Army Wives – One more brave soldier dies for his grateful nation

Tonight’s episode of Army Wives was an admittedly tough one to watch, particularly if you’ve been following the show since the beginning. We’ve all known it’s been coming for weeks now, but it wasn’t until tonight that we got the facts: one of our soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice.

As it turned out it was Jeremy, but we didn’t learn even that much until a little while into the hour. Which, I have to say, was some rather poor editing by the show. The episode should have started from the “seven days ago” scene in the tent in Afghanistan; instead it began at the funeral, forcing us all to dissect everyone’s face in an attempt to guess who it was in the casket. Was the suspense really that important? I felt instead that being kept in the dark stole some of the significance of the funeral ceremony, at least what we saw of it before Denise was handed the folded flag and the camera pulled out to reveal Frank sitting next to her.

It was actually Frank who I found to be the most moving of the episode. When Michael broke the news to Frank and he stutter-stepped, his pain and disbelief rang loud and clear without his uttering a word. And as he bent over the weight of the news sunk in for us too.

Next was the morning roll call, and as Trevor called for Jeremy the requisite number of times before a squad mate stepped forward to make the symbolic notification of death, we caught a glimpse of Frank in a tent as he listened to Trevor speak of the lasting impact that Jeremy would always have on his squad. Frank’s thanks was touching.

I can’t ever imagine being in Frank’s shoes, but how about sitting on a flight for fifteen hours staring at the flag-draped casket of your dead son? I’m impressed that he landed without incident. And then the juxtaposition of Frank and Denise consoling one another for the first time since Jeremy died with Frank meeting his daughter Molly for the first time … it was nice for there to be one moment of joy amidst all of that sorrow.

And just as sweet was Frank’s thanks to Tanya for loving his and Denise’s son. I suppose in that situation it must be a comfort to know that your child got to experience things like love in their brief lifetime. I’m still no fan of Jeremy’s, and he won’t be missed by me, but I feel for his family nonetheless.

So this leaves us with a number of questions that we’ve been batting around for the past few weeks. First of all, is Tanya here for the long haul? I think yes. While I appreciate the plot elements that Tanya’s presence adds in Jeremy’s death, I think she’s meant to be there for Denise in a way that Molly won’t be able to for years. And keep in mind that Frank will have to go back to Afghanistan sooner rather than later. Jeremy’s death benefit will be a question for only a brief moment — it’ll go to Tanya, and whether she uses it instead of the army’s tuition money for her schooling is yet to be seen, but it will go toward giving her the life that she always dreamed of.

And don’t think I’ve forgotten about Denise. Life has been cruel to her, that’s for sure. The reality that she had to face when Jeremy was hitting her in season one, the way Frank excommunicated Jeremy afterward, her growth and distance from Frank, not to mention the constant fear she’s lived with since marrying Frank that he’d be killed — which expanded exponentially when Jeremy joined the army — and now having to support a new life at the same time as she has to deal with the loss of the only child she’s known for twenty years, most likely alone … it’s crushing, and also a major reason why I see Tanya sticking around (and having been introduced in the first place). Claudia Joy can only help so much.

As for Jeremy himself — I’m not sure if it was Richard Bryant who asked to leave or not — I certainly won’t miss him. His actions in season one are a hump that I’ll never get over. But just like Denise never did anything to deserve that, so too is she the innocent in Jeremy’s death. For that reason, and for Frank’s pain, I mourn the loss of the character. It’s just sad.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Mar 28, 2011 @ 00:29 EST5EDT