Marcia Cross
Desperate Housewives wraps its eight-season run on Sunday, May 13 (9/8c on ABC) and what a long, strange trip it's been for the ladies of Wisteria Lane! As we prepare to kiss our favorite harried housewives goodbye, TVGuide.com takes a look back at each of the four protagonists' biggest triumphs, greatest downfalls and all the juicy hookups, makeups and breakups in between.
Check back every day this week for our takes on the other Housewives' wild rides.
Name: Bree Van de Kamp (formerly Hodge)
Known For: Perfect manners, conservative values, cooking skills, firearms skills, alcoholism
Marriages: Rex Van de Kamp (widowed), Orson Hodge (divorced)
Children: Andrew and Danielle (one additional faked pregnancy, to cover for...
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Shawn Pyfrom
Dana Delany, Kyle MacLachlan and Andrea Bowen aren't the only ones reappearing on Wisteria Lane: Shawn Pyfrom is set to return in one of the final episodes of Desperate Housewives, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively.
Check out the rest of today's news
Pyfrom, who portrays Bree's (Marcia Cross) son Andrew, will reemerge in...
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Sarah Paulson
Sarah Paulson, last seen on Desperate Housewives back in 2007, is returning to Wisteria Lane in her role as Lynette's loser sister, Lydia. But oh how things have changed. "Lynette always helped put the pieces back in Lydia's disastrous personal life, but she is now engaged and shows up with her new fiancé," previews executive producer Bob Daily. With Lynette newly separated from Tom, Lydia is now the one offering a shoulder to cry on. "We'll hear her say, 'Oh Lynette, I'm so sorry. What can I do to help?' The seeds of sibling rivalry are planted as the roles are reversed." TV fans may also remember Sarah from such series as Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Deadwood.
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Last week, I complained about ABC revealing too much during their promos and coming attractions. This week, I must do the opposite. Thank you, ABC, for not revealing too much about the plot of this episode in last week's previews. We were simply teased without seeing any key plot developments. For all we knew, Edie and Carlos were going to have amazing sex together because of those Postman Always Rings Twice-like scenes they showed, not the "amazingly bad" sex they had their first two attempts. I loved Edie bitching at Carlos about referring to her as being "bad in bed." Edie: "I've had more thrills leaning up against the dryer." I was pleased to see the two of them finally have success at the very end. I kind of wish they played Nicollette Sheridan's other half's song "Time, Love and Tenderness" when they showed them lying in bed together after the good sex. Sometimes that's all it takes — time, love and tenderness — rather than, "Wham bam, thank you, ma'am."I found it qu...
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What a refreshing change of pace: an entire episode told from the point of view of the husbands rather than the wives. And who better to narrate than one of the dead husbands? Rex Van De Kamp (Steven Culp), great to have you back, or at least your voice. Reminded me a bit of the one time George narrated instead of Meredith on Grey's Anatomy. Shifting the focus to the husbands was an effective way of keeping our minds occupied during the absence of Marcia Cross. You've heard of going braless; well, this episode was Bree-less. But hey, Momma was preparing to have twins. Good timing for Bree to be off "visiting her parents" while her slutty daughter Danielle discovered she was pregnant. And just when Julie was forgiving Austin for cheating on her with Danielle. I loved Danielle loudly puking after Julie was telling Austin she'd give him another chance. Did any of you think Andrew was about to proposition Austin into sleeping with him as blackmail so Andrew wouldn't tell Julie about Dan...
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Those promos at the end of last week's episode were right. We finally got answers to so many questions involving Orson's past:— He was in a psychiatric ward in 1976 after the supposed suicide of his adulterous but religious father. (But now we know Gloria staged the suicide the same way she was trying to stage Bree's.)— Gloria had blamed Orson for her husband's death, saying Orson was supposed to watch out for him, but chose to go out with friends.— It was Gloria who killed Monique with Mike's wrench.— Orson buried Monique in the dirt while Gloria removed Monique's teeth (ouch).Ahh... closure, at last. I knew it would be good tonight since it was written by Marc Cherry and Joe Keenan. As discussed here before, Marc had to finish up Bree's story line earlier than originally planned due to Marcia Cross' pregnancy. I was very happy that Gloria ended up alive at the end. When Ida Greenberg found the bodies of Alma and Gloria lying on the lawn, I figured they were bot...
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After last week's laugh-filled hour, tonight was a bit of a letdown as far as the humor level goes. This doesn't mean I didn't like this episode — I just enjoyed it less, and I am in agreement with those of you who are starting to get a bit tired of the Alma story line. When, oh, when will we get to see Monique in flashbacks again? At least we know that those teeth are actually Monique's, as expected, and we found out what Alma was injecting herself with — hormones, so she'd get pregnant more easily. Speaking of which, how about Alma giving Orson both sleeping pills and Viagra so that she could rape him while he was passed out? I do give the writers (Valerie Ahern and Christian McLaughlin) credit for making references to Viagra without actually mentioning it, like Alma saying she gave Orson something "to keep the part of you I need nice and perky." That was pretty creepy when Gloria mentioned how much she wanted a grandchild while Alma got ready for her night with Orson by...
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First thing I need to say right off the bat is how funny I thought the show was tonight. Not that I don't always think it's humorous, but I found it even funnier than normal. So I must commend the writers — co-executive producer Kevin Murphy and producer Kevin Etten — for a hilarious script. There were so many great lines, but I think my favorite was Lynette to Tom after Tom told her he wasn't inviting her to the opening of his new restaurant due to her snarky attitude, which made Lynette say no to sex. Tom: "So we're not havin' sex?" Lynette: "Hey — you banned me from your opening." Shut up. To think that Lynette had to expose her breasts to that old man Harry (Richard Herd) just to get him to sign off on Tom's liquor license. What a wife won't do for her husband. Mrs. McCluskey was an excellent inspiration for Lynette, so Kathryn Joosten was able to deliver one of the episode's many other zingers (re: Tom): "It's bad enough you cut off his cojones. Now you want to j...
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As Nicollette Sheridan said to the women on The View last week: "Finally! A new episode!" I would've preferred more Nicollette tonight, though, besides just the final scene. But what a final scene — Alma is moving to Wisteria Lane, thanks to the real-estate savvy of Edie. The best episodes of DH are the ones like tonight that introduce new mysteries while further answering old ones. What was Alma giving herself a shot of in her thigh? For a while there, I thought she was killing herself, but I was wrong. I liked the earlier flashback scene where we found out why Alma and Orson got married — she tricked him into getting her pregnant, and he was never in love with her. Loved when she showed up to Bree's door, and Bree fainted. Valerie Mahaffey is a stellar addition to an already solid cast, so I hope Alma lasts. Her best line was to Orson while sitting next to Bree on the couch: "What is it with you and redheads?" Since Alma and Bree are so similar, it was natural for them t...
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After last week's ending, I was really hoping that we'd find out more info on the backgrounds of Orson and Art tonight, but they are really taking baby steps when it comes to those two mysterious characters. So now we at least know (thanks to Orson's mama, Gloria) that Orson was having an affair with Monique while being married to Alma — the same Monique that had an affair with Harvey Bigsby, Carolyn's hubby. As Gloria so eloquently put it, Monique "got around." But Gloria still knows more and is holding those nuggets over Orson's head: "What are you going to do to me that hasn't already been done?" That look of death that Orson gave Gloria made me believe he'd kill her in the next scene. But instead, Bree packed Orson's things and asked him to leave, apparently believing Gloria. I'm still loving Dixie Carter as Gloria, and I hope she spills more of the beans about Orson soon. How perfect for Andrew to be in cahoots with Gloria, attempting to sneak her wine behind Bree's back, ...
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