Something's Coming (Desperate Housewives)

"Something's Coming (Desperate Housewives)"

"Something’s Coming" is the 79th episode of the ABC television series, Desperate Housewives. It was written by John Pardee and Joey Murphy and directed by David Grossman. It is the ninth episode of the show's fourth season and it was broadcast on December 2, 2007, in the United States.

This particular episode was watched by 20.6 million.

Plot

Gabrielle tells her friends she’s back together with Carlos and that they will be leaving town to escape from her current husband, Victor. While they are saying their goodbyes, Karen McCluskey alerts them that a tornado is on its way.

Lynette goes to Karen McCluskey’s house and asks her to let her and her family stay with her in her basement during the storm. Mrs. McCluskey reluctantly agrees.

Katherine is taping up her windows when she spies Sylvia loitering outside her house. When she goes out to confront her, she finds out that Sylvia met with Adam the day before, and Adam didn’t tell her. Katherine spits in Sylvia's face, a confrontation spotted by Bree, who is nearby. Bree, seeing a chance to find out something about Katherine, approaches Sylvia, and invites her in for tea.

After learning that Orsan has prescribed painkillers to Mike, Susan tells Bree that it may be time to tell Orson about Mike's drug problem. Bree informs Susan that she had already alerted Orson to the issue.

While drinking tea, Sylvia tells Bree all about her affair with Adam and describes a tattoo he has. Bree begins feeling uncomfortable and asks her to leave, but Sylvia locks herself in Bree's bathroom, which Bree has outfitted as a safe-room in anticipation of the approaching storm.

Susan interrupts Orson in his office while he's with a patient. She asks him why he would give prescribe pills to Mike, knowing that he's an addict. She then threatens him with great pain if he gives Mike any more pills.

Edie becomes angry when she finds out that Gaby and Carlos are getting ready to move.

When Mike finds out that Susan has found and taken his stash of pills he confronts her and during the ensuing argument, he grabs her arm on the stairs, and when she pulls away from him, she falls down the stairs, necessitating a trip to the hospital.

While at the hospital, Mike begins to show effects of withdrawal and becomes agitated when Susan, (not considered an emergency case) is not seen quickly enough by doctors. In his anger, he assaults a hospital employee and is restrained by hospital security.

When Adam gets home he is confronted by Katherine regarding Sylvia's arrival in Fairview. Their argument is interrupted by Bree, who comes to get Adam to help her with Sylvia, who is still locked in Bree's bathroom. While Adam attempts to talk Sylvia out of the bathroom, Katherine tells Bree that Sylvia is crazy, and that the story she told, about her relationship with Adam was untrue and never happened.

While Ida and Karen play cards in the basement, they are invaded by the Scavos. Tom immediately begins having asthma symptoms, due to Ida's cat, which she has in a carrier in the basement, and has difficulty breathing. When Lynette asks if the cat can be put upstairs, Karen refuses and advises Lynette that Ida's cat can stay.

Susan is seen by a doctor, who advises that her baby is fine, and she has a sprained ankle. She tells Mike that the Doctor says that the hospital has a great rehab program and she asks him to go. Mike initially refuses. Susan is then given some painkillers, which Mike, When a nurse gives Susan some pain medication for her ankle, Mike wants Susan to share them with him. Susan gets very angry and demands he go to rehab or she will leave him. He finally agrees.

Carlos' accountant, Al, comes to Gaby's house to drop off the paperwork with the information to allow them to access Carlos' offshore Grand Cayman account. When he gets there, he meets Edie on the porch, who he mistakes for Gabrielle. He gives her the papers. When Edie reads them, she realizes what they are, and she takes the papers and runs off. Gaby sees her and takes off after her.

In Karen McCluskey’s basement, Tom's asthma symptoms are increasing and he is having significant problems breathing. Lynette sneaks the cat from the cage and takes it upstairs and attempts to put it in the closet, when she is caught by Karen. Lynette doesn't understand why Karen would allow Tom to go through this, when Karen informs Lynette that Ida is her friend and cares about her, and that she does not feel that Lynette treats her like a friend. Just then, the storm blows open the front door and the cat runs out. Karen runs out after the cat, and Lynette, after a momentary hesitation, runs out after Karen.

Gaby breaks a window to gain entrance into Edie's house, where Edie is going through the paperwork from Al. Gaby gets hold of it and runs outside, chased by Edie. When Edie catches her, they struggle, and in the process, the paperwork blows away.

As the tornado descends onto Wisteria Lane, Karen locates Ida's cat under a nearby car. Lynnette gets to her and attempts to get Karen to come back in the house, but before she can get Karen to come in, they both see the tornado coming. They run into Lynette's house where they hide in a bathtub covered with a mattress.

Edie and Gaby get into the storm cellar in Edie's house, where they talk and Gaby apologizes for what she and Carlos did. Edie admits she does not really hate Gaby.

Meanwhile, Adam is still arguing with Sylvia, trying to get her to open the bathroom door. They give up and he, Katherine, Bree, Orson and the baby go into a closet. While in there, Bree mentions Sylvia's comments about her and Adam having been lovers, and about Adam's tattoo, at which point, Katherine realized that Sylvia was telling the truth, as Adam hadhad a tattoo, which he had since had removed, and Sylvia could not have known about it unless her relationship had been as she had described.

Carlos arrives at Gaby's house and begins frantically searching for her. He then spies Victor sitting in the front room. When Carlos asks Victor where Gaby is, Victor tells him that he doesn’t know, but that they will have to wait for her together and pulls out a gun. When Carlos begins to explain to Victor that he never meant to hurt anyone, Victor starts shooting at him, leading Carlos to run out into the storm, with Victor chasing him.

They run outside and in the midst of the storm begin fighting. Victor loses the gun, and Carlos manages to punch Victor, and to temporarily get away. Victor catches up with Carlos, and is killed when he is impaled by board from a white picket fence. Seconds later, a metal object knocks Carlos out cold.

Meanwhile, Sylvia finally leaves the bathroom and begins wandering through Bree's house looking for Adam. She opens the front door and is sucked out by the tornado's strong winds.

After the storm abates, there is destruction everywhere; the residents of Wisteria Lane emerge from their hiding places to complete and utter destruction.

Lynette and Karen crawl through the mountains of debris in the street and Lynette screams in horror when she sees that Mrs. McCluskey's house has been completely demolished, with her family, and Ida Greenburg inside.

Notes

• Although credited, Andrew Van De Kamp (Shawn Pyfrom), Danielle Van De Kamp (Joy Lauren), Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen) and Dylan Mayfair (Lyndsy Fonseca) do not appear in this episode.
• This is the second disaster episode in the series, preceding Bang and followed by City on Fire.
• This is the last episode of the series to get over 20 million viewers.

Reception

In 2015, Gavin Hetherington of SpoilerTV looked back on the disaster episodes of the show and named Something's Coming as one of the best, as well as one of the best episodes of the series.

International titles

• Finnish: Pyörremyrsky (A Twister)
• French: La vie ne tient qu'à un fil (Life hangs by a thread)
• Hebrew: טורנדו (Tornado)
• Hungarian: Valami közeleg (Something's Coming)
• Italian: Quando S'Alza Il Vento (When The Wind's Raising)
• Macedonian : Никогаш Не Ја Предвидуваш Природата (You Can Never Predict Nature)
• Polish: Tornado (The Tornado)
• Spanish: Algo se acerca (Something's Coming)
• German: "Tornado" (The Tornado)
• Greek: Κάτι Έρχεται (Something's Coming)

Title Reference

• The title of the episode, "Something's Coming," comes from the title of a song in the musical West Side Story.