Season 2 of Army Wives ended Sunday — with less of a bang than a whimper.

The spoilers promised cliffhangers, so I expected something really intense after the explosion that ended Season 1. In fact, the previews set us up to think that someone died (I predicted Jeremy). Instead, every character got a mini-cliffhanger, but nothing was compelling enough to make me anxious to see Season 3.

The bar fight
Roxy gets word that Betty has died of cancer, which brings about a reconciliation of sorts with her mom, Marda. Then Betty’s nephew Collin brings Betty’s ashes to Roxy because she was the closest person to Betty.

As Betty’s only living relative, Collin inherited half of the bar. Trevor is excited at first that Roxy might have a co-manager, because Trevor wants to have a baby since he’s not going to Iraq for a while. What else does he have to do?

However, we soon learn that Collin is going to court to contest Roxy’s half-ownership. Didn’t Roxy and Betty sign legal documents when Betty gave Roxy half the bar? I thought so. But I guess that would be far too simple. … continue reading

After all the melodrama of recent weeks, the latest episode of Army Wives was relatively laid back. In other words, not much happened, but we did get to see some character development and interaction between the main characters — and that’s a good thing.

The most interesting development was the arrival of Evan’s wife, Jennifer. She looks a little bit like Jennifer Beals, doesn’t she? Coincidence? Knowing this show, I’m sure it is.

We know from the first mention of her that Jennifer will be a sort of rival for Claudia Joy. Even though Evan has been at Ft. Marshall awhile, Jennifer is just now joining him because she has an active law practice and had to take care of that before she could move. (Remember, Claudia Joy gave up being a lawyer to marry Michael.) Is anyone surprised when the two butt heads at an FRG meeting? Didn’t think so.

Jennifer suggests a “Hot Army Wives” calendar as an FRG fundraiser. C.J. likes the idea of a calendar but, being more conservative, suggests slice-of-life scenes. The two ideas are put to a vote and C.J.’s idea wins. However, we soon learn that Jennifer commissions a hot wives calendar anyway, so the two calendars will compete for funds. I know which one I’d buy. … continue reading

This week’s Army Wives seemed to wrap up most of the season’s storylines and ended on a positive note. In fact, it was the ideal season finale. Too bad we have four more episodes to go.

Last week, we left Joan fighting off death, Trevor fighting off addiction, Pamela fighting off harassment, Claudia Joy fighting off rape and Denise fighting off the urge to give up men permanently. OK, I made that last one up, but the writers have given us so little nuance lately that I have no choice but to create my own subtext.

World, meet Sarah Elizabeth Burton

As expected, Joan is OK, as is the baby. Wait! She’s bleeding! Again! She needs surgery! But she’s O Negative! We’re short of O Neg! We need to find a donor! STAT!

This would be the perfect time for HBO to do one of its faux commercials for synthetic blood. Instead, Roxy rushes to get Trevor, who just happens to be O Negative. He rushes to the hospital to offer his pain-pill-infused blood. Of course, Roland refuses the offer quite loudly and publicly. Trevor is humiliated, which seems to be the only reason for this crisis.

Joan gets the blood she needs and comes through the surgery just fine. In fact, she seems to be more coherent than usual and does not insist on naming the baby Enid. Instead, her name is Sarah Elizabeth and she is a beauty. The tribe gathers round for a collective, “Aw.”

Despite what you may read elsewhere, Joan did not, repeat, did not, name her baby after a certain AfterEllen.com editor. Joan and said editor have never been more than mere acquaintances. … continue reading

This week wasn’t the season finale after all. In fact, depending on the source, the finale could be anytime from next week to mid-October. All I know is that the longer this season continues, the closer it gets to being Desperate Army Wives.

When we last left the wives, Denise wanted a separation, Joan was recovering from a baby shower, Pamela and Roxy were freaking out, and Claudia Joy was happy, if not gay. Let’s look at each storyline in terms of its dramatic escalation score.

Denise and the shrinking family

I hate that the hottest woman on the show has the least interesting story. Sure, the decline of a marriage is standard Lifetime Drama stuff, but this has gone on way too long. I mean, we know the marriage isn’t going to end because that would mean Denise would have to leave the base and the show. So I’m afraid what will happen is that Jeremy will get killed or seriously wounded in Iraq, and Frank and Denise will get back together as a result, thus never addressing the reasons why the marriage faltered in the first place. In any case, this week, Jeremy leaves and Denise is terrified. … continue reading

Army Wives returned this week with a new episode, which happens to be the next-to-last one before a brief hiatus, if the schedule I read at the beginning of the season still holds true. In any case, the writers sure tried to pack in a lot, as every main character had some drama this episode.

As I’ve said before, one of the weaknesses of this season (compared to Season 1) is that the women have less interaction. This episode illustrated my point perfectly. With the exception of one wasted scene, each wife was in her own world. Where’s lesbian processing when you need it?

Roxy

Scene: Roxy comes home to find Trevor passed out from an overdose with the kids trying desperately to wake him up. Oops, it’s a nightmare. I’ll take Contrived Writing for 100, Alex.

Trevor’s drug dependency is in full bloom, complicated by the fact he gets word that his buddy Dalton — the soldier who was with him in the market the day he got shot — has been killed in action. Understandably, Trevor’s depression deepens. Now, however, he can no longer keep a lid on his anger and flies off the handle at Roxy several times.

I still don’t buy this arc. Trevor has declined this much and Joan still hasn’t noticed he has a problem? Not a chance.

Claudia Joy

Mom Charlotte (Marsha Mason) is still in town, fixing pancakes that no one eats, when Dad Randall (Len Cariou) shows up to “get my life back.” Raise your hand if you think he originally said, “Get my wife back.” Me, too. The women in the family are not exactly of one mind about his appearance. … continue reading

Though most know Rumer Willis as the daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis (or perhaps even Ashton Kutcher's step-daughter), the 20-year-old is a budding star of her own accord. This summer she appeared alongside Anna Faris as part of the sorority ensemble that receives a Playboy makeover in The House Bunny, and now she's signed on to guest star on the Lifetime series Army Wives.

Army Wives has maintained a large viewership since its debut, despite some dramatic changes within the characters as well as the writers behind the scenes. However, they've been able to hire some great guest stars for short stints, such as Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty) and Marsha Mason (Goodbye Girl). … continue reading

Long weekends are good for several things, like catching up on AfterEllen.com content you might have missed, or perhaps taking advantage of a last day at the lake before it starts getting too cold. Or, you can be completely lazy because you have the right to, and watch consecutive episodes of Project Runway on Bravo.

Television marathons are a genius invention that allows you to catch up on any shows you might have missed. Even if you are lucky enough to have TiVo, it's still way more fun to veg out and let the cable box do all the work while you have one channel on all day. And hey, maybe you've seen every episode of Army Wives already, but you've never once checked out CSI: Miami. What better way to see if you'd be into the show than to watch from the beginning? Labor Day was made for this type of awesomeness.

Here's what you can find on television all day today: … continue reading

CSI: Miami (A&E)
Project Runway (Bravo)
That 70’s Show (FX)

One of the strengths of Season 1 of Army Wives was its exploration of the dynamic within this group of unlikely friends.

This season, however, has focused on individual drama. But instead of giving the characters more depth, the approach has weakened them. This episode was no exception. In the midst of a lot of dramatic tension, I found myself not really caring what happened.

You don’t have to read many of these mini-caps to know my feelings about Catherine Bell. In a word: yowza. She is one of the sexiest women on TV. And her character’s relationship with Claudia Joy is always a highlight. I was hoping that Denise and C.J. would regain some of their, um, closeness in the aftermath of Getti’s death. Sure enough, we got some nice moments of subtext.

Unfortunately, C.J. advised Denise to go home to Frank. Denise doesn’t exactly seem thrilled with the prospect. But, seriously, if you had the choice between Kim Delaney and Frank, which would you prefer? Yep — me, too.

As if Denise wasn’t conflicted enough, Getti’s dad asks her to meet him at the Julep, where he tells her how much Getti loved her. Dad is happy his son was in love when he died. Is it just me, or do you think it was kind of mean to tell her that? Especially so soon after the funeral. … continue reading

How many Lifetime-ish storylines can you fit into 60 minutes? I think we found out on this week’s episode of Army Wives.

We saw betrayal, drugs, adultery, death, addiction, sexual experimentation — OK, that last one isn’t the normal Lifetime story. But never fear; the way the writers treated the much-teased same-sex kiss was the closest I’ve ever come to being bored watching two women lock lips. In fact, I think Lifetime has created a whole new genre: girl-on-girl inaction. But let’s save that for last, shall we?

Denise is beside herself about Getti’s motorcycle accident — and beside him is where she wants to stay while his condition is critical. Trouble is, Frank’s home on his mid-tour leave. Seeing those two together again is like nails on a chalkboard. (Do schools still have chalkboards?) To Frank’s credit, he is trying very hard to be sweet and understanding. Denise tries to put on a good front, but sorry, Frank, she’s just not that into you.

Frank realizes that all is not well and tries to talk to Denise, then offers to take her out for a nice, romantic dinner. But when he stops by the hospital, he sees Denise at Getti’s bedside, kissing his hand. Oops. Denise doesn’t see Frank, but I have a feeling he’s not going to stay silent for long. … continue reading

A former boss of mine, Celia, could’ve written this week’s Army Wives. Celia was all about guilt. Everything she did, she did out of guilt. Those of us who worked for her were left trying to figure out what was going on. Sort of like we had to do with this episode, “Casting Out the Net.”

Fortunately, none of the guilt was related to last week’s lesbian storyline. In fact, no one even mentioned that situation — strange, since Roland had been fired as a result. I guess we can assume he accepted his job back and will pretend nothing ever happened. Which is pretty much how the military approaches lesbian soldiers in their ranks: If no one mentions them, they don’t exist. However, the other characters had plenty of guilt to go around.

Guilty of adultery, maybe

Is kissing a person other than your spouse adultery? Denise obviously thinks so. She has been off work since last week’s episode (however long that is), sick with guilt over the passionate kiss she and Getti shared.

The person we wish she’d kiss, Claudia Joy, shows up with soup, crackers and gossip rags, although her presence alone would make anyone feel better. Denise comes clean about the smooch. C.J. seems to think it’s not a huge deal — meaning, of course, that when she finally does kiss Denise, she will be guilt-free — as long as it goes no further. C.J. is so kind and understanding that Denise seems to have completely forgotten Getti for the moment.

Denise returns to work, avoiding Getti until he tells her that he’s leaving in a week to find another job. He is smitten (duh) and doesn’t want to cause problems in her marriage. Just as she’s about to go meet Getti for a goodbye pancake, Frank calls to say he’s coming home to “get things back on course.” I don’t much like Frank, but his timing is incredible. Denise texts Getti to say she’s not coming to the diner and he hops on his bike to ride into the sunset. Instead, he apparently rides into a semi. The EMTs bring him into the ER just as Denise is leaving for home. She sees that it’s Getti and starts crying. I’m sure she will blame herself. (Guilt is like that.) … continue reading

Somebody came out of the closet this week on Army Wives.

OK, it’s not who you think it is — no matter who you think it is. The character was new this week and, unfortunately, Renée O’Connor didn’t play her. But we’ll get to that in a bit. First, let’s look at the closets our other characters went into.

Closet No. 1 — the one like on Grey’s Anatomy where sex happens

Remember last week, when Roland noticed how happy Denise was around Getti? This week, he tells her that he understands the temptation to get involved with a new person when your spouse is not meeting your needs. Denise is appalled.

But Roland, being the expert at denial, ignores Denise and advises her to walk away. Which means, of course, that Denise ends up walking right into Getti’s arms after a particularly tense moment in the ER. Getti goes into a medical supply closet; Denise follows. Getti kisses Denise; Denise kisses back. So little chemistry, so much tension. … continue reading

Funny how time flies when you’re building a good bar. And even though Roxie just hired a contractor last week, this week’s episode of Army Wives revolved around the grand opening of the rebuilt Hump Bar.

I’m going to assume that more than a week has gone by in TV time, because I’d be disoriented otherwise. However, Trevor is just now getting in trouble for losing his cool in his TV interview, so we can’t be too far down the road. Why am I trying to be logical? In any case, Michael’s “punishment” for Trevor’s outburst is to take him off the interview circuit. And, when the doctor OKs it, he is to rejoin his unit in Iraq. Trevor is thrilled. Roxie is not. Roxie thinks Trevor is putting his career over family; Trevor thinks she has forgotten that she married a soldier. Hmm, maybe they should have talked a little more during the four days they knew each other before they got married.

Meanwhile, over at the Holden house, another fight is brewing — this one is over whether or not the family should go to the opening of the bar. Michael refuses, since Amanda was killed there. Claudia Joy thinks that they should support Roxie, difficult though it may be. C.J. even helps Roxie by working on the flowers with Denise. Finally, these two are on screen together again. I understand why the writers keep them apart — they have more chemistry than any of the married couples. … continue reading

I’m not sure if my expectations are lower or if this episode was better, but I found much to like in this week’s Army Wives.

Before we look at “Thicker Than Water,” though, I have some news for AW lovers. First of all, the show has been renewed for a third season. This is quite a coup for the show, since we’re just six episodes into Season 2. But even with scripts that are a bit weaker this year, the show is still a ratings winner for Lifetime. I’m hoping that the extension will give the writers a broader canvas and result in more depth. (And we’re all hoping that this means Katherine Fugate will resurrect the lesbian storyline for Renee O’Connor.)

We also learned this week that Goodbye Girl Marsha Mason will guest star as Claudia Joy’s society mom, Charlotte Meade, later this summer. We already know that Charlotte and Claudia Joy are not exactly close, thanks to C.J.’s choice to drop out of law school to marry Michael. Interesting that Claudia wasn’t at Amanda’s funeral.

I think this week’s episode was stronger because several of the women had an opportunity to be true to who they are — and they took it. That hasn’t happened often enough this season and it was good to see. … continue reading

Maybe the Fourth of July touched some kind of buried patriotic nerve, because I have to admit that the end of this week’s Army Wives, “The Hero Returns,” got to me a little.

I also have to admit that I very nearly didn’t watch all the way to the end. The episode was sort of like Readers Digest (some kids sneak porn; I snuck Readers Digest): a lot of short pieces of stories were thrown together and didn’t seem related (at least for most of the hour.)

The main event this week was Trevor’s return from Iraq, to the delight of his family.

As for Roxie, she seemed to be particularly focused on one particular body part of Trevor’s — and it wasn’t his wounded shoulder.

Fortunately, the insurance check has lightened up grumpy Betty and she arranged for Roxie and Trevor to have a night alone in a hotel. She didn’t go as far as to babysit the boys, but Pam agreed to take them in exchange for a radio interview with the hero. (Oh boy, more voiceover.) After a night of nookie, though, Trevor can’t sleep. He tells Roxy that he shot the man in the market out of instinct, not heroism, and he just as easily could’ve been wrong. Roxie’s cute when she’s being supportive. … continue reading