Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Rescue Me, "Play": Road trip? Road trip.

I know I promised to get lengthier in my reviews of "Rescue Me" once we got past the first five episodes, but I'm going to make an exception for "Play" for two reasons: 1)It's Upfront Week, and I'm beyond slammed; and 2)Way too much of "Play" featured Tommy and Janet together, and while this season has managed to rehabilitate a number of characters and relationships, this duo isn't one of them for me, ad I had to start fast-forwarding through their scenes after a while.

Some good stuff with Garrity, and with Lou and Genevieve, but overall this one felt much more like a relic of last season.

What did everybody else think?

18 comments:

J.Sho said...

I really liked this episode. I disagree about it being a rehashing of last season because this time Janet realized that maybe she's not so perfect as she thought and that it's not always Tommy's fault.

Mmmm...minty. That was awesome.

Jeff K. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jeff K. said...

This was an episode I liked all around.

I thought it was funny in a way the show hasn't been in a long time... Carlo playing with himself under the blanket, and Maggie being totally non-plussed (maybe even a smidge flattered), the whole dinner scene, the Gerrity's crapping in the fire ("Ever light a match to get rid of the smell? You got a whole building burning around you, and it's not even making a dent!")

Nothing overly heavy, the scenes with the kid played well (tho the phrase "We can stop paying tuition" could have been muttered to reality check her), all good...

And a guy I did a play with last year (and will be doing another next week) played the innkeeper (I had no idea he booked the gig) so that was an added bonus. I like seeing people I worked with show up on TV.

Anonymous said...

Weak episode, almost like a cartoon with the cliches.

Todd said...

I rather liked this one. (Self-promotional link.) Tommy and Janet don't make sense because we so rarely see what binds them together, and this episode made crystal clear that their shared resentment for the human race is what draws them together.

Sonia said...

Hey Alan -- if you get a chance, go back and watch the whole thing. I actually "get" Tommy and Janet now more than ever. Was it a bit over the top? Yes. But so are they.

Otto Man said...

I liked it. Watching Janet be the destructive one was a nice change.

erin said...

I don't know--I found it to be oddly refreshing. The Janet-Tommy stuff, which I usually find tedious, I enjoyed because they were two against the world. They've always had great chemistry, and this episode really crystallized, in a way I don't know that I've seen before, why.

I really enjoyed Katie's lies about the family, and her complete disassociation from them because they're just so difficult and she wants distance. It's totally relatable and very teenager.

I liked the Lou storyline, until the end--I didn't really see him having revenge sex with Frenchie. I thought he liked her, and don't know why everything has to be about Tommy.

I'm still not sure where they're going with the drinking thing (and I don't think they do either), but it's interesting.

But for once, seeing Tommy and Janet together did NOT make me want to kill them. Which was a nice change!

Farm Girl Pink... said...

I agree with the need to fast forward through the Tommy and Janet stuff. It is always a rehash that ends with Tommy with his pants off. Which I am tired of seeing.

Loved the whole Garrity moment ... simply cause I just like his character. But stopping to take a poo in the middle of a raging fire seems so in character for him.

There is was a great extended clip about that moment I saw online a few months ago when they did those mini web-sodes.

Anonymous said...

Boring episode. It was a let-down after the great last few episodes. I thought I was watching an episode of the Beverly HillBillies with the whole farcical nature of the program. It was interesting though how the snooty old woman had a strong resemblance to the deceased actress Rebecca Schull who played Faye on Wings.

olucy said...

What Erin said.

Alan Sepinwall said...

I liked the Lou storyline, until the end--I didn't really see him having revenge sex with Frenchie. I thought he liked her, and don't know why everything has to be about Tommy.

I don't think it was revenge sex for Lou. I think he was just using that as a means to get Genevieve (who, like all attractive women on this show, is hot for Tommy, and frustrated in this case that he's so cold to her) to sleep with him.

Edward Copeland said...

Rebecca Shull is still alive. She most recently appeared in the films United 93 and Little Children according to IMDb.

Eric said...

I didn't understand the point of the end of the episode where Katie runs away. Is she crying because her parent's disappointed her or because they didn't come back and fight with her?

The episode wasn't as good as the previous five, but I really liked when Tommy and Janet were at the Inn.

Karen said...

Finally watched the ep last night - count me in with those who just don't like Tommy and Janet together (way beyond predictable by now, even with it being Janet who got drunk this time). And they set up all the other people at the dinner table as such snooty cliches that it was clearly supposed to be shooting fish in a barrel to get the audience to side with T&J - all the women badly dressed, bad hair, no sex life, all the men weak and dismissible. Yuck.

Onward to the next.

Anonymous said...

I liked it in that it showed Tommy & Janet coming to grips with some of the havc their actions have brought on others. Given the ridiculous amount of crap Katie has had to deal with, and how much of it is due to the constant fighting of her parents, it is not surprising to see her lash out and for Tommy & Janet to have to take it. The side stories were OK. I find the story arc with the French reporter wearing thin.

Mr Whirly said...

From the previews, I was expecting this to be a filler episode but it was great. Extremely funny and a good character builder for Janet and Tommy. You expect Tommy to be the one verbally vomiting all over the high and mighty folks. But it was even better to watch him watch Janet do it. Plus, in true Rescue Me style, they cut the laughs off at the knees at the end with the speech from Katie.

Adam said...

I really liked this episode. After four seasons of seeing tommy and janet fight, we finally see them as a team. the one daughter they hoped to shield from everything hates their guts. emotional. and some great acting