Hints on 'Desperate Housewives' finale

Warning: This article contains spoilers about upcoming episodes of Desperate Housewives which some readers may prefer to avoid.

The current season of Desperate Housewives will end with a "gigantic" cliffhanger, producers have revealed.

The final episode will - at long last - shed light on many of the mysteries of the show, including why Mary-Alice killed herself and the true nature of Mike Delfino's presence in the neighbourhood.

"We're going to learn a lot about what happened the day Mary Alice shot herself," executive producer Kevin Murphy told TV Guide. "The episode is going to take place as much in the past as the present. There's going to be a lot of going back and exploring the roots of the mysteries that were introduced in the pilot."

He also revealed that one more character would be killed off before season's end. "And when we say we're going to kill a character," he added, "it's not going to be Mailman No. 3. It's going to be a character we know and love and/or hate."

James Denton, who plays Delfino, told E! Online of the episode: "We certainly aren't allowed to say who's gonna be back next year, and we don't really know, but I would've loved the way the storyline went whether I'm back or not. It's a really smart resolution."

The finale is set to air May 22 in the US and June 8 in the UK.