Desperate Housewives has a shockingly high body count. The comedy-drama, set on the iconic fictional street Wisteria Lane, ran for eight seasons on ABC from 2004 until 2012. Created by Marc Cherry, Desperate Housewives focuses on a series of mysteries affecting the families who live on Wisteria Lane through the lens of Mary Alice Young (Starship Troopers' Brenda Strong), who dies by suicide in the pilot episode, and acts as the narrator for the rest of the show. The show features an impressive ensemble cast, including Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, and Eva Longoria as the titular housewives.
Desperate Housewives was not only known for its impressive cast but also for its series of mysteries, which led to an impressive body count by the time the final episode was broadcast. Unfortunately, for many of the show's characters, very few deaths were due to natural causes. Instead, most of them can be attributed to serial killers, freak accidents, eco-terrorists, tornados, and even an actual white picket fence post once. Desperate Housewives doesn't need a rumored reboot to be outrageous with this level of carnage.
Desperate Housewives Huge Kill Count Explained
Throughout Desperate Housewives' eight seasons, 57 different characters perished. The most prevalent method of killing in the show is murder, with 22 characters being killed. Various illnesses and heart attacks claim another seven, while eight die in car accidents or hit-and-run incidents. Although Mary Alice Young's death incites the rest of the show, only one other character dies by suicide (though at least four other characters accidentally kill themselves). Two characters are killed by a tornado, while another two die due to freak accidents. Finally, two characters die of unknown causes, while only four die due to natural causes.
Which Desperate Housewives Season Was Deadliest
Although no season had fewer than five deaths, including flashbacks, flashforwards, and Desperate Housewives' unusual five-year time jump, one season truly went above and beyond when it came to its body count. Season six of Desperate Housewives had 12 individual deaths, which is significantly higher than any other season. This is due to two major events in the season: the Fairview Strangler storyline, which saw four women murdered by a misogynistic serial killer, and a plane crash, which killed five characters. Desperate Housewives' season six finale also saw eco-terrorist Patrick Logan (John Barrowman) blow himself up after forcing Angie Bolen (Drea de Matteo) to build him a bomb.
There are three seasons in the running for the show's least deadly: the first, seventh, and Desperate Housewives' final season, with only five characters perishing in each. The third season is the runner-up in the most deadly Desperate Housewives season, with nine characters not living to see the end of the finale, although four of those occur in flashbacks. Many of the characters unfortunate enough to live on Wisteria Lane in Desperate Housewives do not live to see the show's end, as the ABC mystery drama-comedy has a shockingly high body count of 57 characters.
