Army Wives: A Final Salute Page #5

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[ Laughter ]

The food is rich.

Oh, I love you.

Love me or the steak?

There's room in my heart

for you both.

I think an overall storyline

that I really loved

was that of Frank and Denise.

She became a nurse

and a nurse practitioner,

and that's what I am.

My husband's

a stereotypical military man.

He's a lot like Frank.

He's a man's man.

I mean,

as hard as he was willing

to fight for his country,

he fought for his marriage.

And she, you know, did, too.

Thursday nights

and/or Sunday afternoons.

- Really?

- Always?

[ Chuckles ] It's just when

Frank tends to be in the mood.

[ Laughs ] Don't you just

throw him down and take him?

No! I don't.

[ Laughs ]

Melvoin:
Denise was

a wonderful character.

And she had seeds

of almost what I would consider

a 1950s housewife to begin with.

She was submissive.

She was very happy

to be in the background.

Serpico:
I think that's how she and

Frank wanted their lives to be.

They had patterned their lives

on an outdated kind of paradigm.

All right, now. You're the man

of the house while I'm gone.

Dad, I've been the man

of the house since I was 7.

Over the course of the series,

we see her evolve tremendously.

All my life, I have been

somebody's daughter,

somebody's wife,

somebody's mother.

And I'm pissed

that it's taken me this long

to realize

that there's a me here, too.

It was absolutely essential

that she make some changes

in her life

that reflected who she felt

she was.

Hey, guys.

Roland:

Are you kidding me?

And Frank had to go along

for the ride or get left behind.

You still want me to be the girl

that you fell in love with,

the woman that you married, and...

[Sighs]

God, I wish could be that

person for you, but I can't.

I miss her.

Sometimes I do, too.

I guess the transformation

first began

when she began to transform

herself physically.

Harder! Come on!

She started to change

what she was wearing.

And Frank was, "Well, uh...

- Yeah, that's nice."

- You look different.

- Different good?

- Yeah. Going out?

[ Chuckles ] I loved that one.

And then she began...

She went back to work.

Denise:

She's in cardiac arrest.

Denise was a nurse.

- Clear.

Woman:
- Clear.

Shocking.

And she need to define herself

as that,

not just as Frank's wife,

but as Denise,

the woman in her own right.

[ Monitor beeping ]

She's got a rhythm.

Frank was initially

very resistant

to her going back to work...

again, that '50s model.

"I'm the breadwinner.

My wife doesn't need to work."

Blah, blah, blah.

Almost didn't recognize you.

What are you talking about?

You... focused, vital.

Made me remember

why I fell in love with you.

Frank and Denise

most definitely grew over time.

There were, obviously,

some very important hurdles

that they had to cross together.

Early on, it was the tension

with Jeremy as a young teenager

who is struggling to establish

his own identity.

I'm not going to West Point.

We spent the last two long years

getting you in.

- I... I thought it's what you wanted.

- It's what dad wanted.

And then he eventually goes

and joins the service.

Well, I don't have to tell you

to make me proud

'cause you already do.

Thank you, sir.

Why do you still look

eight years old?

- I know what I'm doing.

- Okay.

In finding herself,

Denise makes some mistakes.

She gets involved

in some infidelity.

I've never been with anyone

but f...

Denise has violated

the most basic tenant

of being an army wife,

which is that you don't cheat

on your husband.

Serpico:
That was really brutal

for Frank.

And I know it was for Denise,

as well.

All I need to know...

is it true?

It was a mistake,

and it's over,

and I regret it

more than you can know.

In that case, I don't see

any reason for you to stay here.

And while he was just

about to cut her loose,

he realized

that he just loved her so much.

And to love is to forgive.

And he had to find

that forgiveness in his heart

and move forward.

I don't want to let you go.

I love you.

I love you.

I don't know how we're gonna

make this work.

That's one of

the real seminal moments

in this kind of change in Frank

where he became much more

attuned to his wife

and much more attuned

to his emotional needs.

And he became

more emotionally intelligent.

What's that for?

Hand-eye coordination.

And where you planning on

putting this?

Over the crib.

Frank, I'm pregnant.

What a surprise.

When they told us that

that was gonna be happening,

I was like, "Really?"

Well, when Jeremy was born,

it was all just a blur,

you know?

At least, it was for me.

Well, this time's gonna be

different.

And then you get

an opportunity to see Frank,

this, you know, this hardass

with this little girl

that just melts his heart.

Frank:
And down comes daddy

in his parachute.

And the wind blows him

to the right,

and the wind blows him

to the left.

[ Baby coos ]

McNamara:
Now, Serpico,

I can only imagine

when you found out

that Catherine Bell

was gonna be your wife.

You must have though, "Ugh,

couldn't I get, like,

a good-looking woman?"

- Exactly.

- [ Bell chuckles ]

Catherine and I really had

a wonderful dynamic

from the get-go, from day one.

All we had to do was to look

at each other and go to work.

It was a real pleasure.

I mean, it just such a pleasure

being on the show, period.

Fuller:
I think Bridge

and Jeremy's couple

could have been probably

the most realistic.

- Yeah, I feel like that.

- I mean, I'm guessing.

But you guys, it was

the constant not knowing,

the pain of always leaving

at a moment's notice.

Somebody always,

at one point or another,

is backing up for the other

to shine, if you will.

Well, everybody's...

Every family in the military

is always backing up

for the military

because that is the number-one

player in the relationship.

The number-one player in the

family is the army comes first.

That should be part of

every marriage vow in the army.

What?

"For richer or poorer,

in sickness and in health,"

- and "I'll make it up to you."

- [ Chuckles ]

[ Feedback ]

I just want to let you all know

that I made 50 grand

carrying those kids.

That's right.

I was a paid surrogate.

So, have at it.

I was really,

really stuck on Pamela

and "Army Wives" immediately.

Pamela's core

always stayed the same,

a very down-to-earth,

pretty honest person.

Our husbands are out there

risking their lives,

and I can't have an opinion?

This sucks.

Brigid just brings

a remarkable quality

of brashness, of earthiness.

Why are you talking

to the food?

She is a redhead, Irish woman.

And she plays that to the hilt.

Every time I open my mouth,

I put another dent in the image

of the perfect army wife.

A little bit cranky but strong,

like a good,

a deeply good person.

That never changed.

One of the things I was always

really, really concerned with

was things being real...

not having Barbie hair on,

you know, a working woman

with a bunch of kids.

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