'Army Wives' Monday: First Response

*Warning: Spoilers ahead from the recent episode of Army Wives*

Claudia Joy survived a car wreck -- thanks to lifesaving help from Denise -- and then learned she has a serious disease. Finn's fancy private school and new affluent playmates made some big waves in the LeBlanc house. And I've got a bad feeling about Denise.

Claudia Joy & the Diagnosis

I, for one, am glad that I didn't jump on the "hey, maybe Claudia Joy's pregnant" bandwagon last week when people started to speculate about why her vision suddenly got blurry and she got into a car crash. (Although I'd be lying if I didn't mention that I kept waiting for a doctor to tell her that her blood panel indicated a positive pregnancy test.)

Claudia Joy's diagnosis of type 2 diabetes is a serious one, no doubt. I know it'd be enormously difficult for any family to face. But the way Claudia Joy's "big" diagnoses was being promoted by Lifetime made it seem as though Claudia Joy had something fatal or degenerative. Given that Claudia Joy's such a nut about food, health and exercise, there's no question that she'd diligently follow doctor's orders so she'll fare well in the long run and manage wisely. Her character may, indeed, wind up being a role model for good behavior for fellow diabetic patients, who knows.

Finn's Fancy Private School

At first I thought Roxy's older boy TJ was acting fairly obnoxiously, calling Finn a "know-it-all" and a "dork" because the little one was so excited to start attending a new private school. Then Finn wouldn't shut up about it, talked over everything TJ was trying to say and monopolized the conversations with his yapping. I didn't blame TJ a bit when he finally had had enough and shoved Finn when TJ -- who felt like he had to compete with Finn in order to tell Trevor something about HIS school -- couldn't get a word in edgewise.

I was surprised that Roxy didn't recognize that all the attention that had been lavished upon Finn was having a negative impact on TJ. Not that she should've rewarded his acting out, only been more sensitive to his feelings. On the flip side, it was sweet to see how loving Trevor was with TJ by sharing with him a "special," secret fishing hole as Trevor wove tall fish tales about Fred.

The culture clash between Roxy and some of Finn's schoolmates' parents -- like the family that had an au pair and a gated home with security cameras -- can make for some good plot points in the future.

Bad Feeling About Denise

There was a dark cloud hovering over Denise during this whole episode. While it's true that Michael finally made nice with her after being a twit following the Denise-Frank reunion -- saving Michael's wife apparently wipes the slate clean as far as Michael is concerned -- there was no mistaking that the writers were attempting to foreshadow . . . something. What, I'm not sure.

First we saw Denise telling Roland how lucky she is and how life is so great for her now. Then we saw Jeremy over in Iraq talking about how family is everything and how he can't stop smiling because his parents are back together. Jeremy finally decided to call Denise to check in with her after his colleague spooked him with talk about how they'd need to call one another's family if something happened to one of them in the field. Either these are all red herrings or something's looming on the horizon. And it's not good.

What'd you think of "First Response?"

Image credit: Lifetime.