The Rescue Me reviews go more quickly when I write them up scene by scene. So let's do it again! Plus, only 13 of you are commenting, so it's not like I can turn off any more readers than I already have.
Scene 1: I'm watching the show in HD tonight, instead of on a DVD screener. Already, the picture quality is making me more amenable toward the show in general. Unfortunately, this teaser isn't much of a scene at all. It's just a weird little semantic battle between Tommy and Janet over whether wine is booze or not. There's some funny stuff here, and I guess it's a positive step that Tommy's pouring the liquor down the drain (though I expect it to last about the length of this episode), but the "Tommy tries to stop drinking because Colleen is a drunk" thing is pretty hackneyed. And is it just me, or did this scene open a little TOO in medias res? I'm all for dropping us into the middle of a new situation, but Tommy suddenly stopping drinking because of what he and Colleen saw at the bar the other night when the last episode ended with him taking a drink triumphantly feels a little out of nowhere. Grade: C
Scene 2: Tommy calls Damien at the firehouse and asks him to call off any surprise parties the guys might have planned for Tommy's return to duty. Only, surprise, surprise, the guys don't have anything planned and are just working on a puzzle. What is this? Step by Step? Grade: C
Scene 3: This is, more properly, a continuation of scene 2, since it's all about Tommy arriving at the firehouse and realizing that the guys indeed didn't get him any strippers or throw him a party. You can imagine his sadness at this. The guys give him some good-natured ribbing, and I expect this is the end of this plotline. At least we won't have to endure Tommy throwing himself a surprise party. The fire klaxon thing goes off, and the guys are off to some sort of disaster. Grade: C+
Scene 4: I always like scenes in shows where our characters meet bizarro versions of themselves. These sorts of scenes usually come late in a show's run, when the characters are so well-established that just seeing alternate versions is enough to bring laughs. That's the case here, where the show doesn't go out of its way to underline that the guys from the other fire truck are almost exactly like our guys, but it happens nonetheless. There's funny stuff as the two sides face off, then the funny gradually leaks out as Mike and the version of him from the other house (who happens to be a woman, ha ha) bend down to help the junkie they were called out to save. Will they have to blow him? No, apparently, as he wakes up in fright. Then the two sides banter about how they'll settle their rivalry at the ALL IMPORTANT COOKOUT THAT WILL DETERMINE THE FATE OF THE UNIVERSE. Seriously, is this Step by Step? Grade: B
Scene 5: Well, this scene immediately ruins the understatement of the previous one by having Black Shawn point out that the other truck is like looking in a mirror. Things don't get much better from there, as Sean and Mike (a pairing I usually like) discuss finding a way to help the world out, then learn that numerous celebrities have already cordoned off specific causes for themselves. I'm not sure what the point of this scene is. Perhaps to introduce a new plotline. It feels like something that would happen in that week every November when NBC forces all of its shows to do a plot about green living. Grade: C
Scene 6: Tommy tries to talk to Janet on his cell phone after Franco starts off talking to her. Damien and Needles discuss whether Tommy came back too soon and whether Lou's too fat. They also coin the term "gock," for a man whose gut extends all the way to his … well, you can probably fill in the rest. Not a really essential scene, but not terrible by any means. Grade: B-
Scene 7: On the way back from reviving the junkie, the guys get into a fight in the back of the truck after some of them mock Sean and Mike's plan to help the world. Lou, taking his paternal role, breaks it up, then is sad when he realizes he's said they won't stop for ice cream. Scurti's delivery of "Shit … we're not stopping for ice cream" is almost enough to save this scene on its own. Grade: B-
Scene 8: Tommy and the guys go back to the firehouse, and after some mostly amusing talk about what to order for dinner, Teddy and Mickey show up to give Tommy some whiskey in honor of his first day back and let him know that they're cutting him loose as a lost cause. Teddy says the cringeworthy line, "I'm out of bullets, both literally and figuratively," and the scene feels pretty bizarre. But I like the fact that the show itself is skeptical of Tommy's ability to change, and that gives some of this a darker undercurrent that's not bad. Grade: C+