Who's Plotting Her Own Death on Desperate Housewives?!

After the demise of Mike Delfino, the final episode marks the end another character's life

By Ted Casablanca, Alyssa Toomey Mar 27, 2012 11:55 AMTags
Desperate Housewives ABC

It's the final season of Desperate Housewives and no one's safe on Wisteria Lane.

True, the last hoo-ray from the drama-fueled show has been quite overshadowed by the juiciest trial ever, so it's absolutely critical the show ends with a bang, or in standard D.H. fashion—a death.

And no, we're not talking about the case of Mike Delfino and the on-the-stand spoiler—there's another key player who will be KO'd in this final season in a plot twist even the savviest could never predict…

(Spoiler Alert: Don't read further if you don't want to know!)

Say goodbye to the sharp-tongued Karen McCluskey, played by two-time Emmy winner Kathryn Joosten.

There's been mucho speculation McCluskey might be the next to go, considering her character is fighting lung cancer on the show, and now sources thisclose to production have confirmed the brassy broad will officially face her demise on the final episode.

But wait, that's hardly the most shocking spoiler, right? Since Kathryn has revealed the disease is only going to escalate, it shouldn't be surprising Marc Cherry chose now to kiss the beloved McCluskey goodbye.

Or is it…considering Kathryn's rep told us "Marc Cherry vowed never to kill her off" and with the endless OMG moments we've seen over the past eight seasons, we're hard pressed to believe the man responsible for some of the most jaw-dropping deaths on the boob tube would really let lung cancer take the loud-mouthed K.C. down. (Holy Housewives, not another Nicollette Sheridan case!)

Unless, of course, that's exactly what Kathryn wanted:

"It's no secret that I do have lung cancer and have had it for quite a while," Joosten reminded Team Watch With Kristin in her sit-down last week. "I think that'd be a terrific idea, an opportunity to really get some public awareness, some discussion, maybe some information," she explained when asked why she wanted her character to mimic real life, while also noting she was unaware of her character's final fate.

But sources tell us that's just not the case and Kathryn has not only given "Marc Cherry the OK to kill her character" but she's also played an active role planning the death.

We've reached out to ABC for comment on the matter, but have yet to hear back.

Kathryn herself is not only a lung cancer survivor but has been also battling the disease on and off for the past 10 years. And she's no stranger to using her personal life for inspiration—her guest roles on My Name Is Earl and Grey's Anatomy both revolved around her character's attempt to quit smoking.

So Kathryn, who is acutely aware of how precarious her life can be both on- and offscreen, decided, with Marc Cherry's backing, that lung cancer is the way she wants her character to die.

And with all the real-life tragedies we've seen from this set, we're happy someone has the guts to forever leave their mark.

"If Kathryn had her way, she would love to see Karen McCluskey take a machine gun and shoot them all down on Wisteria lane in a blaze of glory in the final episode," joked a Joosten insider.

Well, no matter how the death goes down, at least Kathryn can laugh about it in her signature quick-witted ways.

We'll miss you, Mrs. McCluskey—you were always one of our fave characters on Wisteria Lane.