Another awesome episode!
10
"Perfect"
This episode picks up about three weeks after Amanda's death. We get to see how everyone is coping now that some time has passed. There are some tissue-required moments, but there are also several lighter moments.
We begin with Claudia Joy floating in water. She says, "To rejoin life is to accept what happened. But, I can't accept it. I can't move forward. I can't turn back. So, I hold my breath, living in a suspended state of existence."
This pretty much sums up the first part of the episode. It's all about how everyone is attempting to move forward with their lives. For Claudia Joy, though, life cannot move forward. She knows that Amanda is gone. She feels the agonizing pain every day.
We get a voice-over from Trevor as he "writes" a letter to Roxy. He describes exactly what he's going through, what he sees, smells and feels. Trevor is trying to give her as much detail as he can so that she will understand.
At Joan and Roland's house, they are sitting down having breakfast. Roland tells Joan that she's glowing. He says, "It's true. It's just like they say - pregnant women glow."
I LOVE Joan's reply, "What they don't say is that your breasts feel like someone pounded them with a meat tenderizer."
Roland says, "Which is only slightly less poetic."
We can tell from this exchange that things have been going beautifully between them and that they are REALLY working on their marriage. Joan tells Roland that they have had "perfect marital bliss for the past three weeks" and she doesn't want to lose what they have. They have a heart-to-heart about where they stand with each other. Roland says that he told Northwestern that his wife said she wanted him and they understood. Joan reveals that she still isn't sure what she wants to do about the pregnancy.
She knows that Roland wants her to keep the baby. Joan feels like the baby is going to throw her off the "fast track" that she is now on. She tells Roland that she does not want to lose that momentum. I really liked how Roland told her that she was looking at it the wrong way. He told her that she should look at as another person on her team. That was very sweet and true.
We see Pamela getting ready in the morning and trying to get the kids to get stuff done. Chase pops in. He apologizes for not being there when everything went down and tells her that he's there for her now. This rubs Pamela the wrong way. Normally, Pamela can deal well with Chase's absences. This time was very different for her. Things had gone to h*ll in a hand basket in the blink of an eye. She really needed his support this time and unfortunately, he was not available. You can feel the frustration that she feels because she thinks that Chase has absolutely no clue as to what she goes through when he is gone.
We cut over to the Holden residence. Claudia Joy is laying out the dishes for breakfast. She automatically grabs four plates. Michael comes into the kitchen as she stands there looking at the plate. Their pain is still very much at the forefront. Three weeks may have passed, but the emotions they are feeling are still very raw. As I watched the interaction between Michael and Claudia Joy, I could see Claudia Joy withdrawing like she's shutting her feelings off for everyone so that she can prevent any more pain and agony.
Roxy and Pamela are at the PX. Roxy tells Pamela that she hasn't told Trevor about the bombing or Amanda or anything. She expresses her concern about the lack of phone calls, letters and e-mails. Roxy tells Pamela, "I'm lonelier married to him than when I was single."
When Pamela tells Roxy that Chase is home, Roxy asks her if she's high! Pamela tells her, "No. I'm p*ssed. Trevor will call you and write you. When Chase is gone, he's just gone. And this time, my kids were scared and they wanted their dad and he just shows up when he feels like it." That sums up what Pamela faces EVERY time Chase has to leave. I liked how you could feel her frustration and can understand where her anger is coming from.
Claudia Joy's panic attack in the PX was understandable. I felt bad for Emmalin because she has so much that she's trying to deal with herself. My heart went out to both of them.
We get to see Roxy visit Betty in the hospital. We learn that Betty is going to be moved to the county hospital because she is a civilian and she's stable enough for transport. Roxy had brought the boys with her. In the last episode, we learned that Betty's last name is Camden, she is fond of the 'f' word and that she makes people laugh. In this episode, we learn that she hates kids!
The first clue is when the T.J. and Finn were messing around with some equipment, which started to set off an alarm. She hollers, "Hey! Watch it! You'll pull the wrong plug and I'll die."
The second one happens when the boys started fighting. She tells Roxy, "There's your problem two boys about to lose their heads!"
When Roxy tells the boys that Betty didn't mean it, Betty says, "Bull. I always hated kids." I have to admit, I love Betty. She's abrasive and pig-headed. She speaks her mind and will give anyone a run for their money!
The one part of this episode that I did not really like was when Roland and Joan were at the hospital and they ran into Roxy. Joan became very upset when she found out that Roland had told the "girls" about the pregnancy. When Joan tells Roland that he just compromised her position with the Army, I thought to myself, "What?!" Women get pregnant in the military and it does NOT compromise their position. However, after Joan had time to reflect (and tell Michael Holden), she realized that it wasn't as bad as she made it out to be.
When Joan told Michael about the pregnancy, he congratulated her. He said, "Congratulations! That is fantastic news! You're having a child. There's NOTHING like it - NOTHING like it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat even if I knew this was going to be the outcome." Personally, I think that statement holds true for just about all parents. There is NOTHING that can come close to the joy that you get from your children. When Joan revealed that she was thinking about terminating the pregnancy, you could feel Michael's pain and that he wanted to break down. This revelation came too close to the loss of Amanda. We can see Michael's internal struggle the father and the Brigadier General.
The scene that really got to me in this episode was when Michael and Claudia Joy were in Amanda's room. Michael was telling Claudia Joy that he had heard about her panic attack at the PX. She started to go off on him about it being "unbecoming" for a general's wife and that she's tired of being strong. Michael tells Claudia Joy, "OUR daughter. And I know that. Because I was standing there by her bed and I watched our little girl die and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it!"
This scene shows just how much the three Holdens are suffering and to what degree. I really needed my tissues for it!
Another scene that touched me is the scene with Claudia Joy and Pamela sitting on the front porch. They were discussing Amanda and Pamela revealed that she lost her seven-year-old brother when she was 15.
Pamela says, "And the dying is hard enough. But when it happens out of order like like that..."
Claudia Joy asks, "What do you do? How do you get past it?"
Pamela tells her, "There are no shortcuts. You never get over it. You just learn to live with it. But, you have love in your life. Use it."
That is so true. I am very glad that this episode did not just 'sugar-coat' or 'gloss over' the loss of Amanda. This episode shows how things are going for everyone now that time has passed.
I think that my absolute favorite scene from this episode has to be when Roland brings dinner home. Joan had just finished tossing her cookies into a handy-dandy trashcan. Roland comes in and says that he brought dinner. Joan says, "I've already had dinner it's in the trash can!"
Roland says, "I see."
Joan, "Oh baby, whatever that is, it's it's not welcome here!"
Oh my gosh! My husband and I laughed so hard at that! We both have had experiences like that and man, if it didn't bring back memories!
Another light-hearted scene was when Pamela walked through her front door, saw that the house was clean, the kids sitting at the dinner table and Chase in the kitchen making dinner. She probably thought that she had just entered the Twilight Zone! It was absolutely adoreable the way that Lucas pulled out the chair for Pamela!
Katie tells Pamela, "It's like REAL food, Mommy!" This statement brought memories from last season when they had invited one of their friends over for 'microwave'.
Pamela's dinner prayer was cute, too! "Thank you for this multi-colored food. Thank you for my gorgeous husband and our amazing kids. Thank you for this love."
Denise seems to be the rock for this season. She is the strength that Claudia Joy and Roxy need. She shows the true meaning of love and friendship. The scene between Chase and Pamela was touching. Chase gave Pamela just what she needed to know that he feels just as helpless as she does and that she is NOT going through this alone. His appeal went up SEVERAL notches for me with this episode!
My heartstrings were tugged a little bit in this episode where Frank is concerned. He senses that Denise is no longer a 'shrinking violet'. She is no longer satisfied with the 'stay-at-home' role she held. You could tell that he is definitely in uncharted territory now.
Each new episode seems to be out-doing the previous one. For me, this was another outstanding episode!moreless
