Army Wives – Season 5 DVD review

The fifth season of Army Wives was another mixed bag from a show that’s been uneven for a while now, but it did feature any number of moments that harked back to the solid series that it once consistently was. While I wasn’t about to re-watch the fifth season episodes, there are some fun special features on the recently released DVD set that I know you’ll like.

Once again the set inexplicably lacks episode commentary — for some reason season two is the last time that they were included, despite the fact that those commentaries were so much fun — but there are other things to enjoy. Let’s get to them.

Hangin’ At The Hump With The Cast Of Army Wives This was awesome. Maybe it’s for the same reason that the commentaries were so enjoyable, but this cast seems like so much fun to hang out with, and they appear to really get along. This is a nice, extended segment (still I wanted more!) where the main cast — minus Jeremy Davidson (Chase) but including Richard “Bubba” Bryant (Jeremy) and Katelyn Pippy (Emmalin) — sits around a table at the Hump eating dinner and talking. Brian McNamara (Michael) does an awesome job steering the ship, but after a while (most) everyone is into it full swing, and it’s really fun to watch.

Some of my favorite moments:

• In discussing some of their favorite moments from the season, most of the actors point to scenes where Frank (Terry Serpico) gets emotional. Serpico got a little embarrassed by the praise, but I agree: he was (and is) amazing.
• When considering why their cast gets along so well after five seasons, Sally Pressman (Roxy) suggests that other series stars must have better trailers. Meaning? They have a reason to always want to be there, alone. She joked that hers was so bad that she always begs to stay on set.
• Sterling Brown (Roland) started a discussion about the actors’ parents by saying that after Roland cheated on Joan in season one, his real mother didn’t speak to him for two weeks!
• In the same conversation, Wendy Davis (Joan) mentioned how her father called her up after Joan’s promotion to Colonel, telling her how immensely proud he was of her. “Dad, you know it’s a TV show, right?”
• I still don’t like the character, but Bryant talked very movingly about how proud he was of how Jeremy’s death was handled on the show, particularly the jobs done by Serpico and Catherine Bell (Denise). Apparently many people have thanked the actors for the powerful story and how it spoke to them, including spouses and parents of deployed soldiers.
• What do your favorite actors do between takes? Apparently Bell is a fiendish texter … she’ll be going up until action is called, and then will quickly stash her cell phone out of the camera’s view. Nice!

Deleted Scenes There are eighteen additional scenes in all. It’s hard to get a good feel for what the cut scenes would have added … some movies allow for viewing the lost scenes in the proper spot, but as standalone moments, without context, it’s tough to think anything other than “superfluous.” Except for one.

One scene is of Joan and Roland discussing the base shutting down, where she tells him, “You sacrificed a lot for me. Whatever happens next, we’ll decide it together. Deal?” Forgetting for a moment that she’d never live up to that agreement, it would have been nice to see her acknowledge her husband for once, and pledge to involve him in a decision that affects their family. Aside from that, these unnecessary scenes are just nice as new material from a show that we like.

Fun On The Set: Bloopers, Babies, Ballroom And Brian McNamara This was far too short. The best part was a scene that kept returning frequently throughout the sequence. It’s one where Joan and Roland are having a conversation about adoption, and Sarah Elizabeth is sitting on Roland’s lap. As toddlers sometimes do — back me up, parents — the baby kept on grabbing Roland’s face and rotating it toward her every time he looked away to talk to Joan. It ended with Brown doing a really funny “Got your nose” thing with the baby … you have to see it to get it.

Speaking of, is the season five DVD set a worthwhile buy? What you felt about the episodes is yours to establish, but if you love the show and can’t get your hands on Hangin’ At The Hump any other way … it’s worth the money just for that. It was that good.

Disclosure: This review is based on a commercially available copy, provided complimentary to CliqueClack TV by Lifetime for the  purpose of review.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Oct 05, 2011 @ 15:00 EST5EDT