Austin McCann

"She couldn't take her eyes off my abs! I felt violated."

Austin McCann is Edie Britt's rebellious nephew. Austin was taken under his fun-loving aunt's wing and took a liking to Julie Mayer, who found herself falling for the "bad boy." However, Austin's inability to commit to their relationship and his affair with a neighbor, which ended badly, led him to leave Wisteria Lane for good.

Early Life
Austin's mother got a new boyfriend who wasn't what one would call a catch. One night his mother's boyfriend became a little rough towards his mother, so Austin assaulted him. His mother then called the police but turned Austin in, not her boyfriend. He went to juvenile hall for several years. ("Nice She Ain't") He later moves to his aunt Edie's house on Wisteria Lane. ("It Takes Two"). He is part Swiss from his mother.

Season 3
"I didn't read a lot of Shakespeare in juvie, I kinda majored in not getting stabbed."

Austin sneaks into Edie Britt's house in the middle of the night. She comes outside with a gun, thinking it's an intruder, but she recognizes him as her nephew and lets him in. He explains that his mother and her new boyfriend kicked him out and she lets him crash there. The next day, Austin is listening to music in the front yard and Julie Mayer comes out to ask him to turn it down. He asks her why and she explains that she is studying. After he makes her mad, she tells him, "You know what? You're not that hot.", and walks away. Later, at the wedding of Bree and Orson, Julie is cold towards Austin and Edie doesn't know why; he tells her, jokingly so, that Julie couldn't take her eyes off his abs and he felt violated. ("It Takes Two")

Some time later, during a holiday weekend, Julie is doing her science project for school and the power goes out. Her mother isn't home, so she goes over to Edie's house wondering if she can help her out. Only Austin is there, and he offers to do it; she agrees, if he will put on a shirt and some pants. Whilst over there, Austin does something simple to fix the power and Julie says that he could have just told her how to do it. Edie comes in and ushers Austin home, and then also tells Julie that she ought to be careful before she becomes a 'bad girl' like she did. ("A Weekend in the Country")

Julie is with her friend Sarah and Austin talks to them. Sarah is clearly smitten with him. Austin asks Julie to tutor him, and she agrees but charges him extra for it. During the tutoring lessons, he tells her the story of how he protected his mom from her boyfriend and went to juvie for it. Julie feels sympathetic and writes his paper for him. She later sees Austin and Sarah fooling around in the back of a car and is angry with them, so she tanks Austin's paper, which he is then mad about, but he soon realizes that she was jealous and likes him. ("Nice She Ain't")

Austin runs into Julie at the supermarket, and he slips a whiskey bottle into her backpack. When at the checkout, she is caught and her mother is called to the store, as well as Edie. They are both mad. Austin and Julie are still in the store when Carolyn Bigsby takes hostages and they are among them. Austin assures Julie that she will not die and the two become closer during the experience. After Austin helps fight Carolyn and they are released, Julie hugs Austin and the two begin a relationship. ("Bang") Later, Susan is concerned about Julie and Austin's blossoming relationship, but her daughter tells her that it will happen whether she likes it or not. Susan gets Karl over to be the 'bad cop'. However, Austin tells him that Susan is dating Ian, whose wife is in a coma. Karl becomes more mad at her than at Austin. ("Children and Art")

As the gossip begins to fly about Art Shepherd being a pedophile, Austin is seen telling this to Julie. He attends the Christmas block party. ("The Miracle Song") Austin asks Julie for sex but she says she is not ready, he accepts this. Later, Andrew tells her that he will be getting it somewhere else as all guys do. Julie has sex with Austin, worried that he will cheat on her. He begins to feel guilty as he is having an affair with Danielle Van de Kamp. ("No Fits, No Fights, No Feuds") Julie and Austin are now having sex and they ask Edie for contraceptives, she gives Julie the pill. Susan and Edie walk in on Austin having sex with Danielle and Susan tells Julie who breaks up with Austin. ("Not While I'm Around")

Austin is depressed since Julie dumped him and Edie begs Tom to hire him at the pizzeria, Tom accepts. On the job, Austin gets high on pot and Lynette catches him and fires him. She is angry to see he is still working there but Tom explains to her that Austin is hot and that he will bring in the girls from Fairview High and half the boys from chorus. ("I Remember That") Austin is present at the opening of the Scavo's pizzeria. ("The Little Things You Do Together")

Austin wants to make it up to Julie and gives her a note that she will only accept if he gets out of her car during the car wash they were in, he does so. It is discovered that Danielle is pregnant and Austin is the father just as Julie forgives him based on the letter. Orson tells him that he must leave town and Danielle must come with him and Bree on their honeymoon to cover up the pregnancy. Austin doesn't want to leave because of Julie, but Andrew convinces him to do so. That night, Austin leaves Wisteria Lane on his motorcycle. ("My Husband, the Pig")

Season 4
Edie incidentally finds out about Austin's affiliation with Benjamin, at the time posing as Bree's son, when Bree and Orson split up and the latter writes down the details of that story to present them before a lawyer, hoping to keep his rights to see Benjamin. Edie takes this story and uses it to blackmail her rival Bree. ("Mother Said")

Trivia

 * In the fourth season, Austin and Danielle were supposed to return to Wisteria Lane to take away their illegitimate son, Benjamin from Bree and her then-husband, Orson. However this idea was scrapped out because of the writer’s revolt and the decline in the number of episodes of that season. Austin, hence, never made a comeback.
 * Austin was originally named Justin.
 * It is still unclear if Austin is in contact with his son or Danielle.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the character.