Army Wives: The good, the bad and the ugly
"Army Wives" - the Lifetime show about military life - hit its stride this week in a big way.
From the homecoming scene at the beginning through Frank and Denise's long-distance marital troubles right up to the memorial service at the end, last night's episode had scene after scene that those of us who are real-life "Army Wives" experience on a daily basis.
Our friend mauimere said it best during the live chat: "This one was definitely a five-tissue episode."
Here's our take:
THE GOOD
- The MIA comes home. The episode paid tribute to a soldier missing in action from Vietnam and, perhaps more significantly, the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command. JPAC, based in Hawaii, is a military unit that exists solely to find and bring home the remains of soldiers missing from past conflicts.
- Frank and Denise continue to clash. We've seen Denise finish her nurse's training and go back to work, make new friends and start riding a motorcycle. Last season, Frank's unwillingness to embrace the changes in Denise seemed archaic. This week, we saw where he was coming from when he told Denise in a phone call from Iraq: "It feels like you're changing and, here, I'm just treading water and I can't keep up."
- Roxy and Trevor's reunion. He cried when he talked to her about the man he killed, and, although the homecoming was happy, it felt like everyone was holding their breath waiting for the other shoe to drop. Just like in real life.
THE BAD
- The show's continued references to "The FRG." First of all, few people outside the military know what FRG means (Family Readiness Group). Second, Claudia Joy sounds like she's piloting an aircraft carrier when she says things like "I'll mobilize the FRG." Folks in the FRG have their own families and lives, too. They're not just sitting around waiting for the order to pounce into someone else's life.
THE UGLY
- Joan's replacement. A cocky officer new to the base announces he's Joan's "backfill" when she goes on maternity leave. He right away points out that he doesn't have combat experience. That's a pretty touchy subject, and not one you'd bring up during a first meeting (or maybe ever).
How about you? What'd you think about this week's episode?
Welcome to a behind-the-scenes look at what a family goes through when Daddy is sent to Iraq. The author, Jan Wesner, married her husband, Mark, 16
years ago. That was just a month after he went into the Army. They have moved eight times since then, including time in Hawaii, Okinawa, Korea and Germany. They moved back to Florida, where they both grew up, in September 2006. They have two young children, Jace and Rian.
Jan has worked for more newspapers then she can remember and probably holds the record for most job interviews in a single lifetime. She currently works in the Times Brandon bureau.
Mark recently returned from his one-year tour in Iraq. 
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