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Andrew Van de Kamp has had a rough ride on his seven seasons of "Desperate Housewives," and if he goes through with the 12 steps for AA, they might come to an abrupt halt at the hands of Carlos Solis. It's time to take a step back and visit some of Andrew Van de Kamp's wild ride.
In season 1, Andrew and his sister Danielle quickly become the kids that we love to hate. Wicked, cunning and malicious, Andrew takes on the typical teenage role of "shock and awe" to the chagrin of his emotionally repressed WASP mother, Bree. Between smoking pot and coming out of the closet, and eventually running over Carlos' mother, Andrew's role shifted in to high gear as the problem child.
In season 2, Andrew deteriorated. From teenage rebel to full out nemesis, he watches Bree slip further and further into an alcoholic daze, and brings a lawsuit, citing her as an unfit mother. Andrew becomes dark, and Bree does the unthinkable, ending the season dropping him off on the side of the road and never looking back.
Of course, that isn't the last we heard of Andrew Van de Kamp, not by a long shot. In season 3, Andrew returns, after Orson and Bree convince him to come home. He is a changed young man. No doubt having been dragged through the ringer in order to survive, he finally provides Bree with some much-needed explanation on why he and Danielle acted so badly. In this season, we start falling in love with Andrew, and watch him get it together.
Season 4 brings little of Andrew, but what it does highlight is a guy that we now love, instead of love to hate. Finally, a full reconciliation between Bree and her son has occurred.
Season 5 brought a five year leap ahead for the characters of Wisteria Lane, and Andrew along with it. A successful businessman sitting at the right hand of his mother in her catering business, Andrew has become indispensable. Andrew has seemed to settle down and is getting his life together, even finding a doctor as a partner. Andrew and Alex move in across the street from Bree and all is well. That is, until the next season.
Marc Cherry wouldn't be Marc Cherry unless he shook things up a bit. Enter Sam Allen, bastard child of Rex Van de Kamp, who wants to be the "new" Andrew. After Sam learns about Andrew's sordid past and family secrets, he uses this as a weapon to blackmail Bree right out of her business, and Andrew right out of a job. Fade to black.
Season 7 is lacking in Andrew until he shows up passed out on Mrs. McClusky's couch. After this point, Bree discovers that Andrew has become a hollow alcoholic, but not in enough time to stop Alex from leaving him. As Andrew dives head first into his recovery, he wants to make amends. That includes telling Carlos that he railroaded his elderly mother all those years ago, resulting in her death. Will this revelation send Carlos into a fit of rage and Andrew 6 feet under? It's possible. Regardless, Andrew, it's been a heck of a wild ride, and we have loved every minute of it.
