ARMY WIVES: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON
(not rated)
MOVIE: *** (out of 5)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: **1/2 (out of 5)
BY KEVIN CARR
I’ll have to admit that the series “Army Wives” has grown on me over the years. It’s changed quite a bit, not just in how they present the Army but also by how they present the wives. It’s clearly a female-centric show aimed a female audience, but there’s some interesting elements a man can relate to.
The wives of Fort Marshall have been overcoming tragedy for years, and more drama is flung their way. With Denise dealing with her new baby and Claudia Joy facing an empty nest, there’s plenty of family drama back home. Pamela’s short-lived marriage woes (which were caused by a possible new series spin-off for her) get resolved, but the relationship stress gets passed along to Roxy and her husband.
Like any series that hits its fifth year (and to be honest, this happened in the third year to this show), there’s a lot of forced drama just to keep things going and the show interesting. This can only last for so long because there’s only so many kids to die and divorces to dodge before the show turns in on itself. I fear this might happen in season six, but the show does leave an interesting cliffhanger that might provide some realistic outside drama so this doesn’t happen.
The DVD set includes 18 deleted scenes, a roundtable chit-chat with the cast in “Hanging’ At the Hump with The Cast of Army Wives” as well as “Fun on the Set: Bloopers, Babies, Ballroom and Brian McNamara.”