Season 7

This article contains episode summaries for the seventh season of Desperate Housewives.

Season Summary
In the U.S., original episodes of season seven started airing on September 26, 2010, and finished the original broadcast with a 2-hour season finale (consisting of episodes 22 and 23) airing on May 15, 2011.

Starring

 * Teri Hatcher - Susan Delfino (23/23)
 * Felicity Huffman - Lynette Scavo (23/23)
 * Marcia Cross - Bree Van de Kamp (23/23)
 * Eva Longoria - Gabrielle Solis (23/23)*
 * Vanessa Williams - Renee Perry (22/23)
 * Ricardo Antonio Chavira - Carlos Solis (22/23)
 * Doug Savant - Tom Scavo (23/23)
 * Mark Moses - Paul Young (21/23)
 * Kathryn Joosten - Karen McCluskey (17/23)**
 * Kevin Rahm - Lee McDermott (18/23)**
 * Tuc Watkins - Bob Hunter (12/23)**
 * with Brenda Strong - Mary Alice Young (23/23)
 * and James Denton - Mike Delfino (17/23)

* Credited as "Eva Longoria Parker" through "Sorry Grateful".

** Credited only in the episodes in which they appear.

Also Starring

 * Charlie Carver - Porter Scavo (11/23)*
 * Joshua Logan Moore - Parker Scavo (12/23)*
 * Darcy Rose Byrnes - Penny Scavo (14/23)* **
 * Madison De La Garza - Juanita Solis (16/23)* ***
 * Mason Vale Cotton - MJ Delfino (12/23)*

* Credited only in the episodes in which they appear.

* Billing order switched to being featured under the credits of De La Garza and Cotton (when credited) from "You Must Meet My Wife" to "Let Me Entertain You".

*** Credited in but absent from "Let Me Entertain You".

Recurring Guest Stars

 * Brian Austin Green - Keith Watson (15/23)
 * Emily Bergl - Beth Young (13/23)
 * Daniella Baltodano - Celia Solis (12/23)
 * Harriet Sansom Harris - Felicia Tilman (11/23)
 * Orson Bean - Roy Bender (9/23)
 * Max Carver - Preston Scavo (9/23)
 * Lainie Kazan - Maxine Rosen (5/23)
 * Jonathan Cake - Chuck Vance (4/23)
 * Shawn Pyfrom - Andrew Van de Kamp (4/23)
 * Mindy Sterling - Mitzi Kinsky (4/23)
 * Cody Kasch - Zach Young (3/23)
 * Tony Plana - Alejandro Perez (3/23)
 * Polly Bergen - Stella Wingfield (2/23)
 * Kyle MacLachlan - Orson Hodge (2/23)
 * Dakin Matthews - Reverend Sikes (2/23)
 * Dale Waddington - Nurse (2/23)
 * Andrea Bowen - Julie Mayer (1/23)
 * Michael Dempsey - Detective Murphy (1/23)
 * Joy Lauren - Danielle Katz (1/23)
 * Steven Culp - Rex Van de Kamp (1/23)
 * John Rubinstein - Principal Hobson (1/23)
 * Lesley Ann Warren - Sophie Bremmer (1/23)

Overview
After losing both her husband and her business, Bree slowly begins the process of rebuilding her life, first by telling her friend Gabrielle a secret that could end their friendship, and then by starting up a romance with her much younger contractor Keith Watson. In the meantime, the Solises discover that their daughter Juanita was swapped at birth, and Lynette is visited by her old college roommate Renee Perry (Vanessa Williams), who later moves to the lane permanently. Bob and Lee find their way back to one another, and Susan and Mike's financial situations lead them to move to an apartment in the city and to take on jobs they don't want to endure through, whereas Paul Young, Mary Alice's widower, moves back to Wisteria Lane to wreak havoc.

Main Plot Points

 * Paul Young returns to the lane with a vendetta... and a new wife.
 * Susan, Mike and MJ start their new life in a small apartment outside of Wisteria Lane, and struggle financially.
 * Bree gets a divorce and starts up a relationship with her contractor... and then with a detective.
 * Lynette welcomes her old college friend, diva Renee Perry, to the street, and encounters extreme marital problems with Tom.
 * Gabrielle's life takes a turn for the worse when she is forced to conceal a secret about her mother-in-law's death, when she finds her daughter Juanita was swapped at birth, and when she is confronted with her abusive stepfather.

Production
Season seven was originally intended to be the final season, according to creator Marc Cherry. However, he then developed a new plan to extend the series for two more seasons, meaning an eighth and ninth season. Marc Cherry signed a two-year deal with ABC, Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross and Eva Longoria to keep Desperate Housewives on the air until the year 2013. However, it was revealed about a month before Season 8's premiere that the season would be its last.

Reception
The series saw the lowest ratings in its history in the seventh season. In the first 12 episodes, the series attracted very similar viewership to the second half of the sixth season and hit season highs of 4.4 in the 18-49 demographic and continued around 3.5 - 4.3 until mid January. But after the thirteenth episode of season seven, "I'm Still Here", the ratings declined heavily because of the consecutive competition from the 68th Golden Globe Awards and then saw even lower numbers, against the 2011 Grammy Awards and then the Country Music Association Awards. "Desperate Housewives" lost many viewers in the second half of its season, and unlike the previous season, it failed to pick up again towards the end of the season. The show hit series lows of 2.7 in 18-49 demographic twice and continued to receive ratings between 2.7 - 3.1 in the last 11 episodes with the exception of Searching which was promoted by ABC after the 83rd Academy Awards and had a lead in from the season premiere of Secret Millionaire. This is the first time in its history that it did not place in the 20 most watched shows, ranking as the 25th most watched show, although it did place as the 15th most watched scripted show during the 2010-11 television season. The season averaged 11.7 million viewers per episode and is ABC's second most watched scripted show in total viewers after Modern Family. In the 18-49 demographic, the show ranked as the 17th most watched show.