You know how some shows deliver an awesome season premiere and then by episode two, the story sort of fizzles and you realize you won’t be seeing another awesome episode ‘til the season finale? Well that is so not the case with ‘Rescue Me’. The first episode of season 3 ended with a fire. The second episode of season 3 ended with an explosion… and not the kind that involves bombs.
In the premiere of the season we learned that Janet and Johnny were having a passionate (and selfish) affair and that Tommy’s sister Maggie is sleeping with Garrity. These people who know Tommy so well obviously put their sanity on a shelf when they decided engage in these reckless relationships. I thought we’d have to wait until at least halfway through the season to see what happened when Tommy found out, especially about Janet and Johnny. I was wrong.
So Shelia gets the party thrown for Tommy’s father and it’s a just a disaster waiting to happen. Janet and Johnny are both there and so is Maggie and Garrity. All are doing a really poor job at hiding their relationships. Garrity eats the cherry from Maggie’s drink which tips Tommy off about their little fling but before Tommy can react mentally or emotionally, he sees Johnny and Janet playing footsy and holding hands under the table (honestly, are these people total idiots? They can’t go an evening without groping each other?). Tommy’s reaction was masterfully done. The sound drowns out as Tommy actually peaks under the table just to make sure he’s seeing what he thinks he’s seeing. He then stares at them both, eats the cake off his fork and gets up. For a second I thought he was going to harness his chi or whatever and walk out but instead, in true Tommy form, he dives over the table and attacks his brother, going as far as to throw him over a table.
Cue the music. While poppa-Gavin continues eating his cake, the fight gets taken outside. It wasn’t so much of a fight as it was a pounding. Tommy barely gave Johnny a chance to recover before unleashing on him again and again. Janet attempts to stop Tommy (this woman is clueless) and he elbows her and she goes flying into a car. Shelia (dear sweet Shelia) tries to help Janet but Janet claws at her and the two get into a ridiculous smacking-fest. Tommy is still pounding on his brother. He throws Johnny’s head into a car window, beats on him some more and as Johnny is lying in the street bleeding and panting, Tommy spits on him and walks away. The show ends with everyone going to help Johnny and Tommy walking off alone.
So that was the explosion. Of course there were other notable moments in last night’s episode. Susan Sarandon made a guest appearance, playing a Mrs-Robinson-type-woman named Alicia. She hits on Franco in a bar, giving him the “I’m only in town a few nights and if you’re into it, I’ll show you moves you’ve never seen” line. Franco takes her number and that seems to be as far as it went though from what the coming attractions showed, that’s not the last we’ll see of Alicia.
Reilly attempts to convince his wife that it might be better if she goes to a cheaper home because the facility she’s at raised their rent. Jeannie begs him to let her stay.
Lou is totally broke and very sensitive about the money subject. He tries to get his father’s watch from his wife but she won’t give it up. He attempts to break into her house to get it back but only ends up cutting up his hands on the window.
The funniest moments were a tie between two scenes in the show: Tommy’s daughter Katy throwing up all the junk food he fed her while his other daughter Colleen tells him that BJ’s are so last year and Born-again-Christianism is the new fad. The other scene was when Tommy hooks up with an early-20-something ditz who wont shut up the entire time they’re together (including when they’re being ‘intimate’). Tommy ends up finding a roll of duct tape which we can only assume he’s planning to use on her mouth. Whatever you gotta do to get the job done, Tom.
This show is great.
