Army Wives

The episode starts at the Hump Bar. Roxy is carrying a tray of drinks when a customer throws a line at Roxy telling her she "must be from Tennessee because you're the only ten I see." Roxy fires back a sassy remark and moves on to meet Claudia Joy and Pamela for a "tribal meeting," as Pamela refers to it. Roland asked them all to meet him and then he reveals that he and Joan are separating. After revealing this information the women each express their sympathy. Roxy begins to remind Roland that he's a great friend and she'll be there for him when the same customer from earlier came up to her angered that she was talking to Roland and not him. When the customer violently grabs Roxy, Roland comes to her rescue by punching the customer in the face and an all out bar brawl ensues. Unfortunately, Roxy gets punched in the face in the brawl.

When Roxy gets home Trevor is upset that she was hurt during the brawl at work. While discussing it Roxy holds frozen peas and then frozen corn to her face. Trevor expresses his desire for Roxy to quit working at the bar so he doesn't have to worry about her while he's overseas fighting. Roxy refuses and tells Trevor to give her to the frozen peas back. He tells her the corn is colder but she flashes a smile and tells him she likes the peas better.

Claudia Joy arrives home after the bar brawl to her husband Michael eating dinner in the kitchen. Michael tells her he doesn't like her hanging out in a bar while slyly inserting his new promotion to Brigadier General. Claudia Joy is elated and we find out that General Baker is retiring due to health reasons and the investigation into Lenore Baker's knowledge of Project Windfall was dropped.

Roland was arrested and put in jail but is bailed out by Joan. He collects his possessions from an officer at the station and walks out without looking at or talking to Joan. Joan and Roland are in her car arriving back at the Hump Bar when they finally speak to each other. Roland thanks Joan for picking him up but Joan doesn't understand why he got into a fight in a bar. Joan, still wanting to work things out, asks Roland to come back home. However, Roland reveals that he rented himself an apartment for the week and he doesn't plan to come home. Joan is clearly upset and hurt but Roland leaves and gets in his car.

Since Michael is getting a promotion he convenes the family to tell them the great news. He tells his daughters that there's going to be a ceremonial dinner in honor of his promotion but also that there will be increased pressure on them to act in a certain manner given his new position. Amanda has skeptical look on her face but congratulates her father. Claudia Joy and Michael notice that Amanda was acting weird and wonder what's going on but recognize they will only find out in time. Claudia Joy and Michael then go to visit Lenore and General Baker at the hospital. Michael leaves Claudia Joy with Lenore who not only congratulates Claudia Joy but warns her that its different at the top and you can't always trust those who you think are you friends.

That same day Roxy and Pamela are hanging in Roxy's front yard while Trevor fixes their car. Roxy and Pamela joke about Trevor's sexuality through car references when Pamela gets a phone call she thinks is from a bill collector. As it turns out her husband Chase is back from his assignment. Pamela meets Chase at the drop off in town where they hug and kiss with huge smiles on their faces.

Claudia Joy receives a letter in the mail informing her that Amanda did not register for orientation at UVA. She asks Amanda about it when Amanda tells her she wants to defer college until the next fall. Claudia Joy is clearly skeptical and believes it has something to do with Jeremy. Amanda tells her she has no plan for the next year but she knows she doesn't want to attend college. Claudia Joy presses the issues and tells Amanda to fill out the orientation form.

We then see Trevor still on the issue of Roxy leaving her job at the Hump Bar. He even pulled an advertisement for a bookkeeper and told Roxy she should go for it. Roxy sees right through his passive aggressive attempt and tells Trevor that she's happy where she is and won't quit her job.

After spending some alone time together, Pamela and Chase are shown getting ice cream with their children in town. It's a beautiful day, sort of that picture perfect family outing. Pamela reveals to Chase that she now has an unpaid job with the Army and that he should listen to the radio later that day to hear all about the job.

Unfortunately when Roxy goes back to work her boss tells her that the brawl left her with a $1000 repair bill which she cannot pay. Not only were the tables and chairs broken but a large man apparently fell on the air conditioning unit. No sooner do we hear this when Roland comes into the bar checkbook in hand. He writes out a check for all the damages despite Roxy pointing out that it was the customer's fault for starting the brawl. Roxy's boss is amazed that any man would do this and extends her hand to shake his. She says "it's an honor to know the last real gentleman in America." Roxy and Roland talk for a bit and Roland reveals he's embarrassed that he was in the fight. Sadly Roland learns from Roxy that Michael Holden received the promotion.

When Roland connects that to Joan possibly receiving a permanent position on the base he goes to see her. However, Joan is no longer in the same frame of mind and is angry at Roland for now expressing his desire for her to choose between the Army and her marriage. In the middle of their argument Michael interrupts to hand something to Joan. The fate of their marriage will be left for another discussion. Michael sensing the tension then speaks with Joan in his office about her ability to continue her duty. Joan firmly expresses her ability to continue her duty without letting her personal affairs affect her performance.

Later that day at Pamela's radio show she takes phone calls from another army wife who isn't sure how to act when her husband returns from duty. As usual, Pamela, in her very unique style, puts her caller at ease. In doing so she mentions that her husband recently came home and through a bit of army terminology innuendo mentions that Chase's performance in bed was stellar. This does not go over well when Pamela returns home later that evening. Chase is very unhappy when she gets home with dinner. He feels like she embarrassed him on the base by revealing their private life over the radio.

Meanwhile, Denise runs into Joan in town. Even though they don't know each other well Denise tries to be a friend to Joan. Soft music begins to play in the background and you know that somehow Joan is going to reveal that Roland had an affair. Without using the words she basically tells Denise that Roland had an affair.

That night Michael decides to confront Amanda about her decision. As most parents do, he tries to start the conversation by talking about her childhood and how fast she's grown up but Amanda cuts him off and wants him to get to the point. Michael isn't happy with her decision but tells her that he doesn't want to stand in the way of her being an adult. There is one catch however; he will not support her while she sits around for the year. Amanda has to get a job and support herself until she attends college.

With all of Trevor's attempts to get Roxy to change professions she decides to meet him half way. She starts a tip jar for herself. Basically it's a plan for the future jar and when she has enough money she wants to put a down payment on a bar that she would own. Trevor gets a somber expression on his face realizing that Roxy doesn't really understand what the future holds for them. They have a heart-to-heart and Trevor tells Roxy that the only future they have while he is in the Army is a life of moving from city to city every few years. This means that Roxy will never be anywhere long enough to open a bar and settle down. She has look of doubt on her face; she's finally questioning what she got herself in to and if she can live her life in the Army. She goes to Pamela the next day on a walk through the park and asks her about army life and moving around. Pamela basically tells her it is what it is and that's just how life will be. Pamela also tells Roxy that Chase did not at all like her radio show reference to their sex life.

Roland then approaches Denise in the cafeteria at the hospital because she wasn't answering his calls. Denise asks Roland if he had an affair and he doesn't deny it. Roland finally realizes that in her eyes "he's just another man," as he says, and that maybe the group of women he thought were his friends may not be there for him anymore.

Lenore sneaks up on Claudia Joy at her home while she's planning the ceremonial dinner. Tradition has each wife of the base commander pass on a list of tips to the next base commanders wife which is why Lenore stopped by. Lenore puts on a sad act and informs Claudia Joy that she's divorcing General Baker and continuing her career. Claudia Joy doesn't really understand what exactly Lenore is planning to do but is very suspicious.

Despite Joan's resolve to do her duty and not let her personal affairs effect her performance she did in fact make a major error in the orders to ship equipment to Baghdad. As her personal life is clearly beginning to effect her job, Joan sucks it up and fixes the major error she made. Despite fixing the mistaken orders, Michael finds out about the mishap. Joan apologizes and finally tells Michael that she's chosen the Army. After making this choice Michael offers her a permanent position on base. With this new position comes some consequences. Roland shows up at home later that night to pack a bag. They finally come to terms with what's actually happening between them and Joan gives him back her wedding ring declaring that this is a divorce, not a separation. It turns out that what Roland really wants is a family and with Joan's new position she won't have time or the ability to have a baby.

Later that same day Chase presents Pamela with a bouquet of flowers. Apparently the reference to their sex life on her radio show did not exactly embarrass Chase in front of the other soldiers. Actually it had the completely opposite effect; he is now the "big man" in the unit. Given this ego boost Chase is more than willing to support Pamela's new radio show and anything she wants to talk about.

In one of the best scenes so far on the show, Trevor meets Roxy on the steps of their home early in the morning while they're still in pajamas. They discuss their future and Roxy finally realizes that her future may actually be a series of moves from city to city. Trevor tells Roxy that no matter what happens he wants her to be his future and that while he's deployed overseas this moment will be what he remembers until he comes home.

At the Holden house it turns out that in the middle of the night Amanda snuck out. Their first instincts are that she's gone off to see Jeremy. When Claudia Joy is planning the seating arrangement for the ceremonial dinner with Denise we find out that Amanda did sneak off to see Jeremy. Denise also reassures Claudia Joy that she can trust her despite what Lenore said about not being able to trust your friends when you're on top.

Roxy returns to work at the Hump Bar and see's Betty, her boss, saddened at the bar. When Roxy see's a letter from the hospital Betty reveals that she has cancer. Unfortunately, Betty has neither money nor insurance and she cannot get treatment for the cancer. Roxy is extremely upset but knows that there's nothing she can do to help. Betty tells her the only thing she can do is to go and clean table three.

As the episode ends we get a quick clip of Roland walking back to his car. He is on the phone with a contact in Chicago who offered him a position at Northwestern. He tells the person on the phone that a move to Northwestern may be exactly what he needs.