Army Wives – Battle Buddies need to become a thing of the past

In all my time watching Army Wives, I’ve tried very hard not to judge the view of the Army that we get from the series. I know little enough about the venerable institution that I’d hate to pass judgment based on inaccurate or incomplete information.

But something happened during this week’s episode that needs discussing, whether or not any of us fully appreciates the Army’s rationale behind it: the Army’s attitude toward sexual assault. I find it incomprehensible that what happened to Dana (Karina Logue, who played Steph on the awesome Terriers), the homeless army veteran who Pamela brought to Claudia Joy for help, is real, and happens in real life.

And what complicates the story on the show is the scene at the end of the episode, when Claudia Joy mentioned her desire to pursue the rapist to Michael, who expressed his own frustration with the Army’s treatment of sexual assault, and specifically its treatment of the victims. While Michael’s a great guy, and I can’t imagine his telling a rape victim that no one would believe her and that if she pursued her attacker she’d be labeled a troublemaker, he’s also a very senior officer in the Army. At the very least he has to be culpable of fostering an environment that would allow what happened to Dana to happen. Unless he’s been a voice of dissent … in which case his career would likely have stalled long before his current promotion. So I have to wonder just how sympathetic to the issue he is.

But the good thing is that this has come up on the show, and it’s my hope that Claudia Joy does continue to pursue the topic, if not the specific case, giving all rape victims a voice and, most important, justice. And who knows … maybe the real Army is listening. Let’s hope so.

I was surprised that, when Trevor and Roxy finally did have their fight, there didn’t seem to be any mention of Jeremy’s death on Trevor’s part. Because as responsible as Roxy is for their fighting, Trevor’s been acting like a real jerk for the entire season, something that predates all this stuff with the truck stop and Witt. Roxy did owe Trevor an explanation and an apology, but he owes her a lot more of both. It would have served him right if Frank had slammed him instead of standing up for him.

Joan and Roland continued their lightning quick progression from “not ready to try again” to adopting a kid with special needs; are there a handful of episodes somewhere that were never aired and would help explain things? Anyway, I think the situation with David (McCarrie McCausland) is an interesting one. I kept wondering what was going to be “wrong” with him, but I didn’t expect it to be something that could affect everyone else in the family. And whether or not it’s a founded fear, I was surprised that Joan and Roland only raised the issue of loss as it concerned Sarah Elizabeth … isn’t it reasonable, with two active kids getting bruised and cut, to worry about transmission of the disease? Maybe the age difference would preclude that, but I’d still think it would have been something that the two would have at least mentioned, even if they were quick to dismiss it as a concern.

Nevertheless, it’s an interesting question in general: if you clicked with a foster child and wanted to provide that child with a better life, would an additional hurdle keep you from taking them home? Or would that only reinforce your desire to ease their burden as best you could, knowing that their burden was even greater? I don’t know.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on May 17, 2011 @ 15:45 EST5EDT