TVSquad

(S03E08) Ahh, my glorious return to the age of power... well sort of. All my power is back but the internet is still down. So I'm at the office and I feel like everyone has more to say about this episode than me because they all saw last week's installment. But I feel pretty caught up. I've read some other reviews and the "previously on Rescue Me" montage at the beginning of the show was pretty complete. All I'm saying is bear with me since I'm still trying to connect all the dots.

That being said, great opening sequence. Huge warehouse fire and some men from another house get trapped in the basement. The Probie was the only one not in the building yet and he risked his life to find the man down and got him out. It was huge. High fives, pats on the back. He was on cloud nine. He's definitely no longer The Probie after this act of courage. Though I wonder if the rest of the crew even know his real name is Mike?

It was sort of a graduation for him. But at the NYPD/FDNY hockey game, Tommy got wind that Mike might be transferring (I think he heard it at the street hockey game a few weeks ago too). So he knows something is up and uses one of his crying fits to tell Mike he needs to stick around. Regardless, Mike's world will probably be crashing soon. He's still on the fence about his preferences, his boyfriend broke up with him, and it's only a matter of time before the rest of the crew finds out his secret.

Meanwhile, Lou stole this episode. After seeing in the news that Candi (the con-artist prostitute) got busted, he has an epiphany. Life is too short to be miserable. Guy cleans up (shaves!) and heads out. He ends up joining a yoga gym and farting all over his instructor while in some kind of "squatting lotus" position. He drinks green tea, balances his chi, all that new age stuff. It's suits his character well though. I like how this stuff works too. Once a storyline starts to get stale (i.e. Lou's downfall), Leary and Tolan change it all around. It's smart and other shows don't always catch on to that as fast.

But sometimes you get stuff you never expect. Like Sean and Maggie getting engaged. Am I the only one who finds that a tad weird? Not sure what else to say about it so I'll move on. Oh, Franco's story was pretty good. He met another woman, seems perfect for him. Anyone notice how she sort of looked like his daughter Keela had she magically aged 30 years? I wonder if the actress was intentionally cast for that reason? Like she's filling some void?

Tommy's love triangle finally got messed up. While trying to have sex with Angie (to make up for his previous non-performance), Janet stopped by in her lingerie again. I'm not so sure that Tommy is the crazy one though - these women are all nuts. Sheila raped him last week. Janet can't choose between brothers. And Angie is just some revenge obsessed ex-wife with a stalker ex-boyfriend who knows karate. Tommy took a foot in the face right at the end of the episode. I was wondering what the title was going to refer to.

Other Happenings:

• Jerry will be able to pay for his wife's treatments since the crew won $15 grand from a horse race they all bet on.
• Sheila seems to feel guilty about what she did to Tommy last week. Which makes sense, because of all the three women I think she's the only one who truly loves Tommy.
• Teddy got married in jail. Enough said.

Best Quotes:

Maggie (making fun of Sean's wedding ideas): "Music, flowers, and Elton John? How gay can you get?"

Tommy (commenting on Lou's new take on life after catching him with hair clippers): "Interesting because the new Lou looks a lot like the old Lou minus a couple of patches of pubic hair."

--Ahh, I almost forgot. Anyone see the Nip/Tuck preview during the show? It premieres on September 5. But this season of Rescue Me is supposed to have 15 episodes according to the show's website. So does that mean the final two weeks of Rescue Me are going to be double installments? They'd have to be or Nip/Tuck wouldn't be returning until September 19. Double episodes would be cool...