TVSquad

(S03E18) Army Wives is the highest rated series in the history of Lifetime, and this season has done little to infringe on the show's popularity. For me, though, this past season has been a bit of a drag... until tonight's dramatic finale. In the tradition of the show, cliffhanger endings are its specialty and more than a few lives were torn asunder by the time the credits rolled on tonight's show.

There's a lot up in the air going into next season (which has already been ordered by Lifetime, so don't worry about these storylines not being resolved). Before looking at the couples, one by one, overall I think Army Wives could use some shaking up. There's a bit of complacency setting in, but more on that and the couples after the jump.

There are two significant things to take from the news that Army Wives will return for a fourth season. One, the predominantly female viewership of Lifetime has embraced the series about the lives of Army personnel and their families on the Fort Marshall post in Charleston, South Carolina; and two, scripted dramas are on the rise all across the cable networks. It also means that this finely acted, well-written and well produced show is going to be around for the next couple of years at least.

(S02E04) If there's one thing about Army Wives that bothers me, it's that life is rarely this tidy. With a few exceptions, this episode was about as neat and organized as Frank Sherwood's sock drawer. If you know that character, you know what I mean.

The really good part of the show dealt not with the wives, but with the husbands. Michael Holden, usually the Rock of Gibraltar, finally was shown to be in pain.

It was fitting that Michael wouldn't make it easy for Claudia Joy to find out what was bothering him. A general doesn't show his soft underbelly, not even to his wife.

The twist of having George's sister, Leah, appear was a good development. It was unexpected that the sister of the guy who bombed the Hump Bar would approach the Holdens, but it worked because it gave Claudia Joy a chance to counsel Michael.