My Husband, the Pig

“My Husband, the Pig” is the 63rd episode of the ABC television series, Desperate Housewives. It was also the sixteenth episode of the show’s third season. It was written by Brian A. Alexander and directed by Larry Shaw. It originally aired March 4, 2007.

Plot

This is a male-focused episode which is narrated by Rex Van de Kamp.

Edie Britt gets a visit from her ex-husband, Charles McLain (though he is not shown), and their 9-year-old son, Travers. Charles wants Edie to take care of Travers while Charles is in Africa for a month with Doctors Without Borders. Edie does not want to sit her son, but Travers wants to stay with her so she promises to take care of him. Edie’s neighbor Carlos Solis brings a woman named Kelly to Mike Delfino’s and his house. As they are about to have sex, Carlos notices Travers playing outside by himself, in the dark. Carlos brings Travers inside, which causes Kelly to leave. The end of the episode implies that Carlos is reminded of his desire for a child by this incident.

Victor Lang, a rich man in his midforties, tells his chauffeur to rear-end Gabrielle Marquez’s Aston Martin DB9 Convertible on purpose so he and Gabrielle can meet. The next day, Gabrielle goes to Victor’s office and finds him being interviewed and photographed. He is running for mayor of Fairview. She agrees to go out with him, and though they have a pleasant date, she does not think he is the right man for her. Still, he is seen confidently telling a waiter he was going to marry "that girl".

Familyman Tom Scavo makes a nice romantic gesture for his wife Lynette involving a horse and carriage ride for their anniversary. Naturally, things go awry, but by the end of the episode, they have reaffirmed their love for one another.

Danielle Van de Kamp discovers she is pregnant and it is believed by her family that Edie Britt’s nephew Austin McCann is the father. Danielle’s stepfather Orson Hodge wants Austin to leave town, and he decides that Danielle will go somewhere else to give birth to the baby and then give it up for adoption; the cover story being that she is taking a semester abroad. Austin writes his ex-girlfriend Julie Mayer a heartfelt letter and she agrees to take him back, not knowing about Danielle’s pregnancy. Austin tells Julie he has to leave for a while for "a family thing".

Mike Delfino returns the engagement ring he had planned on giving to his ex-girlfriend Susan Mayer and the jeweler notes the inscription on the inside dedicated to Susan. At that moment Susan walks in with her engagement ring from her new boyfriend and fiancé Ian Hainsworth; she wants to have the ring resized as Ian bought the wrong size. The jeweler takes the ring that Mike was returning and uses it to size Susan's finger--and it fits. A poker game with all the husbands and bachelors from Wisteria Lane leads to a face-off between Ian and Mike. After selling back the ring he is able to repay Ian for the lawyer he hired for him. However, with Mike quickly losing out on money, Ian offers a new stake saying that if Mike wins the hand he can tell Susan whatever he likes, but if Ian wins Mike cannot utter a word. Mike has 3 kings and 2 queens, and so believes he will win. He loses the hand and cannot tell Susan that he was planning to propose the night he was hit by the car.

Ratings

This episode had 18.3 million viewers on its original airing.

Cast

Although credited, Preston Scavo (Brent Kinsman), Porter Scavo (Shane Kinsman), and Parker Scavo (Zane Huett) do not appear in this episode. Bree Hodge (Marcia Cross) also does not appear in this episode, although Cross’s stand-in Carolyn Howard was used for the cold open scene. This is the first episode of the show that Marcia Cross did not appear in.

Series continuity

This is also the first episode not narrated by Mary Alice Young, though her voice does appear in the “Previously on Desperate Housewives” narrative. This was narrated by Rex Van de Kamp instead. This is Josh Henderson's last episode.

Title reference

The episode title, My Husband, the Pig is a song taken (cut from the original production) from the Stephen Sondheim musical, A Little Night Music. The title is something of a misnomer in more ways than one, as only two of the men seen in the episode (Tom and Orson) are currently married and, except for Austin, all appear genuinely considerate in this episode.

Cultural references

John Singleton Copley’s painting Watson and the Shark can be seen hanging in Victor’s office.

Awards

• James Denton submitted this episode for consideration on his behalf in the category of “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series” at the 2007 Emmy Awards.^[1]
• Josh Henderson and Doug Savant both submitted this episode for consideration in the category of “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series”.^[1]
• John Slattery also submitted this episode for “Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series”^[1]
• Steven Culp also submitted this episode for consideration of his work in the category of “Outstanding Voice-Over Performance” for the 2007 Emmy Awards.^[1]

International titles

• Croatian: Moj muž, svinja (My Husband, the Pig)
• Español: Mi esposo el tramposo (My Husband, the Cheater)
• French: Le grand jeu (Big deal)
• German: Männer sind Schweine (Men Are Pigs)
• Hebrew: בעלי החזיר (Ba'ali HaChazir; My Husband, the Pig)
• Hungarian: A férjem, a disznó (My Husband, the Pig)
• Italian: Sorprese (Surprises)
• Polish: Mój mąż, świnia (My Husband, the Pig)

References