For the first fifty-eight minutes, last night’s Army Wives was just another decent episode of TV. Some of the stories are a little dull — Emmalin’s rehab, Joan’s rehab — but for the most part season four has returned the show to it’s old, albeit slightly altered, form. But at minute 58 the show decided to blindside us, and the universe turned upside down.
But we’ll get there shortly.
I’m still hanging in with Pamela and Chase, mainly because I enjoy both characters, and both actors. But it’s not easy. It’s one thing to feel threatened when your ex starts to date someone new. But the jealousy that’s oozing from Pamela’s pores is so not her. First of all, assuming that Chase is being honest, he’s not dating Kristy (Victoria Vodar). And second, Pamela’s one of the strongest people we’ve met on this show. So where’s the insecurity stemming from?
But at least that’s better than Roxy’s continued anger at Trevor’s deployment orders. In the first season, when we watched newlyweds Roxy and Trevor preparing for his deployment to Iraq, her difficulty in squaring herself with life as an army wife was sweet and endearing. Now she’s just being stubborn and annoying. Yeah, let’s bristle at having to deal with Trevor’s will, because why the hell should he have to go off and fight in the first place. Who cares that this means everything to the man you call your husband?
And while I understand that TJ and Finn are older now, and will react to the news differently as a result, what is this dumb story about TJ being the man of the house, bringing home $5 and giving it to Roxy, and trying to do something with a tree and a pocketknife (I have no idea what he was trying to do)? I still say I see a serial killer developing in him (which could be a phenomenal story!), but why the cliched plot? “You’re the man of the house now, ten year-old boy, and I need you to take care of your mom for me.” Come on! At least try for something original, interesting, and poignant.
As much as I dislike Emmalin, I loved seeing Michael with her last night. He’s always been an attentive, dialed-in father, but watching as he pushed her to not give up on herself, and hearing him tell her his story about Ranger training, was really nice. He’s such a great guy, and expanding his screen time should always be a priority on the show.
Same with Frank. I love his enthusiasm for this pregnancy, for the kid he’ll get to see being born, opening its eyes, learning to sit up, crawl, walk, talk. I’m not wild about mushy Frank, who we met when he and Denise were re-falling in love, because I don’t think he could ever be more than a hard exterior with a soft center. And that’s exactly who this Frank is. He’s still believable as an Army Colonel, true to the man who refused to talk to Jeremy after finding out what he did to Denise, but then there he is holding a new video camera as he tries to capture every second of the pregnancy … building furniture in secret to surprise Denise with … telling Denise that he’s being deployed to Afghanistan.
Whoa. I didn’t see it coming, and it was heartbreaking. This pregnancy and impending birth meant the world to Frank, to get to have an experience that he missed the first time around with Jeremy because he was deployed. Watching him cry, hugging Denise … one of the best things about this show is the perspective it provides to those of us who don’t know what it really means to sacrifice for your country. Can we even imagine what it would be like to be away from our families for a year? Missing the births of all of our children?
And Michael’s leaving too, along with the entire division headquarters. The deployment episode’s going to be a tough one.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jul 12, 2010 @ 14:30 EST5EDT
