User blog comment:Desperatehousewives14fan/Season 8 Opinion Rant ~Contribute!~/@comment-392210-20120213235047/@comment-392210-20120214121212

I don't think Ben was ever intended to be a mystery star, that was all on us. We're the ones who thought he'd play that part. Which, let's face it, is actually a rather bad idea. This is the final season. The main ongoing story involves all the main characters (except, for some reason, Renee... I thought she'd have known by now). If Ben were the mystery star, there wouldn't be anything special at all about that, he'd be like any seasonal mystery star, a la Betty and Dave. This is the final season, so it deserves a special mystery. And for the first time since season 4, I have no idea what's going on! I don't know who wrote the notes, who ran over Chuck, who's stalking Bree... I have guesses, but I have no idea how this all will turn out. For the first time in a long time! The mystery, to me, is actually compelling this season, and has remained strong 13 episodes into it. I still have no clue what's going on. By this time in seasons 5, 6 and 7, there was no mystery anymore, except maybe who shot Paul (revealed in episode 7.14, and we all knew it was Zach anyway). The central story/mystery is, of course, about Alejandro. Not how we die, but the little twists and turns built around that story. They've brought in a new spin on the way they deal with the mystery portion of the show, and I am loving it.

I do wish the kids (sans Penny, who's actually been featured plenty) got more screentime. But then again, I don't want them to have stories. I really don't. Juanita's Valentine's thing bored me in this last episode. I don't care to see any more kid-centric stories than we've already seen in previous seasons, cos they're always rather sub-par, and, well, if they don't have stories, then there's no point in them appearing at all, I guess. :P At least the producers save some cash. I just wish Karen was featured more... But how can you say there's no element of mystery? You're thinking in terms of Ben's story. I don't think he's the new Dave, he's really more of a new Keith or Jackson, only with regular billing, because they planned on keeping him for the whole season. His very first appearance had nothing even remotely mysterious to it, it was all about Renee shoving her boobs in his face. He's not the mystery star, he's just the new hunky neighbor next door.