After ending it all Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong) takes us into the lives of her family, friends, and neighbors on Wisteria Lane. Her small circle of girlfriends includes Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher), the divorcee and single mom; Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), the ex-career woman who traded the boardroom for boredom with four unmanageable kids; Bree Van De Kamp (Marcia Cross), the Martha Stewart on steroids; and Gabrielle Solis, the ex-model with everything she's ever wanted so what is she doing with the 17-year-old gardener? From her unique vantage point, Mary Alice sees more than she ever did alive, and she's planning to share all the delicious secrets that hide behind every neighbor's closed door in this seemingly perfect American suburb.

The ladies find an anonymous letter in Mary Alice's belongings which suggest that Mary Alice was hiding some terrible secret; Susan and Edie continue to fight for Mike's affections.

The women decide to go ahead with the big dinner party the late Mary Alice had planned to host, despite the more-than-minor disturbances in their own lives, as adulterous Gabrielle finds herself with a nine-year-old blackmailer (guest star Emily Christine). Bree struggles to keep her crumbling marriage a secret and Susan bares all – in more ways than one – as she confronts her ex (guest star Richard Burgi).

A break-in on Wisteria Lane leaves the neighbors feeling vulnerable, especially Susan – who reluctantly accepts a date with a persistent policeman (guest star Steven Eckholdt) after Mike Delfino appears indifferent to her – and a lonely Bree, who finds herself bonding with Mary Alice's troubled son, Zach. Meanwhile, Lynette and Tom pull out all the stops to get their uncontrollable twins accepted at a prestigious private school, and the unexpected arrival of Carlos' mother (guest star Lupe Ontiveros) puts a crimp in Gabrielle's covert love life.

Lynette locks horns with an officious mom (guest star Sharon Lawrence) at the twins' school who is trying to produce a "politically correct" play about Little Red Riding Hood. Meanwhile, Susan continues to investigate the mystery of Zach's sudden disappearance, Mama Solis (guest star Lupe Ontiveros) comes closer to discovering Gabrielle's dirty little secret, and Bree comes undone when Rex suggests they hire a sex surrogate.

Susan is miffed when Mike's unexpected – and very sexy – houseguest (guest star Heather Stephens as Kendra) forces him to postpone their first official "date." Lynette becomes steadily more dependent on the twins' ADD medication as Gabrielle becomes jealous of the "other" woman in John's life. Bree's kids mutiny when they learn their dad has moved out and the enigmatic Mr. Shaw (guest star Richard Roundtree) comes closer to solving one of Wisteria Lane's big mysteries.