Women and Death

"Women and Death"
Desperate Housewives episode
Episode no.	Season 8 Episode 17
Directed by	David Grossman
Written by	Annie Weisman
Production code	817
Original air date	March 18, 2012
Guest appearance(s)
Andrea Bowen as Julie Mayer Tuc Watkins as Bob Hunter Steven Culp as Rex Van de Kamp Lupe Ontiveros as Juanita "Mama" Solis Andrea Parker as Jane Carlson Rebecca Wisocky as Bree's Mother Mackenzie Brooke Smith as Young Bree Michael Dempsey as Detective Murphy Ned Schmidtke as Reverend Lawson Jose Zuniga as Detective Heredia Kevin Ashworth as Funeral Director Brandon Ford Green as Uniformed Cop
Episode chronology

"Women and Death" is the 174th episode of the ABC television series, Desperate Housewives. It is the seventeenth episode of the show's eighth season and was broadcast on March 18, 2012.^[1]

Plot

After the murder of Mike, the residents of Wisteria Lane get ready to attend his funeral and reflect on how he had helped change their lives. Lynette looks back on a conversation she had with Mike while Tom moved out some of his belongings from their home, realizing that she must fight to win him back and save her marriage. Gabrielle remembers how Mike shared Carlos's insecurities with her while he was in rehab, which leads to her telling Carlos that he can quit his job to help people.

After Orson's letter to the police detailing the murder of Alejandro Perez and Chuck Vance, Bree is taken to the police station for questioning. She denies any involvement in his murder and states that she never met him. She is then allowed to leave after questioning to attend Mike's funeral. However, she is unaware that the detectives have her finger prints from a cup of coffee that she was drinking. They later match Bree's prints to some that were found on Alejandro's body. They decide to wait before arresting her to see what else they can uncover.

Susan struggles with making decisions regarding Mike's funeral and tells the Reverend that nothing will ever be the same again. As the service comes to an end Susan decides to speak at the funeral after looking back on a day where Susan, Mike and M.J. had dinner together in their favourite restaurant and how Mike described what heaven would be for him. Susan then tells everyone what Mike is doing in heaven, and that because he's there she has to say goodbye to him for now. She says one final goodbye before walking to the coffin and whispering back the only poem Mike knew: "I love you once. I love you twice. I love you more than beans and rice". Renee then sings 'Amazing Grace' as Mike's coffin is carried out of the church and lowered into the ground as Mike's tearful family and friends watch on.

While enjoying Mike's favorite hamburgers at Bree's house Susan recalls to her three friends how much she is going to struggle now that Mike is no longer around. Bree, Lynette and Gabrielle all promise Susan that they will help her through this difficult time.

Reception

Ratings

According to Nielsen ratings, "Women and Death " was watched by 9.03 million viewers and held 2.6/6 rating between 18 and 49 years of age.^[2] The episode was competing against The Amazing Race on CBS, which was watched by 9.54 million viewers and held a 2.7/7 rating, the combination of Family Guy and American Dad! on Fox which averaged 5.11 million viewers for the hour, and had a 2.5/6 rating, and Celebrity Apprentice on NBC, which averaged 5.80 million viewers and a 1.8/4 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The episode gained an additional 1.6 million viewers and 0.7 rating in the week following the original broadcast due to DVR recordings.^[3]

Critical reception

"Woman and Death" received critical acclaim from critics and fans, with much praise going to the performances of Teri Hatcher and Vanessa Williams. Christina Tran from TV Fanatic.com called the episode "absolutely incredible". She also stated that despite her disappointment in Mike having to be the Wisteria Lane resident to die before the end of the series she thought the episode "was written perfectly, with a stroll down Wisteria Lane, focusing on flashbacks and memories of how the tragic hero impacted all of the women's lives. It honestly was a beautiful episode honoring James Denton's Mike". Tran also praised Teri Hatcher's performance in this episode, commenting that she had "nothing but praise to Teri Hatcher for making me cry uncontrollable tears. She did a phenomenal job and her emotions felt so raw and meaningful". Tran also commended Renee's involvement in the funeral, writing; "Vanessa Williams gave one heck of a performance singing 'Amazing Grace' during Mike’s funeral". She summed up by writing that "Mike's tragic death will certainly go down in Desperate Housewives history".^[4]

"Digital Spy" reviewer Daniel Sperling also praised the episode and Teri Hatcher's performance. He wrote "the absolute anguish on Teri Hatcher's face throughout this episode is astonishingly believable. It barely feels like she's breathing". Sperling summarized the episode by saying "So, while not the most action packed with Desperate Housewives installments, 'Women and Death' was one that was certainly needed after the sudden, senseless killing of Mike last week and somehow still served its purpose in managing to keep the season going forward". Sperling did however criticize the character of Renee, branding her "pointless" and that "Her conflict about not wanting to go to Mike's funeral literally lasted about 30 seconds. Ridiculous".^[5]

Notes

Lupe Ontiveros reprised her role as Juanita "Mama" Solis in this episode, for the first time since the first season. Her character was absent for 156 episodes, which is the longest absence for a recurring character in Desperate Housewives.
Steven Culp reprised his role as Rex Van De Kamp in this episode, for the first time since the first episode of the seventh season.
As of this episode, three out of the five main housewives have been widowed: Susan with Mike, Bree with Rex, and Gabrielle with Victor.
This is the final episode in which Lupe Ontiveros, Steven Culp and James Denton have speaking roles, as they all appear in silent cameos in Finishing the Hat.

International titles

Polish: Kobiety wobec śmierci (Women in the face of the death)
German: Frauen und Tod

References

↑ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings/20120228abc04/&date=03/18/2012
↑ Bibel, Sara (March 20, 2012). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Harry's Law' Adjusted Down to Series Lows; 'Desperate Housewives' Adjusted Up + Unscrambled CBS". TV By the Numbers. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
↑ http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/04/02/live7-dvr-ratings-modern-family-tops-absolute-ratings-gain-nikita-ringer-top-gains-in-week-26/127002/
↑ Tran, Christina (March 18, 2012). "Desperate Housewives Review: Life's Too Short". TV Fanatic. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
↑ Sperling, Daniel (March 19, 2012). "'Desperate Housewives': Women and Death recap". Digital Spy. Retrieved March 23, 2012.

Desperate Housewives episodes

Season 1	"Pilot" "Ah, But Underneath" "Pretty Little Picture" "Who's That Woman?" "Come In, Stranger" "Running to Stand Still" "Anything You Can Do" "Guilty" "Suspicious Minds" "Come Back to Me" "Move On" "Every Day a Little Death" "Your Fault" "Love Is in the Air" "Impossible" "The Ladies Who Lunch" "There Won't Be Trumpets" "Children Will Listen" "Live Alone and Like It" "Fear No More" "Sunday in the Park with George" "Goodbye for Now" "One Wonderful Day"

Season 2	"Next" "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" "You'll Never Get Away from Me" "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" "They Asked Me Why I Believe in You" "I Wish I Could Forget You" "Color and Light" "The Sun Won't Set" "That's Good, That's Bad" "Coming Home" "One More Kiss" "We're Gonna Be All Right" "There's Something About a War" "Silly People" "Thank You So Much" "There Is No Other Way" "Could I Leave You?" "Everybody Says Don't" "Don't Look at Me" "It Wasn't Meant to Happen" "I Know Things Now" "No One Is Alone" "Remember"

Season 3	"Listen to the Rain on the Roof" "It Takes Two" "A Weekend in the Country" "Like It Was" "Nice She Ain't" "Sweetheart, I Have to Confess" "Bang" "Children and Art" "Beautiful Girls" "The Miracle Song" "No Fits, No Fights, No Feuds" "Not While I'm Around" "Come Play wiz Me" "I Remember That" "The Little Things You Do Together" "My Husband, the Pig" "Dress Big" "Liaisons" "God, That's Good" "Gossip" "Into the Woods" "What Would We Do Without You?" "Getting Married Today"

Season 4	"Now You Know" "Smiles of a Summer Night" "The Game" "If There's Anything I Can't Stand" "Art Isn't Easy" "Now I Know, Don't Be Scared" "You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover" "Distant Past" "Something's Coming" "Welcome to Kanagawa" "Sunday" "In Buddy's Eyes" "Hello, Little Girl" "Opening Doors" "Mother Said" "The Gun Song" "Free"

Season 5	"You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" "We're So Happy You're So Happy" "Kids Ain't Like Everybody Else" "Back in Business" "Mirror, Mirror" "There's Always a Woman" "What More Do I Need?" "City on Fire" "Me and My Town" "A Vision's Just a Vision" "Home is the Place" "Connect! Connect!" "The Best Thing That Ever Could Have Happened" "Mama Spent Money When She Had None" "In a World Where the Kings Are Employers" "Crime Doesn't Pay" "The Story of Lucy and Jessie" "A Spark. To Pierce the Dark." "Look Into Their Eyes and You See What They Know" "Rose's Turn" "Bargaining" "Marry Me a Little" "Everybody Says Don't" "If It's Only In Your Head"

Season 6	"Nice is Different Than Good" "Being Alive" "Never Judge a Lady By Her Lover" "The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues" "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid" "Don't Walk on the Grass" "Careful the Things You Say" "The Coffee Cup" "Would I Think of Suicide?" "Boom Crunch" "If..." "You Gotta Get a Gimmick" "How About a Friendly Shrink?" "The Glamorous Life" "Lovely" "The Chase" "Chromolume No. 7" "My Two Young Men" "We All Deserve to Die" "Epiphany" "A Little Night Music" "The Ballad of Booth" "I Guess This is Goodbye"

Season 7	"Remember Paul?" "You Must Meet My Wife" "Truly Content" "The Thing That Counts Is What's Inside" "Let Me Entertain You" "Excited and Scared" "A Humiliating Business" "Sorry Grateful" "Pleasant Little Kingdom" "Down the Block There's a Riot" "Assassins" "Where Do I Belong" "I'm Still Here" "Flashback" "Farewell Letter" "Searching" "Everything's Different, Nothing's Changed" "Moments in the Woods" "The Lies Ill-Concealed" "I'll Swallow Poison on Sunday" "Then I Really Got Scared" "And Lots of Security..." "Come on Over for Dinner"

Season 8	"Secrets That I Never Want to Know" "Making the Connection" "Watch While I Revise the World" "School of Hard Knocks" "The Art of Making Art" "Witch's Lament" "Always in Control" "Suspicion Song" "Putting It Together" "What's to Discuss, Old Friend" "Who Can Say What's True?" "What's the Good of Being Good" "Is This What You Call Love?" "Get Out of My Life" "She Needs Me" "You Take for Granted" "Women and Death" "Any Moment" "With So Little to Be Sure Of" "Lost My Power" "The People Will Hear" "Give Me the Blame" "Finishing the Hat"

Desperate Housewives

Episodes	Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Characters	Betty Applewhite Angie Bolen Edie Britt Mike Delfino Susan Delfino Orson Hodge Bob Hunter and Lee McDermott Julie Mayer Karl Mayer Katherine Mayfair Karen McCluskey Renee Perry John Rowland Lynette Scavo Tom Scavo Carlos Solis Gabrielle Solis Andrew Van de Kamp Bree Van de Kamp Rex Van de Kamp Dave Williams Mary Alice Young Paul Young

Related	Cast members Awards and nominations DVDs Soundtrack Game Wisteria Lane Amas de Casa Desesperadas ARG COL/ECU US Donas de Casa Desesperadas Desperate Housewives Africa Devious Maids

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