Kyle MacLachlan to exit Desperate Housewives

Source: Ausiello Files

Bye Bye Orson!

Wisteria Lane is about to lose another longtime resident: Kyle MacLachlan is leaving Desperate Housewives after four years of playing Orson Hodge, sources confirm to me exclusively.

Exit rumors have swirled around the woefully underused MacLachlan for the better part of the past two years. Speculation picked up again after Sunday’s season finale, during which Orson — disappointed that Bree would allow herself to be blackmailed by Sam — abruptly moved out.

I’m told MacLachlan will likely return for an episode or two next fall to tie up the Orson/Bree story.

MacLachlan’s decampment brings to three the number of series regulars coming off the Housewives payroll. He joins the dearly departed Drea de Matteo and Dana Delany.

Thoughts? Is this something that should have happened two years ago when Orson started to drift onto the back burner? Will the return of Mark Moses and the recent addition of Vanessa Williams more than fill the void? Sound off below!

I'm so glad that Kyle is finally leaving Desperate Housewives. I felt that his storyline with Bree has been dragging on forever! He should have left ages ago. I'm also glad that Dana is gone as well. I was never crazy about Katherine. So am I worried that they both left? NO! Desperate Housewives can and will continue without them! Can't wait to see what Vanessa Williams is going to add to the mix?

Tell me what's on your mind by leaving your comments below!

Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLachlan) Bio

Character Bio

When Orson met Bree Van de Kamp, the two hit it off immediately. Orson stepped up his courtship by aiding Bree during her escape from his old mental health facility. Everyone around here feels turning a blind eye to a prison break is so much more romantic than just bringing flowers.

Orson’s mysterious past almost came to light when Mike recognized him during a routine dentist visit. We say it “almost” because Orson later ran Mike over with a car, giving him retrograde amnesia. Problem solved, right? Wrong. Questions about the death of Orson’s ex-wife came up just before his wedding to Bree. Orson assured his bride-to-be that he didn’t kill his ex and the wedding was on. But when Bree discovered Orson ran over Mike, she threatened to divorce him unless he turned himself in.

After the five-year leap, we see that Orson did, indeed, go to prison for hitting Mike. His criminal record made it impossible for him to find work as a dentist. His marriage to Bree was on the rocks, too. She published a highly-successful cookbook while Orson was serving time. This left him feeling underappreciated. In order to feel alive again, Orson started stealing things from just about everyone on Wisteria Lane.

This was the last straw for Bree. She wants a divorce, but Orson doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. He blackmails Bree into staying married. She doesn’t love him but Orson says, “That’s all right, darling. I have enough love for both of us.” You think that sentiment is going to stick once Orson finds out about Bree’s affair with less-than-ethical divorce attorney Karl Mayer? 

About Kyle MacLachlan

Wisteria Lane is a long way from Twin Peaks, Washington, but we’re pretty sure Desperate Housewives serves up enough twists and turns to keep Kyle MacLachlan guessing!

MacLachlan is an actor who has brought indelible charm and a quirky sophistication to some of film and television's most memorable roles. He has recently joined the cast of Desperate Housewives, playing Dr. Orson Hodge, Bree's (Marcia Cross) charming new husband who is a dentist with a hidden agenda.

He is perhaps best known for his performance as FBI Agent Dale Cooper in David Lynch's ground breaking series, Twin Peaks, for which he received two Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe Award. He also starred for two seasons on HBO's highly successful comedy series, Sex and the City, as Charlotte's ideal man, Dr. Trey MacDougal.

In the Fall of 2003, MacLachlan made his Broadway debut as Aston in Harold Pinter's The Caretaker, starring with Patrick Stewart and Aidan Gillen. MacLachlan made his London stage debut in the Fall of 2002 in On an Average Day on the West End, starring with Woody Harrelson. The story revolves around troubled brothers who reunite with explosive consequences. Directed by John Crowley, the play returned MacLachlan to his theater roots after a 14-year absence.

MacLachlan made his feature film debut in the futuristic drama Dune, directed by David Lynch. This was followed by his second collaboration with Lynch in Blue Velvet. He starred alongside Ethan Hawke in Miramax's Hamlet (2000), directed by Michael Almeryeda, with MacLachlan portraying Claudius, Hamlet's stepfather, in a cast that included Bill Murray, Julia Stiles and Sam Shepard.

MacLachlan was also featured in Mike Figgis' experimental Timecode, which was the first film of its kind—shot with four digital cameras simultaneously in one continuous 93-minute take—and worked with Figgis again in One Night Stand, with Wesley Snipes and Robert Downey, Jr. He portrayed legendary keyboardist Ray Manzarek in The Doors, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Val Kilmer and Meg Ryan, and starred as Josef K in Kafka's The Trial, adapted by Harold Pinter and featuring Anthony Hopkins.

Other work includes The Trigger Effect, co-starring Elizabeth Shue and Dermot Mulroney, The Flintstones, produced by Steven Spielberg, Paul Verhoeven's controversial Showgirls and Bruce Beresford's Rich in Love, with Albert Finney and Jill Clayburg and produced by Richard and Lili Zanuck. MacLachlan starred opposite Samuel L. Jackson in HBO's award-winning film, Against the Wall, the story of the 1971 Attica prison riots, which was directed by the late John Frankenheimer, and in the Showtime original film Roswell, based on the infamous story of an alleged UFO sighting in 1947 near Roswell, New Mexico.

MacLachlan made his directorial debut in 1993 with an episode of the darkly comic HBO hit series, Tales from the Crypt.

Source: CTV, ABC