Desperate Housewives
Episode 95

Title: City on Fire
Season: 5
Episode #: 5.08
Episode: 95
First Air Date: November 16, 2008 (9pm)
DVD: Desperate Housewives - The Complete Fifth Season
Writer: Bob Daily
Director: David Grossman
Guest Stars:
Kathryn Joosten as Mrs. McCluskey
Gale Harold as Jackson
Stephen Spinella as Dr. Heller
Rachael Harris as Sandra Birch
Gail O'Grady as Anne Schilling
Frances Conroy as Virginia Hildebrand
Lily Tomlin as Roberta
Andrea Bowen as Julie
Steven Weber as Lloyd
Tokyo Police Club as Cold Splash

Fan Rating: ??/10 (Average of all fan submitted ratings)


Synopsis:

Susan's daughter comes to visit with her new boyfriend; Gaby discovers the truth about Mrs. Hildebrand's past; a reporter tries to expose Bree's imperfections; a deadly fire breaks out.

(From ABC)
It will be a night to remember when Susan's daughter comes to visit with her surprising new boyfriend; Gaby uncovers the unsettling truth about Mrs. Hildebrand's past; Katherine has a confession to make to Susan; a reporter looks to expose Bree's imperfections; and Lynette learns Porter and Anne Schilling plan to leave Fairview and disappear. Meanwhile, everyone has gathered at a club to see the guys play in the annual "Battle of the Bands" when a fire erupts, threatening the lives of those in attendance. Some will fall as a hero will rise.


(Recap From ABC)
The members of Blue Odyssey -- Dave, Carlos, Mike, Tom, and Orson -- are nervous on the night of the Battle of the Bands since they're so much older than all the other bands. "We're here to have fun," Dave reminds them and Mike agrees, saying, "It'll be a night to remember." He has no idea, of course, that a fire is going to break out when they're on stage, causing a mad stampede for the exits. After Preston spills Porter's plans to run away with Anne Shilling, Lynette goes to confront Anne. Unfortunately, her husband, Warren, comes home just in time to hear his wife say, "I'm glad I'm having Porter's baby." Anne begs Lynette not to leave her alone with Warren but Lynette walks out. Feeling guilty, she goes back and finds Anne's husband kicking her and warns him, "Just so you know, I hit back!" When Porter hears that a badly beaten Anne is in the hospital, he runs off.

Julie brings home her college boyfriend, Lloyd, only he's not a fellow student, but a professor who's been divorced three times! Susan does not approve, especially when Lloyd tells her he's going to ask Julie to marry him. Jackson makes Susan promise not to interfere, but she can't help herself and tells LLoyd, "I don't want my daughter to be some man's fourth wife!'" As it turns out, Julie would have said no anyway. "I'm never getting married," she tells her mother. "If there's one thing I've learned from your experience, marriage is a joke." Susan tells her that she's found happiness again with Jackson and that "I like believing in happily ever after and I wish you felt that way too." With her cookbook coming out in a week's time, Bree tries to convince Sandra, a hard-nosed reporter, that her life is just as perfect as her recipes, but all her secrets come out when the reporter digs a little deeper. "What you're selling is a total sham," she tells Bree. Defeated, Bree bitterly says that all she can hope to offer women is, to know "there's always a chance to get something right, even if it's just a casserole." Sandra smiles brightly and says, "Why didn't you tell me that right up front? That's an angle I can work with."

Gabrielle is shocked to see Virginia Hildebrand at her house, but Carlos tells her that everything is fine, because Virginia convinced the country club to rehire him. Gaby still wants to throw the woman out, until Carlos reveals that she's made them the sole heirs to her vast fortune. Gaby gives Virginia a welcoming hug, saying, "Why can't I stay mad at you?" Virginia invites herself to the Battle of the Bands to see Carlos perform and Gaby has no choice but to go with her instead of her friends. At the bar, Virginia insists on pulling the girls out of their local school and sending them out of town to a private one. "A couple of years ago, you could have bought me," Gaby says, "But I'm a mother now and I make the decisions for my daughters." Virginia threatens to take her out of the will in the morning if she doesn't agree, and Gaby tells her to go ahead. But when the fire breaks out, she does the right thing and helps an incapacitated Virginia to the door.

That night, Porter gets into Warren's club -- the same one where the Battle of the Bands is being held -- through the emergency exit and decks him. "You're dead, I don't care what it takes," Porter yells. Warren throws him out and orders an employee to bar the exit. Porter tells his mother that whatever happens is all her fault. He comes back to the club with a gun but by then the fire is raging. Dave's psychiatrist, Dr. Heller follows him to the club and Dave promises he'll go with him after his band plays. But when Heller sees the names on the band poster, he tells Dave he needs to speak to one of the band members right now, or he'll call the police. Dave leads Heller to a storage room, where he says that he really likes him -- right before he chokes him to death. Jackson's in the hall, looking for the bathroom and after Dave directs him away from the storage room, he bolts the bathroom door.

Dave sets Heller's body on fire and then calmly joins his band mates on stage, pretending to be surprised as everyone else when Edie yells, "Fire!" Carlos falls in the melee and gets a concussion, but is helped outside by his band mates. Dave stays inside, vowing to get everyone out. When Susan can't find Jackson, Mike goes back in for him; neither knows that Jackson got out through the window. Still looking for Jackson, Mike is overcome by the smoke and collapses. "I'm not done with you, yet," Dave tells the unconscious Mike, before he carries him outside, where Dave is proclaimed a hero. "Your kid burned down my club," Warren shouts at Tom, and so Porter is the one arrested for starting the fire.