Written by Joey Murphy and John Pardee; directed by David Grossman

The show that gave us a hostage situation, a tornado, and a fire will once again have another special disaster episode, as a small plane crashes into a house as the people we know and love are enjoying a Christmas party outside.  And, yes, someone's going to die!! Make that two someones!  No -- make that three!  Yes, the plane crash results in three deaths, including someone who's been around since the first season.

A doctor informs a pilot (Dan Castellanetta) about his bad blood pressure; meanwhile, the Bolens decide to pay for their hospital expenses without insurance, probably because they don't have insurance with their new names. Danny made a mistake which could be trouble for Angie.

Lynette's and Gabrielle's friendship is about to collapse.

Susan comes up with a plan to help crazy Katherine. Katherine was stabbed, which will keep her away from the party--and safe from the danger.  Lyndsy Fonseca is back as Katherine's daughter Dylan.

The Hodges make a decision concerning their marriage.  Bree and Orson are trapped in their house during the plane crash.

The future is . . . now! Various characters will fantasize about the future in this episode. Some of the fantasies will be people dreaming, while at least one will involve one of the housewives being under the influence of anaesthesia.

One of the series of fantasies involves Lynette's new son Patrick, who has cerebral palsy: she envisions struggling to deal with him as a baby; refusing to indulge him as a child; and then seeing him as a fully grown man.

Another of the fantasies involves Gabrielle's children.  At 20, Juanita's a lesbian (!). Gabrielle struggles to turn Celia into an actress, to the frustration of the entire family, even as Celia's not successful at it.

In Susan's fantasy, she's gained a lot of weight.

Bree's fantasy concerns what life would be like for her if one of the men in her life was dead. Meanwhile, back in reality, it's the other man in Bree's life who actually passed away.

Also, in another fantasy, a judge sentences Angie to life imprisonment, and a FBI agent questions Angie about the whereabouts of another criminal.  Whether the scenes are "real" or not, we'll get major info on Angie's actual past -- which involves terrorism -- in this episode! 

Back in "reality", someone will be left paralyzed from the plane crash.

Tom's working at Carlos's company, but makes a mistake with a client that Lynette points out.

Susan inherits a strip club and hopes to sell it. When she visits the club, though, she learns Mike's been a regular at the club!

One of the Solis kids (Juanita, we figure) is under the mistaken impression she's white, to Gabrielle's surprise.

Mrs. McCluskey's boyfriend Roy (Orson Bean) will be sticking around for a while, but the storyline will eventually go in a dark direction.

Ana and Porter may become involved with each other; ditto for Julie and Danny.

DH creator Marc Cherry expects the show to run through season 9.  He's talked before about doing a series called Vicious Cheerleaders, but who knows if that project will ever see the light of day.