I'm on vacation this week, but I got a chance to watch the last two "Rescue Me" episodes of the season before I left the office. And all I can say is that I'm astounded - but I shouldn't be - that they managed to throw away so much of the goodwill they generated at the beginning of the season. We started off with a return to 9/11, and we ended it with women literally fighting over Tommy, and then with another weak cliffhanger. Sigh...What did everybody else think?
40 comments:
well since we all know there will be another season, i dont think the cliff hanger is that bad lol
I think Sheila didn't deserve that treatment. And given the things she's done, that's saying something.
It is what it is. Just 19 more episodes.
I've defended Rescue Me this season, but this episode sucked. Every part was so unbelievable. I'm a Tommy and Sheila fan, but Sheila was such a dumbass in this episode that I don't feel much sympathy for her. And, not much of a cliffhanger since I heard that the show will be coming back for another season (or two). I wonder who uses a cell phone to call 911.
Until 45 minutes in, I forgot there were other firefighters on this show. Oh yeah, Lou and Damian got that one scene with Tommy.
And I can't help but think Tommy getting shot is another way to glorify this god of a man, surviving two bullets and surrounded by people that look up to him. Unless they actually kill him, which I think I'd like simply as a way to end the love pyramid.
I always enjoy watching Janet & Sheila fight over Tommy and tonights fight scene was classic. This Ep also had two of the show's BEST lines; Sheila telling Janet, "sit down or I'll kick you in the vagina!" & Kelly describing Sheila as, "Joe Pesci with tits." All in all I thought it was a fantastic season finale. I don't believe Tommy will die. This is just a cliffhanger to keep us biting our nails until the season returns. I'm sure when season 6 begins more than likely Tommy will be in a coma for the first few eps and Jimmy will be at his side but he won't die.....not yet anyway. Great season finale tonight!
I don't know how anyone can be biting their nails. Tommy is the lead character on the show. Does anyone actually think he'll die? There wouldn't be a show then.
I also can't believe that of all the great storylines this season they chose to focus the finale on the worst one--the idiotic fight over Tommy. I'm actually embarrassed for the actresses who have to act this material.
Maybe Tommy will die but remain on the show in some kind of purgatory.
I'm actually embarrassed for the actresses who have to act this material.
I was embarrassed for Andrea Roth and Callie Thorne all the way back in season three. That seriously twisted rape plotline just brought me to the conclusion that Rescue Me is made by a pack of clueless, misogynistic jag-offs. If the folks behind Rescue Me really think women enjoy being raped, and having your victim 'force herself' on you is any kind of 'getting even', I'll respect their First Amendment right to share with anyone who cares to watch. But that's where my respect ends.
Alan, you speak to Tolan and Leary on a regular basis. You should call them out on last nights episode. The last 10 minutes were excellent. You know Tommy won't die, but Lenny Clarke as Uncle Teddy gave his best performance of the series as you literally watched him suffer a nervous breakdown to the point that he would shoot his own nephew in cold blood.
That said there's no excuse for the whole Janet-Sheila cat-fight. This is supposed to be a top-echelon dramedy, not Melrose Place or Dynasty. Cat-fights among women don't belong on this show. You should pass that on next time you have dinner with Leary or Tolan.
Teddy shot Tommy? Tommy's having a will-he-or-won't-he-survive cliffhanger? Sheila and Janet had a physical fight over Tommy?
Man, I am SO glad I stopped watching a month or so ago.
The cat-fight was a low for this show. Callie Thorne and Andrea Roth are better actors that deserve quality material. This never ending saga of fighting over Tommy is past it's expiration date. Sheila action's did not elicit sympathy from me.
I hope that it's true that Maura Tierney can come back for some final episodes towards the end.
Lenny Clarke did an excellent job in the last ten minutes or so of showing his mental facade falling to pieces. I wasn't surprised that Tommy was shot and we were left with hanging. Leary had alluded that something "big" would occur to set up the final two seasons. Will he survive? I've heard Leary voice that he would like to be killed off. What would he come back as a ghost? Hanging with Jimmy? I suspect that Tommy will survive.
However, what was a bit unbelievable that there were a group of firefighter's at the bar and not one could disarm Teddy? Really?
Unfortunately, the season finale was like the season, mediocre.
This season had some great episodes but it did not make up for all of the filler. A tight 12,13, or 14 episodes would have made the show tighter imho. Also, Sean cancer's storyline was not handled well, the French writer storyline had no conclusion, Franco's belief's regarding 9/11 conspiracy theories were not well-rounded, etc.
Can you feel my disappointment?
I love this show and will stick with the final 19 episodes but my hope is that we can back to some basics that made this show so great.
The problem with the Tommy/Janet relationship at this point, aside from the fact that Janet is an irredeemable harpy whom Roth seems incapable of finding any warmth or sympathy in, is that Janet is smart enough to STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM TOMMY. Logically, after the rape she should have only been communicating with him through attorney. Really, the sex with Tommy can't be that good.
I've always enjoyed Sheila's complete and total insanity, but I thought last night was over the top and out of character even for her. The one thing I've always believed about Sheila is that she's a good mom who loves her kid. Having her take another mother's grief - even a mother who dared to look twice at Tommy - and throw her dead kid in her face? All to "win" Tommy? As Janet said, that's low even for Sheila. It was beyond low. I was so disgusted by that, I actually enjoyed Tommy scaring the hell out of her.
And I think it couldn't have been more clear last night that Kelly's a real woman, a real adult, whereas Janet and Sheila are a couple of cartoon characters. If Tommy *does* ever change or grow at all by the time the series ends, there's no way he can do it with either of those two. There were a lot of anvils last night that made it feel like they were setting it up for Kelly to be "the one" at the end of it all.
JanieJones made the point that it was a bit unbelievable that a group of fire fighters could not disarm Teddy. But I find it wholly credible. These guys have shown great courage in fighting fires. But fighting fires is really the only thing that these guys understand. We’ve repeatedly seen that they don’t understand relationships including amongst themselves. We’ve seen repeatedly that they act cowardly outside of fighting a fire. It’s really no surprise that none of them would lift a finger in this situation. The only guy that challenged Teddy was the former priest Mick.
I also have a different take on Sheila and Janet. I agree that the cat fight was probably not the best way to tell their story. But I think that their rivalry has gone beyond simply a fight over Tommy. I think that they are competing against each other in general and have been for decades going back to when the two couples were on breaks and Janet slept with Jimmy. That’s what this confrontation is all about. It’s not important that they get Tommy. What’s important is beating the other. This is evidenced by the fact that neither of them were bothered that Tommy was seeing Kelly. The reason they visited Kelly was to put Tommy in his place and exert control. What really bothered each of them was that they might lose the contest between themselves. If Tommy picks Kelly over them, then neither of them wins their war amongst the two of them. This displays not Tommy’s irresistible sexual magnetism but rather his ability to reduce those who love him to their absolute lowest. This was also displayed when he turned the intervention 180 degrees into a collective reentry into drinking by those who love him most – his family. Because he can’t or won’t deal with his demons, he has to drag those around him into his depraved world. He didn’t put the bottle in his family’s hands, but he is the leader of the family. They all look up to him and look to Tommy for leadership. But Tommy rejects their love and need to be led. He thinks that by getting them to be depraved like him, they’ll either reject him and leave him alone or they’ll live like he does and that is something he knows how to deal with.
I think that Tommy actually wants to change even though he is unable to treat his family with respect. He wants to be a better person but he can’t get past his family history to do so. Therefore he turns to an outsider; a newcomer into his life. Someone who is basically a stranger. This was displayed by his comforting Kelly rather than trying to sleep with her. True, he backslid when he talked about the moment and about Kelly losing the baby with Lou. But it was not his intention to hurt Kelly by discussing it with Lou. He was trying to understand the moment. A telling line was Tommy telling Sheila that she had taken something that belongs to him and squeezed all the hope and breath and the promise out of it. Tommy is now resigned that he won’t change because he isn’t strong enough to overcome his circumstances or his own failings and weaknesses.
For those that are dismayed that the other fire fighters are not featured enough: this show is about Tommy Gavin. It’s never been about the entire house. ALL of the other characters are in place in order to illuminate something about Tommy’s character. Where the show has lost direction is when it features other characters in prominent story lines. Sean’s cancer story could have been more powerful if it somehow involved Tommy and gave us insight into his character. We got a little taste of that could be when Tommy got involved with the cancer kids. We saw that Tommy is capable of being selfless.
Lou’s relationship/marriage to Candy showed us that Tommy is genuinely concerned about Lou but he can’t talk to Lou about it in a mature manner. Tommy can’t relate to Lou. Lou is very in touch with himself, evidenced by his poetry, and Tommy is not in touch with himself. So when it comes to serious matters Tommy can’t give Lou mature advice. This frustrates Lou. I think Lou is frustrated in general that he doesn’t know anybody that he can talk to on an intellectual level. He relieves this by his biting comments sprinkled throughout the series. These comments are funny but they are sometimes extremely mean; especially when directed at Tommy. Lou is looks up to and is envious of Tommy and at the same time he holds Tommy in contempt. Tommy is everything Lou wants to be and everything Lou hates about himself. But at the same time, Lou is the same for Tommy. All of this manifested in their fight at the house.
Does anybody remember how stale and boring Mike’s band story line was? It’s because it was extraneous and had nothing to do with the theme of the show. Same thing with Franco’s boxing career.
Franco’s 9/11 conspiracy beliefs is fertile ground for exploration. But the show has only given this cursory treatment in order to throw a bone to Daniel Sunjata who holds these same beliefs. I’ve got to believe that there is ample room for interesting storytelling here; especially with Tommy.
As I’ve said before, the season was too long and I agree with other posters that much of this season came across as filler. The focus needs to be back on Tommy and how he deals with the aftermath of 9/11. That’s the soul of the show and that is why we got involved as an audience in the first place. Maybe the show is avoiding talking specifically about the consequences of 9/11 for Tommy because we as a country have gotten away from that as well. But does Tommy represent the common FDNY firefighter or does he represent America as a whole? I don’t think he can be both.
"Man, I am SO glad I stopped watching a month or so ago."
Man, I am SO glad I stopped watching a season or so ago.
I have loved the Irish fire fighter/ 9/11, show since it first started. But the other characters have been lost in the last 2 seasons and this triangle with Sheila needs to end. It has become a little over the top. they need to get a little more real and back to basics to keep the fans and get new ones.
What happened with Lou's wife anyways? One minute they're happily married and the next he steals all of her money because he finds out she's a fraud? They had so many extra episodes this season to explain it, instead of throwing it out of nowhere.
"Does anybody remember how stale and boring Mike’s band story line was? It’s because it was extraneous and had nothing to do with the theme of the show."
Theme? It was a shameless plug for Mike's real band Apache Stone. Almost every episode it was:
"What's the name of your band Mike? Comanche Balls?"
"No it's Apache Stone."
"Apache Stone?"
"Yes. Apache Stone."
The latter half of this season was nothing more than an narcissistic trip for the cast. Mike gets to plug his band. Shawn gets to plug his new CD with irrelevant cabaret fantasies. Leary gets his usual sack time with every female on cast.
And VW get some nice free advertising thanks to Shawn saying Routan every time he wasn't singing.
Dan Coyle:
But every damn woman in this show is either a castrating shrew or a needy bunny-boiler.
Craig: Well, I do think that Sheila is sympathetic, though I'm chalking that up more and more to the fact that I find Thorne to be extremely attractive. I think she really loves Tommy, and wants him for reals, but is totally incapable of doing it in the right way or standing up to him. It says something that even after she fucked with Kelly that way, I saw that mascara running down her face and said, "fuck you Tommy".
But do I think in general the show has massive issues with women? You betcha maletcha. The women are usually the injured parties, but they never seem to fucking learn. Of course they don't, they're women!
It also must be said, Leary is still married to his wife of 20 years and she strikes me as a funny, upbeat person in interviews. I don't know what that means, but it means something.
Can anyone tell me what the early season storyline involving Teddy and Tommy's sister at the veterans hospital was supposed to be about? I was waiting to see if it went anywhere, and just watched the finale - it never did.
Ridiculous episode tonight. It was hard to watch. I'm not sure when this show jumped the shark, but if it hadn't already jumped, then tonight would have been it.
So many of the storylines are so unbelievable. I wouldn't mind them being unbelievable if they were good, but this episode really stunk.
Sheila is so unlikeable. I know she has mental issues, i.e., bi-polar, but really she is despictable. Bringing up Kelly's baby to hurt Kelly, who never did anything to her, was horrible.
And Janet, geeze, make-up your ming already. Serving divorce papers and then teaming up with Sheila in the same day. She also always puts her interests before her children's interests. What a totally selfish, obnoxious person.
I don't think I like or care about any of the main characters anymore.
Tonight's probably it for me. I wanted to see how the season wrapped up but I don't think I'll be able to stand another season of it.
The last 10 minutes were excellent. You know Tommy won't die, but Lenny Clarke as Uncle Teddy gave his best performance of the series as you literally watched him suffer a nervous breakdown to the point that he would shoot his own nephew in cold blood.
That was the best part of the last two episodes (well, that, and Tommy trying to comfort Kelly instead of trying to bang her).
I'll be back to watch the last season just to see how it ends, but man, this crap between Janet & Sheila has got to stop.
I also agree that the Lou/Candy storyline wrapped too quickly, but I understood it when Lou said he realized he wasn't completely over his anger. I'm more surprised that they didn't at least have he & Tommy talk about it. After all the warnings Tommy gave Lou about Candy, you'd think they at least high-five each other.
Booooo! Hiss! Booooo!
Used to love this show, but its become a parady of itself...still funny in parts...but most of the show has lost any semblence of dramatic integrity
And in an additional effu to the audience, they're selling the DVDs of the season, which ran in one big uninterrupted chunk, as two separate sets.
this show is an abusive partner. listen to everyone equivocating. "Well, it's still funny, sort of..." or "the 9/11 stuff is great." really, the whole show just basically sucks now. it sucked all season long. and like most abuse victims, we just don't leave. we think we deserved it. the exception in this case being that by choosing to watch the show, we're basically asking for it. which, come to think of it, is another thing a lot of victims think.
also, the match-flicking revenge scene was just over the line for so many reasons.
I'm a bit confused by comments by within the show and by viewers that Tommy led everyone back into drinking. Wasn't it his Uncle Teddy who started drinking again first after Tommy's father's funeral, while watching a DVD of photos & videos of Tommy's dad? Didn't he & Ellie show up drunk at the firehouse and tell him that? Then he went to Mick for the DVD?
Plus, in AlAnon (for families of alcoholics) a big tenet is that you can't control other people, they make their own choices. Which is why I'm having trouble with the Tommy "led" them storyline. He may have enabled them, but I don't think he "led" them.
As for Maura Tierney, first of all, hope she is in good health. I remember I was about to give up on ER altogether when she started being featured prominently on it. And I was just about to give up on Rescue Me. I watched 'til the end with ER because of her and I fear I'm going to do the same with this.
Kelly & Maggie, along with Colleen, are 3 of the more interesting female characters, but Maggie & Colleen don't get a lot to do.
My favorite lines were the aforementioned Joe Pesci line and Lou's response after Katy has informed him and Tommy that she's locked the babysitter in the basement and that she gave the baby some Benadryl, "you must be proud."
It was a so-so season finale. I thought it was interesting that we saw the 3 close ups of Janet, Sheila & Tommy, all of whom have spiraled out of control and done much damage to their families. I agree it wasn't much of a cliff hanger as we know he's going to live.
This isn't based on spoiler sites, just my own speculation, but I'm guessing Tommy lives either because Teddy turns the gun on himself, allowing the guys to get help for Tommy or one of them disarms Teddy. If the latter, I hope they don't kill the hero off. Especially if it's Black Sean. His character has become much more interesting this season and I think his scenes with Tommy have really helped Tommy realize the havoc wrought on the kids by his and Janet's insanity. Plus, I think it showed a vulnerable side of both.
We just watched the season finale last night. It was a perfect encapsulation on the whole season -- really great stuff (Teddy at the end), and really dumb stuff (cat fight...seriously?).
That scene with Tommy throwing the matches on Sheila...holy crap...I was cringing.
Maura Tierney was amazing. I hope she's OK IRL and I hope she returns to the show. The Joe Pesci line could have only been delivered by a terrific actress like her.
Personally, I love the banter among the firemen. And I also would rather see more ofthe show devoted to conversations/relationships among the firemen...that is when the show is at it's best.
And those of you who think the Sheila character is totally unbelievable...unfortunately, I know people like her, who would stoop to her level just to win/get what they want. It's sick and sad.
The problem with her character is that the writers don't know if she should be completely crazy, or just a little neurotic. She keeps fluctuating...like having the lucid self awareness to understand why she chose Jimmy all those years ago. THAT'S a normal person with some issues. But then trying to set Tommy on fire (more than once by the way...)? That's just over the top nuts.
And what ever happened to the documentary Frenchie was working on?
Dan Coyle said:
It also must be said, Leary is still married to his wife of 20 years and she strikes me as a funny, upbeat person in interviews. I don't know what that means, but it means something.
It probably says that, in life, Leary is a happily married man who doesn't take Tommy Gavin home from the set. I'm in no position to pass judgement on Denis Leary the private citizen, husband and father. I just shake my head in sorrow at the show Leary is the co-creator, executive producer, writer and star of.
While the episode did sport some clever moments, and Lenny Clarke's performance was fantastic, the uncle shooting the nephew cliffhanger is weak, and, for that matter has been done before. Hopefully, Tommy doesn't spend half of the next season in a weak dream sequence as his alter-ego Kevin Finnerty.
I saw the episode a little differently and felt the last 10 minutes were not only powerful but were an illumination of what felt like the core of the season to me.
Teddy didn't just shoot Tommy. He's also holding pretty much the entire male cast hostage. He's shot Tommy and by sheer dint of his insanity and murderous determination, he's made all the rest of them collude with him in watching Tommy die.
I found it totally credible that they weren't able to disarm him. He demonstrated he's a crack shot and he's armed and dangerously cold and determined. He feels he has nothing to lose. They might be able to ultimately disarm him because of numbers, but not without the first person or two risking death. Talk about the horns of a dilemma.
They are being held hostage by one person's insanity and they'll have to search their souls to figure out at what point the bough breaks. At some point self-preservation has to kick in and someone will risk all to escape being made party to cold-blooded murder, not to mention the danger of being held hostage by a murderous madman.
To me, that was the real cliffhanger. Who's going to break that? Who's going to die? Tommy might not, but someone certainly might. Who? How?
And, it's the dilemma they all face in lesser ways and in their own turns, all the time. These characters, not just Tommy, but all of them, get caught and sucked into the insanity of various people at various times, and their insanity holds others hostage as well.
I don't see Tommy as a god of a man, who's being fought over by two women because he's so desirable. I see him as a black hole of destruction that two equally self-destructive people not only can't escape, but have come to equate with emotional survival. Dark, twisted needs and bonds can be so much deeper than healthy ones, and these are dark indeed. It's not emotional fulfillment and gratification, it's some kind of desperate, twisted survival grip.
For that reason, I didn't hate the cat-fight the way others here seemed to. I thought it was over the top, but I thought the way Sheila and Janet teetered between crazed hatred of one another and united attack against a perceived enemy and back again, illustrated the grip of the insanity their both desperate to hang on to -- that they won't risk letting go of.
So, I liked it. I pretty much liked the whole season. Maybe I'm just not discerning enough, but it rolled over me and I liked pretty much all of it in its own sometimes abstract way. I enjoyed Sean's musical reveries - there weren't too many of them and they were a fun glimpse of the odd pleasure of theatrical musicality; I liked seeing Lou get over on Candy though I wish it had been better laid out, I enjoyed Franco's gender confusions, I didn't even mind Mike's band. What was that name again?
My favorite part of the season though, was the introduction of Maura Tierny. She's great. Loved her scene with Sheila and Janet and loved the "and that little one? She's Joe Pesci with tits" line. She has so much presence.
And lastly, I'm not sure what it says about me, but I didn't find the match throwing scene particularly upsetting ... I guess because she had shoes on and seemed to be pretty deft and stamping them out. I don't know what it was, but somehow it didn't really strike home. I felt worse for her that her son had to find her like that.
Anyway, my two cents.
Wow....I visited a couple Rescue Me blogs tonight for this crap?? None of you even sound like fans, yet you're all watching the show...except the guy that comes on to write "Glad I stopped watching a month or so ago" and his brain buddy "Glad I stopped watching a season or so ago"....
Has everybody forgotten all the sh*t that has gone down this season??? Its been an insane ride, and just like life, some storylines fall by the wayside..let the writers write and try to relax and enjoy the show, if not, watch something else.
This is not a show to overly scrutinize, maybe all of YOU GUYS need to start drinking again??
Just when the writers pull out some smart material....the fans dont get it. SHEILA AND JANET WERE SUPPOSED TO LOOK COMEDIC!!!!! Geezus, dont you see?? That was the point, to vicariously show you though Kelly's eyes how twisted up those two are as well as OVERPLAY their roles so as to finally beat them down enough to make some SERIOUS changes to them next season.
Im not going to waste my time explaining all the other brilliance that has been lost on its overly critical viewers, but that is one example.
And to all those who said it wasnt a cliffhanger.....I was Googling to find out if they had bootlegs of season 6, I dont follow when the shows are filmed and how all that works but I was really hoping!! Of course its a cliffhanger, our Lead, whether we lov to hate him or hate to love him is laying on the bar floor bleeding to death from 2 shot wounds...it doesnt matter if we can "guess" whats going to happen!!!
And for the Heros out there, these are fire fighters, not cops or martial arts experts, you make 'disarming' a man sound easy...they can be as brave as they want but unless youve actually tried to disarm somebody you have no idea just how difficult it actually is...all he has to do is squeeze the trigger once and that would-be disarmer is down, then the next, and the next..etc., etc.
Uncle Teddy gone psycho in the bar, shooting his cousin.....if you think thats lame..YOURE LAME!!
To the poster before me..THANK YOU.
I didnt see you post before writing mine...there is even more going on in that bar room...MISSED by these wannabe critics...its a beautiful scenario, richly laid out. And thn you have the drama going on behind the scenes with what Tommy has just done to Sheila and Janet.
Personally, I felt the match throwing scene was easonable...Tommy knew she would be able to put them out...it was for effect...and he KNEW Damian would have to reach between his mother's tits to undo her predicament...quite the payback for opening his mouth all the time..poetic justice since he seems stuck suckling at her tits anyhow.....He never seems to get the point of how much damage his run and tell mama attitude does, he's supposed to be a man, in the firehouse...and Tommy is his Godfather...a little respect, anyone?
There is so much brilliance being missed by the amateur critics that its sad. Yes the writing has its flaws but you look past it and think a little and you will be amazed to find what you thought was a mistake was actually brilliant.
And yes, I mean Teddy's NEPHEW, not cousin.
I assumed Needles took Tommy's cell phone while he was kneeling down and trying to stop the bleeding. Just speculation, but I thought Needles will be able to text the police or something and get help.
Nice drive-by, Mr. Tolan.
:-D
I gotta agree with Alan. The start of the season was SOO good. I missed a few episodes, come back following the rest of the year, and everything fell apart it seemed. Look, I get that they are trying to follow the "redemption of Tommy Gavin" arc, and I even like the Tommy Gavin character somewhat. But it's such a yuckfest. The end of the boxing thing? Just awful. The bar? The band? Awful, awful ways to end decent story arcs.
Everytime I see Callie Thorne, I expect to see her play a sexed up "Milf" (and she basically did that in her Royal Pains episode). It's such a shame, because she's a very good actress. I've sort of lost interest in Andrea Roth's character. Actually, Maura Tierney's character was interesting, and it's a shame they couldn't bring her back. Too bad Diane Farr didn't stick around on this show.
The Lenny Clarke stuff was real good in the finale, though. Whatever happened to Franco's daughter? They could explore that a bit more.
Here's hoping that, as they wind down the last 2 years (or 2 half seasons), that they bring back the emotional resonance that has been missing from the show to coincide with the 10th anniversary of 9/11. There's so much that could be explored, and they've sort of tried, but never been able to finish it. Seems like they lose focus easily.
Oh, it's a shame that Garrity's character wasn't given something more to build on, other than cheap jokes, after a very intriguing storyline to start the year.
I felt the same about the cat fight. That’s nighttime soap fare. I thought this show was better than that.
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