In the battle for supremacy between comedy and drama on Rescue Me, both sides usually wind up sharing the spotlight. This week, most of the show's major plot points were at least touched upon, but everything -- from Black Shawn dealing with his fear of Colleen Gavin's promiscuity, to Sean Garrity telling his mother (and brother) that he has cancer -- was treated with the kind of levity that only this show is capable of handling with any kind of taste. So, comedy wins -- and maybe this was the week to have that happen, given the darkly dramatic turn that took place in the previous episode.
Longtime viewers will also note that this week marks the first time that Janet and Sheila have managed to articulate their desire to use Tommy explicitly as a sex object, turning the tables on their usually aggressive ex-partner. Their forwardness in this episode fit nicely with Dwight's vicious attack on Tommy's nether regions and Mike's knockout punch back at the bar. For much of this episode, Tommy was all but emasculated.
So was Franco, incidentally, who took one hit during boxing training before hitting the floor, learning the hard way that boxing is more about brains than brawn.
The episode dipped back into some of the show's darker themes when presented with the Tommy's-drinking-again subplot, which is one aspect of the program that is almost never played for laughs. To see him trapped in an empty bar full of his own demons, including an apparition of his dead son, one can't help but wonder if this is where Tommy is happiest, and at his least lonely. And now that Sheila's plying him with sex and wine, it's a place he might have no trouble getting used to.
Watch "Thaw" again—or for the first time—at the Showcase video centre, where it's streaming for a limited time.
Final thought:
- Finally, another glimpse of Wyatt Gavin (AKA No-Name Gavin, AKA Elvis Keefe) -- or at least his crib. As one commenter mentioned on this blog a couple weeks back, we haven't seen or heard much of Janet's baby of uncertain paternity for a while now.