The women of Army Wives are back for another season of soapy drama that sees pretty much every character going through some kind of life-changing emotion and crisis.
Lifetime’s hit series arrives on a five-disc set that features all 19 episodes from Season 2, and gives fans a look behind the scenes with its special features. The show is from executive producers Mark Gordon (“Grey’s Anatomy”) and Katherine Fugate. It stars Catherine Bell (“JAG,” Bruce Almighty), Kim Delaney (“NYPD Blue,” “CSI: Miami”), Brigid Brannagh (“Over There”), Wendy Davis and Sally Pressman.
The series follows the lives of five army families (of varying rank in the military) who have to deal with base rumors, the death of love ones, marriage problems, and the pain of deployment.
The season kicks off directly after the season one cliffhanger (where a husband blew up the local bar with several of the series’ spouses inside), and spends several episodes with the fallout of the event. From there, it focuses on changes in the lives of all the main characters as marriages start to fail, one couple has a baby, one wife gets a stalker, and one wife has to deal with her husband’s addiction to pain pills after being injured.
Like the first season, the DVD set ends with a solid cliffhanger that will keep fans wanting to see what happens during the Season Three premiere June 7th on Lifetime.
This is a series that manages to blend some comedy with lots of soap opera drama, and all of the actors do a good job of fleshing out their characters. They all have something to offer the show, and the series’ writers make sure that each of the main characters and their spouses get plenty of screen time each episode. This keeps you from hating the show based on one character, and keeps it from feeling too formulaic – even when watching one episode after the other on DVD.
Personally, I enjoyed the pregnancy storyline of Roland (Sterling K. Brown) and Joan Burton (Davis). Davis’ character is so professional military that it was comic gold to see her going through the various changes that come with pregnancy, and the aftermath of having a baby. You can’t help but crack up watching the sleep-deprived Roland and Joan trying to function like before they had a baby.
The stalker storyline with Pamela Moran (Brannagh) was also entertaining, but you couldn’t but feel a little letdown with how quickly it was resolved.
For me, some of the season’s storylines really started to drag the series down, and almost made me want to stop watching the show all together. The bulk of the first disc is spent on Claudia Joy Holden (Delaney) dealing with the fallout of the Season One cliffhanger. While I understand taking the amount of time on the plot, it really made the series depressing and I grew very tired of watching Delaney breakdown yet again.
The same can be said for the plot following Roxy LeBlanc (Pressman) and her struggles with her husband’s pain pill addiction. Again, the storyline fit the series, but I just got tired of listening to her preach about addiction. I also don’t remember Pressman’s voice being so annoying on Season One, but by the end of Season Two it was like nails on a chalkboard.
The most “soap opera” plot followed Denise Sherwood (Bell) as she saw her marriage fall apart, and started trying out new things in her life (like sleeping with another man, riding a motorcycle, and getting a tattoo). Bell does a good job with the storyline and you have to feel for her clueless husband Frank (Terry Serpico) – even if he often comes across as a jerk.
The DVD set comes packed with special features that take you behind the scenes, and also show the cast visit actual army bases. The features include Active Duty: The Cast of Army Wives at Fort Bragg; Operational Intelligence: Getting the Army’s Support; The Tribe: Behind the Scenes with the cast; Army Wives Gives Back; deleted scenes; bloopers; and commentaries.
If you enjoyed the first season, Army Wives: Season Two is sure to keep you wanting to watch. The season has some drag moments, but ends with a good cliffhanger that might make you want to see what happens next.
Army Wives: Season Two is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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