From 2004 to 2012, the women of Desperate Housewives faced family drama, the ups and downs of their love lives, and some scary and silly situations on their quiet and idyllic street, Wisteria Lane. Throughout it all, Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), Gaby Solis (Eva Longoria), Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross), and Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher) are the best of friends.
When a TV drama is on the air for eight seasons, there are going to be some low-rated episodes, and fans aren’t going to love everything. That’s definitely the case with this show, and here ere are the 10 worst episodes of Desperate Housewives, according to IMDb.
Everybody Ought to Have a Maid (7.8)
This sixth season episode, which definitely has a strange title, is one of the lowest-rated episodes of Desperate Housewives of IMDb, earning a 7.8 rating. The title refers to one of the main storylines: Bree is cheating on her husband, Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLachlan) and a maid shares her life story of how she got where she is today. While Bree is intimate with Susan’s ex-husband Karl Mayer (Richard Burgi) in a motel, the maid tells her that she was also unfaithful during her marriage.
It’s frustrating to watch Bree in such a miserable, loveless marriage, which could be one reason why this episode wasn’t rated very high. Another annoying plotline is another mom telling Gaby that she’s not good at raising kids, which is just mean.
You’ll Never Get Away From Me (7.8)
This episode is from the second season, so it might be surprising that it was rated so low since this was early days in the show’s life, but it got also got a rating of 7.8 on IMDb.
There’s one major storyline in this episode that is a little grating: Gaby and Carlos are dealing with the aftermath of her cheating on him with John (Jesse Metcalfe), who did some landscaping and gardening for them. It’s clear that this was a mistake on Gaby’s part, and, since a housewife cheating on her husband because she’s bored is kind of a cliche at this point, it wasn’t that interesting to watch.
They Asked Me Why I Believe In You (7.8)
Another second season episode, “They Asked Me Why I Believe In You” has some pretty silly moments, which could account for the 7.8 out of 10 rating on IMDb.
While Desperate Housewives is beloved for its campy tone, there are some scenes that so goofy that they can be a bit much. Case in point: Lynette doesn’t love Nina (Joely Fisher), her boss, but goes out to bars with her for several evenings in a row so she can be her wing woman. Lynette eventually drinks so much that she goes pretty crazy, which humiliates Nina. Was there really a point to that scene?
My Heart Belongs To Daddy (7.8)
The season two episode “My Heart Belongs To Daddy” sees Carlos in jail and both Susan and Bree having relationship problems: Susan with Mike (James Denton) and Bree with George Williams (Roger Bart).
This isn’t the worst episode content-wise, as Lynette has a heartwarming storyline with her son, Parker (Zane Huett), when she acts like his imaginary friend is gone because she wants him to move on from that and she feels like a bad mom.
Live Alone and Like It (7.8)
With a better episode title that is both funny and also thought-provoking, this season one episode earned a 7.8 out of 10 rating on IMDb. It’s pretty surprising that the show’s first season would end up in the 10 worst-rated episodes, but sometimes that happens.
This is actually a pretty tough episode to watch as there are two offensive storylines: Bree doesn’t want her son, Andrew (Shawn Pyfrom) to be gay, and Lynette is annoyed that she’s helping out their elderly neighbor, Karen McCluskey (Kathryn Joosten).
Thank You So Much (7.8)
In this second season episode, the love triangle between Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan) and Susan heats up as Edie wants Karl to propose, but he’s going to ask Susan to marry him again.
They do get married again, but it’s frustrating since it’s clear to viewers that Karl is a conceited, mean jerk who Susan should run far away from for the sake of her and her daughter Julie (Andrea Bowen). There’s nothing worse than being a fan of a TV show and knowing that two characters shouldn’t be together.
School Of Hard Knocks (7.7)
It makes sense that this eighth season episode got a low rating (7.7 out of 10 on IMDb), as this was the show’s last season and fans were definitely ready to say goodbye.
It’s a pretty silly episode, with Bree discovering that her daughter Danielle (Joy Lauren) has an entrepreneurial spirit… but maybe not in the way that Bree wanted, as she’s pretending to have a workout equipment company when she’s actually selling toys that couldn’t be mentioned in polite company. It seemed like the series was wondering what to do with the characters.
I’m Still Here (7.7)
Also with a 7.7 rating, “I’m Still Here” is from the seventh season and has a strange variety of storylines that don’t work well together. On the one hand, there are Carlos and Gaby who are dealing with their grief over Grace, their biological kid who was switched at birth with who they thought was their daughter, Juanita.
On the other hand, there’s Lynette’s plotline where her mom straight-up tells her that she’s getting married again, and, even though the guy is the worst, she likes that he has a lot of money in the bank. One storyline is serious and difficult and the other is just plain silly.
Careful the Things You Say (7.7)
Another episode with a 7.7 out of 10 rating on IMDb, this sixth season episode didn’t seem to win any favors with fans of Desperate Housewives. Perhaps this storyline is why: Susan’s daughter Julie has been sleeping with Nick Bolen (Jeffrey Nordling), which is illegal and a big problem since he’s decades older than her. He’s also married to Angie (Drea de Matteo).
It’s hard to believe that Julie, who has always been portrayed as a goody-two-shoes kind of character, would date an older, married man.
Who Can Say What’s True? (7.6)
The lowest-rated episode of Desperate Housewives on IMDb, the season 8 episode “Who Can Say What’s True?” got a 7.6 rating out of 10 on IMDb.
The ladies of Wisteria Lane aren’t getting along. While Bree is freaked out that someone seems to be stalking her, mailing her letters and driving by her house, Lynette and Gaby aren’t super sympathetic and instead repair their friendship while ignoring Bree. The friends fight once again when Lynette insults Gaby by saying that she should want to succeed in business instead of just assuming that things will work out because she’s pretty. Sure, conflict is part of what makes a strong TV show, but no fan of Desperate Housewives wants to see these women fight with each other or be so mean.
