Death Becomes "Desperate" Finale

It won't be long till Wisteria Lane changes its name to Murder Row.

Desperate Housewives ended its second season Sunday night with a time-twisting finale that was heavy on both the flashbacks and the body counts.

The two-hour finale weaved in flashbacks of the heard-but-not-seen Mary Alice (Brenda Strong) as she first met each of the main housewives, showing viewers that dialogue back in season one--in addition to being snappier and more believable--was foreshadowing this year's events.

One flashback showed the uptight Bree (Marcia Cross) being scolded by her husband for being unable to relinquish control. This season found her restrained in a psych ward. Lynette (Felicity Huffman) and Tom (Doug Savant) were shown in all their bickering glory. This season, a secret almost split them up. Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) and Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) were remembered in various stages of undress. This year, they both dealt with the aftermath, one more recently than the other, of infidelity. Susan (Teri Hatcher) was remembered as a hapless, accident-prone naif. And this year--well, some things never change.

In the finale, Bree escaped from the institution and arrived at home to see her daughter preparing to run away with Betty's (Alfre Woodard) son, Matthew. Bree tried to stop the young duo by telling her daughter that Matthew was a murderer, only to have the young man pull out a gun and point it at Bree's face. Before he could pull the trigger, a sniper's bullet killed him. At the episode's end, Bree appears to take up with Orson the dentist, a fellow nutjob who witnessed her escape.

Betty didn't fare so well herself. The Wisteria Lane resident, who despite kicking off the season with the promise of a killer (so to speak) storyline, was absent for much of this year. She drove off into the sunset with her mentally challenged son, Caleb.

Throughout the season, she had shackled up Caleb in her basement, thinking it was he who was responsible for murdering Matthew's girlfriend. She left after learning that it was the gun-toting?and karma-gettin'?Matthew who pulled the trigger.

For her part, Lynette suffered through some marital strife, having moved out on her husband after coming to the conclusion that he was having an affair. He told her that while he'd never been unfaithful during their marriage, prior to tying the knot, he had a one-night stand that led to an 11-year-old daughter. The woman is back and looking for back payment on child support.

Lynette and Tom handed over a sizeable sum to the single mama, only to have her take the money and buy a home on--where else?--Wisteria Lane.

As for Gabrielle, she was on the receiving end of some payback herself. She learned that her husband had been carrying on an affair with their maid, who happens to be the surrogate mother to the couple's in utero child.

Susan, meanwhile, wrapped up the season much like last year. She faced the dual affections of both her ex-husband and longtime would-be love Mike (James Denton). After Mike wins a round of fisticuffs with Karl, he treks back to meet Susan, with the likely intention of a proposal. However, on the way over, he's run over by Orson, the crazy dentist, who fears Mike may turn him in for jailhouse malpractice.

In true cliffhanger style, it was unclear whether Mike would survive till season three.

But one definite and one ostensible death wasn't enough for Marc Cherry's braintrust. Mike's biological son, Zach, also got in on the murderous act, pulling the plug on his bedridden grandfather's respirator after the old man made it clear he wanted to die, and that Zach's reward for his arguably good deed would be to inherit his sizeable estate.

The third season returns next fall and kicks off six months into the future.