TVSquad

"Troy being completely obsessed with Tommy was a riot. Is that the only reason that he's dating Sheila?"

Something is fishy with this guy. What was up with that 'autograph' scene. Did he just want to get a sample of Gavin's handwriting?

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Ok, I may be way off base here - I'm new to the show this season - but somebody had posted here after another episode wondering if Troy was actually trying to bust Tommy & Sheila. Didn't Sheila forge Tommy's signature on the insurance papers? Am I remembering that right? I think Troy tricked Tommy into giving him his autograph and now the signatures can be compared. Wow, if that's true, Tommy's gonna kill that guy!

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Name that show:

"I can't believe we had to bleep that. That would have been such a nice moment."

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I like this show a lot, but unless Tommy's impotence -- literal and figurative -- gets fixed fast, I'm afraid Rescue Me may already be jumping the shark.

How many times can he and Janet get together and almost immediately break up? Lou is turning down sex (in the promo for next week)? Franco, the eternal hound, is getting married? Sean, who has shrugged off Maggie's craziness and gotten back together with her twice, is giving up now?

Or are Leary/Tolan pandering to some group or outside pressure to wimp out (I refuse to use the word from last night's episode title) the major characters?

Having said all that, the scene with the shrink was hilarious, and I do think Troy is working undercover for the insurance company. That all got worked out way too easily and could be a great plot complication.

And please bring back Tommy's ghosts!

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i think Troy just has a crush on Tommy, Ausiello mentioned it in his most recent Ask Ausiello. He probably is dating Shiela to get close to him though. This show has a strange obsession with bi-sexuality (seems a little overdone but what do i know).

good but not great. and what about the teaser for the next episode? it was terrible. im worried....

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5 words sum this episode up:

Andrea Roth in pink hotpants.

The season can end now.

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*creepy whispering* I want to see dead people.

Also there was a Nip/Tuck preview?! Why did I have to switch over to a Soprano re-run during the commercials?!

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I have loved this show as much as anyone but this season is not on PAR. Even the fire seemed low budjet. Some times I feel like It should just be called the Leary Ego Hour. Anyway I hope it gets back to what made it a great show about a group of guys who fight fire, hang out and get laid. It was tough, fun, funny, sad and wonderful.

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Did anyone else happen to notice that Tommy and Janet were giving Benedryl to calm down the baby?! That is very disappointing for a show to encourage that. Another controversial moment for this show, no matter how great overall the show is.

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This episode just felt off. Jennifer Esposito's character is doing nothing for me...she seems too "forced".

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Yesterday's episode was, in one word, abrupt...

The ending, the cuts to commercials, everything just stopped quickly.

It seems like every character this whole season is stuck in some sort of rut that they can't find their way out of. Each one is trying to better themselves, but are having a hard time coming to terms with what they may be giving up in the process.

Let me just say that this is the first drama I've ever followed this religiously. While these first 4 episodes have scared me from a fan's sense, I have faith that the writers know what they're doing and where they're going with everyone.

The last two episodes have been a little more than depressing, what with Mike's Mom and the Chief meeting their demise, but just as Lou mentioned with "We attack at dawn!" these guys need a day or two to get back to their old selves.

Predictions, based on character:

Tommy - He's definitely going to have a major breakdown this season. I do see Janet's character doing something with the baby that would influence this. Expect him to go on a full-blown bender.

Janet - Still dealing with the screwed up life she has, the baby is going to be here breaking point. Be it shaking the baby or even secretly unloading the baby on Sheila (From the previews for next week, Sheila is still obviously off her rocker). Janet will undergo a pretty huge change this season.

Franco - I expect him to get engaged, but I don't think the relationship will last through the rest of the season. He's already left himself an opening for failure, and I'm pretty damned sure that he will take it.

Lou - He's been the most bewildering character this season. Apart from his sex-crazed girlfriend, he hasn't really had much to do. I think he's going to have a pretty straight path this season, obviously breaking up with the ex-Nun, and maybe settling down with an older woman.

Garrity - Sean's going to get some much needed depth this season. While he is one of my favorite characters on the show, his break-up with Tommy's sister isn't going to be easy, and will bring out the more passionate side of Sean.

Probie - This is the one huge question mark I got. Since Season 1, he's been relegated as a background character, even during the "Is he gay?" part of Season 3. I hope he loses the "gay" edge and starts to stand up for himself once the new Probie arrives.

Sheila - Holy crap in a handbasket, this woman will/can do almost anything this season. The truth about what she did to Tommy will come out this season, and it will advance Tommy's fall off the edge (the one he's been balancing on so far this season).

But yeah, that's my take.

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The fire scene was odd but remarkably filmed. I'd have to watch it again, but I swore it was a single take.

Borat: I'd love to have Jennifer Esposito "forced" on me!

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@3

AD.

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Yeah the fire scene was one single take.. i wonder how many times they had to do that over.. I think that Troy just has a major crush on Tommy.. im also pretty sure that Ausiello mentioned that on his blog

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i used to like this show. but this episode was painful to watch. nothing was funny, nothing was interesting...it was just...crap.

wanna know what made the fire scene interesting? the fact that it was the least dramatic scene involving a fire you could possibly film.

i agree that i think rescue me has jumped the shark. i suppose i'll keep watching, but it's become more of an obligation than a pleasure...

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re: shark jumping

maybe there's active shark jumping, a la fonzie, and then there's incremental, "the show changes so much that it doesn't have any of the characteristics that got you hooked in the first place" shark jumping. i suppose if you could saunter over a shark, that's what rescue me seems to have done.

let's see what i used to like about this show...

in a nutshell, it was about bad-ass firefighters being badass firefighters. now it seems to be about badass firefighters being metrosexuals. you can call it "character development" if you like, but if i want that kind of character development i'll find something to watch on lifetime.

i liked it when tommy talked to dead people (except for the jesus/mary interlude...that was just bad). i liked it when tommy was a badass. badasses make for interesting viewing. tommy used to have demons, and that's part of what made him interesting. now tommy's an impotent, snivelling little twit. again, if i wanted to watch this sort of thing i'd tune into dr. phil.

i liked it when the show was about camaraderie at the firehouse, instead of the firehouse being simply a device to bring all these disparate characters and their disparate plot lines together in the same place. they don't even seem to like each other any more.

my feeling is that leary is a one-trick pony when it comes to writing. and i happened to like that particular pony. rescue me at its best was part of a logical arc from his stand up. the problem is that for whatever reason (perhaps all that "critical acclaim") leary feels the need to branch out and take the show in new directions. and either those directions suck outright, or leary doesn't have the chops to lead down that road.

whatever the case may be....if it doesn't get better quick, i hope it just gets done.

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The Chief got the short end of the stick, I agree. Flushing him down the toilet is quite a metaphor that seems to fit within the context of the characters and how they think - while almost breaking the fourth wall as a disgraceful way to send off Jack McGee, if the rumors are true.

While I don't think the show is as good as prior seasons, Tommy's gone through so much in such a relatively short period of time that it seems almost like dark comedy.

While Andy Sipowicz weathered the loss of his wife, son and partner, plus dealt with serious alcoholism and racism-related issues, but this was over many, many more seasons.

While the show does suffer from too many self-aggrandizing Denis Leary monologues, and disjointed storytelling - it's still interesting, very watchable television for me. Lou and company have at least earned enough goodwill with me that even though it's not necessarily great, I still want to see what happens to these characters.

I have so much disdain for most network TV (National Bingo Night makes me want to vomit) - at least Rescue Me's never boring, or predictable which is the instant show kiss of death for me. And I still catch myself laughing out loud at least once a show. Sure the show grinds to a halt when Teddy's on. But Maggie still makes me laugh.

Nona's obsession with Tommy seem irrational? If he's as much of a legend as Troy seems to say, wouldn't Tommy Gavin be a notch on her bedpost? Does it seem weird that Tommy would try to date Nona while semi-reconciling with Janet? Well, he'd always seemed ambivalent about going out with her, and then Nona forced his hand for tonight's date when she repaired his carburetor-free Caddy by threatening to humiliate him in his house to his coworkers.

Leary getting too many glamourous monologues? Scurti seems to get the best jokes.

Is Ritchie a one-note joke? Yes. Is it still an amusing joke for me? Yes. But I also like the idea that he's portrayed as not some stereotypical helpless, useless retarded person, but someone with the same base desires and ability to act on them as all of us.

On the whole, I think television's better off with the show on, rather than off. Last I checked, Rescue Me's never tried to be The Shield (whose consistency over its run has been incredible), and it's not fair to compare it to the long-form lovingly crafted greatest show ever - The Wire - as a dramedy, I feel like Rescue Me still holds its own.

In the interest of full disclosure, I watched Studio 60 all the way through the end. Perhaps I have a soft spot for hard luck cases, I don't know.

BTW, how HOT was Mrs. Merritt in the closet? Andrea Roth in the hotpants? Damn.

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Jump the shark, my ass.

Leary knows what he is doing. Just look at the title for this ep: "Pussified."

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I was going to leave a longer diatribe back, but I realized something...

Being an fan of anything while on the internet makes you way more ignorant than you really are, myself included.

People's opinions seem to come out in this steady crazy stream that just doesn't make sense sometimes.

I trust Leary, as he's never disappointed me yet, from his comedy specials to even his movies (well, at least Suicide Kings was good)...

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