After the Writers Strike: Desperate Housewives Predictions

The cast of Desperate Housewives has survived the writers' strike, and most of the characters survived the tornado that struck Wisteria Lane in the two-part midseason finale. Farewell to kindly neighbor Ida Greenberg, Gabby's husband Victor Lang, and Adam's stalker, Sylvia. So what happens now?

1. Carlos is poor and blind. Giving us all a tutorial in "how not to manage your finances," Carlos allowed the only proof of his offshore millions to be blown away in the tornado. To make matters worse, Carlos is now blind as a result of his tornado-induced injuries.

These developments should put the kibosh on Gabrielle's reunion with Carlos. I'm sure she'll take care of Carlos for about a week or so before getting distracted. Gabrielle is always at her best when she's torn between what she should do and what she wants to do. Don't be surprised if Edie swoops in to take care of Carlos, just as she did when Mike was in a coma.

2. Home improvement. Bree's house was damaged, while Lynette's home was completely destroyed. This has already led to some great comedy between Susan and her houseguest, Bree. Desperate Housewives always excels when the main characters interact with each other, as opposed to bouncing around in separate plots.

3. Katherine and Adam's marriage is over. Adam's past infidelity with Sylvia caused Katherine to throw him out. We'll see if Adam simply disappears or if Edie tries to latch on to him, since she's Wisteria Lane's Queen of Sloppy Seconds.

4. The mystery of Dylan's dad. We get one of these "big mysteries" every season on Desperate Housewives, and unfortunately it usually involves whomever lives in the Applewhite house (which should be redubbed Mystery Manor). This means we have to start caring about the new people and then caring about their mystery.

So this year, Dylan is trying so find out the truth about her father. Katherine keeps shutting her down, saying her father should be ranked somewhere between Charles Manson and Jack the Ripper. The key to the mystery is the "smoking gun" note that Aunt Lily wrote before she died. Before Adam left, he showed Katherine the note and said everything was her fault.

Katherine ripped up the note and tossed it into the fire. Dylan managed to retrieve the pieces and tried to put the puzzle together. Hopefully, the payoff to this mystery will be worthwhile, since we didn't know any of these characters before this season.

According to TV Guide, Desperate Housewives will resume production on Feb. 25 and deliver four to seven new episodes this spring.