The Chronicles of Marna

A few months before Paul left for Afghanistan, and a few months after President Bush announced the troop surge, I saw my neighbors returning home with their two small sons. “Just get back from a family outing?” I asked, making conversation.

“Yeah, we went to a demonstration in town.”

“What kind of demonstration?” I asked.

“It’s to get President Bush to listen to the American people and bring the troops home,” she said. Of course, then I recalled the demonstration she referred to was sponsored by none other than MoveOn.org, that classy, rabble-rouser organization.

I was stunned by her admission because she knew Paul would be deploying soon, and they considered themselves good friends of his. It seemed vaguely — I don’t know — disloyal. I shrugged it off. Whatever, I thought. This is America and you’re entitled to your own opinion, however misguided and uninformed it is.

I know Army Wives (the Lifetime TV show) is kinda corny, but I like it. After the writer’s strike, I eagerly looked forward to season 2, which began last Sunday.

Season 1 ended with the cliffhanger of a cuckolded sergeant/suicide bomber showing up at the Hump Bar loaded with stolen munitions. Executives of the show announced that one character was killed off, but didn’t tell us much more than that. Oh dear. I’m attached to all the characters. There’s the moral center of the show, Claudia Joy Holden, she of the uber-expressive eyebrows, played by Kim Delaney. The impressive actress Brigid Brannagh stars as Special Forces wife and former cop Pamela Moran. Roxy LeBlanc (Sally Pressman) is the new Army wife and Catherine Bell portrays Denise Sherwood, veteran wife and RN. I like that the cast includes a male spouse in the circle of friends as well: Roland Burton (Sterling K. Brown) is a psychiatrist and husband of the deputy garrison commander, LTC Joan Burton (Wendy Davis).

The Army is officially on board this season as paid consultants to the show. That might explain why a few touches are more realistic such as LTC Burton’s hair is now regulation (she pulls it into a tidy chignon) and the berets look a lot better. My previous blogs pointed out several things that weren’t realistic. Many people wrote to remind me that the show was entertainment, not a documentary, but I stand by my opinions. Many Americans know nothing about the Army, and they DO believe “Army Wives” is the real thing. I can overlook the berets looking like mushrooms, but I draw the line when the script has the Army kicking a pregnant widow out of her quarters and making her MOVE herself. Come on! That doesn’t happen. The sad thing is, some people now believe it does.

Anyway, back to the first episode. There was indeed an explosion at the Hump Bar which killed three and wounded fifteen. We don’t find out until the end (after some sneaky dream sequences) that the casualty was Amanda, General and Mrs. Holden’s college-bound daughter. Wow, that was a punch in the gut. (Yes, I cried.) I’m guessing that the twist will add a little bit more dimension to Claudia Joy’s practically-perfect-in-every-way character. In fact, many of the characters are drawn either consummately good or bad and I hope they all get more texture.

In season 1, we had a hostage drama at the hospital and then a suicide bomber at the local bar, major emergencies involving the same people. Whew! I hope the writers lay off the heavy-handed, headline-grabbing stuff for awhile. There’s plenty of daily drama, emotional conflicts, and group dynamics to explore on a major divisional post during a deployment. Draw from that and give us a break from the wildly improbable.

I have to give the show credit: they tried to capture the unique culture of deployment stress and instant bonding and cherished friendships in the military. Unfortunately, Pamela Moran narrated these observations during her radio show, resulting in cheesy lines like “It must be a military thing, the capacity to press on despite the obstacles, to see a mission to its completion,” and “This is the Army, where our loved ones are often far away, but their warmth doesn’t have to be.” Gag. Let’s give the audience a little more credit and remember the first rule of writing: Show, don’t tell.

Marna Krajeski

Read about my latest book: HOUSEHOLD BAGGAGE HANDLERS:

56 STORIES FROM THE HEARTS AND LIVES OF MILITARY WIVES