'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.

'Army Wives' Monday: M.I.A.

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

Frank got promoted, while Michael gave Denise the stink-eye. Joan punished Roland because she's angry that she's deploying. Roxy helped out an idol.

Frank Got Promoted

Frank and Denise's story this week was told through two lens. One was happy and giddy, where Frank was promoted to lieutenant colonel, which meant he got to stay on post -- instead of returning to Iraq -- where he could continue enjoying a second honeymoon with his wife Denise, whom he'd welcomed back into the Sherwood house in the previous episode. (Their lovey-doveyness isn't getting old. At all.)

The other was a negative one, a continuing, smoldering stink-eye given to Denise whom the pigheaded Michael Holden still can't forgive for having had a fling with a former patient while she and Frank were separated. What business is this of Michael's? Frank has forgiven his wife and they've come back from the brink of divorce, so why can't Michael forgive her too? Either there's some backstory there to which we're not yet privy, or he's just being a jerk. It was bad enough that Claudia Joy had been an ice queen to Denise for several episodes, freezing out her so-called friend when she needed her. It took Roland to talk some sense into the Army wives for them to finally realize that they were being intolerant and abandoning their friend.

Michael, however, was never party to Roland's lecture. So when Claudia Joy invited Frank and Denise over for dinner to celebrate Frank's promotion, Michael gave Denise bad attitude, which he could barely contain when he was alone with her at the dinner table and couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes. It was a pleasure to watch Claudia Joy later call BS on Michael's behavior. "What she did violated everything I believe in," he argued. After acknowledging that Michael's got a very specific, by-the-books manner by which he lives his own life, Claudia Joy asked, "What about compassion? Where does that fit into your equation?"

Joan Punished Roland

I really like Roland. His season one fling aside, since then, he's been a stellar husband. In this episode he continued trying to be kind and patient when Joan was becoming bereft over the fact that she was going to miss so much of her baby's "firsts" while she's on deployment. To help ease her sadness, Roland went out and bought Sarah Elizabeth a bumble bee costume and declared that it was Halloween (it wasn't) and said Joan could celebrate the baby's first Halloween together. He told her he planned to also have a baby's first Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas holiday before Joan left. Instead of appreciation, his gesture was met with fury and Joan stormed away.

Later, when Joan gave him a hard time after he decided to feed Sarah Elizabeth solid baby food without talking to her first, Roland lashed out at Joan with some straight talk: "Reality check, Joan. It was your choice to deploy. And you made that choice without consulting me. So where do you get off acting like it's a big surprise that you're gonna miss some milestones? You act as if you're the only one who's going to be affected by this. But you know somethin' sweetheart? Sarah Elizabeth is going to miss her mother and I'm going to miss my wife. So if you want to play the martyr go do it someplace else, we're really not interested."

And while I was supremely annoyed with Michael's behavior toward Denise, he did provide excellent counsel and insight to Joan, as he sympathized and recalled his own difficulties when he deployed during Claudia Joy's first pregnancy and missed his daughter's birth and milestones. Watching Roland and Joan prepare, logistically, mentally and emotionally for her deployment has been a storyline which has held my interest, much more than anything the writers have given, say, the Moran or LeBlanc families this season.

Roxy Helped Out an Idol

Despite the fact that the Stella Raye story was a mechanism to provide extra face time for special guest star Shelby Lynne, it also provided viewers with another glimpse into Roxy's backstory as a formerly abused wife. When Roxy took in Stella (fed her, housed her) I figured that this was just something that this Roxy did -- like the way she gave Viola a job -- helping people who needed it. (That only applies to people though. If you're a dog named Lucky, forget it.) But it wasn't until the conclusion of the Stella storyline when we learned that Roxy had a special attachment to the down-on-her-luck singer because, years ago, she'd released a song about having the strength to stand up against abuse which gave Roxy the courage to do so herself.

Speaking of guest stars . . . when we got to the previews for next week's episode, I was thrilled to see that Kelly Bishop (i.e. -- Emily Gilmore from the Gilmore Girls) will appear in the next Army Wives. Can't wait.

Image credit: Lifetime.

'Army Wives' Monday: Coming Home

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

Denise and Frank moved to the next level. Roxy's son Finn got tested for a learning disability. Emmalin and her father patched up their differences, for now.
Denise and Frank Moved to Next Level

This was, in my opinion, the best part of the whole episode -- which, by the way, I liked a heck of a lot better than last week's which felt very much like a filler episode, a placeholder in between plot points. I really liked what the writers have done with the Denise and Frank story this season, having their reunion unfold tentatively, gradually, in a realistic fashion. When they decided to remain married but that they'd live separately and commence dating again, that's what they did, date. They didn't hop back into bed. Denise didn't immediately move in. They had plenty of moments of shy awkwardness and chaste goodnight kisses curbside and sometimes you weren't sure if they were going to really make it.

But you could just see that things were going to shift during this episode when Denise saw Frank warily eyeing her motorcycle. She sold it the next day because, although she said she adored her bike, she said, "I love Frank more." When Frank learned she'd sold it, the two had one of the more honest discussions they'd had since their break-up about the different outlooks they'd developed on the world over the past two decades, ending when Denise called Frank "old fashioned." To have Frank pick Denise up on a new motorcycle he'd spontaneously purchased and say, "Hey baby, you wanna go for a ride," was quite an unexpected turn. That moment led to a beautiful scene where the two walked alongside the glistening water, then to a sweet love scene the type of which you don't normally see for a couple that's been married for 20 years. (I was a big fan of the Ray la Montagne song, "Let it be Me" that provided the accompanying romantic soundtrack for the amorous moments.)

The golden glow given off by their reunion was broken shortly after Frank carried Denise over the threshold in honor of her return to their home and the telephone rang. Going off of the serious look on Frank's face, the first thought that crossed my mind was that Frank was being told that something bad had happened to their son Jeremy. Instead, it was a call bearing the news that Frank was, sadly, being shipped back to Iraq.

Finn Got Tested

From the way the previews for this episode went, I had figured we'd be learning that Finn had some type of insurmountable learning disability. Learning that the little guy is brilliant and wasn't completely finishing his assignments in school because he was "bored out of his mind," was a huge surprise, particularly given the story Roxy told about her learning disability. Now Roxy and Trevor will have to search for a way -- scholarship one would hope -- to get Finn into a private school which'll provide him the intellectual stimulation he requires. All good and happy news for the LeBlanc family for a change.

One gripe though: I thought Finn's teacher was a nincompoop. What kind of grade school teacher would tell a parent that her child needs to be tested because he either has ADD or is 'just a bit slow?"

Emmalin and Her Dad Patched Things Up

So Haneen went to live in safety with her aunt and uncle in Turkey. She bid her goodbyes to each member of the Holden family during the episode and eventually departed into the waiting arms of her relatives at the airport. With her went an interesting storyline which, I think, had more life in it and was cut too short.

With Claudia Joy busy escorting Haneen overseas, Michael was left at home with a recalcitrant Emmalin who, after an argument with him about baking, finally let him know why she'd been angry with him so much as of late. She said she thought Michael was disappointed that the smarter, more responsible, better behaved and favorite daughter had died and that she was a poor substitute for Amanda. Michael's poignant response to her -- his story about the day she was born and held her for the first time, followed by how he's recognized how deeply unhappy she'd been recently and that he'd felt like a failure for not being able to ease her emotional pain -- was the best scene the writers have given to Michael in quite some time. It was lovely to see the ice begin to thaw in that house for a change.

What were your thoughts -- pro or con -- about the latest Army Wives installment? Did the Frank/Denise reunion satisfy you? Finn's status as a boy genius surprise you? Michael and Emmalin's reconciliation bring a tear to your eyes?

Image credit: Lifetime.

'Army Wives' Monday: Family Readiness

* Warning, spoilers ahead from the recent episode of Army Wives *

While the title of this episode was "Family Readiness," I think a better title would've been "Power Struggles . . . and Hey, Denise and Frank Got Back Together." Other title suggestions could be, "Let's All Act Passive-Aggressively Toward Our Spouses and Didja Hear About Denise and Frank?" Speaking of which . . .

Denise and Frank

The reunion of Denise and Frank overshadowed everything else that happened in the episode. The way their story was built up, with the soft music and the longing, heartfelt glances, if those two had not reunited, I would've been mighty steamed.

There was Frank looking forlorn in his bedroom after Denise moved out, peering in her empty closet, handling the family heirloom locket he'd given her -- their wedding photo inside, and breaking into tears. Then there was the sadness that seemed to be oozing out of Denise's pores when she was packing up her things and moving out of the house. She told Claudia Joy, "I had this overwhelming desire to put on one of Frank's T-shirts and crawl into our bed and smell him on our pillows and to fall asleep feeling safe again."

I suppose it takes a serious threat to a marriage to make you realize the things that made you fall in love with the person in the first place, make you remember the good times. Will this saved-from-the-brink 20-year-marriage have a happy ending? Can it erase the difficulties that they've had, like for example, the disagreement over the changes in Denise's life and her desire to be more independent while Frank wanted her to remain the same gal he'd married?

At least we know that Denise'll be back in the Fort Marshall fold, but she'll need a job, as I don't think the hospital will be taking her back any time soon.

Chase and Pamela

Talk about lack of communication, the Morans were suffering from this in spades, as well as a major case of passive aggression.

Consider this exchange after Chase unilaterally announced that he was going to Texas for six weeks for a voluntary training session soon after he got home. When Pamela asked him why he decided to leave again so quickly when he didn't have to, he said, "It's pretty obvious I'm not really needed around here . . . Ever since I came home, everything I do is wrong. I throw bottles in the wrong trash can. I put clothes in the wrong part of the closet. . . I can't even find things in my drawer."

This set Pamela off: "Chase, I moved this whole house all by myself. Do I get so much as a 'thank you?' No! You just complain about the furniture."

"It's furniture that I paid for okay?"

"Oh," she said, "you do NOT want to go here."

"I can't even take my own son to football practice. I can't even control my own schedule," he said, referring to the fact that Pamela's now coaching football and he had to take his daughter to ballet class.

"You can't just come back in and take over," Pamela said.

In a move I completely did not buy, Chase apologized to Pamela in the middle of Roland and Joan's baby's christening. "It's gotta be hard to be both mom and dad when I'm gone," he said. "I called off my trip to Fort Hood." Something tells me that it just can't be that easy to paper over the Moran family power struggle with a single kiss on the hand.

Claudia Joy and Michael

Claudia Joy made a decision, get this, without Michael's advance okay. She agreed to have an injured Iraqi girl who needs surgery -- whose family risked and subsequently lost their lives via a bomb blast for serving as interpreters for the Army -- stay at the Holdens' house. Claudia Joy felt a special kinship to the lost girl and agreed to take her in, no doubt thinking about how she lost her own daughter in a bomb blast. When Claudia Joy first raised the subject to Michael, he vigorously objected, until she informed him that it was already a done deal. "Michael, it's the right thing to do," she said.

What did you think of the recent Army Wives' episode, particularly the Denise and Frank reunion?

Image credit: Lifetime.

'Army Wives' Monday: Disengagement

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

The gals made up. Joan felt spiritual. Roxy resurrected The Hump Bar. Pamela moved furniture.

The Gals Made Up

You knew this Cold War wouldn't go on forever. The show IS called Army Wives. And if a bunch of the wives are acting like knuckleheads and ostracizing one of their own -- a star of the show -- you know that, eventually, they're going to have to make up. Just like you know that Denise isn't really going to go to Denver to work as a traveling nurse. Like the Holden family didn't really move to Brussels. The mere suggestion that one of the main characters will go anywhere other than to the front lines -- the show has two locales: Iraq, where the spouses are serving and Fort Marshall -- is, to me, simply an attempt to provide dramatic tension. Let's face it, Denise isn't going anywhere and it was only a matter of time before those unfaithful, intolerant friends of hers came to their senses. (If Denise does move away, I'll be shocked.)

Anyyyway . . . The apology Claudia Joy, Pamela and Roxy gave Denise for their collective cold shoulders (prompted only AFTER Roland called BS on their behavior and abandonment, which they continued to defend) was lukewarm at best. "The last few weeks have, um, they've been hard on all of us," said Claudia Joy, who irritated me with her disingenuousness, particularly when Denise is living in a hotel, lost her job and her life is in tatters. "Maybe we could've done things differently. I know I could have. I'm sorry."

Pamela came the closest to truth telling when she said, "We're pretty much idiots."

This "apology," along with the group hug that concluded the fifth episode, was the only bright spot for Denise who had to watch her husband Frank sign their divorce papers (effective in 30-60 days) without blinking. She'd been hoping he'd change his mind, rip up the papers and declare his love for her. But he and his pride simply signed on the dotted line. Previews for next week hint at a possible warming of relations between the two, but it's hard to tell if they'll reconcile. If they don't, as far as the storyline is concerned, Denise will have to move off the base and find work nearby in order to remain in the loop with the other Wives. My bet is that she and Frank will eventually reconcile in order to keep the core group of wives together. But I could be wrong, it's been known to happen. We'll see.

Joan Felt Spiritual

I really like the way the writers have been quietly and gracefully depicting Joan getting herself emotionally and mentally prepared to redeploy to Iraq. Now that she has a baby, everything about her deployment is different than her previous tour of duty, and Joan realizes that, hence her determination to get her baby baptized and find her a spiritual community before leaving for Iraq. And by portraying Joan as someone who's not a church-goer -- though her husband is -- but who feels strongly spiritual, I think nicely dovetails with all the emotions she's feeling right now as a loving mother and wife who willingly chose to go to a war zone out of duty.

Roxy Resurrected The Hump Bar

Betty's -- which looked like a suburban chain restaurant with tasteful, multi-colored walls and a slightly upscale menu -- has been transformed into a skankier version of The Hump Bar, particularly with the creepy new "chef," named Chief. Peanut shells are on the floor. Tin buckets serve as centerpieces. Beers are in plastic cups (which reminds me of college keg parties). A Ladies' Night with a free drink to women has been instituted and a hot waitress in a tight shirt has been selected to work the tables. That's all quite a bit of change in a small period of time, not all of it desired or approved by the bar's actual owner, Roxy.

What puzzles me is how and why Roxy is willing to continually allow people she barely knows to assume such big roles in her life. Roxy, a mom of two, married Trevor after knowing him for all of four days. After the original bar owner Betty died and left Roxy her bar, Roxy let someone who claimed to be Betty's "nephew" assume half of the business -- almost let him buy "her half" from her for a song -- only to later learn that he was a con artist. Now has Roxy befriended Viola, who seems nice and pleasant and has an economic hardship story (her son invested her life's savings in hedge funds, the money's gone and she's about to lose her home) and who has begged to work with Roxy. Roxy handed her the keys, then, in a matter of hours when Roxy was attending her kids' school play, Viola made unauthorized drastic changes and got ticked and huffy when Roxy balked at Viola's ballsy power play. This is no way to run a business, especially with someone you barely even know but in whom you've already pledged your faith. Maybe I'm just being cynical.

Pamela Moved Furniture

Just how many times did Pamela move the living room furniture back into a family-friendly arrangement to make it easier for she and the kids to watch TV together while sitting on the sofa? How many times did her husband Chase -- who just returned from duty to the new home Pamela had gotten for the family -- selfishly rearrange the furniture to assert himself as the head of the household by relocating his recliner right in front of the TV and the sofa off to the side of the room?

"So Chase is gone for weeks at a time," Pamela fumed to Roxy, saying Chase complained about the sofa, the new dishes and how she throws the football. "I look after the kids. I look after the house. I move the damn house. And he comes in and he thinks he can change everything. He even hates where I keep the toilet paper."

Between the battle over the furniture and over who's teaching their son how to throw a football the right way, clearly there's a huge blow-out argument in the works as Pamela and Chase are not dealing with one another directly and are simply behaving passive aggressively. Plus, Pamela's not big on tact.

Are you satisfied with the "apology" given to Denise? Do you think Joan will actually go overseas? What do you make of Roxy's new bar? What'd you think of the episode?

Image credit: Lifetime.

'Army Wives' Monday: Best Laid Plans (Season Premiere)

*Warning, spoilers ahead from the season three premiere of Army Wives*

Teenaged angst that almost led to teenaged matrimony. Seeing your spouse move across the globe while you stay behind, unsure of where you and your kid are going to live. Losing one's job in a scandalous manner which causes you to become socially ostracized. Almost getting scammed out of your business. That's quite a lot o'drama for one episode of Lifetime's Army Wives . . . unless it's the season premiere, which is typically front-loaded with drama. So let's dive into the melodrama of the first installment of season three:

The Holdens: Gen. Michael Holden went to Brussels to work for NATO, sans his family after showing a stunning level of cluelessness as to why his 16-year-old daughter was acting out, running away with her boyfriend just as the family was supposed to head to the airport to leave Fort Marshall permanently. Almost getting married at age 16 isn't simply a minor incident. Clearly something deeper is going on with Emmalin, but to Gen. Holden, it just seemed like an inconvenience. He headed for the plane while Claudia Joy, who refused to leave as he wished, was left to deal with the mess.

With the exception of the death of their daughter Amanda and how Claudia Joy has handled her grieving (last season's scenes of packing up of Amanda's room and visiting the cemetery were tear-jerkers), I normally find Claudia Joy one of the dullest characters on the show. In a way, she reminds me of those perfect Wisteria Lane suburbanites who -- at least surficially -- look like everything's just peachy in their picturesque homes filled with delectable eats. But to see Claudia Joy (who possesses one of the most awkward names on TV) uprooted, searching for a home for the first time since her law school days and dealing with an irascible teen is providing Kim Delaney something more meaty to do than furrow her brow. Which is a good thing.

Denise Sherwood: I genuinely felt badly for her. She'd separated from her husband -- they were even staying in separate quarters before he left for Iraq -- and she's the one who's portrayed as a modern day Scarlet O'Hara. Booted from her job for violating the code of conduct (something she should've thought about before plunging into an affair with an injured soldier to whom she tended as a nurse) and then dumped by her lover, Denise returned home to find that her so-called friends give her the cold shoulder after heartily encouraging her to evolve into her own person and pursue her own interests . . . which is what led to her marital estrangement in the first place. For Claudia Joy to simply close the door in her face, man, that was just icy, and unnecessary, particularly given how frequently Denise had been there for her friends when they've been in need. I'm wondering if the writers will explore the possibility of Denise getting booted from base housing if she and Frank remain estranged.

Roxy LeBlanc: Thankfully, Roxy is friends with an ex-cop, or else she would've been taken in by a slick con man because, from Trevor's perspective, quick money for her half of the bar is better than none at all. Of all the stories in the premiere, I thought this one was wrapped up a bit too quickly and cleanly. (I find it hard to believe that the prints would've been processed that swiftly.) It would've been more dramatic for an awkward business partnership to have been drawn out more, but I got the feeling that a decision has been made to emphasize Roxy's conflict with Trevor over having a baby and his growing distaste for her long work hours as the bigger story, not ownership of Betty's.

Roland Burton: Aside from his bad boy extra-marital fling in a previous season, Roland is consistently portrayed as the good guy who's always there for all his gal pals, his infant daughter and his wife, who's going to be deployed to Iraq in a few months. He wasn't given much to do during the premiere other than counsel Claudia Joy that Emmalin is coping with unresolved grief, but, as with Roxy, I see future conflict over his role in the Burton household being his central theme.

Pamela Moran: The fiery Pamela didn't have much to do in this episode either except for sleuthing for Roxy. I was waiting to see her cope with the abrupt loss of her radio gig at the end of season two, a job from which she literally and figuratively regained her own voice. Seeing that Pamela adored doing the show -- and was even courted by radio stations -- to not even really address it seemed like a glaring omission. I'd love to see the writers have Pamela explore the possibility of joining the Charleston police force. Could provide compelling work/life tension, and pump some much needed cash into the Moran household.

Overall, I thought the premiere set the stage for some potentially interesting stories this season, though I hope all the problems faced by the Army spouses aren't wrapped up as tidily as was the con man/Betty's plot.

That being said, what were your thoughts on the Army Wives premiere? Were you surprised to see Denise fired and Claudia Joy shut the door in her face? Be sure to read my Pop Culture column on Army Wives at the Mommy Track'd web site.

Image credit: Lifetime.