Julie Alexandra Mayer is a fictional character on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. The character is played by actress Andrea Bowen, and first appeared in the pilot episode of the series in 2004. She is the daughter of Susan Delfino (Teri Hatcher) and Karl Mayer (Richard Burgi). They share custody of Julie,"You'll Never Get Away from Me". Arlene Sanford (director), Tom Spezialy (writer), Ellie Herman (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. October 9, 2004. Season 2, no. 3. though she lives primarily with Susan."Who's That Woman?". Jeff Melman (director), Marc Cherry (writer), Tom Spezialy (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. October 24, 2004. Season 1, no. 4. Julie is characterized as "bright and self-sufficient and extremely mature for her age."Touchstone Television, p. 70. She often acts as the parental figure in her relationship with Susan, especially following Susan's divorce from Karl."Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher): Official Character Biography" . ABC. Retrieved May 15, 2010."Come Back to Me". Fred Gerber (director), Patty Lin (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. December 19, 2004. Season 1, no. 10. However, starting in the 6th season, Julie's personality changed quite a bit, with her saying she was no longer the "perfect" daughter.
Development and casting Prior to being cast in the role, Bowen did not think she would get it, explaining, "they were looking for a 12-year-old brunette ... and I was a 13-year-old blonde."Touchstone Television, p. 71. As a result, Bowen was asked to dye her hair for the role. Bowen was initially attracted to the series because of the amount of attention paid to the younger characters. She stated, "If you watch a lot of other television shows, the kids don't have that much [of a] part in it. On this show, the writers give us each our own individual storylines that have a lot of layers to them." For the show's third season, the character's storylines began revolving around themes of teenage rebellion and angst. Bowen commented: "She's going to have, you know, primarily one love interest, and he's a bit of a bad boy. We’re going to see if she has a positive effect on him, or if he has a negative effect on her. I'm definitely very excited about it ... because you kind of get to see a different side to her.". The Star Scoop. October 15, 2006. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
At the beginning of the series' fourth season, Bowen commented on the possibility that her character would be leaving the show for college, stating that the writers had briefly alluded to the character's departure early in the season but removed it from the script. She continued: "Do I want my character to go off to college? No, I'm very happy where I am but I wouldn't be too devastated if it happened because none of us feel too secure with their jobs being that people get killed left and right. I think we all live with the suspicion that we're going to be going."Topel, Fred (August 11, 2007). . CanMag. Retrieved June 10, 2011. The Julie character was written off the series for the fifth season. Hatcher expressed disappointment in the decision, but series creator Marc Cherry promised that Bowen would return to the series.De Leon, Kris (May 29, 2008). "'Desperate Housewives' Star Devastated Over Her On-screen Daughter's Storyline" . BuddyTV. Retrieved June 10, 2011. Bowen returned to the series for one episode during season five and rejoined the main cast as a series regular for the sixth season.Ausillo, Michael (July 7, 2009). "'Housewives' scoop: Julie's coming home" . Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 10, 2011. She appeared once in the seventh season and returned for a string of episodes in the show's eighth and final season.Ausiello, Michael (November 23, 2011). "[Desperate Housewives Exclusive: Dana Delany, Kyle MacLachlan Book Final Season Comebacks". TVLine. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
Storylines
Season 1 Julie usually helps Susan deal with problems regarding Susan's love life, and helps to care for her mother after her divorce. She is briefly romantically involved with Zach Young (Cody Kasch), the troubled son of Susan's friend, Mary Alice (Brenda Strong). She harbors Zach in her room when he escapes from the mental institution Paul has sent him to."Suspicious Minds". Larry Shaw (director), Jenna Bans (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. December 12, 2004. Season 1, no. 9. Susan eventually finds Zach and sends him home, which Julie considers an act of betrayal. Eventually, Susan bans Zach from seeing Julie due to his increasingly disturbing behavior, but they continue dating in secrecy."Your Fault". Arlene Sanford (director), Kevin Etten (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. January 24, 2005. Season 1, no. 13. Soon after, Julie breaks up with Zach because of his sadistic mentality."Impossible". Larry Shaw (director), Marc Cherry (writer), Tom Spezialy (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. February 20, 2005. Season 1, no. 15.
Season 2 During the second season, Julie expresses concern over Susan's remarriage to her father Karl, but agrees to it because she wants Susan to have her surgery to remove her wandering spleen. Julie recognizes that Zach has changed and rekindles their romance. As an act of kindness towards Zach and Mike Delfino (James Denton), she invites Zach bowling with them, to try to help Mike and Zach bond. Their friendship is ruined when Zach's father, Paul Young (Mark Moses), forbids him from speaking to Julie, fearing he will discover Mike is his biological father."One More Kiss". Wendey Stanzler (director), John Pardee (writer), Joey Murphy (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. January 8, 2006. Season 2, no. 11.
Julie catches Susan in bed with Karl, and she is forced to sleep in a small van with Susan when their house is burned down by Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan). Karl buys them a new house, but Susan refuses, eventually moving back to their house in season 3.
Season 3 In the beginning of the third season, Julie meets Edie's nephew, Austin McCann (Josh Henderson), whom she likes but does not want to admit it."It Takes Two". David Grossman (director), Kevin Murphy (writer), Jenna Bans (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. October 1, 2006. Season 3, no. 2."Nice She Ain't". David Warren (director), Alexandra Cunningham (writer), Susan Nirah Jaffee (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. October 22, 2006. Season 3, no. 5. Edie soon tells Julie that Austin is bad news and that she should not get attached.
After the two of them, plus Edie and Lynette, are held hostage by Carolyn Bigsby (Laurie Metcalf) in a supermarket, they begin dating."Bang". David Grossman (director), Joe Keenan (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. November 5, 2006. Season 3, no. 7. Julie loses her virginity to Austin, realizing that the relationship has to move forward if she wants to keep dating him. Unfortunately, her mother and Edie catch Austin having sex with Danielle Van de Kamp (Joy Lauren). Susan informs Julie about this, and she decides to break up with him."Not While I'm Around". David Grossman (director), Kevin Murphy (writer), Kevin Etten (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. January 14, 2007. Season 3, no. 12. Eventually Julie agrees to give him a second chance, but when Danielle learns that she is pregnant with his child, Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLachlan) insists Austin leave town."My Husband, the Pig". Larry Shaw (director), Brian A. Alexander (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. March 4, 2007. Season 3, no. 16.
Season 4 In the fourth season premiere, Julie is reunited with her childhood best friend, Dylan Mayfair (Lyndsy Fonseca), when Dylan and her family return to the street after twelve years of being absent. However Dylan does not remember Julie or ever living on Wisteria Lane. Julie becomes suspicious of Dylan."Now You Know". Larry Shaw (director), Marc Cherry (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. September 30, 2007. Season 4, no. 1. Julie tells Susan that Dylan is not the same girl as she was years ago when they were best friends. It is revealed that Julie is right, as the real Dylan had been crushed to death by a wardrobe and buried just before Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delany) left Fairview.
Julie also adjusts to having Mike as her stepfather."Smiles of a Summer Night". David Grossman (director), Bob Daily (writer), Matt Berry (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. October 7, 2007. Season 4, no. 2.
When Julie begins dating a questionable boy named Derek, who has many piercings, Susan tries to fix her up with a young man who turns up at the house looking for Mike. However, Susan quickly breaks the relationship up when she finds out that the young man is in fact Mike's drug dealer.
In the fourth-season finale, Julie is accepted to Princeton University."Free". David Grossman (director), Jeff Greenstein (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. May 18, 2008. Season 4, no. 17. One of the professors is so impressed by her senior thesis that she is offered a summer internship, and she leaves to attend college.
Season 5 After the five-year time jump, Julie reappears in the episode "City on Fire" and introduces Susan to her boyfriend, her college professor, Lloyd (Steven Weber), a 40-year-old man who has been married 3 times. Lloyd proposes to Julie but she rejects him, stating that she does not believe in marriage, following her mother's string of bad luck. Susan explains to Julie how much she believes in marriage and the two share a hug."City on Fire". David Grossman (director), Bob Daily (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. November 16, 2008. Season 5, no. 8.
Season 6 Julie returns to Wisteria Lane for the summer to help her mother with her upcoming wedding. During this time, she forms a relationship with Danny Bolen (Beau Mirchoff), who has moved in across the street with his parents. The relationship is turbulent and short-lived. When Julie is strangled outside her house and ends up comatose, Danny is the prime suspect."Nice is Different Than Good". Larry Shaw, Marc Cherry (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. September 27, 2009. Season 6, no. 1."Being Alive". David Grossman (director), Matt Berry (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. October 4, 2009. Season 6, no. 2. As the other characters work to reveal the identity of Julie's attacker, an affair she was having with Danny's father, Nick (Jeffrey Nordling), and a pregnancy scare prior to the attack are exposed."The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues". David Warren (director), Alexandra Cunningham (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. October 18, 2009. Season 6, no. 4. Several months after waking up from her coma, Julie decides to visit relatives on the East Coast until her attacker is caught."You Gotta Get a Gimmick". David Grossman (director), Joe Keenan (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. January 10, 2010. Season 6, no. 12. In the episode "Epiphany", Julie's attacker is revealed to be Eddie Orlofsky (Josh Zuckerman), who attacked her mistaking her for Susan."Epiphany". David Grossman (director), Marc Cherry (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. April 25, 2010. Season 6, no. 20.
Season 7 Julie is not seen again until the seventh season episode "Where Do I Belong" when she visits Susan in the hospital after her kidney has been removed."Where Do I Belong". David Grossman (director). David Schladweiler (writer). Desperate Housewives. ABC. January 9, 2011. Season 7, no. 12. She offers to donate her kidney to Susan, but she is not a match.
Season 8