickets of all those white picket fences are being peeled off one by one.  Carlos knocks out Victor and breaks through the front door of a nearby house to find shelter.  Right then Victor comes up behind Carlos swinging a pipe.  Carlos turns around just in time to see Victor impaled by a white picket.  How appropriate.  Carlos turns to go into the house and is knocked out by a flying rock.

Stalker Sylvia chooses this time to come out and tell everyone she's not going to take their abuse anymore.  She's leaving.  Obviously she's even more Cuckoo for Cocoa puffs than usual.  Anyway she opens the front door and gets sucked up quicker than you can say "Toto, too."

Whoever does the stunt is attached to a wire and pulled out of the shot.  Cool. 

Edie and Gabby are holding onto each other for dear life.  Lynette and McCluskey are holding onto the mattress for dear life.

Then...we dissolve to the aftermath.

"It was supposed to be a beautiful day," says Mary Alice.  "But then the winds came and changed everything.  And not just the houses and the lawns. The people had changed too.  While the storm had raged, each of them had learned something."

"About friendship"  That's Bree and Kat emerging unscathed.

"And forgiveness." That's Edie and Gabby emerging unscathed.

"And redemption." That's Mike and Susan leaving the hospital. 

"And some had learned the hardest lesson of all."  That's Lynette and McCluskey emerging unscathed.

"That life is always fragile.  And very often unfair."  Lynette sees McCluskey's house is a pile of rubble.  She starts screaming at the top of her lungs, and even I feel sorry for her.

She and McCluskey start climbing over the debris and we pull out further and further to see the destruction that was once the pristine Wisteria Lane.

Okay, so who's the husband and friend that are lost?  Well the most obvious answers are Victor, Gabby's husband, and Ida, McCluskey's friend.  But I hope the writer's make it more interesting than that.

As much as I like Tom, Lynette would become a much more interesting character if she became a widow.  And though I never want to see children die, even in fiction, it would also be really interesting to see her character after her whole family's been wiped out.

All in all, a really good episode.  And unfortunately, the last new one until the writer's strike is over.  So keep your fingers crossed those negotiators in LA work around the clock and get this thing settled.