Rescue Me: Animal

Well I hope everyone else enjoyed that as much as I did because this was by far the best episode of the season. At this point, it doesn't seem like I'm going to get a huge story, other than Elvis... Wyatt... whatever his name is. Character development seems to be the name of the game and even though I have complained about the quality of this season, it's about par for the course if I think about it. Three seasons down. It'd almost be weird if I wasn't getting some new perspectives.

Take the Gavin family intervention. It still bugs me that the "forgotten siblings" (Timo and Rosemary) are never mentioned at things like this, but we still got some great stuff. Maggie is sick of being addicted, Eddie is in denial about his addiction ("I nip!"), and Teddy loves being addicted. This clan covers all the bases. Mr. Gavin finally made an appearance too... and he was drinking the whole time! Maggie's suggestion to have their own A.A. meetings was perfect though. I can't wait to see one of these things go down. They'll all be drunk. Well, except for Tommy. He's the only one that holds his ground right now. Mick too I guess.

Whatever, back to Tommy. Could he have been in any more crazy predicaments during this episode? What was the deal with Valerie (Gina Gershon)? She pulled the ol' "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" before Tommy even had his pants off. She was just some kind of sex freak I guess. While it was funny ("I need a Fresca."), I'm not so sure I understood the point of it.

After that, there was the fight with Feinberg. Besides Tommy's death wish antics, Feinberg was PO'ed that Tommy didn't treat Beth too well on their date. That's crap. She's a nut-job and Sydney knows that. But it's his daughter, so he's obligated to be angry. Why take it out on Tommy though?

What else was there? Oh right... running into a fire, jumping off a building, and playing for the NYPD during the most recent hockey game. Sure he was honoring his brother, but it was still weird to see him in blue and not red.

As far as the rest of the episode goes...

• Lou and Franco finally saw Feinberg's cash n' prizes. They shuddered. What does it look like? A third leg?
• Speaking of Franco, was it just me, or was Natalie being a bit harsh with him? Something else is going on here. She's being wacky for no real reason. Franco was honest with her, so what's the deal?
• Janet is officially just as crazy as Sheila. She was always close. They're equals now. How did Tommy put it? Using one kid to steal the other?
• Tommy's new place? Gross. Looked like the apartment he used to have when "Jesus" visited. His Realtor was played by The Daily Show's Samantha Bee though.
• Is Mike going to be OK? I know he's going through a tough time with his mother gone and his leg injury, but is he right in the head if he's faking being drunk (Tommy said the vodka was just water) and making laughable attempts at offing himself? It's all for attention, but still. That's not right.

Best part of the episode? Tommy's monologue at the end. Another rant on 9/11 and losing loved ones. Well written, well acted, and as I mentioned, finished with Tommy jumping from Mike's roof and landing in a fire escape at least three or four floors down. That had to have hurt. Maybe Feinberg is on to something.