Renee Kimberlee Slater (born Rhonda Slater) is the younger sister of Wilhelmina. She is played by Gabrielle Union.
She is somewhat a lot like her sister as both apparently rebel against their father and have changed their names. However, Renee is much younger than Wilhelmina, somewhere in her late 20’s or early 30’s. This could mean the sisters are half-sisters, and that they share their father, but have different mothers.
Background[]
Renee seemed normal like anyone else, but it's revealed that at some point in her college years, she developed a mental illness that affected her feelings greatly. When she became involved with college professor Greg Larson, it affected her so much she instantly believed him to be cheating on her with his secretary.
She sought out to destroy her competition and attempted to kill his secretary by arson. However, Renee's plan backfired and her boyfriend, Greg Larson was killed in the fire instead. Her father, a U.S. Senator, covered up the incident in order to preserve the family's reputation, but he had her involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital where she would undergo six years of intensive therapy and be put on a medication regimen in order to keep her moods under control.
Throughout the series[]
After being discharged from the psychiatric hospital, Renee hooks up with Daniel one night at a bar. They spend the night together, and Daniel wakes up at Renee's apartment, not yet knowing it was actually Wilhelmina's apartment they were staying at. Thinking that Renee was in the shower, he goes to surprise her, only to get a big shock to see Wilhelmina inside. Both are shocked and astounded to see one another at her place. Wilhelmina is more than unhappy about the relationship.
When Daniel confronts Renee about her lack of honesty, she reveals that she initially got involved with Daniel just to annoy Wilhelmina, but she and Daniel start to have real feelings for each other and they consider pursuing a relationship. Wilhelmina didn't want anyone to stand in the way of her ambition, not even her own sister, so she had Marc switch out Renee's mood-stabilizing medication, causing her to have a breakdown that almost resulted in Betty being killed in a fire that Renee started. However, after a calm and desperate talk, Betty convinced her to calm down and see that Betty didn't want Daniel and that he cared deeply about her.
Daniel, Wilhelmina, and Marc rush to Daniel's apartment, desperate to stop Renee from killing Betty. Upon arriving, they see that Betty has started to get the fire under control by using a fire extinguisher. Renee apologizes to Daniel for her erratic behavior, believing that her medication is not working. It remains unknown that Renee had (unbeknownst to her) stopped taking her medication due to Wilhelmina and Marc switching her pills out for fat-blockers. Wilhelmina has Renee re-admitted to the psychiatric hospital to restart treatment.
Trivia[]
- Renee has the same name as Renee Perry, a character in another ABC series Desperate Housewives who was portrayed by Vanessa Williams.