16 Massive Plot Holes, Continuity Errors, And Inconsistencies In "Desperate Housewives" That I Can't Believe Got Past The Writers' Room

Ajani Bazile-Dutes
·4-min read

In a couple weeks, on October 3, it'll be 20 years since Desperate Housewives premiered and made television history.

Eva Longoria, Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, and Felicity Huffman stand outdoors facing a woman with her back to the camera. Marcia is wearing a purple dress
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It's one of my favorite shows of all time and I recently spent the past few months rewatching the iconic comedy-drama-mystery series. During my rewatch, I caught a ton of things that just didn't add up that I never noticed before, so here they are:

1.First, Gaby having been a runway model even though she's only 5'2" while runway models are typically 5'9" at least.

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2.Susan's house was burned down at the end of Season 2 and then was rebuilt as the exact same house.

Three scenes of a house: First, people converse in front; second, house on fire at night; third, the house in daylight, fully intact again
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3.Years after the fire, Susan points out a stick she used to measure Julie's height as a kid, which realistically wouldn't have survived the fire.

Courteney Cox points to a wall with height measurements while standing in a room
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4.There are contradicting flashbacks in Season 2 and Season 8 about the timeline of Tom and Lynette moving onto Wisteria Lane. In Season 2's flashback, Lynette is early in her first pregnancy on the day she and Tom move into their house. She's not showing yet, and they've just learned they're having twins. In Season 8's flashback, which takes place BEFORE they move into the house, Lynette is obviously much further along in her pregnancy, and they already know they are having twins.

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5.The story of how Susan found evidence of Karl cheating changes briefly in Season 5. In multiple episodes, it's stated that Susan discovered lipstick on Karl's shirt. However, in the episode after Edie Britt's death, Susan says that after Edie warned her about Karl's infidelities, she found his secretary's bra in his car.

Top: A woman stands arguing with a seated man at a dinner table with a child in the center. Middle: A woman talks with another on a suburban street. Bottom: A woman speaks while seated in a car
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6.Susan and Mike didn't recognize Dave when they met him in Season 5, even though they were involved in a car crash that killed Dave's wife and daughter. It's not really plausible that Susan and Mike wouldn't know what Dave looked like, specifically because Susan was guilt-ridden over the accident and obsessed with what the deceased's family members must've been going through.

Teri Hatcher in a kitchen, Nicolette Sheridan and Neal McDonough dressed formally, Marcia Cross and Eva Longoria standing together indoors
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7.In Season 7, Paul briefly blocked Susan from receiving his braindead wife's kidney, which caused a bunch of drama. But this made no sense because in the previous episode, Bree learned that she was also a kidney match for Susan and was more than willing to donate her kidney to her. So even if Paul stuck to his initial decision and didn't allow Susan to receive his wife's kidney, she still had another donor.

Marcia Cross, Doug Savant, and Teri Hatcher are having a serious conversation in what appears to be an office or waiting room setting
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8.In Season 8, Detective Chuch Vance tells Gaby that her missing stepfather now has two other young stepdaughters. But when Susan meets the family a few episodes later, there only appears to be one daughter.

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9.Neither Danielle nor Andrew show up to any of Bree's MURDER trial at the end of Season 8. They are not even mentioned, which is especially weird since Andrew literally moved back in with Bree a few episodes before.

Marcia Cross in a dress with a jeweled neckline, Robert Buckley in a suit talking, Marcia Cross and a man at a table, courtroom scene with Marcia Cross and other cast members
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10.At the end of Season 6, a nurse confesses to accidentally switching Gaby and Carlos's baby with another couple's many years ago, but they never explain HOW the nurse came to realize her mistake.

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11.A few episodes after Gaby and Carlos's biological daugther Grace moves away in Season 7, she is never mentioned again.

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12.After Tom and Lynette send his daughter Kayla to live with his parents at the end of Season 4, she is never seen or mentioned again either.

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13.At the end of Season 2, Bree runs into Orson during her stay at a mental health facility where he routinely visits a friend who's never seen or mentioned ever again.

Marcia Cross in a blue top, Kyle MacLachlan with a "visitor" badge, Marcia Cross in a white robe, and Kyle MacLachlan facing Marcia Cross who is seated in a white robe
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14.In Season 2, Susan meets her biological dad, who tells her that once his wife is okay with it, he and Susan can have a relationship. However, he is never seen or mentioned again.

John Goodman holds an umbrella in the top image. In the bottom image, Sandra Bullock wears a casual outfit and a baseball cap with graffiti on the wall behind her
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15.Mike's beloved dog Bongo is never seen or mentioned again after Season 2.

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16.And lastly, the biggest plot whole in the whole series is how inconsistent ALL of the children's ages are, especially after the time jump in Season 5. Juanita and MJ were born a year part, but are somehow in the same grade at school in Season 6. The Scavo twins are were around 9 years old before the five-year time jump, but are around 17 after it. In Season 8, (which takes places over around a year ) it's mentioned in two separate episodes that Penny's birthday just passed, and then there's an episode where she has a birthday party. The list goes on.

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