Betty Applewhite
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| Betty Applewhite | |
|---|---|
 Alfre Woodard as Betty |
|
| First appearance | Goodbye for Now (episode 1.22) |
| Last appearance | Remember (episode 2.23) |
| Cause/Reason | Moved away |
| Information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Age | 40s |
| Occupation | Housewife Former Concert pianist |
| Relationships | Virgil Applewhite (claimed ex-husband) |
| Children | Matthew Applewhite (deceased son) Caleb Applewhite (son) |
| Portrayed by | Alfre Woodard |
| Created by | Marc Cherry |
Betty Applewhite was a fictional character on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. The character was played by actress Alfre Woodard.
[edit] History
| “ | And Caleb, if I ever hear you talking about that Van De Kamp girl again...I'll hit you twice as hard as I hit your brother...and I won't feel bad about it. | ” |
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— Betty Applewhite
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Betty Applewhite is the first African-American housewife to be a major character on Desperate Housewives, beginning her recurring role in the final two episodes of the show's first season. Betty is a single mother with strong religious beliefs and is a former concert pianist. In the first episode of Season 2, she agrees to be the organist at Rex Van De Kamp's funeral on the request of Bree Van De Kamp.
Betty is an astute woman not to be trifled with, as revealed in the subequent unpleasant and threatening exchanges with Bree. Her reasons for moving from Chicago to Wisteria Lane are mysterious and rather quick due to the fact she has locked up her son Caleb in her basement. She bought the Wisteria Lane house over the phone and had moved in in the middle of the night, arousing the suspicions of the housewives thereafter. She eventually revealed to Bree van de Kamp that Caleb had murdered Matthew's girlfriend Melanie Foster at a local lumberyard.
Meanwhile, her son Matthew has been dating Danielle Van De Kamp, Bree's daughter. Matthew wants a "normal life", without the secrets and pressures of keeping a convict out of sight. Together, he and Danielle hatch a scheme to have Caleb put down. Matthew tricks his brother into going over to Danielle's house to rape her. Bree finds out and informs Betty that she will call the cops and send Caleb away forever. Betty will not have this and decides to poison Caleb because she refuses to have him locked away. By poisoning him she will be giving him peace, a better life because, in her own words, "he deserves so much better than this."
Betty takes Caleb on a picnic where she treats him to a bowl of ice cream which she has poisoned. While holding back tears she tells her son that Matthew stayed home because it was a special day just for the two of them. Caleb asks if Matthew is mad with him and Betty asks why. It is then that she learns the horrible truth when he spills the beans of what really went down. Betty immediately grabs Caleb's hand and stops him from eating the ice cream. When she arrives back on Wisteria Lane, she tricks Matthew into going into the basement where she locks him in for punishment.
Danielle later comes to Matthew's aid and strikes Betty with a crowbar. The two flee while an unconscious Betty Applewhite is left on the basement floor.
After she comes to, Betty decides that leaving Wisteria Lane once and for all will do her some justice. She packs up all of her belongings and leaves her house with Caleb in the middle of the night. Betty tells him that for now on it will be just the two of them. That is when the police show up and have her arrested in front of the many watchful eyes of the neighbors of Wisteria Lane.
It is in jail that Betty learns that it wasn't Caleb behind Melanie Foster's murder -- it was Matthew. Betty calls Bree who is in a psychiatric hospital and warns her that they need to get Danielle to safety right away. As Bree escapes the hospital, Matthew and Danielle head back to the neighborhood to grab some things. While Danielle attempts to break into her mother's safe, Matthew heads back to the Applewhite home to pick up some cash for his new life with her. Betty has been waiting here to confront him, and reveals that she has learned the shocking truth and is even more shocked that he has placed the blame on his own brother.
According to Matthew, Betty loved Caleb more than she loved him. Betty argues that she was the only person that Caleb was going to receive love from. Matthew leaves to go get Danielle from her house before Betty alerts the authorities.
There is a confrontation with Bree Van De Kamp as Matthew holds her at gunpoint. Danielle is exposed to the man Matthew really is and just as he is about to pull the trigger, he is killed, the victim of a bullet straight to the heart from the gun of a SWAT team policeman. Betty and Caleb watch as his lifeless body is wheeled away and Betty decides that this dark chapter of her life is over and done with.
Betty Applewhite finishes packing all of her things into a large moving truck and she and Caleb leave Wisteria Lane once and for all, never looking back, and pressing on to a more peaceful and serene future, one without the juicy drama.
[edit] Trivia
- When the character of Betty was first created she was going to be a deeply religious woman who believed in going the extra length in disciplining her kids.
- Betty's original storyline involved the fate of her husband, and an appearance of the Foster family. The original plan hadn't worked out with the writers, so only a small portion of the Applewhite mystery was used.
- Betty was supposed to have another son that died shortly after birth.
- A female relative was supposed to visit Betty towards the end of the season.
- Betty wasn't specifically intended to be of African-American decent, but that changed when Alfre Woodard was cast.
| Desperate Housewives | ||
| Episode list | Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | ABC official site | ||
| Production | Marc Cherry | Characters | Actors | Awards | Broadcasting | DVD releases | Music | The Game | |
| Main characters |
Susan Mayer | Lynette Scavo | Bree Van De Kamp Hodge | Gabrielle Solis | Edie Britt | Mary Alice Young Carlos Solis | Tom Scavo | Julie Mayer | Orson Hodge | Mike Delfino Andrew Van De Kamp | Danielle Van De Kamp | Preston and Porter Scavo | Parker Scavo | Ian Hainsworth |
|
| Former main characters |
Betty Applewhite | Rex Van De Kamp | Paul Young | John Rowland | Zach Young | Karl Mayer |
|
| Minor characters |
Carolyn Bigsby | Sophie Flickman | Maisy Gibbons | Ida Greenberg | Alma Hodge | Gloria Hodge |
|
| Locations | Wisteria Lane | |
