Bree Van de Kamp
Bree Van de Kamp is a fictional character on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. She was played by actress Marcia Cross, who received multiple awards and nominations for her portrayal, including an Emmy Award nomination, three Golden Globe Award nominations, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Cross' portrayal of Bree was widely praised by critics and fans.
Cross auditioned for the role of Mary Alice Young, but series creator Marc Cherry thought she was better suited for the role of Bree. Dana Delany, who was eventually cast as Katherine Mayfair, was chosen for the role but turned it down, saying it was too similar to her role in Pasadena.
Bree Van de Kamp is one of the four main protagonists in Desperate Housewives. Bree's main struggle throughout the series was her attempts to maintain a perfect life despite various obstacles such as widowhood, divorce, and alcoholism hindering her. She married Rex Van de Kamp, Orson Hodge, and Trip Weston and had relationships with various other men.
Character profile
Bree Mason grew up in Rhode Island when her father married a woman named Eleanor, after her mother's death, with whom she did not get along. In order to escape her stepmother's demands, Bree left for Lake Forest College near Chicago. Bree also mentioned on one of Eleanor's visits that she had to work for every kind word she was ever given by her stepmother. Bree met Rex Van de Kamp at a meeting of the Young Republicans. After they graduated, they married and had two children, Andrew and Danielle, and moved to Fairview.Bree was very much written as an exaggerated version of the characteristics often attributed to White Anglo-Saxon Protestants; she has been called a "hyper-uptight WASP". Bree is recognized for her perfectionistic attitude and work ethic, which at times bordered on neurosis. Her perfectionism may stem from when her mother was killed in a hit-and-run; a 10-year-old Bree cleaned her blood off the road outside the house. She said that once everything was spotless, she felt much better.
Bree is known for her homemaking talents at the level of Martha Stewart, particularly her gourmet meals, breakfast treats, and pineapple bran muffins. She's also well versed in firearms; she owns 4 guns and is a card-carrying member of the National Rifle Association. Bree supports the Republican Party, as stated in the season 3 opener, and was also known for being a member of the local Presbyterian church, as seen in the episode, Sunday. Her neighbors, Angie Bolen, Gabrielle Solis, and Renee Perry, nicknamed her "Nancy Reagan" on occasions.
Bree lived at 4354 Wisteria Lane in Fairview since 1994 and was also said to have a timeshare residence in Aspen that she never uses. Bree is based on creator Marc Cherry's own mother, and the Van de Kamp family is based on the family in which he grew up. Bree's family was based on Marc Cherry's teen years, while Lynette Scavo's family was based on Marc Cherry's childhood years. Bree and her first husband, Rex, were both named after the overtly vain characters on two of Marc Cherry's previous failed sitcoms, The 5 Mrs. Buchanans and The Crew.
Both of Bree's marriages broke down and ended in divorce ; following their requests for divorce, both of Bree's former husbands attempted reconciliation with her. Rex succeeded, whereas her second husband, Orson Hodge, did not. During the breakdown of her second marriage, Bree had an affair with Karl Mayer, her divorce lawyer and the ex-husband of her friend, Susan Mayer. However, Bree did remarry in the series finale to her lawyer, Trip Weston, making him her third husband.
Bree is the only one of the main four housewives to not appear in every episode. Appearing only as a stand-in in "My Husband, The Pig", Bree is totally absent in its six following episodes due to Cross' pregnancy.
Storylines
Backstory
Bree Mason was born on February 11, 1962. When she was 10 years old, her mother taught her a lesson about "masking" so she could hide true feelings and emotions, which prevented her from being able to be hurt by men. During Christmas 1972, her mother died in hospital after a car accident. Bree stayed at home and cleaned her mother's blood from the driveway. She felt relieved after that. Her father then married Eleanor. Bree had to earn respect from her stepmother and so worked very hard. Eleanor said to her stepdaughter that she was very lucky and possessed beauty, wit, cunning, and insight: weapons all women needed to survive in the world. Her dad took care of his daughter and tried to raise her to be a classy lady.Bree was first engaged to her boyfriend, Ty Grant, but after she met Rex Van de Kamp, the two fell in love during their college years. Bree and Rex got married in 1987. Bree gave birth to their son Andrew in 1988 and daughter Danielle in 1989. The family moved in 1994 to 4354 Wisteria Lane, Fairview. She gave a bad first impression to Mary Alice Young and Susan Mayer, local neighbors and friends, after Andrew stole a ceramic frog from the Youngs' backyard. Bree, Susan, and Mary Alice later become close friends. In 1998, Lynette Scavo joined the group. Five years later, after a short and difficult first impression of Gabrielle Solis, all four women accepted the ex-model as their friend.
Season 1
Bree is introduced as the "perfect" wife and mother. However, it becomes apparent that her emotional coldness and obsession with appearances makes her family resent her, and as her husband Rex puts it, "I just can't live in this detergent commercial anymore".She insists she and Rex have marriage guidance counseling with Dr. Albert Goldfine when he wants a divorce and demands that Andrew and Danielle refuse presents from their father if they want to continue living with her. Unfortunately, in Andrew's case, this leads to him driving drunk and accidentally running over Carlos Solis's mother, leaving her in a coma. Rex and Bree conceal this to protect him but Bree is soon disappointed with his lack of remorse. Determined to make him realize that there are consequences to his actions, she gets him kicked off the swimming team by reporting marijuana he had hidden in his swim locker and then anonymously tipping off his coach.
Bree is determined to keep her family together until Rex has a heart attack, leading her to discover that he regularly visits a prostitute. Worse still, the prostitute turns out to be an acquaintance of hers, Maisy Gibbons, who is later arrested for living off of immoral earnings. Maisy is persuaded to cut a plea deal with the district attorney, naming her clients, and despite a request from Bree, Maisy does not remove Rex's name. Furious, Bree tells Rex she will divorce him but is "persuaded" by Andrew and Danielle to look after him while he recuperates. Initially wanting to hurt him, Bree starts dating their pharmacist, George Williams, but ends things when Rex asks her to give their marriage another chance. She and George agree to be just friends. Wanting to deter Rex from visiting prostitutes, she reluctantly takes part in S&M scenarios with him.
Concerned about Andrew's worsening behavior, she is cheered up when Rex backs her up on one occasion. Unfortunately, this fails to make any difference, so Rex and Bree feel that they have no choice but to send Andrew away to a boot camp. While there, Andrew reveals to his parents that he is gay. Bree initially tells him that she will always love him regardless but quietly insists to Rex that they take Andrew home immediately, worried about what he might be doing with the other boys at night, and asks their vicar to give Andrew some counseling on lifestyle, believing that his soul is in danger. This has disastrous results, as Andrew thinks she doesn't love him and deliberately hurts her. Bree continues to confide in George about her family problems but, after Rex makes it clear that Bree will stay with him, George begins tampering with Rex's medication. This is uncovered when Rex has a second heart attack. Believing Bree was responsible, Rex writes a note forgiving her and dies. Bree's final scenes in the season involve her receiving the bad news and breaking down in tears.
Season 2
Bree's mother-in-law, Phyllis, visits for her son's funeral. She annoys Bree with her constant sniping and excessive displays of grief to the point that Bree refuses to let her attend Rex's funeral, but Andrew persuades her to. The final straw, however, is when she discovers that Phyllis has reported her friendship with George to Rex's life insurance provider. Bree sends Phyllis home and is questioned by the police about meddling with Rex's medication. She is cleared and is furious when she discovers the note Rex had left her which claimed he thought she murdered him, and she starts dating George. However, George constantly tries to rush things, making her uneasy. When George places an announcement of their engagement in the newspaper, an ex-fiancée of his, Leila Mitzman, visits Bree to warn her about him. Bree is horrified and sends Leila away, but she is proved right when George loses his temper upon seeing Bree dance with Ty Grant, and she also finds out that he threw Dr. Goldfine over the side of a bridge for suggesting to Bree that she take their relationship slowly. George tries blackmailing her into a reconciliation by taking some pills and admits to killing Rex. Devastated, Bree says that she has called an ambulance and it will be there soon, but in reality, she hasn't. She watches him die and tells Andrew, who tries blackmailing her for his trust fund.Events with Rex, George, and Andrew take their toll and she starts drinking heavily. She realizes she has a problem when she loses Lynette's children after passing out while babysitting. Andrew later begins making accusations about Bree physically abusing him and tries to seek emancipation rights, which Bree refuses. In denial, but not wanting Andrew to get his trust fund or give up on him, Bree joins Alcoholics Anonymous but only takes it seriously after passing out in a shop changing room and not waking up until late at night. Her AA sponsor, Peter McMillan, and a security guard let her out. Bree also faces more turmoil when she discovers her new neighbors, the Applewhites, are hiding from the police and she is blackmailed into silence. To distract herself from her alcoholism, she has a brief relationship with Peter, who is addicted to sex. However, Andrew discovers this and seduces Peter to get revenge on Bree for denying him his trust fund. She dumps Peter and abandons Andrew at a gas station after discovering that they slept together and in her bed.
Bree's mental health deteriorates rapidly following this and nobody can help her as her behavior becomes erratic and spirals out of control, including creating a scene at Danielle's birthday party. Danielle, meanwhile, starts dating Matthew Applewhite and moves out to be with him. However, Matthew's mother, Betty Applewhite, realizes Matthew murdered an ex-girlfriend, Melanie Foster, but made her believe his brother did it. Betty tells Bree, who has checked herself into a psychiatric unit and later escapes after they refuse to let her leave. Bree and Betty rush to Bree's house to find Matthew and Danielle have taken money from Bree's safe. Bree confronts Matthew about Melanie and refuses to let them leave, so he threatens to shoot her, only to be shot dead by a police sniper. Bree's final scenes involve her beginning a new friendship with the mysterious Orson Hodge.