"Finishing the Hat" is the 180th episode and the second part of the two-hour
series finale
A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, or ...
of the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
''
Desperate Housewives
''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...
''. It is the twenty-third and final episode of the show's eighth season and was broadcast on May 13, 2012. Although the season was promoted as "Kiss Them Goodbye", the series finale was promoted as "The Final Kiss Goodbye".
Plot
Katherine makes a surprise return to the lane, having made a huge amount of money as the owner of a frozen food conglomerate in France, and offers Lynette a job as the head of her United States expansion. Tom recommends she take the job.
Susan reveals to her friends that she is moving. While seeing Julie through the last weeks of her pregnancy, Susan tries to set her up on a date with her obstetrician.
Julie, Gaby, and Susan are all helping Renee on her wedding day. In the limo on the way to the wedding Julie's water breaks. Susan jumps into the driver's seat of the limo and takes Julie to the hospital. Renee arrives at the wedding disheveled and distraught, but the wedding goes off without a hitch. Trip crashes the wedding and finally convinces Bree that he truly cares for her. They kiss and reconcile.
Bree is tasked with getting a particular hard-to-get 45 rpm record and a turntable to play it on for the dying Mrs. McCluskey. On the day of the wedding, Bree stops in and sees that Mrs. McCluskey has the record and turntable and Roy says Trip got it for them.
During a poker game, before Susan's departure, the girls vow that this will not be their last poker game, but as Mary Alice reveals via voice-over, it turns out to be. Lynette and Tom move to New York, where Lynette works as a CEO; they move into a penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park and spend the rest of their lives happily together with their six grandchildren. Gaby and Carlos start a personal shopping website that leads to a show on the Home Shopping Network, and they move to a mansion in California. Bree marries Trip and they move to Louisville, where Bree becomes a member of the Kentucky state legislature.
Reception
Ratings
The finale was watched by 11.12 million American viewers, earning a 3.2/8 rating/share with adults 18–49. It was the most watched program of the night, tied season high ratings with the season 8 premiere "
Secrets That I Never Want to Know
"Secrets That I Never Want to Know" is the Desperate Housewives (season 8), eighth-season season premiere, premiere episode of the American comedy-drama television series ''Desperate Housewives'', and the 158th overall episode of the series. It w ...
", and was the most watched episode of the show since the season 7 episode "
Searching
Searching or search may refer to:
Computing technology
* Search algorithm, including keyword search
** :Search algorithms
* Search and optimization for problem solving in artificial intelligence
* Search engine technology, software for findi ...
", watched by 11.35 million viewers. The finale was also up from the previous season's finale "
Come on Over for Dinner
The seventh season of '' Desperate Housewives'', a television series created by Marc Cherry, began airing on September 26, 2010 and concluded on May 15, 2011. The deceased Mary Alice Young continues to narrate the events in the lives of her friend ...
", which was watched by 10.25 million viewers and received a 3.1 rating in the 18–49 category. The finale was also up from the previous episode "
The People Will Hear
The eighth and final season of ''Desperate Housewives'', a television series created by Marc Cherry, began broadcasting in the United States on September 25, 2011, and concluded on May 13, 2012.Survivor: One World Reunion'' on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, which was watched by 7.72 million viewers and held a 2.3/6 rating, and ''
Celebrity Apprentice
''The Celebrity Apprentice'' is an American television reality competition series. It was a variation of ''The Apprentice'' series, hosted by then real estate developer (later 45th president of the United States
The president of the Unite ...
'' on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
, which averaged 5.48 million viewers and held a 1.8/5 rating in the 18–49 demographic. ABC reported that the episode gained an additional 2.1 million viewers (rising to a total of 13.2 million viewers) and 0.9 rating in the 18–49 demographic (rising to a total of a 4.1 rating), in the week following the original broadcast due to DVR recordings.
In Canada, the finale was watched by 1.60 million viewers, placing seventeenth for the week.
Critical reception
The episode received critical acclaim from critics. Reviewers for ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' called the episode "a tidy, affectionate send-off." Sabrina Ford of ''
The Province
''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...
'' called it a "happy ending. If it were ilmed in Wisteria Lane we could count on a happy ending." Christina Tran of ''TV Fanatic'' gave the episode a generally positive review, saying "While this final season has had its fair share of ups and downs, I thought that Marc Cherry and company gave us a very satisfying ending. I wasn’t left needing more, but instead, only realizing how much I would truly miss ''Desperate Housewives.''" Alberto E. Rodriguez of the ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' called the finale "a fitting way to end the series that was always seen through the eyes of a dead neighbor."
Accolades
This episode was submitted for consideration for Kathryn Joosten due to her nomination for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre-, or even gender-, specific. Begi ...
at the
64th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 64th Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in prime time television programming from June 1, 2011 until May 31, 2012, were held on Sunday, September 23, 2012 at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California. ABC televised the cere ...
.
For her performance in this episode (and the previous episode, " Give Me The Blame"),
Brenda Strong
Brenda Lee Strong (born March 25, 1960) is an American actress. She began her career in television, including guest starring appearances in ''Twin Peaks'', '' Party of Five'', ''Seinfeld'', '' Scandal'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', '' ...
was nominated for her second consecutive
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance is a Creative Arts Emmy Award given out by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. It is awarded to a performer for an outstanding "continuing or single voice-over performance in ...
as
Mary Alice Young
Mary Alice Young (previously Angela Forrest) is a fictional character from the ABC television series '' Desperate Housewives''. The character was created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry and is portrayed by Brenda Strong, who ...
.
Notes
*
*According to show creator
Marc Cherry
Marc Cherry (born March 23, 1962) is an American television writer and producer. He is best known for creating the ABC dramedy series ''Desperate Housewives''.
Personal life Early life
Marc Cherry was born in Long Beach and lived briefly in ...
, he had the idea for the final scene featuring one of the women moving off the lane and the ghosts of Wisteria Lane watching over the street, and "kept it in isback pocket". Additionally, the original pilot featuring
Sheryl Lee
Sheryl Lynn Lee (born April 22, 1967) is a German-born American film, stage, and television actress. After studying acting in college, Lee relocated to Seattle, Washington to work in theater, where she was cast by David Lynch as Laura Palmer and ...
as Mary Alice seemingly served as a precursor to the final scene of the series with the ghost of Mary Alice standing in her lawn looking over her friends as they found her suicide note and pondered her secret. This concept was removed from the final version of the pilot that aired.
*
Edie Britt
Edie Britt is a fictional character created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry for the ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives''. Nicollette Sheridan portrayed Edie from her debut in the pilot episode of the series until t ...
's ghost is absent in the final scenes because of the lawsuit pending between
Nicollette Sheridan
Nicollette Sheridan (born 21 November 1963) is an English-born American actress. She began her career as a fashion model before landing a role in the short-lived ABC primetime soap opera ''Paper Dolls'' in 1984, as well as starring in the roman ...
and show creator Marc Cherry. In a 2011 interview, Cherry had previously hinted that he wanted to ask Sheridan back for the series finale "to pay homage to everyone who has been on the show".
*When asked why additional dead characters from the past did not appear in the show's final scene – such as Ida Greenberg,
Felicia Tilman
'' Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama series that aired on ABC (American Broadcasting Company). It focuses on the residents living on the fictional Wisteria Lane as narrated by their deceased neighbor, Mary Alice Young (Brenda St ...
and
Victor Lang
'' Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama series that aired on ABC (American Broadcasting Company). It focuses on the residents living on the fictional Wisteria Lane as narrated by their deceased neighbor, Mary Alice Young (Brenda St ...
— executive producer Sabrina Wind stated that they tried to get everyone but some could not make it.
*Actress
Kathryn Joosten
Kathryn Joosten (born Kathryn Rausch; December 20, 1939 – June 2, 2012) was an American actress. Her best known roles include Dolores Landingham on NBC's ''The West Wing'' from 1999 to 2002 and Karen McCluskey on ABC's '' Desperate Housewives'' ...
died of lung cancer on the morning of June 2, 2012, after an 11-year battle with the disease. Coincidentally, her death occurred twenty days after the onscreen death from cancer of the character of
Karen McCluskey
Karen McCluskey (née Simonds) is a fictional character from the ABC television series '' Desperate Housewives''. The role was played by Kathryn Joosten, who won the Primetime Emmy Award twice for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in ...
, which she played, on the final episode of ''Desperate Housewives''. She was diagnosed with lung cancer three times, much like her on-screen character was twice.
*