Army Wives: Leaving the Tribe
If there’s one thing about Army Wives that bothers me, it’s that life is rarely this tidy. With a few exceptions, this episode was about as neat and organized as Frank Sherwood’s sock drawer. If you know that character, you know what I mean.
The really good part of the show dealt not with the wives, but with the husbands. Michael Holden, usually the Rock of Gibraltar, finally was shown to be in pain.
It was fitting that Michael wouldn’t make it easy for Claudia Joy to find out what was bothering him. A general doesn’t show his soft underbelly, not even to his wife.
The twist of having George’s sister, Leah, appear was a good development. It was unexpected that the sister of the guy who bombed the Hump Bar would approach the Holdens, but it worked because it gave Claudia Joy a chance to counsel Michael.
That Claudia Joy was even talking to her was a reversal from previous weeks. Clearly the messenger in the last episode made an impression.
It didn’t occur to me that Michael would blame himself for the bombing because of a command decision; if this were a typical soap opera, and not a military drama, I think it would be seemed like a contrivance. It didn’t. Michael’s second guessing himself for an order he didn’t give was spot on writing.
My heart went out to Leah — again, it was novel to show the guilt felt by the family of someone who does a heinous act. But I agree with Roxie that the Hump Bar should not become a memorial. Fort Marshall has enough tributes to the dead.
In her tirade at the radio station, Roxie “has at it” all right, defending not only Betty’s decision to rebuild the bar — and her connection to it because she grew up there and her father owned it — but also the importance of the bar as a meeting place separate from the army, but part of the fabric of the community.
The Joan-Roland story is just coming together too neatly, don’t you think? He’s found a new career — teaching and helping children — he’s understanding about Joan’s hormonal issues. She listens to his advice about how to deal with her pregnancy and actually uses it.
This felt too pat. Joan is not a character so easily accepting of sound advice, and Roland is just too pleased with everything Joan does now that she’s decided to have the baby. It’s great that they’re having lots of sex and are totally supportive of each other’s choices, but how realistic is this? Something needs to happen to keep me glued to their storyline, because right now I’m bored by their happiness.
Trevor’s injury in Iraq was telegraphed. You knew the moment you saw him in that marketplace, laughing with a buddy and playing with local kids, that something bad was going to happen. I thought it would be a suicide bomber, but Trevor noticed the guy had rifle and when he warned everyone to get down, he was shot in the shoulder.
This is all leading to Trevor’s return, which was revealed in the finale and brought joy to Roxie and the boys. But the previews suggest that we’re not going to see the happy-go-lucky Trevor that Roxie married last season. Storm clouds are on the horizon.
Other points of interest
— It was refreshing to see Roxie sorting shrimp. It’s a lousy job, but since the bar is gone, she has to work. Now that Betty’s collected on the insurance and wants to rebuild the bar, Roxie is going to take charge.
— Betty’s rationalization for rebuilding, “Cancer may kill my body, but it ain’t going to kill my soul.”
— Michael contemplating retirement in Hilton Head, and telling Claudia Joy it might be soon. This was a major development, and a direct result of Amanda’s death.
— When Roxie and Betty visit the remains of the Hump Bar, it was impossible not to make a connection to 9/11, even though the bombings were completely different. “If I was the crying type, I’d be balling my eyes out,” said Betty.
— Denise and the motorcycle. She’s finally getting out from under Frank’s yoke. You just knew he would react badly to her riding the bike. He sees it as an “Image problem.” Frank is so predictable. Why did Denise even tell him?
— The tribe supports Denise’s new bike and her new look. “A toast to Denise Sherwood, biker chick.”
— Claudia Joy’s advice to Michael is an outgrowth of her healing. She tells him, “Forgiveness is the first step,” and she’s already taken it herself.
— I liked that they showed the other side of deployment, that is, soldiers returning. When Michael sees two soldiers not being met at the tarmac, he and Claudia Joy welcome them back.
Army Wives: Leaving the Tribe
If there’s one thing about Army Wives that bothers me, it’s that life is rarely this tidy. With a few exceptions, this episode was about as neat and organized as Frank Sherwood’s sock drawer. If you know that character, you know what I mean.
The really good part of the show dealt not with the wives, but with the husbands. Michael Holden, usually the Rock of Gibraltar, finally was shown to be in pain.
It was fitting that Michael wouldn’t make it easy for Claudia Joy to find out what was bothering him. A general doesn’t show his soft underbelly, not even to his wife.
The twist of having George’s sister, Leah, appear was a good development. It was unexpected that the sister of the guy who bombed the Hump Bar would approach the Holdens, but it worked because it gave Claudia Joy a chance to counsel Michael.
That Claudia Joy was even talking to her was a reversal from previous weeks. Clearly the messenger in the last episode made an impression.
It didn’t occur to me that Michael would blame himself for the bombing because of a command decision; if this were a typical soap opera, and not a military drama, I think it would be seemed like a contrivance. It didn’t. Michael’s second guessing himself for an order he didn’t give was spot on writing.
My heart went out to Leah — again, it was novel to show the guilt felt by the family of someone who does a heinous act. But I agree with Roxie that the Hump Bar should not become a memorial. Fort Marshall has enough tributes to the dead.
In her tirade at the radio station, Roxie “has at it” all right, defending not only Betty’s decision to rebuild the bar — and her connection to it because she grew up there and her father owned it — but also the importance of the bar as a meeting place separate from the army, but part of the fabric of the community.
The Joan-Roland story is just coming together too neatly, don’t you think? He’s found a new career — teaching and helping children — he’s understanding about Joan’s hormonal issues. She listens to his advice about how to deal with her pregnancy and actually uses it.
This felt too pat. Joan is not a character so easily accepting of sound advice, and Roland is just too pleased with everything Joan does now that she’s decided to have the baby. It’s great that they’re having lots of sex and are totally supportive of each other’s choices, but how realistic is this? Something needs to happen to keep me glued to their storyline, because right now I’m bored by their happiness.
Trevor’s injury in Iraq was telegraphed. You knew the moment you saw him in that marketplace, laughing with a buddy and playing with local kids, that something bad was going to happen. I thought it would be a suicide bomber, but Trevor noticed the guy had rifle and when he warned everyone to get down, he was shot in the shoulder.
This is all leading to Trevor’s return, which was revealed in the finale and brought joy to Roxie and the boys. But the previews suggest that we’re not going to see the happy-go-lucky Trevor that Roxie married last season. Storm clouds are on the horizon.
Other points of interest
— It was refreshing to see Roxie sorting shrimp. It’s a lousy job, but since the bar is gone, she has to work. Now that Betty’s collected on the insurance and wants to rebuild the bar, Roxie is going to take charge.
— Betty’s rationalization for rebuilding, “Cancer may kill my body, but it ain’t going to kill my soul.”
— Michael contemplating retirement in Hilton Head, and telling Claudia Joy it might be soon. This was a major development, and a direct result of Amanda’s death.
— When Roxie and Betty visit the remains of the Hump Bar, it was impossible not to make a connection to 9/11, even though the bombings were completely different. “If I was the crying type, I’d be balling my eyes out,” said Betty.
— Denise and the motorcycle. She’s finally getting out from under Frank’s yoke. You just knew he would react badly to her riding the bike. He sees it as an “Image problem.” Frank is so predictable. Why did Denise even tell him?
— The tribe supports Denise’s new bike and her new look. “A toast to Denise Sherwood, biker chick.”
— Claudia Joy’s advice to Michael is an outgrowth of her healing. She tells him, “Forgiveness is the first step,” and she’s already taken it herself.
— I liked that they showed the other side of deployment, that is, soldiers returning. When Michael sees two soldiers not being met at the tarmac, he and Claudia Joy welcome them back.
Outlander Poster
I don’t think I have ever used the words ‘Vikings’ and ‘aliens’ in the same sentence before in my life.That is until today. Shock Till You Drop got an international poster for Outlander, a movie that has yet to get a release date in most places across the globe, with the exceptions of Russia and France.
In Outlander, two aliens crash land on Earth - one good (Caveziel), one bad (created by Patrick Tatopoulos). Subsequently, their intergalactic battle disrupts the lives of a band of Vikings (played by John Hurt, Ron Perlman and Moonlight’s Sophia Myles.
Torchwood: A Day in the Death Of…
(S02E08) “You get to live forever. I get to die forever.” -Owen comparing his situation to Jack’s immortality.
This was a very different Torchwood episode. There were no aliens to battle and no major action sequences. In fact, Team Torchwood was mostly inactive. Instead, we got to take an episode to look deep into the psyche and situation of Dr. Owen Harper. Everything from the music to the way the various scenes were shot lent itself perfectly to the melancholy and hopelessness of the character. Burn Gorman showed tremendous depth in his portrayal of Owen this installment, and it looks like we may finally be looking at some major growth for Owen. Not that he still doesn’t have some very serious issues to deal with.
The writers came up with a pretty clever framing sequence to tell Owen’s story. We opened with him on a roof with a woman we’ve never seen before who’s ready to jump off the roof and commit suicide. Owen started talking to her, really revealing everything about himself and Torchwood, which I thought was a huge no-no. I guess exceptions can be made when you’re trying to get people not to kill themselves.
Throughout the episode we get the story of what’s happened to Owen since the close of the last episode as he tells it to this suicidal woman. As they still weren’t quite sure what he was, Jack stripped him of his position, gun and access badge until Martha could run a series of tests on him. At first, the results were somewhat encouraging. If he kept up with exercise, he wouldn’t atrophy, and it looked like he would never age or ultimately die … again. The good news is that he’s fully human again. Just a dead human walking.
Later, we learned that he would never heal or recover from any wounds or broken bones either. He accidentally sliced his palm open with a scalpel, so now he’ll have to restitch that wound every few days or so for the rest of his existence or it will just keep tearing. This doesn’t sound like such a good deal at all. Good lord, what if he breaks a leg he’d have to wear a cast forever, never mind a gaping stomach wound or something. Maybe Jack was right to keep him off of missions. His situation is physically pretty precarious.
I liked the way this sequence was handled where Tosh came by to visit Owen at his house. As Tosh rambled on and on and Owen just stared off not paying attention. They silenced her audio so we could just see her talking. Then we cut back to the roof to learn that today was the girl’s one-year wedding anniversary. And that while driving away from the ceremony she and her new husband had been in a horrible car wreck that killed him. She’d tried to move on, but ultimately couldn’t do it.
We then faded back to Owen and Tosh, still talking silently. Slowly they brought back up her volume as Owen started to tune her in before brutally lashing out at her about why she’s there and what she’s hoping to get out of this. He knows she’s always wanted him, and yes they’d agreed to go out on a date, but is this what she wanted? He’s empty and broken now. He has nothing to offer her. To show how broken he is, he completely folded back and broke his pinky finger, on the same hand he sliced earlier.
Other moments of interest:
- The union of Tosh and Owen seems to have happened. When he revealed that he’s scared that if he closes his eyes he’ll be trapped in the darkness. “I’m here,” Tosh replied, holding him. While I’m actually glad to see the Tosh/Owen hook-up happening here, or at least being attempted, I never in a million years thought it would happen under these circumstances.
- Where was the old man’s medical staff and team when he flatlined? Why set him up with that kind of equipment if there is no medical response in the event of his death?
- Why didn’t UNIT send a car for Martha? It’s the middle of the night and they couldn’t even get her a cab? The poor girl had to walk off carrying all of her stuff.
So that’s it? Owen’s going to stay an active part of Torchwood, and undead? Surely they’re going to find some way to restore him back to some semblance of life, right? You’d certainly think so. Still, it adds another element of the crazy to the show. Now you have immortal Jack and Owen, only with very, very different types of immortality. And Jack definitely got the better end of that deal.