This week’s episode of ‘Rescue Me’ was definitely the most heart-wrenching episode of the season (so far). The gang seems to be falling apart with Probie getting serious about transferring, Franco continuing to pursue the Lieutenants program, Lou still talking about moving away and Tommy nose-diving off the wagon.
All hope is not lost though. Uncle Teddy’s conjugal visits are still stomach-turning but his new wife continues to try to make their time together nice by dressing up the trailer. Uncle Teddy’s not the only one doing well in his love life. The aid at the home where the Chief’s wife is staying asks him out on a date and the two of them enjoy a romantic night at a reggae bar. The only potential flaw in this budding romance is that Carleen admits to the Chief that she’s an illegal alien. This could pose problems later if their relationship continues. Not to say that its impossible to date an illegal alien but in this show, romances die hard so we wont get our hopes up for these two, just yet.
Sheila gives Tommy a brand new Caddy in exchange for his beat up old pick-up (to give to her son for his first car). Its clear that she’s not over the guilt she’s experiencing for drugging and raping Tommy (and making him think he got drunk). The Caddy gets stolen pretty much right away. Tommy takes a cab to Janet’s house to talk to her about the baby and sees his new car on the road. He hijacks the cab to take off after the car and hilarity inevitably ensues. The stolen car gets away and Tommy ends up arguing with the Muslim cabdriver over the belief that Muslim men get 72 virgins when they die. The argument heats up quickly and the cabdriver nearly runs Tommy over after Tommy tells him he’d rather be in hell with whores, Babe Ruth and John Lennon.
Immediately following this, Tommy talks to Janet about the baby. They get into an argument, which is even more heated than the one he just had with the Muslim cabdriver about virgins and whores. Things get physical but instead of just resorting to violent sex, they finally say all the things they should’ve said months ago. The hurt they’re both feeling over losing Conner and losing each other comes out in a fit of yelling and crotch grabbing. Johnny shows up and breaks it up. He kicks Tommy repeatedly and threatens to kill him if he ever touches Janet again. Tommy leaves but then comes back to hit his brother and ex-wife up for cab fare.
Franco attempts to spend quality time with special-Richie. He leaves Richie alone with Garrity and Probie and after Richie makes a hilarious remark regarding Probie’s gayness and potential mental disability, the guys get distracted and Richie walks off. Franco searches the city for him and eventually goes back to Natalie’s to tell her he lost her brother. When he shows up he finds Richie safe and sound. Apparently the cops found him wandering the streets of Harlem and brought him home. She’s none too pleased and tells Franco to leave, refusing to hear his excuses. Richie appears to be pleased that he’s managed to ruin the relationship. This probably isn’t the first time he’s gotten between his sister and another man.
The guys are actually calling Probie by his real name (it’s Mike!) but now they’re ribbing him about his gayness. The ribs are typical of the guys in the way they are with each other but Probie’s very sensitive about it nonetheless and demands a transfer from the Chief. Tommy is pretty much overwhelmed by Probie wanting to transfer, Franco going for a promotion which will likely result in a new placement for him and Lou considering moving. That leaves the chief who might just decide to leave for Jamaica by the end of the season if he and Carleen decide to get serious and she ends up deported as well as Garrity who’s diving headfirst into a future divorce with his bride-to-be, Maggie.
Tommy talks to his friend Needles who runs another firehouse about Probie’s homosexuality in an attempt to ruin Probie’s chance at a transfer. When Needles explains that he can’t deny him a position there on the basis of his homosexuality, Tommy tells Needles that Probie’s also a coward (a blatant lie of course but he’s just trying to keep his boys together). Cowardliness is not something Needles can abide by so he makes it clear that he wont accept the transfer.
The frustration Tommy’s feeling added to the fact that he’s still seeing Jimmy once in a while and now seeing Conner on buses and in the street causes Tommy to wander into a bar. The scene that ensues basically sums up all three seasons in a brief but somewhat mind-blowing way. Tommy orders a whole glass of the bars best Irish Whiskey. The bartender tells him that it’s going to cost him $100 for the glass.
Tommy takes two huge gulps then tells the bartender he can’t pay. When the bartender calls for security, Tommy tells them he’s FDNY. The bartender says prove it. Tommy does so by showing the people in the bar his burn scars and how he got them. He goes on to talk about 9/11 and how everyone in the bar could probably name five finalists in ‘American Idol’ but not one firefighter who died on 9/11. He then goes on to talk about his pregnant ex-wife and her affair with his brother, the loss of his cousin and 60 other guys he knew who died on 9/11 and finally, his son dying, his Uncle being incarcerated for killing the drunk driver and the cherry on the cake, his car getting stolen earlier that day. He chases this story with the last gulp of whiskey.
The bartender responds to Tommy’s testimony by pouring him another glass. When a bar-bimbo approaches Tommy, he responds to her with, “Honey, this is way more bad boy than you’re ever gonna be able to handle so do yourself a favor… go blow a drummer”.
After the commercial break, Tommy’s sponsor shows up to pick him up. This guy is the perfect sponsor for Tommy because rather than doing the “Oh, Tommy, don’t drink! Please! Stop!” he approaches Tommy the only way a guy like Tommy needs to be approached in this situation. He roughs Tommy up on the sidewalk and screams at him for repeating the cycle. He then orders Tommy into the car and takes him to a meeting.
The final and most heart wrenching moment in this episode had to do with Tommy’s friend Stack. The episode began with Tommy noticing Stack regaining consciousness. Tommy sees that Stack is really trying to stay alive, despite being covered in burns and having lost both legs. Stack’s wife has no clue her husband is semi-conscious and goes on and on about how she doesn’t want the kids to see their dad like that. Who can blame her?
Tommy comes back to visit Stack at the end of the episode and Stack’s wife tells Tommy that the doctors say they’ll have to amputate his hands. The idea of his friend with no legs and no hands is too much for Tommy. When he’s alone with Stack in the room, he tells his friend it’s time to go. He tells Stack he knows he’s a bull but this is too much and that his family won’t want him to live like this and that he knows he doesn’t want to live like this so he should just “go”. Tommy falls asleep in the chair in the room and wakes up when Stack’s machine’s are beeping as Stack goes towards the light. The staff at the hospital tries to revive him but its clear by the look on Tommy’s face (a mix of his usual emotionlessness with a hint of appreciation towards his friend) that Stack won’t be coming back.
This was a really rough episode. Previous episodes in the season have been a blend of humor and drama. While this episode definitely had its funny moments, its clear the writers are getting to the point. What they’re building up to can’t be good.
