Rescue Me: The Complete Third Season

In its third season, television’s most underappreciated only got stronger, thanks to Denis Leary and his whip-smart gang of writers, not to mention the talented cast able to balance comedy and dead serious drama with the best of them. Denis Leary’s Tommy Gavin has got it rough. His wife, Janet, left with their kids, his uncle just murdered the drunk that killed his son, his dad is incontinent, his ex-mistress just won’t leave him alone and he’s a masochistic alcoholic. But things will get worse for New York’s ballsiest, mouthiest fire fighter — they always do. The season begins with Tommy searching for his runaway family and turns into a series of constant messes, as far as familial relations go. Aside from Janet running off, his dad moves in with him, his uncle doesn’t want to leave prison, his rotten sister marries Sean and his brother, well, he not only starts dating Janet but impregnates her. Oddly enough, Tommy finds solace in Sheila, his irrational, scheming ex and they plan a life of retirement on the beach, but like with every plan Tommy has, something startling prevents it from happening. It’s not just Tommy’s life that’s crumbling though, the firehouse’s staff are filled with despair when they clock out for the day. Ladies man Franco meets an older woman (Susan Sarandon), who takes a special interest in his daughter, Keela, and then simply takes her away, which works out for the best. He then falls for a girl with a mentally challenged but conniving brother. The hard-nosed chief’s wife falls deeper into Alzheimers and he begins an affair with his neighbour. The sardonic Lou discovers alcohol is a great painkiller after he’s cleaned out by Candy the hooker and Mike turns to sexual experimentation (aka bisexuality) with his deeply disturbed, baseball-loving (male) roommate. Balancing troubled personal lives, occupational hazards and workplace monkey business, Leary and co-creator Peter Tolan never lose sight of how difficult the life of a firefighter is, especially when living in the shadow of 9/11. Battling the drama with such perfectly timed, hyper-masculine humour is what sets this show apart. Hopefully it’ll gain the recognition it deserves. Extras come via a load of deleted scenes, as well as the standard gag reel and real-life fire-fighter-based featurettes, but a 13-minute comedy short revolving around a loose "bear/cougar/wolf” in the firehouse is a real commodity. Too bad the same can’t be said about "Going to the Gay Place,” a prank on Steven Pasquale (Sean) and Michael Lombardi (Mike) where the writers deliver a fake script with a gay love scene between the two. Like his character, Lombardi seems fine with the idea, while Pasquale (who’s in on the joke) throws a tantrum and walks out. It sounds funny but unfortunately, it’s executed a sloppily.