‘Desperate Housewives’: Who Do All the Major Characters End Up With?
Desperate Housewives was as much of a formative experience as getting your period or believing that one ex will change. (Spoiler alert: He won’t.) Despite the hit TV show only running for eight seasons, it cemented its place in both our collective consciousness and TV history.
It was revolutionary in its focus on women, not just their relationships, but their friendships, families, jobs, and identities. The wives were always the center of the show, even when they were single. Desperate Housewives, which is available to stream on Disney+, Hulu, and Prime Video, changed the game for female-led television, and we won’t tolerate anyone failing to give it the respect it deserves.
Over those eight seasons — and one very confusing time jump that seemed to affect every character differently — the residents of Wisteria Lane went through a dizzying number of relationships. Keeping track was a challenge, to say the least. So, who did all the Desperate Housewives characters end up with? Here’s your handy guide.
Which Desperate Housewives end couple do you think would break up first? Let us know in the comments.
Who does Susan end up with?
Our resident manic pixie dream wife. Susan (Teri Hatcher) begins the show as a single mother raising her daughter, Julie (Andrea Bowen), newly separated from her philandering ex, Karl, who later died when a plane crashed into Santa’s Grotto. Long story. She quickly falls for her mysterious new neighbor, Mike Delfino (James Denton), and they are famously on-again, off-again throughout the series. Along the way, Susan also dates Canadian painter Jackson, helps him with a visa marriage, has a romance with Ron the doctor, and is briefly engaged to British Ian.
By the end of Desperate Housewives, Susan is grieving the death of her husband, Mike, whose murder midway through Season 8 remains one of the show’s most emotional deaths. Meanwhile, Julie gives birth in the finale. Susan ultimately leaves Wisteria Lane to help Julie raise the baby while Julie continues her studies. She ends the series single, with no new romance on the horizon.
Who does Bree end up with?
Bree (Marcia Cross) starts Desperate Housewives married, and she ends it married, too… just not to the same person. Or even close, actually. After her husband, Rex (Steven Culp), dies, and she’s cleared of his murder when it’s revealed her new boyfriend, George the pharmacist (Roger Bart), is responsible, Bree takes a while before dating again. She later marries Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLachlan), pretends her daughter’s baby is actually theirs, then divorces him before moving on to relationships with Keith, Peter, and Chuck. Then, naturally, she ends up accused of murder herself. Yikes.
During her trial, Bree falls for her lawyer, Trip Weston (Scott Bakula), and he falls hard for her, too, to the point that he refuses to follow her wishes and let her take the fall. Instead, he brought Gabby to the stand, triggering the chain of events that ultimately exposes the truth.
Once Bree is found not guilty, she and Trip get married and relocate to Louisville, Kentucky. In the flash-forward finale, we learn that Bree eventually became a state politician, which honestly surprises absolutely nobody.
Who does Lynette end up with?
When we first meet Lynette (Felicity Huffman), she is married to Tom Scavo (the worst), has four kids, and is slowly spiraling. When the show ends, she’s married to Tom Scavo (Doug Savant) once again, now with five children and a grandchild on the way.
Tom and Lynette decide to separate when the Season 8 murder cover-up begins, and Lynette initially wants to keep him out of everything. Tom quickly embraces bachelor life and even gets himself a new girlfriend, while Lynette’s attempts at dating never quite work out — despite her very obviously being the catch in that relationship.
In the end, however, the pair reconciles and relocates to New York City, where they move into a penthouse overlooking Central Park. Lynette becomes the CEO of Katherine’s frozen desserts company and remains there for years, with the flash-forward revealing that she takes her grandchildren to the park there.
Who does Gabby end up with?
At the beginning of Desperate Housewives, Gabby (Eva Longoria) and Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) are an incredibly unhappy couple. Gabby is the classic trophy wife, feeling neglected by her workaholic husband, which leads her to begin an affair with her teenage gardener, John (Jesse Metcalfe). Over the years, the pair goes through absolutely everything: Carlos goes to prison and returns, Gabby experiences a miscarriage, Carlos has an affair with their surrogate, and the two eventually divorce. Gabby even marries Victor (John Slattery), although she regrets it during the wedding itself and sleeps with Carlos shortly afterwards.
The pair officially reunites in Season 4. By then, they’ve both changed enormously and are raising two daughters together, but their struggles are far from over. Their biggest challenge comes in Season 8 following the murder of Gabby’s abusive stepfather and the subsequent cover-up, which becomes the central mystery of the final season.
By the end of Desperate Housewives, Gabby relocates to California with her family and becomes a host on the Home Shopping Network, allowing her to channel her lifelong love of fashion into a career. It’s a fitting ending for a character who spent much of the series trying to figure out who she wanted to be beyond just being somebody’s wife.
Who does Renee end up with?
The latest addition to the Desperate Housewives cast — but one we appreciated — Renee (Vanessa Williams) joined the show in Season 7 as an old friend of Lynette’s who moves to Wisteria Lane after her divorce.
She goes on a few dates during her first season and briefly reconciles with her ex, Doug, but it isn’t until she meets Ben Faulkner (Charles Mesure) in Season 8 that things really change. Opposites attract, and despite a few bumps along the way, the pair hits it off and finishes the series getting married. Happily ever after.
