Army Wives

This episode opens with Trevor in Iraq and with him being shot in the shoulder. We see that Roxy is working on a fishing dock sorting out fish to get the motor on her car fixed. Roxy & Pamela go with Betty to collect her cheque from the insurance company for the hump bar. Roxy gets the phone call that she has been dreading. She learns that Trevor has been shot. Michael seems upset when he has to sign papers to send one of Amanda's friends off to fight in the war. It brings back memories for him of what hopes & dreams Amanda had. Joan worries about how her staff will react when she tells them that she is pregnant.



We learn that Trevor is being flown to Germany to have surgery on his shoulder. Claudia Joy discovers that Michael is thinking about retiring. Michael tells Joan that she has to tell her staff that day that she is pregnant. Denise finally makes the decision to take her bike out for a ride. Betty asks Roxy to help her re-build the hump bar. The bombers sister goes to see Claudia Joy & Michael but Michael turns her away. He changes his mind after a heart to heart with his wife and goes to meet her. Joan tells her staff that she is pregnant and they all start clapping for her. Roland tells Joan that he wants to be a student guidance officer. Trevor rings Roxy and tells her that he's coming home.

I really enjoyed this episode ... It was very uplifting after the last few tear-jerkers. (I'm not a crier, but this show gets me everytime, I even cry during the happy moments, it's a bit disconcerting)

I'm very much delighted with Roland and Joan becoming closer again. I enjoy the way that Roland is helping out the kids on the base. When he got the job as the teacher, I was thinking to myself 'WHA?' Why doesn't he just open a practice for the children of the military on or near the base? DUH!!! I'm extremely pleased that Roxy and Betty are rebuilding the Hump bar. I think it's fantastic how Roxy stood up for the place when crazy Marilyn's hubby's sister talks on Pamela's radio show about it becoming a memorial. (Pretty cool backstory about the bar if you ask me) Denise is getting pretty sybaritic going all gung-ho motorcycle chick, and that's fun to see. Again, can't wait for next week.

I enjoyed this episode a lot. There was a lot of character development and movement in relationships. In season one, we saw a controlled, "good housewife" in Denise and a not perfect husband in Frank. But this season and this episode in particular we're seeing a new and better Denise, who is more her own person rather than just Frank's trophy wife. I love her when she shows up in front of the troop of "wives" and shes like "hey guys". Its just a nice, new side of Denise. As for Roland and Joan, I think it was great to see her admit that she likes the Army sense of control and logic and to see her want to see Roland happy. He cares for her so much and its great to see that he gets what he wants from both her and a baby. He had some of the best lines in whole episode. Great one liners that I'll try to put in quotes. "Hello Nurse". "Get outta here" when he sees Denise with the bike. "Stomp their pregnant asses"

This was another moving episode. Episode 2 was about Claudia Joy and how she was working through her grief. Episode 3 was focused on Emmalin and her grief. This episode was about Michael Holden and how the loss of his daughter affected him.



The episode begins with Trevor LeBlanc and another soldier, Dalton, on foot patrol in Iraq. It shows how Trevor was shot and why he is considered a hero. Michael Holden has just gone through one of the worst things a person - a parent - can go through. He had to stand by and watch his daughter's life slip away, knowing there was not one thing that he could do to stop it. Having faced that, it has had a profound affect on him. That was very evident in this episode. He had tried to go back to 'normal' and found out that the 'normal' of times past is not the 'normal' of the here and now.



Michael blames himself for Amanda's death. He feels that had he shut the post down, it would have saved lives and his first born would still be alive. He can't seem to bring himself to sign the deployment papers for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team. He feels like he is signing their death warrants. Claudia Joy is still working through her own grief, but she realizes that Michael needs her to help him work through his. She emphasizes forgiveness. She tells him that for the healing process to start, he has to forgive himself. Joan has finally told her staff that she is pregnant. One of her funniest lines came right before she told them she is entering the second trimester. She tells her staff, "Some of you have probably noticed a few changes in me lately, and I thank you for not bringing it to my attention." Puking. Mood swings. Expanding stomach. Nah, they'd never have figured it out on their own! Roland is taking Joan's mood swings all in stride. Luckily, he is able to tell the difference between the 'real' Joan and the 'mones', as he called them!!



Roxy handled hearing about Trevor being shot better than I had expected. She did not go off the deep end or even come close for that matter. I was impressed that she is changing and evolving. Now that I have had time to digest this episode more thoroughly, there was a scene involving Roxy that did make me want to grab her and shake her a couple of times. Normally, I accept Roxy's antics as "blah blah whatever whatever." Couldn't get to that point in this episode.



On Pamela's radio show, she had a guest on to talk about the Hump Bar rebuild. Pamela's in-studio guest feels that the bar be torn down and a memorial put in its place. Listening at home, Roxy gets angry. What does Roxy do? She marches her unhappy behind down to the radio station. She barges in on Pamela's show. Pamela obviously did not appreciate her doing so. Roxy asks Pamela's guest what right she has to be there saying the bar should be torn down. Roxy tells the woman Betty Camden can do what she wants with it. On a positive note about the bar, Roxy gives its history. Betty's father was a soldier in World War II and lost three fingers when they froze to his machine gun. It was built by Betty's father in the 40s. In the 50s, it was the first integrated bar. The part that made me want to shake Roxy was when she told Pamela's guest she "had no right to come on Pamela's show and say whatever you want!" Um, excuse me, but isn't that the very thing that you just did?! On top of that, she tells this poor woman that she didn't lose anyone. How could she possibly know that? However, when Roxy learned the identity of the woman, that changed.



The woman is Leah Keys, George Polarski's sister. She was on Pamela's show hoping to 'do some good'. After Roxy's little 'you lost no one' speech, Leah revealed that she is the bomber's sister. Based on the looks on everyone's faces, no one knew that little fact!!



After revealing her identity, Leah says, "And I'm sad for the families of the victims. But everyone is - People visit them. They cry with them. They pray for them. What about us? What about the families of the people who commit these unspeakable acts? We didn't set off that bomb. People act like we did. I have to live with the shame and guilt of what my brother did for the rest of my life and I don't know if I can." Roxy opened her mouth and inserted an entire shoe store!!



The most moving scene in this episode has to be when Michael meets with Leah Keys. During his first encounter with her, he wanted nothing to do with her. He asked her to leave his home. It was the second encounter which shows the caliber of man Michael Holden is.



Michael asked to meet with her. He tells her, "I can't forgive you because you didn't do anything wrong. But, I can forgive your brother. And despite what he did, I know that you loved him and for that I am truly sorry for your loss." It takes a big heart to be able to do that.



The funniest scene has to be at the beginning of the episode. Joan Burton was in Michael's office and they were discussing the impending deployment of 3rd Brigade Combat Team. It's apparent that she's feeling a little queasy because she eyeballs the trashcan. She was about to leave the office, when Michael calls her back. He asked for the personnel files of the soon-to-be deployed soldiers. She tells him that she'll have them on his desk by the afternoon. She didn't quite finish the sentence. She grabs the trashcan and hurls into it. Michael says, "I'm guessing that's either bad sushi or you've decided to keep the baby." It was hilarious! Normally, Joan is calm, cool, collected and completely in control. Now, she's facing raging hormones that are causing her to feel as though she lives in a parallel universe or an alternate reality!!



Overall, this was another outstanding episode. I love how all the characters are changing and evolving. This show just keeps getting better and better!!

Apart from the Holden storyline I didn't really enjoy that episode. Michael and his fear of inability was very moving. Claudia Joy is the one who finally stands up by her husband. Denise and her new "rebellion" is a bit over the top. Even though it's still good to see that she can do things on her own. I have still not figured out why Terry Serpico - Franck - keeps popping in just to talk 2 minutes on the phone...



And for the first time, the writers offered a fight scene from Irak, with Trevor. It's interesting to watch such a show when you are not American but European. The war in Irak has never been as unpopular as it is now and yet some artists are still lacking any sense of reality when it comes to talk about it. It is so cliché to show an Iraki kid following Trevor. I don't say it doesn't happen but it's probably not the most usual action there. I love the United-States. I really do. I won't discuss the issue of whether the war was justified or was not. But here is a fact: American soldiers are not more regarded as heroes in the Middle-East or in other places. I guess it's good to let people think that the Iraky population enjoys the American presence but they actually don't. I would expect from a show about the American army to be a bit more objective about what has become one of the main topics of the presidential campaign.



I really appreciate the American patriotism. I wish the French experienced some more. However, sometimes here comes a time when failures are worth being admitted for the safe of informed people. Well, enough with the political talk. Trevor is going home and looks like he will need some adjustement.