Dave Williams (Desperate Housewives)

Neal McDonough's casting as Dave Williams was announced in July 2008. McDonough did not audition for the role, but was offered it after meeting with Marc Cherry. The series creator wanted McDonough to portray Dave after he saw the actor playing the role of David McNorris, an alcoholic County Asst. D.A. in NBC's short-lived crime drama Boomtown, and thus wanted to see the dark side of David McNorris "infused in the dark side of David Williams". McDonough described his character as "this really sweet guy next door and then something tragic happens to him and his personality splits in half. You like Dave and you feel for him, but he also creeps the hell out of you." Half-way through the season, just after the death of Nicollette Sheridan's character Edie Britt was filmed, McDonough already knew that his character would last just one season, and though he hinted that Dave might return for a brief arc in subsequent seasons, this never happened. ==History==

Dave starts the fire at the club that results in the murder of several patrons. ==Reception==

The character of Dave Williams received mixed reviews. Matt Roush of TV Guide described Neal McDonough as "smoothly sinister" and his character as "mysterious and manipulative". Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly praised the casting of McDonough, stating that his "ice-blue eyes always look cyborg-ish — perfectly apt for his character". While reviewing the Red Hot Edition of the fifth season's DVD, Aaron Wallace from DVDizzy called the writers "storytelling savants", noting that revealing pieces of the truth helped to head off "the frustration that an ungratified audience can feel when questions abound but answers elude". In a review of the fifth season premiere, Tanner Stransky of Entertainment Weekly described McDonough as "always-creepy" and noted the power Dave holds over Edie. Stransky later reviewed the season finale and opined that Dave's plan was all about making Susan suffer, but himself too, as he felt responsible for letting his wife and daughter to go out the night they died. According to Stransky, this twist made "this somewhat bloated and too-long-gestating storyline more layered and dynamic." ==References==