Another week of pain and change for our cast of characters. I tried to imagine myself in the positions of all of them, but failed miserably in every respect. With Denise and Frank at the center of the chaos, you'd think it would hit them the hardest, but it's just not that easy.

Denise has completely closed up. She's not sharing any of her thoughts with Frank or her friends. It was no surprise when we learned she had left, taking Molly with her.

What I did find surprising was her almost complete lack of emotion. Her focus was strictly on Molly. She was obviously being torn inside, but not letting an ounce of it out.

I was so proud of Michael for talking to the reporter with candor about his beliefs with regard to the Afghan army. The end result was perhaps the loss of his career.

Not the one he has now, but any hope for the future. I don't know much about the military. If an Army General learns he may never have an opportunity for a third star, what does that do for their desire to remain enlisted? I'm really interested to see where this development will take us.

When I mentioned last week that Roland was taking Jeremy's death particularly bad, I had no idea how much worse it would get. His guilt is he thinks he let Jeremy reenlist before he was ready. But Jeremy was ready. The Afghan army wasn't ready, but everything about Jeremy was on his game.

Roland can't even step up to help Denise. I don't think Claudia Joy knew how to react when he offered the names of two other doctors instead of agreeing to talk to his friend. Roland and Denise have had an especially strong bond, and I wonder if the two of them attempted to have a conversation, the breakdown they would encounter would be more than they could manage.

"Soldier On" takes on new meaning as a phrase to me. I use it often. But to really soldier on in face of the death of someone in combat seems harrowing. What it means, I have found, is courage coming from the deepest core of your being to carry on in the face of tragedy. This week was all about the spirit to survive, and how to get it back when it seems to be gone for good.

Roxy received a business offer, and even running it by a disapproving Trevor didn't stop her from considering it without his support. To her, Jeremy's death meant her future and that of her sons was in her hands. She won't count on Trevor to be there, because tomorrow he may not be. Their already rocky relationship fell another notch as she dug in her in heels and went into family protection mode, Trevor be damned.

Trevor needs to have more faith in Roxy's head for business. With everything that is ripping them apart, they are forgetting their strength as a couple. As the season started, I thought a marriage headed toward disaster might be that of Roland and Joan, but now I see Roxy losing faith in her marriage as time without Trevor drags on.

In the midst of all this grief, we did have one moment of unabashed happiness. Chase returned home and instead of saying a word, Pamela threw herself into his arms. For the first time since the series started, we may actually get to see what Chase and Pamela mean as a team. With his job on base, they will become one of the couples to rely upon.

Each season as partners are deployed, we discover the marriage that lies under the mission and how those remaining couples stand solid for their friends whose partners are not around. I really look forward to seeing Pamela and Chase in that role. Stability is one thing we've never seen with the Morans.

I don't know how they have done it, but I'm blown away by the stories of conviction and tenacity on Army Wives this season. I would have thought at some point they might run out of material, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.