"Army Wives" Season Two Begins June 8th on Lifetime

Army Wives is Lifetime's Original hit series which debuted in June 2007. The show follows the lives of five fictional characters - four wives, and one husband - on a fictional Army post. While the characters are fictional, the problems they face are very real. The show deals with issues that many military spouses deal with on a daily basis, from deployments and domestic violence, infidelity and broken friendships, to death, financial issues and substance abuse.

Among the stars of the show is Catherine Bell who plays Denise Sherwood, the wife of a Major who deploys overseas during the first season. While he is away, Denise suffers domestic abuse at the hands of their teenage son, who eventually scraps his plans to attend West Point, in order to enlist in the Army and serve penance for his mistreatment of his mother. Denise finds herself lying to her husband, and trying to help her son.

Also starring in Army Wives is Kim Delaney, who plays the part of Claudia Joy Holden. Claudia Joy is the wife of Colonel Holden, who successfully plays the Army's political games that officers must play, and becomes post commander. While Colonel Holden is dealing with Army politics, Mrs. Holden is dealing with the wifely politics, and fighting off personal attacks from the previous post commander's uppity, lying wife. Mrs. Holden also has to deal with two teenage daughters, one of which fell in love with Denise Sherwood's son and gave her virginity to him. Mrs. Holden is afraid that her daughter will become victim to the same type of abuse that Mrs. Sherwood suffered.

We also met Lt Col Joan Burton, played by Wendy Davis, and her husband Roland Burton, played by Sterling Brown. Lt Col Joan Burton is second-in-command to Colonel Holden, and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after a recent deployment overseas where she saw a young child die in her arms. Roland stands beside his wife as they deal with her PTSD. The couple decides to separate for a while so Lt Col Burton can get healthy. While they are separated, Roland has a one-night stand, and decides to leave for good. Lt Col Burton finds out about her husband's infidelity near the end of the season, and has to deal with this revelation.

The show is not all about officers and their spouses, however. We also got to meet Pamela Moran, played by Brigid Brannagh. Pam is an enlisted wife of a Special Ops soldier. Like all Army wives, Pam deals with deployments, but on a different level. Her husband deploys on short notice, to undisclosed locations. Many times, she comes home from an Enlisted Spouse Club meeting, or a trip to the Commissary, to find her husband gone on the next mission, with no note or any way to contact her. She can only sit and wait for him to come home, never knowing if he's even alive. She takes care of the house and children, and deals well with a snooty wife who tries to put her down at every opportunity. However, when it comes down to the wire, Pam pulls through and helps the wife who persecuted her, by rescuing her from an abusive husband.

One of the most endearing characters of the show is Roxy LeBlanc, played by Sally Pressman. Roxy is the focal point of the show - she married into the Army after knowing her husband, a Private First Class, just a few short days. She brought two children from a previous marriage, and is just trying to survive from day to day, and figure out how the Army works. She is also preparing for her husband's imminent deployment overseas. In addition to her new life as an Army wife, she is dealing with a mother who has a substance abuse problem. She dresses less-than-conservatively, and also tends bar at a local "Jody bar," which doesn't help her reputation on post.

The first season of Army Wives ended in August 2007, with more drama set to unfold in the next season. The first of season two's nineteen episodes will air on June 8th on Lifetime Television. You can check your local listings for exact times. If you've seen the previews for season two of this show on Lifetime, you'll note that they allude to the death of one of the wives, so you definitely won't want to miss this second season.

If you missed some (or all) of the episodes of Army Wives during the first season, there is still time to get caught up before the newseason begins. Lifetime is currently airing reruns of the first season on Sunday evenings. You can also download all thirteen episodes from the first season for free by visiting ARMY WIVES. Each one-hour episode is broken into five parts, and are commercial-free for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!