The Fairview strangler is revealed as Danny’s friend, Eddie. He has been living among the women of Wisteria Lane since childhood: He once caught Gaby and Carlos during an intimate moment as a child after spending time with her as they were both lonely; Bree offered him a job and some dating advice when he was younger, until she found out that he had a crush on her daughter, Danielle; Susan encouraged his passion for art, eventually paying for an art seminar for him; and Lynette will show him some kindness and generosity.

Eddie is shown at the beginning of the episode offering to buy his mother more alcohol when he goes out; making a point of telling her to stay out of his room. Once he leaves, she goes against his wishes and kicks in his door. Instead of finding the alcohol she believes hidden in his room, she finds the scrapbook he keeps of his victims under his mattress.

Flashback to when Mary-Alice first meets Eddie; he is sitting outside of his house, on the lawn, alone. Mary-Alice asks Eddie why he’s alone, but stops when she hears fighting noises inside the house. Both of his parents emerge; Eddie’s father apparently about to leave his family. Mary-Alice interrupts, asking them if they really want to be speaking this way in front of Eddie. The father leaves, and Eddie’s mother takes him inside. After a few visits to Eddie, Mary-Alice comes by one night to drop off a teddy bear for him, but finds him alone at night instead. She tracks down Eddie’s mother and demands she comes home. Once there, Eddie’s mother promises that she will never leave him alone again. Once Mary-Alice leaves, Eddie’s mom hugs him, telling him, “It’s not your fault you ruined my life”.

It is shown that through the years, Eddie became more and more violent to deal with his mother’s lack of love and affection for him. One thing Eddie does not care for at all, and usually happens right before he strangles someone, is being laughed at. Several times, he asks in a soft, hurt voice, “Please don’t laugh at me”.

It is also shown that Julie was not Eddie’s intended victim- Susan was. He was angry and jealous at her for marrying Mike, for he had wanted her for himself.

The episode ends with his mother confronting him about his ‘scrapbook’- and he admits to strangling them. His mother responds to this with, “I didn’t raise you to be like this!”, which Eddie seems confused at, and retaliates with, “Didn’t you?”. His mother won’t let herself be blamed for his crimes, and goes to call the police. To stop her, Eddie strangles her, too. Lynette shows up at his door and offers to let him move in, to help him escape his mother. Eddie accepts.

“Epiphany” is the 131st episode of the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. It is the twentieth episode of the show’s sixth season and was aired on April 25, 2010.

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