Richard Bryant, Clifton Powell
Complete Third Season
- Drama
- 2009
- Buy the DVD
All photos © Walt Disney
Reviewed by Will Harris
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s I sat down to compose my review of “Army Wives: The Complete Third Season,” it suddenly occurred to me that I had no recollection of ever writing my review of the show’s second season. At first, this surprised me, given that I unabashedly acknowledged my enjoyment of this show when I doled out a 4-star review for Season One, but then as I thought back, I recalled what had happened. First of all, after watching all of Season Two, I’d decided that there really wasn’t any need to write a review, as most of Bullz-Eye’s readers simply wouldn’t care. Maybe that’s painting with too broad a brush and maybe it isn’t, but it doesn’t really matter, as the more significant reason that I passed on reviewing the set was that I’d just received a crash course in “The Unit.” Now those are some real military wives.
Now that we’ve reached the release date of Season Three, however, I’m backpedaling. Yes, “The Unit” offers a more definitively manly-man look at the dynamic of military families while offering much more in the way of action sequences, but “Army Wives” is, well, it is what it is, and that’s a soap opera. Given how daytime drama is falling by the wayside in rapid fashion, we can use a bit more melodrama on television, and lord knows Lifetime knows how to do it right.
Unsurprisingly, this season sees a lot of focus on the relationships between the wives and their spouses. Roxy (Sally Pressman) continues to throw everything she has into the bar, which leads her to hire a manager: Viola (Tonya Pinkins), who at first rubs Roxy the wrong way with her headstrong decisions until it becomes clear that the changes she’s making are for the better. Roxy’s husband, Trevor (Drew Fuller), is pressuring her to have a child with him, but as he endures some bumps along his career path, he begins to wonder if maybe this isn’t the time after all. But is it too late? Claudia Joy (Kim Delaney) continues to battle back from the death of her oldest daughter, Amanda, but she and Michael (Brian McNamara) struggle to keep control of their other daughter, Emmalin (Katelyn Pippy), who becomes an increasingly major character in the series as the season progresses. When the Holden family sponsors Haneen, a young girl from Iraq who lost her entire family in a bombing, it leads to the realization that Emmalin may not be as far in the grieving process as Claudia Joy is.
Frank (Terry Serpico) finds out about his wife’s indiscretions while he’s still over in Iraq, leaving Denise (Catherine Bell) an emotional wreck as she worries how he’s going to handle the situation; the struggles in their relationship during the course of Season Three prove to be the most realistic of any of the couples. That’s not to say that some of the goings-on between Pamela (Brigid Brannagh) and Chase (Jeremy Davidson) don’t strike a chord on occasion, with Chase finding it difficult to deal with Pamela’s I-wear-the-pants-in-this-family tendencies that have sprung up as a result of her maintaining the household in his absence. Lastly, the token Army Husband of the group – Dr. Roland Burton (Sterling K. Brown) – enjoys a solid storyline this season when his realizations about where his career is going lead him to test out a gig outside the base, while new mother Joan (Wendy Davis) makes some surprising decisions between career and family.
There are a few interesting creative choices during the course of the season, including a flashback episode which gives the cast a chance to play dress-up in WWII-era attire, but the decision to add live music to the Hump Bar has led to a few too many storylines about this singer and that. Shelby Lynne is a great singer, but her guest-star spot in “M.I.A.” is pretty rough going when she isn’t performing. Far better utilized, however, is Kelly Bishop (the former Emily Gilmore on “Gilmore Girls”), who plays a general’s widow who enjoys carousing and hates to be kept under a watchful eye.
The third season of “Army Wives” ends, as usual, with several cliffhangers, including a declaration that Army personnel are no longer allowed at the Hump Bar, the apparent departure of Pamela and the kids from Chase’s life, and, most shockingly, the very real possibility that Jeremy Sherwood may have committed suicide in a fit of guilt over having been unable to save one of his Army buddies from being killed in Iraq. So, basically, we can probably expect more of the same in Season Four. And really, what’s wrong with that?
Special Features: The bonus material on the set includes half a dozen webisodes (the three focusing on Joan and Roland are remarkably good, but the Jeremy-centric stuff is far less compelling), deleted scenes and bloopers, three “‘Army Wives’ Gives Back” segments (don’t be surprised if you find yourself moved while watching them), and a featurette, “Stationed in the South,” which finds the cast taking you on a tour of Charleston and revealing all of its charms.
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