“Desperate Housewives” season eight was a final season that managed to incorporate all the angst, the craziness, those “I can’t believe this just happened” moments and a heartbreaking, tragic death scene. But it also featured a storyline with proper closure for longtime viewers of the series.If you stuck with the series this long, “Desperate Housewives: The Complete Eighth and Final Season” is definitely recommended!
Images courtesy of © 2012 ABC Studios. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Desperate Housewives: The Complete Eighth and Final Season
DURATION: (23 episodes) 987 minutes
DVD INFORMATION: NTSC, Region 1, Widescreen (1:78:1), NTSC, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles
RATED: TV 14 DLSV
COMPANY: abc studios
RELEASE DATE: September 25, 2012
Created by Marc Cherry
Directed by Larry Shaw, David Grossman, David Warren, Bathany Rooney
Written by Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, Matt Berry, Joe Keenan, Jason Ganzel, Jeff Greenstein, Marco Pennette, David Schladweiler, John Paul Bullock II, Josann McGibbon, Sara Parriott
Executive Produced by Marc Cherry, Geroge W. Perkins, Larry Shaw, David Grossman, Sabrina Wind, Dana N. Wilson, Josann McGibbon,
Co-Executive Produced by Sara Parriott, Annie Weisman
Produced by Charlas Skouras II, Stephanie Hagen
Consulting Producer: Jeff Greenstein. Joe Keenan
Music by Steve Jablonsky
Cinematography by Lowell Peterson, David J. Miller
Editing by Andrew Doerfer, Jonathan Posell, Karen Castaneda
Casting by Scott Genkinger, Junie Lowry-Johnson
Production Design by Erik Carlson
Series Art Direction by Brian Jewell
Series Set Decoration by Eric Rogalia
Series Costume Design by Catherine Adair
Series Casting by Scott Genkinger, Junie Lowry-Johnson
Production Design by Erik Carlson
Art Design by Brian Jewell, Erik Carlson
Set Decoration by Erica Rogalla
Costume Design by Catherine Adair
Starring:
Terri Hatcher as Susan Mayer
Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo
Marcia Cross as Bree Hodge
Eva Longoria Parker as Gabrielle Solis
Dana Delany as Katherine Mayfair
Ricardo Chavira as Carlos Solis
Brenda Strong as Mary Alice Young
Doug Savant as Tom Scavo
James Denton as Mike Delfino
Shawn Pyfrom as Andrew Van De Kamp
Andrea Bowen as Julie Mayer
Kyle MacLachlan as Orson Hodge
Kathryn Joosen as Karen McCluskey
Richard Burgi as Karl Mayer
Maiara Walsh as Ana Solis
Vanessa Williams as Renee Perry
Harrie Sansom Harris as Felicia Tilman
Darcy Rose byrnes as Penny Scavo
Emily Bergl as Beth Young
Brian Austin Green – Keith Watson
Polly Bergen as Stella Wingfield
Roger Bart as George Williams
Jonathan Cake as Chuck Vance
Christine Estabrook as Martha Huber
Andrea Parker as Jane Carlson
Maria Cominis as Mona Clark
Dakin Matthews as Reverend Sikes
Kiersten Warren as Nora Huntington
Valerie Mahaffey as Alma Hodge
Michael Dempsey as Detective Murphy
Lupe Ontiveros as Juanita “Mama” Solis
Steve Tyler as Minister
Say goodbye to the ladies of Wisteria Lane with the final climactic season of “Desperate Housewives.†The stakes are at an all-time high as each of the women cope with theirnnguilt in the aftermath of last season’s shocking murder and cover-up. Complete your collection with “Desperate Housewives: The Eighth and Final Season.†The beloved series’ final season is released in a five-disc DVD set features exciting bonus material including the final goodbye from the original four housewives, bloopers, deleted scenes and more.
Season seven of “Desperate Housewives” ended with Carlos killing Gaby’s evil stepfather (who was trying to get close to her again) and her friends deciding to hide the body.
With the final eighth season of “Desperate Housewives”, being an accomplice of hiding a body involved in a murder is starting to take its toll on Carlos and some of the women.
With Susan, she never wanted to be part of the whole plan but now the guilt is starting to affect her to the point that she is acting out on her guilt. She wants to tell her husband Mike how she feels but her friends do not want her telling anyone.
Meanwhile, Bree is stunned when a letter arrives in her mailbox telling her that the person knows what she did. A similarity to the letter that led to Mary Alice Young’s death.
Gabrielle is trying to deal with Carlos’ guilt. With Carlos not wanting to be intimate, it’s affecting her marriage and she is not sure what to do.
Lynette and Tom separate but when they start living separate lives, they realize that their problems are much greater than they have expected.
What is “Desperate Housewives”?
“Desperate Housewives” is a series that had so many complex storylines that to even explain what has happened in the last four seasons would be difficult but if there is one thing that remains the same, it’s our housewives.
The premise of the first season was based around the death of fellow housewife Mary Alice Young (played by Brenda Strong, “Everwood”, “The Help”, “A Plumm Summer”). Mary Alice Young is the narrator of the series and every episode, she has setup the sequences of what is going on in the life of her friends. And its the housewives of Wisteria Lane who have lived complex lives full of love, betrayal, pain and sadness.
For the seventh season of “Desperate Housewives”, each of the housewives are dealing with problems in their life. Susan and Mike are struggling financially to make ends meet and Susan misses living in Wisteria Lane with her friends. She must make a decision on how to pay the bills, that means taking on a job she doesn’t want to do. Gabrielle and Carlos must deal with the news that their daughter was switched as birth and that Juanita is not their true blood daughter. Meanwhile, Gabi has a person in her past return back to her life. Bree meanwhile is single but she has her eyes on her young contractor. Lynette and Tom are trying to work on their marriage after going through some major difficulties and Lynette’s best friend/rival from college, Renee Perry (played by Vanessa Williams) moves to Wisteria Lane.
With the eighth and final season of “Desperate Housewives”,
The main characters of “Desperate Housewives” Season 8 are:
- Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher, “Seinfeld”, “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman”) – One of the lead characters who was married to Karl and had a daughter named Julie. They divorced and Susan married Mike Delfino who she ended up divorcing. But in season 5, they manage to patch things up and remarry and have a song together. But because Mike’s plumbing business has gone south, both Susan and Mike are forced to leave Wisteria Lane and the family struggle to make ends meet.
- Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman, “Frasier”, “Sports Night”, “Raising Helen”) – Lynnette was a former advertising executive who is married to Tom Scavo (Doug Savant, “Melrose Place) and has four children: her teenage twins (and often in trouble) Preston and Porter, Parker is the youngest son and the well-behaved youngest daughter Penny. In season eight, Lynette and Tom are having marital problems.
- Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross, “Everwood”, “Melrose Place”) – Bree was a former cooking tycoon but has since sold her business, she is now dating a police officer.
- Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria Parker, “Dragnet”, “The Hearbreak Kid”, “Young and the Restless”) – The youngest housewife who enjoys money. She is married to Carlos Solis (Ricardo Chavira, “Six Feet Under”) and has two daughters.
- Renee Perry (Vanessa Williams, “Ugly Betty”, “Shaft”, “Eraser”, “Soul Food) – Lynette’s best friend from college. Formerly married to a professional baseball player, now in a divorce, she moves to Wisteria Lane and hangs out with the women. She also runs an interior design business with Lynette.
- Mike Delfino (James Denton, “Threat Matrix”) – The husband of Susan who works as a plumber. He has re-married Susan and both are struggling financially.
- Tom Scavo (Doug Savant, “24”, “Melrose Place”) – The husband of Lynette who has return back to a corporate job and is now the main breadwinner of the family. In season eight, Tom and Lynette are having marital problems and decide to separate. But do they have a chance of getting back together or is their marriage definitely over?
- Carlos Solis (Ricardo Chavira, “Prinha”, “Days of Wrath”) – The husband of Gabrielle and a successful business owner. In season eight, he suffers with guilt after killing Gabrielle’s father
“Desperate Housewives: The Complete Eighth Season” on DVD features the following episodes 158-157 (the following are spoiler-less summaries):
- EPISODE 158 – Secrets That I Never Want to Know – After Carlos kills Gaby’s evil stepfather, the housewives hide and bury the body. But now the guilt is starting to get to them.
- EPISODE 159 – Making the Connection – Susan is not sure how she can deal with her guilt and Gaby is wanting Carlos to be normal again.
- EPISODE 160 – What While I Revise the World- Susan and Carlos look towards each other for help for their guilt.
- EPISODE 161 – School of Hard Knocks – Gabrielle wants to get even with a parent volunteer.  Meanwhile, Susan takes painting classes. Lynette is upset that Tom is dating other women.
- EPISODE 162 – The Art of Making Art – Susan comes to her art class in the nude and Lynette tries to hit the singles scene and meet new men.
- EPISODE 163 – Witch’s Lament – Gabrielle, Bree and Lynette plan to exhume the body of Gabrielle’s stepfather and move it after learning that Ben’s real estate excavation is taking place where they buried the body.
- EPISODE 164 – Always in Control – Bree finds out who dug up the body of Gabrielle’s stepfather. Lynette tells lies to Penny about Tom’s new girlfriend.
- EPISODE 165 – Suspicion Song – Detective Chuck Vance begins to suspect that Bree may be involved in the disappearance of Alejandro.
- EPISODE 166 – Putting It Together – Chuck calles the housewives into questioning for the disappearance and possible murder of Alejandro.
- EPISODE 167 – What’s to Discuss, Old Friend – Bree considers to end her life after her friends abandon her.
- EPISODE 168 – Who Can Say What’s True? – Gabrielle goes to Lynette in help of trying to get a company to sign with Carlos’ firm.
- EPISODE 169 – What’s the Good of Being Good – Bree’s life is going for the worse as she is becoming an alcoholic. Lynette goes on a date.
- EPISODE 170 – Is This What You Call Love? – Susan is shocked with a surprise visit by her daughter Julie….who is six months pregnant. Lynette decides to have sex with another man.
- EPISODE 171 – Get Out of My Life – Susan finds out who the father of Julie’s baby is and Orson decides to do all he can to help Bree.
- EPISODE 172 – She Needs Me – When it is revealed that Porter is the father of Julie’s baby, Susan is supportive. Lynette tells Porter she will not help raise her future granddaughter.
- EPISODE 173 – Searching – Mike gets into trouble when Ben’s loan shark comes after him. Carlos is behaving strangely.
- EPISODE 174 – You Take for Granted – Susan has a donor but Paul stands in the way, meanwhile Felicia is released from prison and wants revenge for what happened to her daughter. Meanwhile, Mrs. McClusky asks Bree to do something important for her. And a major character is killed.
- EPISODE 175 – Women and Death – The people of Wisteria Lane share their memories of a person they will remember at his funeral. Meanwhile Bree is called into questioning for the murder of Alejandro.
- EPISODE 176 – Any Moment – Julie is not so happy with Susan’s parenting skills of MJ. Carlos makes a big decision in regards to his career.
- EPISODE 177 – With So Little To Be Sure Of – Susan discovers a big secret that Mike has been hiding. Meanwhile, Gabrielle tries to find a way to earn a bigger commission from her new job.
- EPISODE 179 – Lost My Power – Bree’s attorney tries to find ways to defend her in the murder and disappearance of Alejandro, meanwhile with Mike gone, Susan need to help MJ at a father and son school event.
- EPISODE 180 – The People Will Hear – Bree starts to fall for her attorney, meanwhile the housewives are upset how Gabrielle can allow Bree to take the fall for the murder of Alejandro.
- EPISODE 181 – Give Me the Blame – With Bree in danger of going to prison, he asks for her to tell him the truth of who really killed Alejandro. Susan decides to sell her house and move away from Wisteria Lane.
- EPISODE 182 – Finishing the Hat – The Final Episode – The result of the murder trial and what happens to the Housewives?
VIDEO:
“Desperate Housewives: The Complete Eighth and Final Season” is featured in Widescreen (1:78:1), enhanced for 16×9 televisions. “Desperate Housewives” looks very good on DVD. Outdoor scenes are nice and vibrant, blacks and low-light scenes do not have the excessive noise problems that some series tend to exhibit on a DVD release.
For the most part, cinematography for “Desperate Housewives” has been excellent and the editing top notch. The series looks great and I can only imagine how beautiful this series would look on High Definition (via Blu-ray).
AUDIO:
“Desperate Housewives: The Complete Eighth and Final Season” is featured in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound and pretty much, “Desperate Housewives” has always been a dialogue-driven television show and is primarily front and center channel driven. For the most part, dialogue is clear and understandable. The show uses minimal music and nor is it the kind of series that utilizes a lot of sound effects (the final episode has a little). For the most part, the setting I preferred to watch the series was to set my receiver setting and have stereo on all channels.
The series includes subtitles in English SDH, Spanish and in French.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Desperate Housewives: The Complete Eighth and Final Season” comes with the following special features:
DISC 5:
- “I Guess This is Goodbye” – (18:03) The cast talk about their upcoming final day of filming “Desperate Housewives”.
- Finale Commentary – (9:55) “Finishing the Hat” audio commentary with series creator Marc Cherry.
- Bloopers – (2:40) “Desperate Housewives” season eight outtakes.
- Deleted Scenes – A total of 15 deleted scenes.
EXTRAS:
“Desperate Housewives: The Complete Eighth and Final Season” comes with a slip cover case.
The end of “Desperate Housewives”.
It’s hard to believe that eight seasons have come and gone but like the housewives of Wisteria Lane, it’s about taking the next chapter of your lives and move forward.
But the eighth season of “Desperate Housewives”, for me as a longtime viewer, represented the good and the bad of “Desperate Housewives”.   First, I will discuss the bad and then lead on to what I felt was good about this season.
Lynette and Tom Scavo were the ultimate couple that had problematic situations but to see them separate and see them with other people was a hard pill to swallow. Yes, these situations happen in America but with everyone having been divorced and probably better that they did, Lynette and Tom were a couple that I saw going south in their relationship.
The main part of the story this season was the death of Alejandro. They really extended this storyline for the full season but it’s understandable to see Carlos as an alcoholic, its easy to see Susan suffering from guilt, but the emotional downfall of Bree was too ridiculous to watch as this woman has always been in control, even during the worst of times. The way they made her out to be a fragile and something she was not due to alcohol, it was turn I didn’t like one single bit.
And possibly the other thing that I felt was terrible was Gabrielle letting her friends take the fall for Carlos’ murder. If anyone should be leaving their friend, the housewives could have easily ditched her for her selfish behavior. But it’s Gabrielle after all, thinking about herself first and then her daughters.
Then there was the death of a major character…you knew there was going to be a shocking episode coming up and it happened in a surprising way. Wasn’t expecting for it to happen and for this person’s significant other, all I kept thinking was if that person would ever find happiness because for eight years, the person has suffered from really miserable situations.
With that being said, it leads to the good. The good is that the series ends with closure for viewers. Their endings of what the characters end up doing, makes perfect sense.
At the same time, I credit Marc Cherry for really playing with people’s emotions this season, but if you have to go out with a bang, so be it. Give us an ending that we will remember and something not half-assed.
And that’s what made the eight season of “Desperate Housewives” so enjoyable.
As mentioned earlier, the separation of Lynette and Tom was upsetting because I felt they belong together. But to move through their problems, they needed to discover how much they mean to each other and how much they love each other. It was long, hard to watch at first but everything started to work itself out towards the end for this couple.
For Carlos and Gabrielle, it was a nice role reversal as Gabrielle took on the role of being the businesswoman and eventually both worked together through their problems and it would give Carlos a chance to be a father, while Gabrielle had more opportunities to grow past the housewife status.
As for Susan and Bree, their endings worked for me but their situations before getting there were troublesome. Susan was no doubt pushed to the limit this season. And I just wanted her to find some happiness, but just felt this season had this black cloud always above her. She was like the beat-up doll for eight seasons and while there were times where she was strong and overcame obstacles, I was hoping that she and Mike could find some semblance of “happily ever after”.
And as for Bree, for a strong woman, they really toyed with her mid-season and I disliked that. I’m glad Marc Cherry brought things full circle and she became a person that I felt she should be.
While this season featured less Renee, writers integrated her as much as they can, which was cool. But it’s the way they handled Karen McCluskey, I was proud of how the writers made her more than the nosy, blunt neighbor of Wisteria Lane but a woman who has saved the housewives, many times. But doing it once again in a grander fashion.
“Desperate Housewives: The Complete Eighth and Final Season” was an appropriate season, a very good final season with closure and it was time to end the show. From murders, psychotic individuals, natural disasters, riots to other crazy situations that have happened in Wisteria Lane, the characters have been subjected to so much, that they needed proper closure and Marc Cherry does fans and his cast a great service to let it end the way it did.
As for the “Desperate Housewives: The Complete Eighth and Final Season” DVD, the DVD continues to showcase the beautiful cinematography of “Desperate Housewives”. As one would expect from DVD, picture quality is good, audio quality was clear and understandable, and as for the special features, you do get a final stroll with the cast members in “I Guess This is A Goodbye” and one final commentary with Marc Cherry plus season eight outtakes and deleted scenes.
Overall, “Desperate Housewives” season eight was a final season that managed to incorporate all the angst, the craziness, those “I can’t believe this just happened” moments and a heartbreaking, tragic death scene. But it also featured a storyline with proper closure for longtime viewers of the series.
If you stuck with the series this long, “Desperate Housewives: The Complete Eighth and Final Season” is definitely recommended!
