Ahead of the show’s final on RTÉ Two next Tuesday (June 5) John Byrne takes a daily, season-by-season look back on Desperate Housewives and some of the show’s guest stars over the course of its eight glorious years.
Five days to go . . .
SEASON THREE
This was probably the show’s best season as there was so much going on: there were Tom and (particularly) Lynette’s various struggles; Bree’s voyage of discovery about her new man Orson; Gabrielle and Carlos’ divorce and their respective new love interests, Edie and politician Victor Lang; Mike being (wrongly) jailed for murder. Oh, it just goes on and on and on. The moment of the season, though, just had to be the seventh episode, when a gun-wielding Carolyn Bigsby created a siege situation at the local supermarket.
Elsewhere that season: Lynette discovers she has breast cancer. An amnesiac Mike is involved in a love triangle with Susan and Edie. Susan falls for a rich Scotsman.
Where have I seen that face before?
Laurie Metcalf as Carolyn Bigsby
Responsible for one of the major scenes in the history of Desperate Housewives, Carolyn Bigsby was a former neighbour of Orson Hodge who suspects him of his wife Alma's murder. She keeps warning Bree about her fiancé (later husband) and Bree eventually cracks, telling her about the affair between Monique and Harvey, Carolyn's husband. Carolyn goes to Harvey's store with a gun, intending to kill him, but panics and takes hostages, including Lynette. After shooting one hostage, Carolyn gets in a struggle with Austin and Maya, another hostage, picks up the gun and kills Carolyn.
Laurie Metcalf is best known for her performance as Jackie Harris on the hugely successful sitcom Roseanne, but she also voiced Mrs Davis in the Toy Story trilogy, and has a recurring role in The Big Bang Theory as Sheldon’s mother, Mary Cooper.
