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Bree Van der Camp (Marcia Cross)

Age: 46 years old (December 14, 1963)
Gender: Female
Occupation: Housewife, Caterer
* First appeared on October 03, 2004 in the episode Uaired Pilot.

Season One

Bree Van De Kamp is introduced in season one as the perfect wife and mother, however, it becomes apparent that her emotional coldness and obsession with appearance causes the rest of her family to resent her. She is forced to take part in marriage counseling when her husband Rex asks for a divorce, and her son Andrew's rebellious behavior leads her to cover up a hit-and-run accident to protect him. Bree eventually discovers that Rex is having an affair with a prostitute, and leaves him, seeking companionship with local pharmacist George Williams. Hoping to restore her marriage, Bree reluctantly takes part in S&M scenarios with Rex in an attempt to satisfy him sexually. As she and Rex begin to reconcile, the conservative Bree is horrified when Andrew comes out of the closet, and her attempts to "correct" her son's homosexuality only succeeds in alienating him further. Bree continues to confide in George about her family problems, and unbeknown to Bree, he begins plotting to murder Rex by replacing his heart medication. When Rex has a heart attack and the doctors discover his medication was tampered with, Rex believes Bree was the one trying to kill him, and writes her a note forgiving her. He then dies of a heart-attack, leaving Bree devastated.

Season Two

In season two, Bree Van De Kamp is disgusted when she discovers that Rex suspected her of poisoning him, and she begins to rely on George for emotional support. George manipulates Bree first into having sex with him, then into agreeing to marry him, but when his obsessive and jealous behavior becomes too much, she angrily breaks off the engagement. As Bree discovers that George is responsible for murdering Rex, George attempts a fake suicide in order to win her back. However, now knowing his part in her husband's death, Bree watches coldly as she allows George to die. Following these events, Bree slips into alcoholism, and Andrew's vendetta towards her reaches a head when he falsely accuses her of child abuse. To combat this, Bree reluctantly attends Alcoholics Anonymous, and begins a relationship with her sponsor, Peter McMillan, who is also a sex addict. Bree thwarts Andrew's attempts to achieve legal emancipation, so he takes revenge by having sex with Peter. Unable to cope with Andrew any longer, Bree kicks him out and falls into a deep depression. When her remaining child Danielle then runs away with her boyfriend Matthew Applewhite, Bree suffers a nervous breakdown and checks herself into a psychiatric clinic, where she meets Orson Hodge. However, after discovering that Matthew is a murderer and Danielle is in danger, Bree Van De Kamp escapes the facility and confronts Matthew at gunpoint. Matthew is shot dead by the police, and Bree and Danielle reconcile.

Season Three

Season three sees Bree Van De Kamp marry Orson Hodge after a six-month relationship, but their marriage is plagued by suppositions that Orson may have not only physically abused his first wife, Alma, but also murdered her. Shortly after the wedding, Andrew returns home due to Orson's intervention, and he and his mother heal their rift. However, the arrival of Orson's mother, Gloria, and the return of Alma, causes a rift in the family once more. When the two women successfully drug Orson for the purpose of allowing Alma to rape him, Bree intervenes and learns that Gloria was responsible for murdering Orson's mistress Monique Pollier, in order to keep him trapped in a loveless marriage to Alma. Gloria then tries to murder Bree in the bathtub and make it look like suicide, but Orson intervenes and in defense of Bree Hodge, causes his mother to suffer a severe stroke. With Gloria paralyzed, and Alma dead after falling from a roof, Bree and Orson are finally able to go on their honeymoon. When she returns, Bree announces to her friends that she is pregnant. However, it is in fact Danielle who is pregnant, but Bree plans to raise the child as her own to avoid scandal by wearing a series of false bellies and keeping Danielle hidden in a convent until she gives birth.

Season Four

In season four, Bree Hodge and Orson struggle to keep her fake pregnancy a secret. They also struggle to convince Danielle to let Bree Hodge adopt the child. Phyllis, Rex's mother, discovers Bree's pregnancy to be a hoax and tries to convince Danielle to raise the child herself to spite Bree. In the end, Danielle gives birth to a boy named Benjamin Van De Kamp-Hodge (Surname:Katz) and allows Bree and Orson to raise him as their own. Bree also develops a rivalry with new neighbor, Katherine Mayfair. Bree and Katherine, who share many of the same interests and personality traits, have a series of small feuds before ultimately becoming friends. After a tornado destroys Bree's house, she, Orson and Benjamin move in temporarily with Susan Mayer. During this time, Orson inadvertently reveals that he was responsible for putting Mike into a coma. Unable to forgive Orson, Bree kicks him out of their newly remodeled home. During their separation, Edie Britt comes onto Orson, which begins a feud between Edie and Bree. When Edie discovers the truth about Bree's pregnancy, she uses it to blackmail Bree. This leads to Bree telling the other housewives the truth. Towards the end of the season, Bree Van De Kamp and Katherine Mayfair begin a small catering business together. In the season finale, Katherine saves Bree's life by telling her ex-husband Wayne her secrets. When Katherine kills Wayne, Bree rallies the other housewives around Katherine to prevent her from going to prison.

5-Year Jump

When the events of the series shift ahead by five years in the fourth season finale, it is revealed that Bree has become a famous cookbook author, with her son Andrew working as her assistant. Bree and Orson have evidently worked out their problems and are still married.

Season Five

The fifth season opener shows Bree as a guest on the local television program "What's Cooking, Fairview?". She introduces her staff, which includes Katherine. After Katherine informs the host that she's never known a better cook than Bree, Katherine purposely pretends to have injured her hand so Bree is forced to finish preparing a croquembouche on camera. Disaster ensues in the midst of preparing the spun sugar for the intricate French dessert. Also, Bree clashes with a photographer during the photo shoot for her cookbook cover. Bree has taken back Van De Kamp, and her surname is now Bree Van De Kamp-Hodge. Van De Kamp is also her career name and she always introduces herself as Bree Van De Kamp, which Orson has questioned, but she says "We were separated for 5 years and you can not come in and get rid of the years of being a Van De Kamp. I will always be a Hodge in this house, but Van De Kamp has more "oomph" in it!"

Within the same episode, the audience learns that Bree has reconciled with Orson after he spent time in prison for running over Mike. A flashback sequence revealed that while Bree awaited Orson's release, she was devastated when Danielle returned to take back her child. Bree pleaded to her daughter that the baby was the only life she had. Danielle harshly responded that her mother should find a new one. This event apparently set Bree on her current path. In the episode "Mirror, Mirror," flashbacks reveal that during this time, Bree began drinking again. Katherine helped her deal with this and set Bree back on her new path.

Because Bree Van De Kamp considers her career her new "baby", she almost always puts it before anything else. This has caused a rift in her marriage with Orson who seems to have become cold towards his wife. In "Mirror, Mirror," he even threatens divorce but when Bree tells him of her past drinking, he sticks with her despite Katherine's warning he won't last long working for Bree.