Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
When Mary Alice Young dies by suicide, her friends Susan Mayer, Lynette Scavo, Bree Van de Kamp and Gabrielle Solis try to understand the anonymous threat that preceded it while concealing troubles of their own on Wisteria Lane. Susan competes with neighbor Edie Britt for plumber Mike Delfino; Lynette struggles with the demands of raising four children after leaving work; Bree and Rex’s marriage deteriorates; and Gabrielle’s affair with teenage gardener John Rowland threatens her marriage to Carlos.
The investigation reveals that Mary Alice had lived as Angela Forrest before she and Paul took in infant Dana, later called Zach. When Dana’s biological mother, Deirdre Taylor, returned to reclaim him, Mary Alice stabbed and killed her; Paul helped hide Deirdre’s body beneath their pool. Martha Huber, who sent Mary Alice the blackmailing letter, is killed by Paul after she admits her role. Susan’s accidental fire at Edie’s house fuels another neighborhood feud, while Andrew’s rebellion ends in a hit-and-run that Bree conceals. Andrew strikes Carlos’s mother Juanita; she wakes from her coma but later dies after falling down hospital stairs.
Pharmacist George pursues Bree and tampers with Rex’s medication; Rex dies after a heart attack, believing Bree poisoned him, though she did not. John reveals his affair with Gabrielle in court while Carlos faces prosecution. Lynette discovers that Tom has quit his job after her interference, and he proposes that she return to work while he stays home with their children. Mike takes Paul to a quarry to confront him, while Zach holds Susan at gunpoint; the season leaves that immediate danger unresolved as Betty and Matthew Applewhite move onto the lane.