Army Wives season 3 … a tough one for us viewers, right? It was definitely not kind to us. And I certainly had no expectations that it would be any less uneven on DVD. Nor is there any reason to recap it here. You can reference back to my coverage of season three for a refresher.
Because I’d rather spend my time covering the extras that the Army Wives season 3 DVD set has in store for us. And I was really looking forward to them, too. The season 2 DVD set had some great episode commentary, and I was so excited to hear some more.
Unfortunately, there’s none of that to be found in an 18 episode season. Crazy right? Don’t even get me started. Here’s what it had instead.
Stationed in the South – Army Wives is shot on location in Charleston, South Carolina, which means the cast and crew spend a lot of time there every year. To give us a taste of their experiences, cast members were asked to share something that they each enjoyed doing in their down time. Here are some highlights:
Army Wives Gives Back – Same deal as on last season’s DVD set. The show and its sponsors give back to real army wives. I complained last time that Wendy Davis was used instead of Sterling Brown. Well, this time Sterling made an appearance as well (Wendy did the other two segments), but my issue with army husbands not being included was not rectified. Like I said before, if Roland is meant to show us that men can be “army wives” too, why doesn’t this segment acknowledge that? Anyway, a nice segment with three surprises, one for a female soldier, and two for army wives — paying for the soldier’s books for her continuing education, and family trips for the army wives. Actually the last wife got the nicest gift of all; her husband, stationed in Afghanistan for two years, made a recorded story book of him reading a Christmas story for their kids. Try keeping it together through that.
Webisodes – These were on the show’s site during the season, and I reviewed them already. The only change? They’re listed out of order, so if you watch them by pressing “Play All,” you’ll be lost.
Deleted Scenes – Fifteen in all, with an option to watch them while listening to commentary from an executive producer. Nothing special, but it’s always nice to see more of a show you enjoy. But I can certainly understand why they were deemed superfluous. One nice scene shows the wives presenting Claudia Joy with star earrings before Michael’s promotion ceremony. As they said, she was getting promoted too.
Bloopers – I love a good bloopers real. This one is enjoyable thanks to Brian McNamara, who apparently is quite the clown. It’s under ten minutes, but it feels right lengthwise. And the kids even get in on the fun. The best part, and the longest sequence, is a simple line that Michael delivered when Denise was leaving after visiting Claudia Joy in the hospital (post car crash). All he had to say was “I can get some more coffee.” Could it be any easier than that?
It’s tough to say whether this set is crucial for your library. Army Wives season three was not always pretty. And yet the show is still great. I’d say this: if you want to take it all in before season four premieres (April 11th), it’s probably worth a buy, considering that there’s a good hour worth of extras, in addition to 18 episodes of a good show. But just because? Tough call to make.
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 Mar 16, 2010 @ 15:30 EST5EDT
