Contributor: Edmund B.
“Yo, Probies, listen up! If you don’t wanna be spoiled brats, stay the f— away! The one thing you can count on is, I will tell all!”
“Rescue Me” ends its run with an episode true to its recent travails. Some hits, some misses, some trademark fake outs, all bookended by a pair of magnificent set pieces. Pieces which highlight that this was not just Tommy’s journey, but all of theirs, and, perhaps, ours, as well.
The opening fake out almost had me convinced. John Scurti, and the rest of Tommy’s family, played it so straight, I was ready to believe they had killed off most of the crew, leaving Lou to lead us on a series of valedictory flashbacks and remembrances. After delivering a fabulous eulogy, which, in passion, sentiment, and delivery, was everything Tommy’s letters were not. It would have been a bold choice. But one Dennis Leary was unlikely to agree to. So, Tommy wakes up, it was all a guilty dream, and the show must go on without Lou.
Tommy’s dream, combined with Lou’s reassurance at the end of “Vows”, made it clear Lou hadn’t made it. What surprised me was that everyone else did. The blast was so huge, as was Needle’s wonderment at Tommy riding the staircase down, that it was inconceivable no one else bit it. I thought they might mirror the Janet/Sheila dichotomy into the next generation, with Black Shawn or Garrity dying, leaving only one of those couples intact. Also, dealing with the pain of multiple deaths, of characters we’ve come to know, could, by contrast, have helped underline the enormity of the 343 lost ten years ago. But I’m indulging in rewriting again. Back to the actual episode.
The second fake out, with the booze, never convinced me. Oddly enough, since Tommy spat out the vodka in this season’s opener, I haven’t doubted his desire to stay sober. Even in the dry-drunk incident at Sheila’s, I knew the vodka was untouched. Despite the missteps of the letters plotline, I did believe that Tommy wants finally to forge a closer connection with his loved ones. So, the decision to pull out retirement papers felt right.
The middle part of the episode felt like a checklist, with the writers ticking off the disparate parts of Tommy’s life. We have a visit home, hanging with the guys at the kitchen table, and one last encounter with Sheila and Damien. Everyone weighs in on Tommy’s retirement, with Sheila providing Tommy, and the audience, with one final, sexy, and prophetic, counterpoint.
I’ve rarely considered which of the writers were writing which scenes. But the playground scene felt like a dramatization of a Dennis Leary stand-up. (“You know, I took my kid to the playground, and there was this SHARING Nazi…..”) It served its purpose, planting seeds of doubt, but the caricatures he was battling felt out of place. It was also unfortunate that his daughter’s display of her prep-school erudition sounded more rehearsed than natural.
Of course, an episode of “Rescue Me” wouldn’t be complete without some crude humor. The bit with the ashes was telegraphed, forced, and then over the top, but not in the good way. Mike’s moment of lucidity was priceless, but then, they strained credulity again. Given how caked they all were (yes, I am punning), how the heck were they so miraculously scrubbed and clean at the service? A few stray remnants seemed called for (and funnier).
As with his eulogy, Lou’s letter was also everything Tommy’s were not, containing real humor and insight. His advice from beyond, reminding them that you hang onto to something good, was a final guiding hand, putting them back on course, rather than foundering on a sea of despair. Tommy’s retirement becomes the final fake out, and the one that felt most right.
Just as the previous episode contrasted beginnings and endings, here the order is reversed with Janet’s labor following the funeral. I was most amused by the fight over the name, since, while absolutely appropriate, it wound up with a name that could have fit into the playground sketch (“…she’s a store, she’s an avenue, and he’s named after a stadium!”)
The final scene echoed the pilot, with Tommy presenting the 343 fallen firefighters to a new class of probies. I have been very hard on Dennis Leary’s acting, but throughout this episode, and especially here, he really came through. His cautionary run-down of all he has lost was impassioned and believable.
When Lou made his inevitable, light-hearted appearance, in contrast to his somber opening, it was a fitting end to Tommy’s supernatural peregrinations. I had wondered whether Tommy’s other ghosts would show up for a grand finale moment. Leaving that unholy trinity exorcised in the season opener was the right decision. In the end, this show was about not getting stuck in the past, however horrific, but staying true to yourself, and going on. A point beautifully illustrated by the final tracking shot of Lower Manhattan, with One World Trade Center rising in place of what we lost.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4
Rating: 8/10
(Season 7 Final Rating: 7.2)
