Army Wives: The Complete First Season review, Army Wives: Season 1 DVD review
Starring
Catherine Bell, Brigid Brannagh, Wendy Davis, Sally Pressman, Kim Delaney, Sterling K. Brown, Brian McNamara, Drew Fuller, Chloe J. Taylor, Richard Bryant, Kim Allen, Jeremy Davidson
Director
Various
Army Wives:
The Complete First Season

All photos © Walt Disney

Reviewed by Will Harris

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ince you’re reading this review on a site that not only describes itself as an online men’s magazine but has also gone the extra mile to trademark the phrase, “The first and only Guys' Portal to the Web,” it’s to be expected that the decision to hand out four stars to the first season of a Lifetime Network original series is going to be met with a certain amount of derision.

As the writer of this piece, let me just step into first person for a few moments and say that, frankly, I’m as surprised as you are.

Though many of us probably wouldn’t acknowledge it in a public forum, statistics reveal that quite a few guys surreptitiously watch their “stories” (a.k.a. soap operas) on a regular basis, but for all the guilty pleasures I’ve accumulated over the years, I’ve never found myself caught up in a straightforward melodrama. So what is it about “Army Wives” that captured my attention so successfully that I absorbed the entire set in only a few days’ time?

1) The women are hot.

2) The characters are interesting.

3) The plot developments occur at a rapid clip.

4) The fact that it revolves around the U.S. Army helps to absolve any guilt you may have about watching what is indisputably a “chick show,” if only by virtue of the network on which it airs.

“Army Wives” begins by introducing the character who allows non-military viewers to be indoctrinated into the Army lifestyle. Roxy LeBlanc (Sally Pressman) is a beautiful bartender and waitress who falls in love with and marries Pfc. Trevor LeBlanc (Drew Fuller) after only a handful of dates. The only problem with such a whirlwind courtship, however, is that poor Roxy has no frame of reference to what she’s getting herself and her two sons into. The life of an Army wife requires a certain amount of subjugation of self in order to follow the governmental guidelines established for military dependents, and, man, that does not sit well with the sassy, brassy Roxy. It’s an instant struggle for the new Mrs. LeBlanc, so it’s a good thing she quickly meets new friends on Fort Marshall, in Charleston, S.C.

Although the rule of thumb is that officer’s wives and enlisted men’s wives move in completely different circles, those circles meet by coincidence and happenstance when the very pregnant Pamela Moran (Brigid Brannagh), wife of sniper Chase Moran (Jeremy Davidson) goes into labor. Here’s the situation: Pamela’s secretly serving as a surrogate mother in order to bring a cash influx into the family, but because she doesn’t want this information leaking out, she needs to have the babies off-base and – prepare to be horrified – once they’re born and go home with their real parents, she’s just going to tell everyone that they’ve died. When she goes into labor at an Army wives’ function, Pamela is forced to come clean about the situation to those who are around her: Roxy; Claudia Joy Holden (Kim Delaney), wife of Ft. Marshall second in command Michael Holden (Brian McNamara); Denise Sherwood (Catherine Bell), wife of Maj. Frank Sherwood (Terry Serpico); and Dr. Roland Burton (Sterling K. Brown), the husband of Lt. Col. Joan Burton (Wendy Davis). They all vow to not only keep the secret but, indeed, help to take care of the twins until their parents return from their final pre-parenthood fling in Mexico.

Make no mistake about it: “Army Wives” is a soap opera, plain and simple. Roxy and Trevor are dealing with learning all the things about each other and their lives that they didn’t get around to discussing in the two weeks between when they met and when they got married; and, as you’d expect, that’s a lot of ground to cover. Denise is dealing with a hot-tempered son (Richard Bryant) and a husband whose love for her is as undying as his methodology is rigid while trying to remember when she actually had a life of her own. Roland hasn’t seen Joan in two years, and they’re trying to get back into the swing of being together while she works through her experiences in Afghanistan by turning into an alcoholic. Pamela is dealing with the surrogacy, all the secrecy behind it, and her husband’s seeming inability to understand how it’s affecting her. Claudia Joy, meanwhile, continues to remember that heavy is the head that wears the crown -- and so is the head of that person’s wife.

What begins as a guilty pleasure becomes a legitimately enthralling series by the end of its fourth episode, and if it falls back into the former category here and there, the season finale proves so gripping that you’ll want to throw something at the TV screen when it fades to white for a cliffhanger ending. Those who actually are Army wives will either have a rollicking good time as they recognize themselves in their characters or moan about how the series’ events are so exaggerated as to be annoying. Those of us who just enjoy a bit of melodrama, however, will absorb every last moment of “Army Wives” and be damned glad that the second season has already begun to air.

Special Features: A solid collection of extras accompany this set, including a gag reel, a deleted storyline from the season finale (which needs to be experienced, if only to enjoy the primary cast performing Supertramp’s “Goodbye Stranger”), and audio commentaries. There’s a roundtable with the majority of the cast – Catherine Bell is inexplicably absent – as they answer viewer questions, a short conversation with the producers, and a nice featurette that shows the cast members mingling with real Army wives and children.

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