Andrew Van de Kamp is a fictional character in the ABC television series Desperate Housewives played by Shawn Pyfrom, and is the son of one of the title characters, Bree Van de Kamp, and her first husband Rex Van de Kamp.
As one of the few LGBT characters on prime time television secure with his sexuality, Andrew's storylines have been well received by gay groups. However, his early attitude toward his mother and various crimes have also garnered criticism.
Storylines Past Andrew Van de Kamp was born in 1988.Season 1 episode 2 There were complications at his birth as the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.Season 1 episode 19 A year later, he became brother to Danielle. In 1994, he, his parents and sister moved to 4354 Wisteria Lane in Fairview. He was caught stealing porcelain by his mother from the front yard of 4352 Wisteria Lane and was forced to apologize to the owner, Mary Alice Young, with a slightly shocked Susan Mayer as a witness.Season 2 episode 23
As a teenager, he intended to run for class president. The day before the announcement of the candidacy, he heard from his mother, "Are you sure? You don't have the leader gene." Later, she did not even listen to the speech.Season 7 episode 17
Season 1 Andrew first appears in the "Pilot" of season one.Very first appearance onscreen is Season 1, "Pilot", approx. 05:15. His first speaking role is arguing with his mother, Bree, over her desire for perfection.Season 1, "Pilot", approx. 20:00. He is attached to his father, Rex, and is upset when Bree tries to cover up their impending divorce.Season 1, "Who's That Woman?", approx. 10:10. When he confronts her about her lies after she discovers he lied to her, she says, "Just because I chose not to share my marital problems with you does not give you the right to be rude!": and Andrew replies, "How about driving my father away? Do I get to be rude then?", and shuts the door in her face.Season 1, "Who's That Woman?", approx. 14:20. Andrew repeatedly breaks the rules during Season 1, infuriating Bree, who eventually humiliates him by turning up at the strip club he is visiting with his friends while grounded.Season 1, "Who's That Woman?", approx. 25:20. Bree does later apologize to Andrew (who also admits how much he misses his father) for lying to him, but removes the door to his room in punishment for him smoking marijuana.Season 1, "Who's That Woman?", approx. 37:30.
His parents' acrimonious divorce results in Rex buying Andrew a car. Bree tries to get him to give it back but Andrew refuses. Later that episode, he hit Juanita "Mama" Solis with his car while drunk. Mama survived this but was put in a coma, dying later after waking up and falling down stairs.Season 1, "Anything You Can Do". His parents help him cover it up but Andrew doesn't feel any remorse for his crime.Wines, Tom, The Gay Ghetto , Bgay.com. Retrieved March 19, 2007. He continues to misbehave and Bree gets him dropped from the school swim team for smoking marijuana in an attempt to make him regret his actions.Season 1, "Suspicious Minds", approx. 35:50. Further angered by her refusal to allow Rex to convalesce from heart surgery at home, Andrew threatens, "You wanna see how long I can hold a grudge? Go ahead and abandon my father because I promise you will be sorry."Season 1, "Move On", approx. 06:30. When he finds out about his father's adultery, however, he apologizes to Bree and is angry with Rex.Season 1, "Move On", approx. 36:20.
When Bree tells Andrew that if he gets his friend Lisa pregnant, he will marry her. Andrew merely laughsSeason 1, "Impossible", approx. 09:30. as he is actually developing a relationship with Justin, who confesses to Gabrielle Solis that he and Andrew have been "fooling around" for some time.Season 1, "Impossible", approx. 26:30. Andrew later crashes Zach's pool party with Justin and some friends and creates mayhem.Season 1, "Impossible", approx. 32:40. However, after everyone else has gone home, Susan Mayer catches them naked in the swimming pool kissing; Andrew anxiously shouts, "I'm not, I'm not gay!" Susan then walks away, shocked by what she had just seen.Season 1, "Impossible", approx. 38:00. After getting expelled from school for drug abuse and vehicular assault on a school parking attendant, as well as continuing his rudeness towards Bree, Andrew is sent to a juvenile delinquent boot camp.Season 1, "There Won't Be Trumpets".
Some time later, Bree and Rex visit Andrew at the camp. Andrew asks to see his father alone; Bree thinks this is because he blames her for sending him to the camp and storms into the meeting room to tell him she did the right thing.Season 1, "Children Will Listen", approx. 35:00. There, Rex reveals that Andrew wanted to see him alone because he fears he is gay. Bree is horrified, and despite Rex's misgivings, insists Andrew come home with them immediately, saying "Our son just told us that he might be gay. There are two hundred other boys in this camp. Now, I could explain to you what might happen if we left him here, but I'm a lady and I don't use that kind of language."Season 1, "Live Alone and Like It", approx. 06:10. Rex reminds her that he is still her son and Bree tries to comfort Andrew by telling him "I would love you even if you were a murderer".Season 1, "Live Alone and Like It", approx. 07:20.
Bree then invites Reverend Sykes to dinner, who tries to convince Andrew to enroll in Christian counselling. He refuses, saying "I'm not confused. I know exactly who I am."Season 1, "Live Alone and Like It", approx. 23:40. This deeply upsets Bree, who tells him he has to change or he will not be with her in heaven; Andrew is shocked and agrees to meet the reverend.Season 1, "Live Alone and Like It", approx. 36:10. In his final scene of the season, after swearing the reverend to secrecy, Andrew states that, not only does he not believe in God, but that he lied to his parents about being gay to get out of the camp.Season 1, "Live Alone and Like It", approx. 38:40. This confuses the reverend, who asks him whether he is heterosexual or not: Andrew replies, "Look, I love vanilla ice cream, okay? But every now and then I’m probably gonna be in the mood for chocolate."Season 1, "Live Alone and Like It", approx. 39:00. He then says he will get revenge on Bree for rejecting him by pretending to be a model son and then doing something so awful it is "going to really destroy her".Season 1, "Live Alone and Like It", approx. 39:50.
Season 2 Set just weeks after Rex's death, Andrew's first opening shot in Season 2 is to claim Bree is incapable of having murdered his father because "it takes guts to kill somebody".Season 2, "You'll Never Get Away from Me", approx. 21:30. He resents George Williams for dating Bree while Rex was still alive, and is very rude to him when he sees him with Bree. Andrew shaved his head after the 1st season.Season 2, "My Heart Belongs to Daddy", approx. 09:10. Bree blackmails Andrew with swim club subs into attending dinner with George.Season 2, "My Heart Belongs to Daddy", approx. 13:00. In response, Andrew imitates Bree's pleasure moan to provoke George, who tries to send him to his room but will not tell Bree why, and she refuses to punish Andrew without a reason.Season 2, "My Heart Belongs to Daddy", approx. 21:00. George decides to get rid of Andrew by kissing his mother during his swim meet, which angers him so much that he jumps out of the pool and attacks George.Season 2, "My Heart Belongs to Daddy", approx. 39:40. That evening, Andrew packs his bags for Camp Hennessey a second time.
After George dies, Bree brings Andrew back from the camp, telling him that George killed Rex in order to marry her; Andrew is disgusted that his father is dead because of her.Season 2, "Coming Home", approx. 07:30. As a result, Andrew invites Justin to sleep over. He confides to him his reasons for hating Bree, saying:
He also confides his wish for his mother to slip up so that he can "take her down".Season 2, "Coming Home", approx. 25:10. Later, Bree confesses to Andrew that George didn't commit suicide; he overdosed and asked her to call an ambulance, but she sat and watched him die. Andrew now has the "slip up" that he was waiting for.Season 2, "Coming Home", approx. 32:00.
When Bree sees Andrew kissing Justin outside her window, she forbids him from bringing his boyfriend to their home.Season 2, "One More Kiss", approx. 08:40. Andrew mocks her and ensures Bree later walks in them in bed together.Season 2, "One More Kiss", approx. 15:50. Bree threatens to call the police and have Justin forcibly removed, but Andrew replies that he will tell them about what happened to George.Season 2, "One More Kiss", approx. 16:30. This backfires, however, when Bree hires Karl Mayer, a lawyer/friend of the family, who not only explains that Bree has not committed a crime but slams Andrew against a wall and orders him to leave her alone.Season 2, "One More Kiss", approx. 34:40.
Along with his sister, Andrew notices Bree's increasing alcohol consumption, and uses it against her.Beginning from Season 2, "Thank You So Much", approx. 12:00. When Bree refuses to let Andrew access his trust fund to buy a car, he calls her a "mean old drunk", and she slaps him.Season 2, "There Is No Other Way", approx. 10:10. Andrew emotionally blackmails Justin into punching him in the same place Bree slapped him.Season 2, "There Is No Other Way", approx. 16:50. He then hires a lawyer to file for emancipation from his mother, whom he accuses of hitting him while drunk.Season 2, "There Is No Other Way", approx. 22:40. Andrew tries to persuade her in "There Is No Other Way" to just let him go, but she refuses saying she hasn't "set him right" yet. Andrew, after consultation with his lawyer, tells Bree in "Could I Leave You?" that he will accuse her of molesting him if he does not get his way.
Bree's father and stepmother arrive, and convince the judge to drop the case.Season 2, "Don't Look at Me", approx. 03:50. They try to reconcile the two, but Andrew persuades them to let him live with them.Season 2, "Don't Look at Me", approx. 20:10. Justin is heartbroken when he finds out, and when Bree asks him why, replies:
Bree persuades Justin to supply her with gay magazines and videos, which she plants among Andrew's things for his grandparents to find; they then leave Andrew behind, and revoke his trust fund.Season 2, "Don't Look at Me", approx. 36:10. In an attempt to make peace, Bree invites Justin to dinner.Season 2, "Don't Look at Me", approx. 38:40.
Andrew, however, doesn't give up hating his mother or trying to hurt her. He discovers that Peter McMillian, Bree's boyfriend, is a sex addict, and tries to persuade his sister Danielle Van de Kamp to seduce him.Season 2, "I Know Things Now", approx. 27:50. After she refuses, he lures Peter into bed himself, where Bree finds them.Season 2, "I Know Things Now", approx. 35:00. Bree finally gives up and leaves him with a bag of clothes and some money by an abandoned gas station because she can no longer love him unconditionally.Season 2, "I Know Things Now", approx. 36:10. In his final scene for the season, Andrew, realizing he really is about to lose his mom, tells her that the only good thing is that he has won.Season 2, "I Know Things Now" approx. 37:30. Bree–who had already been hurt and betrayed by Andrew multiple times–decides not to argue with him and simply replies "good for you."
Season 3