Marc Cherry observed that the mystery surrounding Mike made him alluring and initially wanted to cast an Italian actor to portray him.

"[3] In August 2011, ABC president Paul Lee confirmed the eighth season of Desperate Housewives would be the show's last.

I think it's much more interesting for the writers, now that they've got them together after all these years, to watch them deal with these crazy situations in a realistic way that couples all across the country have to face all the time.

During this time, Mike fell into drug addiction and killed a police officer in self-defense while protecting a woman.

Mike moves into 4356 Wisteria Lane, renting the Simms' house, and poses as the friendly neighborhood plumber.

He is quietly searching for his missing ex-girlfriend (Deirdre Taylor), and during this time, begins a relationship with Susan Mayer.

After Mary Alice commits suicide, Paul Young excavates the toy chest out of the pool, wraps it, and tapes it up, and drives away with it to throw it in a body of water, though it is eventually recovered by the police.

Susan temporarily breaks up with Mike when she finds out about his prison time, but reconciles with him after meeting with Kendra and Noah, and learning the truth from them.

Edie takes advantage of this to make a move on Mike, lying to him and claiming that Susan had treated him like dirt.

Hearing of the arrest, Susan persuades her current boyfriend Ian Hainsworth to help hire a defense attorney for Mike.

Susan follows him to a national park where he's gone camping, but gets offended by her guide's suggestion that she invites in drama, and gets lost trying to find Mike on her own.

In the process, Mike is forced to admit to Susan to the fact that his father is alive and doing life in prison for murder.

When they visit Nick in prison, Susan is shocked by how cold-hearted he is and he does not show any remorse for his crimes, only for how his actions affected Mike's popularity.

During this time, the strain of lingering back pain from his accident plus working overtime to support the baby leads Mike to turn to painkillers, eventually developing an addiction.

Caught in a lie, Mike reluctantly admits to having bought the drugs so he could keep working, as he's worried about the cost of raising a child.

When Julie catches him confessing to the hit and run in one of these episodes, she relays this information to Mike, who in turn tells Susan about this.

Mike wants to name him Maynard after his maternal grandfather (who was a father figure for him), but Susan prefers to call him Connor.

They eventually settle on naming their son Maynard James Delfino (M.J. for short), honoring both of Mike's grandfathers.

Despite being found not responsible, as they had the right of way and the Dashs' car pulled out in front of them, Susan blamed herself and Mike, and the trauma took its toll on their marriage, leading to their divorce.

Worried about her and Mike's relationship, Katherine tells him that her daughter Dylan wants her to move to Maryland, but isn't sure if she should go.

Mike is non-committal, but realizes thanks to Dave Williams that he is falling in love with Katherine, and leaves her a basket of roses with a note saying "Don't go".

Fortunately for Katherine, Edie (who Dave married in order to have a reason to move onto Wisteria Lane) texts him right as he's about to take the shot, having found out the truth about him through investigating.

Shaken, Edie rushes out, but crashes her car into a utility pole while trying to avoid Orson and is electrocuted to death.

While waiting at the airport for their flight, Katherine takes her wallet to buy cappuccinos and inadvertently hits the camera, causing Mike to see the confession tape.

Realizing M.J. is in grave danger, he abandons Katherine at the airport, and calls Susan (who Dave is taking with M.J. to the place where he intends to kill the latter) to warn her.

Fortunately, M.J. survives, as Susan's pleading leads Dave to imagine seeing his dead daughter where M.J. is and prompt him to leave the car.

During the wedding, Katherine approaches Susan and explains how she feels and asks for her to make a public apology during the ceremony under the threat of humiliating her.

Susan eventually learns of their financial ruin and, after going over their finances she and Mike realize they need to cut back significantly.

Though Mike knows it will help them get back on their feet, Susan becomes very angry with him as she is forced to leave the house where she raised her children.

When Susan develops kidney problems after being trampled during a riot on Wisteria Lane, Mike surprises her at the hospital.