Although deceased since the pilot episode, Mary Alice continued to have a leading storyline throughout the first and second seasons of the series, with the story being led by her husband Paul Young (Mark Moses) and son Zach (Cody Kasch).

[14] In 2006, when asked during an interview what viewers could expect from Mary Alice for the series' third season, Strong said that the character was "going to be back with an attitude", stating: "She will be a little less surreal, ethereal and a little more sassy, which means the show is going to be sassier.

She described the scene as one of her personal favorites and called it an "extraordinary opportunity", saying: "In a way, Mary Alice becomes [Bree's] conscience and her guide and her muse in knowing what to do with her life.

"[14] In the pilot episode, Mary Alice introduces herself as the stereotypical American housewife to husband Paul Young (Mark Moses) and son Zach (Cody Kasch).

[17] Paul asks Mary Alice’s neighbors and friends, Susan (Teri Hatcher), Lynette (Felicity Huffman), Bree (Marcia Cross) and Gabrielle (Eva Longoria), to go through her clothes and other belongings and then pack them up, as he thinks it will be too hard for him.

"[17] Thereafter, the women make a series of discoveries concerning Mary Alice’s past and her possible motives for ending her life; she was being treated by Dr. Albert Goldfine (Sam Lloyd) where she revealed that she once went by the name Angela, and she may have had something to do with a baby that went missing.

[18][19] Paul soon discovers who sent Mary Alice the note, their next-door neighbor struggling with financial difficulty, Martha Huber (Christine Estabrook), whom he ends up strangling to death out of pure rage and burying her body in the nearby forest.

[20] Meanwhile, her son Zach begins having flashbacks and is under the impression he killed a baby named Dana, who he believed to be his younger sister and reveals this to Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen), Susan’s daughter.

[23] Mary Alice appears in flashbacks and dream sequences in the remainder of the series, during which several previously unknown details about the day she committed suicide are revealed.

After a hostage situation at the local grocery store, Lynette has one final dream in which she speaks to Mary Alice and asks how she can help her; she tells her that we can’t prevent what we can’t predict, and to enjoy the beautiful day, as we get so few of them.

[29] In season six, Mary Alice again appears in a flashback in "Epiphany", when she notices four-year-old Eddie Orlofsky (Davin Ransom) witnessing his father leave their family.

In "Making the Connection", it is revealed that she contemplated calling her friends for advice and support after receiving the blackmail note, but ultimately chose not to and then committed suicide.

"[34] Peter Schorn of IGN commended Strong's narrations as well as the mystery surrounding Mary Alice's suicide, calling the character's "dark secret" the "McGuffin that powers this first season".

[35] Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe described Mary Alice's suicide scene as "mysterious and somber but mostly funny", pointing out that the soundtrack music remains "light and happy" throughout and likened the character's narration to that of Glenn Close in Reversal of Fortune (1990).

[36] Celia Wren, also writing for The Washington Post, confirmed that the "idyllic small-town" setting of Desperate Housewives as well as Mary Alice's narration style as a deceased and omniscient narrator were influenced by Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology (1915), for which she complimented the series, writing: "There's a lot of material to work with: Masters's poetic portrait gallery from 1915 gets its oomph from blowtorching the concept of idyllic small-town America.

Its largely embittered personalities speak from beyond the grave of murders, seductions, suicides, hypocrisies, political corruption—enough scandalous behavior to make Desperate Housewives look like Little Women.

"[1] While reviewing the first-season finale, Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly praised the resolution to the mystery surrounding Mary Alice's death, calling it "both shocking and satisfying.

"[37] On the other hand, Ann Hodgman of Entertainment Weekly was negative in her review and criticized the writers' decision to devoting too much of the episode to the Mary Alice storyline rather than focusing on the other characters.

[38] Tanner Stransky, also writing for the magazine, wrote that the producers "artfully blended" the mystery surrounding Mary Alice's suicide with "hot-button and often titillating plotlines" throughout the series' first season.

[11] In an article celebrating the tenth anniversary of the airing of the series' pilot episode, Matthew Jacobs of The Huffington Post complimented the "many layers of Mary Alice and her family's mystery" and likened it as "just as captivating" as the first season of Lost.

"[40] Matt Richenthal of TV Fanatic was bored by Mary Alice's flashback scenes in the sixth season episode "Epiphany", believing them to be unrealistic.

When the ladies all move out of [Wisteria] Lane and politely promise to keep in touch and visit, Mary Alice (Brenda Strong) takes the opportunity to unearth one last lie.