The suspense lies in seeing whether the SNP's hitherto popularity will translate into seats and changeovers in party dominance in the councils.
This is the last electoral cycle since Labour's implosion up here (i.e. any change in makeup at other levels of governance has already happened), so it's expected that this pattern will continue.
But this doesn't guarantee an SNP whitewash, by any means - tactical voting is highly likely to play a part, and Labour, the Lib Dems and the Tories (all taking a strongly UK Unionist stance at the moment) are trying to turn it into a "mini-referendum" on whether there should be a second independence referendum, rather than focusing on council policies (beyond the usual ignoring of the shortcomings of the current councils and the positive aspects of the SNP's time in power at the Scottish national level).
The battles in some of the major cities - Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen - will be worth watching. There have been a number of scandals, some petty, some not so petty, during Labour's period in dominance in those cities, and it remains to be seen whether the SNP can repeat its strong showings in recent times and take over from Labour as the majority party.
My own council is Argyll & Bute - one of the most dysfunctional councils in the country. It's currently run by an "independent" bloc/cabal, dominated by old-timer Dick Walsh. It would be very satisfying to see him get his comeuppance, and some semblance of sanity and good governance established.
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