Army Wives Season 2 Premier: Oh No They Did Not!
I just finished watching “Army Wives” Season 2 premier and just cannot believe it, I cannot believe it! I’m in shock! Let’s get to dishing.
First up, this isn’t exactly an episode that one can recap easily because of the nature of it. The episode takes place four days after the bombing as Pamela takes to the air to report on what is going on and what has happened over the past four days. The show flash backed a lot and jumped around a lot. From the get-go we are told someone close to Pamela is dead.
Picking up from the Season 1 finale, Marilyn’s lunatic husband entered the Hump Bar with a bomb strapped to him, but the trigger failed to detonate, giving people time to run. Betty lagged behind trying to get everyone else out, and was caught in the blast and is in critical condition, apparently in a coma. The various wives visited her throughout the episode to talk to her. She was still in a coma as the episode ended.
Roxy has become a virtual shut-in in her home out of fear, not letting her kids leave, not taking care of things. Trevor has not called as he promised he would when he arrived, and she’s desperately trying to get the army to give her news on him, but they won’t. I have to say she got on my nerves to no end in this episode. I know she’s the “new” army wife, but even she can’t be this clueless to think he just has easy access to phone to call her daily to say “I’m good, still alive!” Pamela and Denise came over to talk to her, telling her that as long as the army hadn’t come to give her news, Trevor was alive and she had to go on living. Joan eventually told her off the record that he was alive, his flight to Iraq was delayed due to mechanical issues. By the end of the show, given what else had gone on, I was really angry at Roxy to be honest!
Rolland, who was in the hospital after the blast, apologized to Joan for the affair. He had realized he had admitted it, explained it, justified it, but never apologized for it. He asked what she wanted, she wanted him. Rolland returned to their home on post to recuperate. He asked her what about the baby, she said she needed a few days to think about it. Okay I’m just going to say what I probably shouldn’t say, but I really don’t like Joan!
Now I’m not going to defend Rolland’s cheating. He cheated and he was wrong to do so, no doubt about that. But at this point, any sympathy I can have for Joan is slowly going down the drain. At the end of last season when Rolland poured his heart out to her, telling her he loved her and was tired of putting their life on hold for the army, he wanted a family with her as they talked about and planned . . . my heart went out to him. They came so close to losing each other, not only losing their marriage but literally Rolland losing his life. Now it’s like they’ve been given this miracle of a second chance. Joan admits she still wants him and for it to work, and Rolland seems to still love and want her . . . yet she still doesn’t know what to do about the pregnancy? Are you kidding me? I just feel like Rolland didn’t beat around the bush at the end of last season, he stated pretty clearly what he had wanted and because she didn’t seem to want the same thing, it was a big enough reason for them to part. I think now Joan needs to make a decision about what she wants out of her life and not string Rolland along, which is what it seems she is doing. Honestly, her hesitation makes me think she’s pretty much made up her mind as to what is the most important to her, but she knows if she says it that Rolland will walk back out the door.
Finally we come to Claudia Joy and Amanda. I’m not going to prolong this torture at all, Amanda is dead dead DEAD! The show spent most of the hour showing an injured Claudia Joy taking Amanda off to UVA after the explosion to get her ready for orientation, as if they had both survived. By the end of the episode what we learned was that this was all in Claudia Joy’s head, that she was dreaming it while unconscious in the hospital. Amanda is the sole casualty of the bombing (aside from the psycho husband who is no doubt dead too). I was just stunned by this! This was an insanely risky move by the show. It’s one of those moves that initially makes you yell “OMG why the hell am I watching this show! I’m never watching it again!” However it’s also a risky move that makes it such a good show and such good drama.
I’ll shut up now and let you all leave your thoughts.
Photo: LifetimeTV.com
Marilyn (bomber’s wife) also died.
06.09.2008 at 9:55 am
I’m assuming Marilyn’s boyfriend died as well since he tackled the bomber.
I was BAWLING! when Amanda died. I had a feeling they were going that route since she died in the book as well but I still hoped they would let her live. It was so dramatic and I think this season is seriously going to be awesome!
I was also annoyed by Roxy but I am thinking that the bombing shook her up more than she is letting on and just didn’t need one more tragedy to happen. In any event, Joan letting her have it was the only moment in the series that I liked Joan 😉
06.09.2008 at 11:28 am
I was under the impression it was either mariyln or the boyfriend who died, but at the news conference they had said one person had died, 3 were still critical. Maybe it was 4 people who died? I can’t remember. I guess I confused Pammy talking about the person who died as it being one person died.
Also re the book, is it one book or a series of books, and is the show following it pretty closely?
06.09.2008 at 11:32 am
I thought 4 died- Marilyn, her boyfriend, the bomber and Amanda. I was pretty shocked by Amanda’s death. No greater loss for a parent than to lose a child.
I am also annoyed by Joan and her baby dilemma. I agree she seems to not want to tell Roland so he won’t leave her.
06.09.2008 at 12:59 pm
We know Marilyn’s husband, the bomber, died. Marilyn also died, as they showed a brief scene of her funeral in one of the montages towards the end. I think we can also assume that Eddie, Marilyn’s boyfriend, died as he is tackling the bomber last time we see him. Amanda died in the hospital so she might have been one of the critical ones from Joan’s speech. I remember three critical, about 15 injured and hospitalized, and more than one dead, I think four is right. Joan seemed to have been giving her speech right after the incident so the status of survivors may have been incomplete or fluctuating.
Like Roxy and her husband not discussing his being a career army man, I don’t think Roland and Joan really discussed, at least not recently, whether or not she wants a family. I think mostly Joan doesn’t want kids, at least not now, but still wants a marriage with Roland. A career seems more important to her than children. I’m not particularly defending her, this is just my impression, as she is not one of my favorite characters either.
Lastly, I live in Charleston, SC where Army Wives is filmed so we have articles in the paper about the show sometimes. This weekend, they wrote about how the show is now approved by the Department of Defense (a devision dealing with media representation of the military) after they evaluated the last season so instead of using retired military personal, now all the military expertise will be supplied correctly by them and the show will also be allowed to film on the base, instead of just showing shots of the planes, hangers, etc in the background. They also mentioned that the show would focus more on the husbands’ military experiences overseas than it has last year. There were also blurbs about where each major characters’ storyline was going for the season, but I’m not sure it that’s spoilers or should be posted here.
06.09.2008 at 1:54 pm
Jennifer,
If your paper has the article online maybe include a link? That would work.
I have to say in the “seasons preview” at the end of the show, they showed a lot of what was to come. Like it appears Denise is going to have an affair?
06.09.2008 at 2:00 pm
Did you guys think the actress who plays Roxy looked like she might be hiding a pregnancy? Or were her jammies just unflattering?
06.10.2008 at 3:12 am
I loved this episode. I bawled my eyes out when they declared that Amanda had died. At first I thought they both died. I like what they did with Amanda’s death. I think this season will be even better than last. I’ve been looking forward to this all year long. I really hate that’s it’s a summer show though.
06.10.2008 at 10:11 am
Oh, I didn’t think of that. Good idea, Dustin.
Here is a link to the article I was talking about:
http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jun/08/military_soap_opera_army_wives_premieres43708/
Upon rereading it, the spoilers seem to be for the season premiere. The article was published the day before it.
06.11.2008 at 4:21 pm
ugh, I cried when I found out Amanda had died. I liked her character a lot, and her & Jeremy were so cute (even though she broke it off with him last season.) Roxy..yes annoying through out the episode, made me want to yell at her too to get off her lazy ass and do something else besides mope & think, which only gets the worst of any human being! And finally, Joan…Joan, Joan Joan…I cannot express words if she decides to terminates this baby,,,I hope Rolland leaves her if she does. I wasnt a big fan of this couple anyways…but Roalland doesnt deserve to have this baby be terminated!
06.12.2008 at 8:26 pm
Ok, Roxy was a little over the top on the premiere, but I can also relate to her. As an Army (reserve) wife who’s husband spent 12 months over in Iraq, I can see where you could easily let this happen. You can become obsessed with watching the news, and don’t want to leave the house for fear of missing a precious phone call from your spouse. When the CID (??) men came to the house in the show, I can completely understand why Roxy would loose it. That is your worst nightmare, that the military shows up on your door step with news (and they don’t come with good news) about your soldier. I really like Roxy, I just think the combination of the hightened terrorist threat, her soldier depolying, and the bomb was too much for her. I think by the end of the episode, she was finally coming to terms with having a deployed soldier and everything else and she will be able to move on in the coming shows.
06.15.2008 at 3:54 pm
is the character Evelyn different from last season? And if so why the replacement?
08.07.2008 at 1:33 pm