Rescue Me: Black

Wow... looks like the bottom of my Dustbuster." - Sean

Well there you go. Leary and Tolan still have plenty hidden up their sleeves. After last week's extremely sub-par episode, they came back with this one. That was one heck of an opening, huh? From Janet forgetting the baby in the parking lot to the tractor-trailer truck bowling right into it... just another Tommy Gavin nightmare. If anything though, this is just his way of manifesting his very real concerns for the safety of this still unnamed baby. Tommy has been sober for some time and it doesn't take a genius to see that Janet is going downhill fast. Is his new option really worth pursuing though?

Of course I'm talking about Sheila's desire to raise what has turned out to be Johnny's baby. The tot's newly grown black hair seems to point in that direction anyway. Despite Janet's current dislike for the baby, does anyone else actually see her relinquishing her motherhood to Sheila of all people? I don't. But with the way this episode went it certainly seems like Tommy is going to be pushing for this to happen. Just as long as Troy is out of the way. Dressing just like Tommy? That guy is super creepy.

Speaking of Sheila, she finally got caught in her lie and I'm not so sure Tommy even made the connection. Nona said she pulled Tommy from the fire and his soldier was standing at attention. Well that completely contradicts what Sheila said and Nona's info seemed to cure Tommy's brief stint with impotence. It's like he got his masculinity back by knowing he wasn't impotent before. Getting whipped at the NYPD/FDNY hockey game didn't help either, but it seemed like he missed out on what Nona's revelation really means. Sheila lied about the fire. If anything, I suppose it's good that Tommy didn't take the money from her. He already helped her get it. If she gets found out, maybe he can still clear his name. Imagine Sheila in jail. That'd be a good story to tell.

OK, few other things I wanted to address. First up is this feaud that supposedly went on between Jack McGee (Jerry Reilly) and Leary. At first, when I read about it, I thought it sounded a little gossipy. Perhaps just some sour grapes from McGee since he was being killed off the show. After this episode, it has some weight now in my opinion. That scene where they were picking away at the Chief's cremains? Then Franco even tossed a cigarette butt into the ashes. I have to say, even for this show, that was a bit disrespectful. Almost seemed like it was Leary taking one final stab at McGee. I could be way off here. Just a thought.

Speaking of the chief, how about the new one? Jerry Adler (a.k.a. Hesh Rabkin from The Sopranos) has joined the cast as Chief Sydney Feinberg. One episode in and I love the character. From his in your face Jewishness to his mythical large penis, he's got some complexity. Here's my gripe and it's no knock on Adler - he's a great actor, but maybe a little miscast in this case. He seems a bit old, doesn't he? I mean, the FDNY didn't offer Jerry his old job back because of age and health reasons right? Are we really supposed to believe that Feinberg is the picture of good health? Just seemed a little inconsistent to me. And what about Needles? Is he still going to be around in some sort of Assistant Chief capacity?

My final talking point is Bart. This one is brief, but I think it's important and may play into the rest of the season in terms of conflict big time. Franco and Lou wined and dined him and made an offer. Bart's in. Ignoring his ridiculous request to be called "Sean," what happens when the rest of the house finds out he's Muslim? Unless my ears deceived me, he did leave Franco and Lou with "assalamu 'alaykum." Right? Last time I checked, this was a pretty prideful house with a lot of animosity for those behind 9/11. All I'm saying is this can't be good.

Alright, I lied... one more thing. I think I'm sick of Teddy. He hasn't really been in this season all that much and I don't miss him. They should have just kept him in jail. Tommy's dad hasn't even been in this season and I haven't thought about him once. If they can just forget about Tommy's brother Timo after season one... I say forget about Teddy. Either that or give him something to work with. Getting found by Ellie and sent to rehab isn't cutting it.

Oh man, there's still more. How could I forget?!? Black Tommy! Spirit Tommy! Shadow Tommy! I don't know what the heck to call it but just when I thought we were going to get another episode without any ghosts... I got that. Is it his conscience? "It" told Tommy to go to an AA meeting and then "it" gave him a small prayer book. I don't get it. Is this Tommy's subconscious telling him to get his crap together since Janet is falling apart?

Final thought? Lou is an idiot for telling Theresa that he wants a moratorium on sex. Wow. Wait until the guys get wind of that. Lou's gonna get skewered.