The cast just learned about the shocking death this week. ABC won’t spill details — we don’t know if it’s one of ladies or one of the husbands — but the pivotal passing will air in March.

Though the actor obviously won’t appear in the much-anticipated finale, at least he or she will be available for pilot season. Many pilots have already been ordered for fall 2012 consideration and casting has begun.

Production on the final season of Desperate Housewives doesn’t wrap until late April for the finale in May.

EW

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Desperate Fans: The show was given a heads up this past summer, with ABC announcing that Desperate Housewives would conclude its run this season. Did the advance notice change any of your plans for structuring season eight?

Jeff Greenstein: We had a contingency plan in place, were that the case. It meant that certain things we felt we might do, we actually ended up doing. The way that the mystery was divised this year was deliberately meant to echo the Mary Alice [Brenda Strong] blackmail from Season One. As we were coming up with that idea we were aware of the resonance with Season One and thought that if this is the final year, that will be a very nice way to sort of close the circle. So Bree [Hodge, Marcia Cross] as a character who is closest in tonality to Mary Alice, has suddenly found herself in this similar predicament to what Mary Alice was in during Season One. And ultimately is driven, as you’ve seen, to the brink of suicide by it.

Desperate Fans: Would you also say that Season Seven was close in comparison to Season One?

Greenstein: In what way?

Desperate Fans: There was Paul Young [Mark Moses] coming back and Martha Huber’s storyline resurfacing.

Greenstein: Well that wasn’t so much reaching back to Season One as it was reaching back for an actor we all loved. We really loved Mark Moses.

Desperate Fans: Emily Bergl (Beth Young) was fantastic during that season. Did you guys feel any remorse after killing her off?

Greenstein: Well, we felt remorse because we loved the actress. Beth as a character succeeded beyond all expectations and ultimately hung around a lot longer than we planned because Emily was so great. The scenes between her and Paul were so weirdly interesting and compelling, and because Beth was a young housewife–it’s her first marriage and she’s new on the street–she just had an entirely different flavor than everybody else; so we loved her. But we knew we needed to propel the mystery forward and we also needed an interesting resolution to the Susan [Mayer, Teri Hatcher] story.

Desperate Fans: She went out with a bang!

Greenstein: She sure did. That was a great scene. She was amazing in that scene.

Desperate Fans: Desperate Housewives is known for its game-changing holiday cliff-hangers. What was the reasoning behind not creating more chaos for Wisteria Lane during its last-hurrah?

Greenstein: You’re talking about the plane crashes and the hostage crises and so forth, right?

Desperate Fans: Correct.

Greenstein: We’re saving that for the ending. [Laughs.] We have a plan. We also felt like enough plagues have made their way to the street at holiday time, let’s save our big piece for the end of the year.

Desperate Fans: So since the show is ending in 2012 I guess it’s safe to say the big disaster is 2012.

Greenstein: It will be a Mayan Armageddon. [Laughs.]

Desperate Fans: It’s been stated often throughout the years that there’s no concrete plans to kill off any of the four fabulous main housewives, but that final moment from the last episode makes it seem Bree is contemplating suicide. How do you pull off an emotional moment like that when it’s a given Marcia Cross is not departing anytime soon?

Greenstein: I would argue it’s not a given. One of the things about being in your final season is you can do anything. It’s entirely possible that… I would just say if you think you know the rules of what Desperate Housewives can and can’t do, then stay tuned. Because in the final year, everything is on the table. If it had been Season Three, yes, there’s a very good chance that she’s not going to blow her brains out. But in this particular season with the pressures that are on that character anything can happen. I think you will see as the series moves toward its conclusion, we’re going to do a lot of things people didn’t think we could do.

Even the idea of Tom [Scavo, Doug Savant] and Lynette [Scavo, Felicity Huffman] splitting up. One of the things that’s always been impregnable was Tom and Lynette’s marriage and as we were moving towards the closing year of the show, we felt let’s threaten that. They may end up together or maybe they don’t. I think that’s one of the things that’s liberating about knowing you’re running for the checkered flag is that you can try these bold moves that series television sometimes forbids you to do.

Desperate Fans: What is to come of Tom and Lynette’s storyline? They’ve had their share of ups and downs this season, will things get even bumpier for them?

Greenstein: I think it’s going to get bumpier because Tom paired off with somebody first. I think you’re going to see Lynette find some romance of her own, and then we’ll see if these two find their way back to each other or if they find happiness with someone else.

Desperate Fans: Going back to Bree, we’ve seen Bree on a downward spiral this season. In Season Six Orson (Kyle MacLachlan) left her. She’s always been very dependent on her relationships with her men and loved Orson despite everything he did. So why make Chuck (Jonathan Cake) the last leg before she came crashing down?

Greenstein: I’m not sure I understand the question.

Desperate Fans: Chuck is hurting Bree in an emotional way but, even when she was close to Orson and getting hurt, we’ve never seen her as vulnerable as she is now. Why is it Chuck that’s doing all this damage to her?

Greenstein: She hurt the wrong guy. You’re right when you say that Bree has always been to some extent defined by her relationship with a man and her relationship in one way or another causes her to be desperate. We’ve seen her happy in some of those relationships; she was very happy with Keith, Brian Austin Green’s character. We’ve seen her anxious and paranoid in those relationships; the way she was during the early going with Orson. And we’ve seen her in the series premiere, she was already feeling frustrated in a relationship. I think one of the things that’s going to be interesting to see is if Bree can rebound and if she can find a sense of self that will make her stronger.

Desperate Fans: Chuck has a lot of similar traits to George (Roger Bart) from Season Two.

Greenstein: He’s a little bit unbalanced. I think one thing that Jonathan Cake has done remarkably well is show us the transition from a guy that was a real viable love interest for Bree to a guy that is just dangerous, slightly psychotic, and bent on revenge. I loved the episode that had all the interrogations in it. I thought he was masterful in those scenes. Jonathan was so strong and you just got a feeling that he was going to kill these women! He’s going to take them down! He’s smart and he’s prepared, and I just thought Jonathan did a really wonderful job in that.

Desperate Fans: Chuck was of course hit by a car in that episode–which Desperate Housewives loves their car accidents…

Greenstein: Yes we do!

Desperate Fans: … Is he going to recover like Mike did in Season Three?

Greenstein: I cannot tell you. [Laughs.] That’s part of what we hope people will come back and find out. I think even more interesting than that is who did it. There’s a number of viable suspects that could have done it. There were plenty of people with an agenda, and who wanted to see him stopped.

Desperate Fans: We touched base on Orson a bit earlier, and it’s been said the character will be back this season. How does he factor in during this final chapter?

Greenstein: I think you’ll see one of the things we’re doing and we’ve already talked a bit about this in the press, is we’re going to reward longtime fans of the show for the back-half of the season. They’re going to see a lot of their favorite characters return. Orson is one of them. I don’t want to get too specific about what he’s up to, but he is one of several fan favorites who will be returning shortly after the first of the year.

Desperate Fans: Can you talk a bit about who some of the others might be? There’s Dana Delany (Katherine Mayfair) and Andrea Bowen (Julie Mayer), who else is tapped to return?

Greenstein: Yeah, yeah… Andrea Bowen is coming back for a couple [episodes]; she’s great. We’re trying to work with Dana’s schedule to make sure Dana can come back and do one. Everything is on the table right now; pending people’s availability and whether we left them dead or alive, we’re trying to bring back a lot of the people from the past of Wisteria Lane. It is important to us to reward longtime viewers. The way we did with the Paul Young story that you talked about last season. When you’ve stayed with a show as long as you have Shane, you know it’s really gratifying to see those loyalties rewarded, when you benefit from the knowledge of the show that you have. So there will be plenty of gifts for the fans coming up.

Desperate Fans: Is there a chance at a reconciliation between Bree and Orson?

Greenstein: You’re going to have to watch and find out, because I don’t want to give out too much on what’s going to happen on B’s side. But if that’s something you’re hoping for, stay tuned.

Desperate Fans: Tom’s daughter Kayla hasn’t been mentioned the past couple seasons, is there a chance Rachel Fox could return?

Greenstein: I would love to see that happen because that actress was fantastic. As I said, as we plot the back-half of the year, that’s one of the things that we might play with. I thought that was a great storyline.

Desperate Fans: One of the greatest finales I can think of from any show is the Season Four finale, which introduced a major time jump. If you look back at the seasons that have occurred since, do you think the jump ended up working in the writers’ favor or was it a hinderance?

Greenstein: Listen, Shane, at the time, it was a tremendous brainstorm. If we had waited to let Gaby [Solis, Eva Longoria] be pregnant, and have the kids grow up to the point where they were talking, we’d still be waiting. So what that enabled us to do was just drop characters right into the middle of a predicament. We felt like at that point, yes, we’re four years in, let’s create a new set of predicaments for these women. I think Gaby with kids is fantastic. Gaby’s own version of being a mother is hilarious. What we were able to do with Susan and that great mystery that started; we’re like, ‘Where’s Mike?! What happened to Susan and Mike?’ There were lots of things we were able to do with that jump that made the fourth season really good. I think it was a big win. I still do.

Desperate Fans: Kathryn Joosten, who plays favorite Mrs McCluskey, went back to a recurring basis this season. Was there a certain reason for a cutback on her screentime?

Greenstein: No, we love her. You’re going to see more of her as the season wears on. We’re writing a really good storyline for her right now, so cool stuff is happening for her and Orson Bean [Roy Bender]. So if you’ve felt starved for Kathy Joosten, you’ll see more of her during the back-half of the year.

Desperate Fans: What else can you tease about the second-half of the season?

Greenstein: I know Marc Cherry has given a particular amount of thought to how we’re ending. I think it’s important it’s the satisfying ending that the way you close a great novel, you felt that sense of taking an incredible ride with these characters. The viewers that have stayed with us for eight years are going to be well-rewarded in the final few episodes. We respect our fans and we love them and we want to give them a really wonderful gift at the end of the year. I don’t want to get too specific about what’s happening, but I will just say that we’re going to bring every one of these characters and every one of these relationships to a really satisfying resolution. That what the characters deserve and I think that’s what the fans deserve.

Desperate Fans: Is Marc writing the finale?

Greenstein: He’s been helping out on the show this year. I suspect that he will be looking after his baby, particularly as we close out the year. I think the plans call for him to write the finale, but I don’t know yet. He will definitely be heavily involved with the writing in the finale.

Desperate Fans: What will you personally miss most about working on Desperate Housewives?

Greenstein: Well, to be incredibly specific to me, Shane, my last day on the show as a writer is next Wednesday. [Editor's note: this interview took place December 13, 2011.] It’s happening very soon. I’m coming back to direct another episode in January, and then I am finished with Desperate Housewives. I am moving on at Christmas time and I’ve been thinking about this a lot.

I will tell you that I think it’s a really… I mean, first of all, as a really neat piece of television I think the tonality that you mentioned before–that wonderful mix of satire and drama and comedy and melodrama and pathos and uplift–that is really unique. Since then, there have been a number of attempts to rip it off or Xerox it and I don’t think anyone has done it better than Desperate Housewives. I will miss that voice on television and that’s a tribute to the show that Marc created. I’ve worked on the show seasons Three, Four, Five, Seven, and Eight. So I’ve given five years of my life to the show and I love the people. I’ve become very close with this writing staff. Bob Daily and I started out on the show the same day; it’s a wonderful group of writers who are very close. And I love the cast. Marc has been incredible to me and has been so generous as a writer and even in terms of helping me start my directing career. There’s so much to miss.

Desperate Fans: Your web-series Husbands was a hit right off the bat. How does it feel to have such a positive impact on the LGBT community?

Greenstein: That’s very meaningful to me. Having done most of the run on Will & Grace, I know how that community yearns for realistic representation in the media. To be really honest with you Shane, I feel that since Will & Grace ended there has been a decline in those representations. I feel that in a lot of ways I don’t think that the representation of those sort of characters in American TV–I’m talking specifically about network TV–have matured very much. I think Glee is a great show, but I feel impatient with the fact that we’re still preaching tolerance in 2011. I know it’s important, but let’s get beyond tolerance and let’s starting talking about real three-dimensional relationships.

Shane Saunders is a freelance writer and reviewer. His work can be seen on EDGE Network, CSIFiles.com and ShaneSSaunders.com. Twitter: @ShaneSSaunders.