I’ve been patiently waiting for Denis Leary and Co. to unleash some classic “Rescue Me” this season, and I’m happy to say that tonight’s episode finally delivered the goods. It was nice to forget about all of the serious stuff for a moment – like Franco’s custody debacle and Lou’s mid-life crisis – and just enjoy what made the series so great in the first place. Take for instance the firehouse antics lining the first half of the show, including the street hockey game, the porno scuffle, and the whole subplot regarding Garrity “accidentally” taking four sleeping pills – though I’m not completely sold on the fact that Tommy wasn’t somehow involved in setting him up. This is great stuff. Has been, and always will be.
Anyways, these specific sleeping pills have been known to cause strange sleepwalking patterns for the user, and Garrity experiences the worst of it when he suddenly “awakens” and decides a night on the town is in order – including a quick five finger discount at the corner market and the pet store (hello, free rabbit) – where he acts more like a zombie than a regular person. And because he’s out cold when the alarm goes off, Garrity misses the biggest fire of the entire season; one that Lou and Franco nearly die in after getting trapped in a blazing room that Tommy has to axe his way through just to get to.
And speaking of our leading man, Tommy’s still got some things on his mind – namely the death of his son, Connor, which he’s still learning to cope with. Then again, he’s also got his big date with Marissa Tomei (her character’s name escapes me, and I could really care less), with who he rehearses with before leaving for dinner. Of course, the big plan is for the new couple to stir up the rumor mill with some juicy gossip that will “conveniently” reach Johnny and Janet, but instead, Sheila discovers their little secret and completely FREAKS OUT. Talk about your dependency issues; though I’m still pulling for Sheila (played by the beautiful Callie Thorn) to win over Tommy when everything is said and done. As for Johnny and Janet, we finally got to see a slice of their home life, but it’s not at all interesting (everyone’s a bit too happy, no?) and I can only hope that we’re not force-fed much more in the future. This doesn’t mean, however, that they should put an end to Tommy and Janet’s playful affair. That’s gonna make for some great television by the season’s end.
