In its depiction of the American male, Rescue Me has always been unflinchingly candid and painfully accurate. The challenge for Denis Leary & Co. has always been finding the point at which tragedy and comedy intersect, a place where Tommy Gavin and his supporting characters can sit comfortably and still feel real, somewhere along the sliding scale between hedonistic self-absorption and crippling sadness.
The first ten minutes of this season premiere showcase everything that this show does best. It opens with Tommy’s father’s funeral and a dream sequence in which Tommy hacks his father’s casket to bits, then follows it up with one of the more inventive and entertaining firefighting sequences in the show’s history (fireworks—of course!), and rounds it out back at the station with some blue banter among the guys of 62 Truck, which is inarguably one of the more compelling aspects of this show. (“You gotta pick one, you gotta lose one: Ball or eye?”)
It’s business as usual, then, until Tommy drops in on Janet unannounced and finds that her new boyfriend, an extreme sports enthusiast played by Michael J. Fox, has made himself at home on her couch. What’s more, he fancies himself something of a silver-tongued devil. “Do you have one of those spotty dogs? One of those Dalmatians?” Fox was very funny in his debut on the show—looking forward to seeing the rest of his arc this season.
The equilibrium is further disturbed by Mike’s decision to spend the inheritance from his mother's passing on opening a bar in Manhattan. Once they conclude that Mike’s the money, Sean’s the brains, and Franco’s the brawn— “You’re big, you’re Puerto Rican, you’re kinda scary,” says Sean—the three decide to go ahead with their plan. (Incidentally, we thought there might be some crossover with Rescue Me’s FX Network brethren It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and it looks like we’re already right—remember when Mac, Dennis, Charlie and Dee decided that they were the brains, the looks, the wild card, and the useless chick? Here’s hoping the comparisons don’t end there.)
Meanwhile, Tommy is still sleeping with Gina Gershon, pulling on a thread from a rather weird plot point from last season that saw these two get involved in a purely sexual relationship. After their lacklustre librarian roleplay sex on the stairs, one gets the feeling that these two libidinous lovers might be on the outs.
On the other side of the sexual scale is Black Shawn, who—man alive!—is sleeping with Tommy’s daughter Colleen. The important distinction is that Black Shawn is literally just sleeping with her, and nothing more. Yet. “The next ass I tap is the ass I marry,” he tells Lou back at the firehouse, setting up one of the best lines of the episode: “Yeah, I’d like to see that on a sampler.”
At his cousin Mick’s behest, Tommy attends a Gavin home movies screening and is chastised by his relatives for withholding memories about his father’s life. Incredulous, Tommy refers to him as the biggest asshole in the history of assholes. “My dad was many things—chief among them, a giant pain in my balls.” A telling tribute.
A second firefight rounds out the episode, this time claiming at least one civilian life. Over the years, this show has made a habit of tucking major plot points into the tail end of a montage (Jerry’s suicide, Johnny Gavin’s murder), so it’s usually more than just a denouement—and this time, we saw Sean fall ill in mid-rescue. It didn’t look like an injury, either. What's wrong with Sean?
All told, this was exactly the kind of season opener you'd hope for from a show that's been off the air for a year and a half, toeing the line between funny and tragic in its unique way. Watch it again at the Showcase video centre—and share your thoughts in the comments!
Final thoughts:
- The second fire scene is set to “Front Street” by The Gutter Twins, continuing the Rescue Me tradition of scoring a montage with a song by friend-of-Leary Greg Dulli (also of the Twilight Singers and Afghan Whigs)
- Sheila’s still delusional as ever—are we going to have to watch her use her shrink in trying to make a disinterested Tommy jealous, a la Stacy in Wayne’s World?
- How big a role will 9/11 play in this fifth season? That embedded French journalist who is reportedly stopping in at the station will obviously stir up some memories. And if this footage of Daniel Sunjata (Franco) is any indication, we’re in for some impassioned dialogue: