Karl Mayer is the name of a fictional character on the ABC
television series Desperate Housewives. The character is played by actor
Richard Burgi.
History
Season 1
Karl first appears in the Pilot in a flashback and shows how he left years of marriage with Susan Mayer Delfino for his secretary called Brandi. Later on the series Susan and Brandi apoligse to each
other and become friends, Karl soon breaks up with Brandi and starts dating Edie Britt.
Season 2
Susan also discovers that he flirted with Edie while they were married. He dates Edie Britt during season 1 and 2 but is
jealous of Mike Delfino and tries twice to get back with Susan. He even goes so far as to
lie to Susan and say that he was breaking it off with Edie, which led to him and Susan having sex. Later Bree Hodge hires Karl to stop her son, Andrew Van De Kamp from
blackmailing her. Karl tells Andrew that even though Bree did witness George Williams
die, she won't even face a courtroom. Andrew says that he will just make up stories or give her a "public humiliation" and Bree
is horrified, Karl asks Bree for more tea and as Bree leaves for the kitchen, Karl grabs hold of Andrew and puts him against the
wall and he says that he was a good friend to his father Rex Van De Kamp and said he
knew if Rex was alive then he would force Andrew to behave. Andrew backchats once more but Karl grabs him by the cheek and says
that if he doesn't stop blackmailing Bree and not giving her the respect she deserves then he will take care of Andrew himself.
Bree overhears from the kitchen and lets out a sigh of relief.
Later in Series 2, Karl offers to marry Susan when she needs a life-saving surgery so that she can use his health insurance to
pay for it, but they plan to divorce soon after Susan's surgery. Karl becomes jealous of Susan and Dr. Ron's relationship and he
knows that Susan had not yet mentioned her and Mike's past, so Karl breaks open a pipe under the sink and Dr. Ron gets Mike and
he learns that Susan had lied to him and Karl watched happily as Dr. Ron dumped her. Later in the series, Karl asks Edie to marry
him; however, Edie learns about Karl and Susan's secret wedding. As revenge for Karl sleeping with Susan, Edie burns Susan's
house down, prompting Karl to buy her a new one as another attempt to get her back, only to be stopped by Mike Delfino.
Season 3
In season 3, both Susan and Edie have moved on and he is mostly absent, returning only in the episode "Children and Art" to play the bad cop for Julie and Austin. This backfires when he gets mad at Susan
for dating a married English man whose wife is in coma.
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