Catherine Bell in "Army Wives"
courtesy of Lifetime Television
“Army Wives” (Lifetime)

“Army Wives” has started its third season on Lifetime and it is once again one of the most compelling drama series on the air. This show is filmed in Charleston, South Carolina and takes place at the fictional Fort Marshall. The stories concern the women who are either in the military or are married to military men.

Front and center is Claudia Joy Holden (Kim Delaney). She is married to General Michael Holden (Brian McNamara) and they are the parents of Emmalin (Katelyn Pippy). Claudia Joy’s best friend is Denise Sherwood (Catherine Bell) who is married to Frank Sherwood (Terry Serpico), an officer serving in Iraq. Their son Jeremy (Richard Bryant) is also serving there.

Denise gets moral support from Roland (Sterling K Brown), a psychiatrist at the base hospital. He is married to Joan (Wendy Davis) who is an officer on the Base who works for General Holden. Roland and Joan have a baby daughter. Roland is searching to find the right job and Joan is worrying about deploying to Iraq.

Then there is Pamela (Brigid Brannagh). She is raising two kids while her husband is off doing secret missions which she knows are dangerous. Her best friend is Roxy (Sally Pressman) who is married to Trevor (Drew Fuller). Trevor was injured in Iraq but wants to return to his Unit. Roxy wants him to stay safe.

Over the course of the past two seasons these characters have become well known to the viewing audience. Since the setting is an Army Base with Iraq in the background it is both timely and personal to many people.

Kim Delaney is the star of the show and strangely enough she is the person least comfortable with her character. She doesn’t seem to have found the core of Claudia Joy, but that may be because Claudia Joy doesn’t require her to be all she could be in this series. She is too in charge, too composed, too bland.

The actress with the role Delaney probably envies is Catherine Bell who plays Denise. Denise has had an affair and now her marriage is unraveling. Each week the most intense segments center on Frank and Denise. No one can even imagine how this situation is going to be resolved but it certainly is interesting to watch.

If you get hooked on “Army Wives” and that is easy to do, you will find yourself watching these characters and analyzing them. They are easy to watch, easy to like, and fun to anticipate. 

So get into full soap opera mode by tuning into “Army Wives” every Sunday night at 10 on Lifetime. It isn’t too late to become a full time fan.
 

 

 

 

 

©2009 Jackie K. Cooper

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