It seems like I swear off this show and inevitably wind up returning to it, because despite its complete lack of decent morals or anything remotely resembling family values, it is also one of the best-written, most intelligent dramas on television. I know it's nothing more than rubbish, but I cannot seem to stop watching it.

The women of Wisteria Lane have their secrets... and their doubts. After the brutal hit and run that left Mike Delfino (James Denton) in a coma, his girlfriend Susan (Teri Hatcher) is waiting and hoping that he will wake up. But her daily visits to the hospital have introduced her to Ian (Dougray Scott), whose wife lies comatose in a room just down the hall. Something more than friendship sparks between them, leading Susan to experience feelings of guilt that seep over into her other relationships. She has become most concerned with her friend Bree's (Marcia Cross) proposed marriage to Orson (Kyle MacLachlan), a dentist with a curiously mysterious and potentially murderous past. It seems that his wife vanished without a trace, abandoning him and his marriage... or did she? Susan's determination to save Bree puts a strain between them and inevitably pulls the rest of their friends into it.

Lynette (Felicity Huffman) is facing potential difficulties as the wife of a brand new business owner. Her husband Tom (Doug Savant) has become disillusioned with work, but they cannot afford for him to be a stay-at-home-dad and so he wants to open up a pizza parlor, a notion that would put a severe strain on their finances. To top it all off, she is dealing with the presence of his illegitimate daughter and the constant harping of the girl's overbearing, obnoxious mother. Then there is the ugly divorce between Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) and Carlos (Ricardo Chavira), and the scheming designs of Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan) to take Mike away from Susan.

One thing I will say about Desperate Housewives is that it's addictive and has one of the most likable set of characters on television. Even though most of them are stereotyped (Susan the Klutz, Lynette the Mom, Bree the Conservative, and Gabrielle the self-centered model) the fact remains that the audience cares about each and every one of them. Well, maybe everyone but Edie. That I can overlook their extremely immoral attitudes and lifestyles and care about them as characters says a lot about the strength of the writing -- and did I mention that every season there are at least three ongoing plots of a sinister nature? This time around it's the fact that we know Orson ran over Mike... which leaves us wondering what he plans on doing to Bree. There's also a body stowed in a refrigeration unit somewhere in the neighborhood, and some truly hysterical quips and scenes.

However, and I must stress that word, the show is nothing more than a cleverly written soap opera, with a cast of badly behaving individuals whose morals are almost nonexistent. Bree and Lynette seem to hold up pretty good character-wise (although Bree does slip significantly in one episode, and another has us wondering if Lynette is going to have an affair) but Susan is promiscuous (yet strangely, does not want her daughter having sex, which is a blatant double standard) and Gabrielle has no problem with sexually manipulating her husband. There is never anything excessively graphic, but a lot is implied.

Susan embarks on an adulterous affair with Ian (simply because his wife is unconscious does not make him single) and as a byproduct, his stuffy butler gets to see most of her naked body on two separate occasions. Lynnette engages in some flirting with the new cook at their pizza parlor, but fortunately backs off before it goes too far. Bree intends to wait for marriage before sleeping with Orson, but doesn't quite make it. Gabrielle seduces Carlos hoping to find out where he has stashed most of his money, but as it turns out he was leading her on. Edie, fearing she will lose Carlos, convinces him they should have a baby together (and then deliberately continues taking birth control). More revolting is when a man's ex wife and his mother collaborate to drug him so that he cannot resist his ex-wife's sexual advances in order for her to get pregnant. Bree's son Andrew also infers that he was prone to giving out sexual favors when living on the street, and his sister becomes involved with her teacher.

It is surprising that despite the volume of content that is present over the entire season (even more apparent when it is watched in a consecutive chunk) the audience comes to feel as though they know and care about everyone in the neighborhood. Some of the situations are comical and others are astoundingly honest in dealing with real life situations. This season has a lot of smut in it, but it also contains which may be the most important episode in the history of the show: the emotionally charged "Bang," in which the local store is held up with a half dozen people inside. The death of someone I hated brought me to tears for the realization that human life is precious no matter how horrible someone is, and really expressed well the importance of family and friendship. I'm just sorry that there are such lax morals involved.