The Ladies Who Lunch

Infobox Television episode
Title = The Ladies Who Lunch
Series = Desperate Housewives


Caption = Gabrielle shaves her legs as Carlos shaves his face.
Season = 1
Episode = 16
Airdate = March 27, 2005
Production = 115
Writer = Alexandra Cunningham
Director = Arlene Sanford
Guests =
Episode list = List of Desperate Housewives episodes
Prev = Impossible
Next = There Won't Be Trumpets

"The Ladies Who Lunch" is the 16th episode of the ABC television series, "Desperate Housewives". The episode was the 16th episode for the show's first season. The episode was written by Alexandra Cunningham and was directed by Arlene Sanford. It originally aired on Sunday, March 27, 2005.

Guest Starring

* Doug Savant as Tom Scavo
* Sharon Lawrence as Maisy Gibbons
* Harriet Sansom Harris as Felicia Tilman
* Lisa Darr as Tammy Brennan
* Harry S. Murphy as Headmaster Lentz
* Mary-Pat Green as Nurse Abigail
* Jill Brennan as Tish Atherton

Co-Starring

* Brent Kinsman as Preston Scavo
* Shane Kinsman as Porter Scavo
* Zane Huett as Parker Scavo
* Pat Crawford Brown as Ida Greenberg
* Glenn Taranto as Undercover Cop
* Maria Cominis as Mona Clark
* Joshua Finkel as Country Club Maitre D'
* Heather Lee as Gossipy Woman
* Sara Van Horn as Crossing Guard
* Cheyenne Wilbur as Shooting Neighbor
* Matthew Stephen Young as Cable Guy

Plot

After Maisy Gibbons is arrested for solication, word gets out about her humiliating escapades. As the neighborhood shares in her embarrassment, rumors are revealed that Maisy kept a "little black book" of all of her former clients which includes of course, Rex Van De Kamp. When Bree finds out about this she tries to get Rex cleared from the list by visiting Maisy in jail. Maisy asks after all the years of supposedly being friends that Bree would not help her and did not give her the support when Harold lost his job. Maisy refuses to cross Rex's name off the list and Bree is seen as a target while out with Rex. Meanwhile, Lynette tries to get re-invited to a very posh party thrown by a friend of the twins. But when a lice outbreak occurs, the other parents point fingers at Lynette that her children have lice. Lynette then receives word from the school nurse that the party host's child is the original spreader of the lice. Gabrielle's plumbing breaks and the two are forced to use their backyard and a port-a-john for bathroom use. Edie tries to get Susan to get over her break-up with Mike by taking her to a bar to pick up a man. Instead, Susan tells Edie about the Mary Alice/Dana mystery. Edie then tells Susan she has a key to Paul's house which they could use to find some evidence. When they arrive there, they find a video which is titled "Angela". Susan decides to watch it and sees a congratulations party for Angela (Mary Alice) with Felicia in attendance. Edie and Susan are forced to leave when Paul surprisingly arrives home. Edie quickly devises a plan and kisses Paul in order for Susan to escape. The following day, instead of renewing her membership to her country club, Bree decides to give the money to Gabrielle to get her plumbing fixed.

Quotes

*Maisy Gibbons: Since my arrest, none of my friends came to visit me. I've been abandoned. I guess that's what happens when you become the town whore. Bree: Oh, sweetie, they didn't abandon you because you're a whore. They abandoned you because you weren't all that nice to begin with.
*Gabrielle: Here's how I see it. Good friends avoid each other after an incident. Great friends pretend nothing happened at all.
*Bree: Here's how I see it. Good friends offer to help in a crisis. Great friends won't take "no" for an answer.
*Susan: The police showed me your rap sheet. You killed a man. Mike: I was gonna tell you but there was never a right time. Susan: You see? That's a lie too. There were plenty of right times. Every time we went out for pizza you could've said, "By the way, I once killed a man". Every time you said "Hey, let's go jogging", you could've said, "Oh, by the way, I once killed a man". Every time we went to the movies and the hero shot the bad guy you could've turned to me and said, "Oh, by the way, I did that once", but you didn't!
*Edie: What the hell kind of street do we live on?
*Susan: Do you believe in evil, Edie? Edie: Of course I believe in evil, I work in real estate.

Notes

*After a three week absence, Nicollette Sheridan returns as Edie Britt and has the most screen time for this episode among the entire cast.
*It was Mark Moses who suggested to the writers of Desperate Housewives that he thought Paul and Edie (Nicollette Sheridan) should be intimately linked, which is shown in this particular episode. But, a relationship never blossomed between the pair.

Title reference

The episode title "The Ladies Who Lunch" comes from the Stephen Sondheim musical, "Company".

International Titles

*French: "La plus belle pour me faire coffrer"
*German: "Das kleine schwarze Buch" (The Little Black Book)
*Hungarian: "Hölgyek fehér asztal mellett" (Ladies next to a white table)
*Italian: "Solidarietà femminile" (Female solidarity)
*Spanish: "Las damas que almuerzan" (The Ladies Who Lunch)