Lifetime Networks OK, OK, OK, we hear you!
So many of you have written in to recommend the complete first season of Army Wives, which is being rerun right now on Lifetime on Sunday nights, I had to check it out and see what all the fuss was about.
That I did, and I got sucked in enough to reach out to coexecutive producer Marshall Persinger (a woman by the way, just named after her dad) to get a little dish on what we can expect this June, when the military soap returns Sunday, June 8 for its 19-episode second season.
Can Claudia Joy and daughter Amanda talk down the bomber in the bar? Is Denise's newfound independence going to take her away from home? Can Roxy and Trevor's brand-new marriage survive his first deployment? Marshall spills that and more, so read on to find out!
Will the Bar Blow? As you no doubt recall, Army Wives first season cliffhanger was a disturbed soldier strapping explosives to his chest and walking into Roxy's bar. Marshall dishes we'll "be blown away" by the premiere, but does that mean everything gets, you know, blown up? "We will resolve that in the first episode, the season-two premiere," she says. "We had a lot of people deployed, and then a lot of people were in the hump bar, so we come back two days later, and we pick up right there. We see what the aftermath was." Does that aftermath include splinters and broken glass? Yeeps!
Another Round for Roxy: Adorable but tough little Roxy LeBlanc (Sally Pressman) still has a lot of adjustments to make before she gets the hang of military life. Says Marshall, "We see the army through Roxy's eyes. She's the newbie, and she is not going to be any less spunky or outrageous, although I do think [Sally] would like us to put more clothes on her. She's feeling her way through, but she doesn't like rules. She's got a husband she loves and whom her boys completely love, and now he's deployed, and it's almost lonelier when you know that you have that, and they've gone away. But [Trevor] does all these cute things for her that keep his presence very much alive." Awww...
Oh, Baby: What about psychiatrist Roland Burton (Sterling K. Brown), the beloved "Army Husband" of the gang, who was about to finally end his troubled marriage? And most important, what's going to happen with his wife Joan's (Wendy Davis) accidental pregnancy?! Roland always wanted kids, so a baby could be good news, but...Says Marshall, "Well, Joan is a lieutenant colonel, but because [Claudia Joy's husband] Michael has been bumped up to brigadier general, Joan's responsibilities are also growing, so she has a lot to deal with these days. First she has to decide what she's going to do with her pregnancy...and then Roland has got to figure out where he's going to be."
Girl Talk Radio: Firecracker Pamela Moran (Brigid Brannagh), who last year was a secret surrogate mother to twins (it's a military soap, but it is a soap), continues to tell it like it is—regardless of the consequences. Marshall tells me of Pamela in season two, "Pamela is the wife of a Delta guy...and that's a whole other lifestyle. They can't ever call their husbands, their husbands can't call them. Even though they love each other very much, it's hard. She's going to have to deal with that, and she's still going to have her radio show. So we'll get to see her with her mouth flapping." Excellent, because nobody flaps better!
Mrs. Independent: I know you guys love your Catherine Bell, and you'll be happy to hear that her character, Denise Sherwood, will be out and about even more this season. Marshall tells me, "I think we're going to see Denise keep coming into her own. She's becoming an independent woman. Yes, I think we'll see her [new nursing job] in the hospital, but we'll also see her revamping her home. Last year she changed the way she dressed and the way her hair was, and I think the changed house, the clothes and the hair are all an indication of how she's just becoming a stronger."
Hoo-ah! Or ten-hut! Or whatever those nice people in the military would say if they were stoked...Meanwhile, your marching orders are to pick your fave soldier and fave army spouse in the poll below and then share your wishes for season two in the comments!
—Reporting by Jennifer Godwin