What's in store for women of Wisteria Lane?

Regardless, we see Cherry and co-writer Jeff Greenstein wrestling to wrap up or work through leftover storylines for each of the main characters that must be resolved before the show is fully back on track.

Bree Van De Kamp
What went wrong?: She’s the most tortured woman on Wisteria Lane, and that’s the problem. Bree (Marcia Cross) went from the strong, resolute, anal-retentive wife and mother to a passed-out drunk with a penchant for falling in love with cold-blooded killers. This isn’t the Bree audiences came to love, and it isn’t the Bree they want to see.

What’s in store?: Sadly, Bree appears destined to continue with her unfortunate choices in men. While MacLachlan’s character is a joy to watch and slips nicely into the cast, he doesn’t seem right for Bree and serves as another reminder that killing her husband, Rex (Steven Culp), off the show was a bad, bad move. The couple’s interactions worked, whether or not they were living together. Rex’s relative level-headedness balanced Bree’s obsessiveness and gave Cross a chance to shine. But when she’s continually placed next to murderers, being a little uptight doesn’t seem like such a big deal.

Susan Mayer
What went wrong?: The one thing even the most ardent detractor of hers could say was that she always stuck to her conviction and never gave in to her slimy ex-husband Karl’s advances. Then she gave in to her slimy ex-husband Karl’s advances. Like it or not, Susan (Teri Hatcher) is goofy and clumsy, but she wasn’t supposed to be stupid. The dynamic between the divorced Karl and Susan was always entertaining. But their hook-up sent her character into a tailspin and turned her on again, off again situation with Mike Delfino into an annoying and overdone bore.

What’s in store?: Mike’s in a coma now, so Susan is tending to him at the hospital. But she’ll soon find herself falling for a new man, played by Dougray Scott (“Heist”).

Lynette Scavo
What went wrong?: Getting her out into the working world was a fantastic move, but bringing her husband, Tom (Doug Savant), into the same office killed it. Audiences wanted to see Lynette (Felicity Huffman) do her own thing and watch her stand out. She ended up eating a pound of raw bacon to defend Tom’s honor. To make matters worse, viewers were teased with the suggestion that Tom was cheating on her and that she’d have to make it as a single mother — a development that would actually be interesting. Instead, they discovered Tom’s secret pre-marriage lovechild whose overbearing mother, Nora (Kiersten Warren), is trying to squeeze into the Scavo Family.

What’s in store?: Unfortunately, this story isn’t going away and is easily the most exasperating bit of the first new episode. There’s talk of a character’s impending death in the first few episodes. Not sure how they’d do it, but here’s hoping Nora is shown the exit.

Gabrielle Solis
What went wrong?: Not much. Some viewers were bothered by her character’s quick 180-degree switch from never wanting a child to being obsessed with having one. But Gabby (Eva Longoria) continued to provide some of the only comedy that remained through the end of the second season.

What’s in store?: Her husband Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) is out of the house, but Gabby is still tending to Xiao Mei, their maid and surrogate mother of their child who became Carlos’ mistress (talk about padding the résumé). She still offers some of the best comedy on the show, including a perfectly placed diatribe right from the start that will fill viewers with the hope that the "Desperate Housewives" doldrums may have passed.

Victor Balta is a writer in Philadelphia.

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