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I think with a cliff-hanger (riverside-hanger?) ending like that, Tommy won't be dropping the baby in.

But had he done so, that would have been it for me watching this show. That he would even have considered it, that he held the baby out there like that, has me on the edge for sticking it out with this series.

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That ending was horrible. He should not have pushed that corner of the envelope. Really to make it seem for 5 seconds that he would kill the baby is too much even for die hard fans. He has no excuse he is not post partum. We all have our moments and I get that but to actually drive him to the edge and dangle him like Michael Jackson is not true to the character.

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"Kill the baby because he's doomed to a lousy life no matter how you slice it. The scary thing is that I think Tommy actually considered his dead brother's request, especially after his talk with Mick about God's plan."

WTF. Such bull$hit. Where or how does killing this infant fall into "God's plan" for Tommy's effed up life? He's already so far gone that this really makes no sense to me at all.

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Well, I fell asleep with about 15 minutes left, if that says anything about this episode (and the entire season).

I will say that I really liked Needles' speech and the lack of dialogue at the beginning, but overall, I thought the open was as flat as the rest of the episode. Has the show desensitized me that much?

And Sean and Probie are starting to get on my nerves. One dumb guy is enough, isn't it?

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I can't understand how anyone would think this episode was flat. It almost sounds as if Jonathan is jumping on the bandwagon just because it's cool to.
To me it was one of the best this season. I can buy Tommy doing what he did (even though I don't believe he would kill the kid in the end). Let's not forget he is a horribly screwed up person & he always has been, regardless of how we sometimes feel for him. Like him or not he is poison. He has seriously damaged his kids (the younger daughther is a nightmare now) & made (the already ticking bomb) Janet worse.

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How could he consider it, you ask? I think it's the pressure from the fire and him fighting his alcoholism. The enormous pressure he's under is just causing him to snap...but slowly.

No, I don't think he killed the baby either, but they set most of the episode up as to why he'd get into that mindset.

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good episode.

bad ending.

killing a baby? even just thinking about it ? c'mon.

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^ agreed.

I would say this has been the best episode of the season yet, with many plotlines reminiscent of the "better" Rescue Me...the devastating fire, Tommy having doubts about God and arguing with his cousin, Lou getting in a mixed-up relationship and Sean and Mike getting in a ridiculous argument.

Still, there were flat areas...and *SLIGHT SPOILER* it seems from the preview that it's clear he gave the kid to Sheila.

This show really has done everything at this point...even if there is a 5th season I doubt I'll watch it.

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I have to say that I really liked this episode. Yes, I can see where somebody would think it was fairly flat in the middle, but I thought that was great. You can't have big huge dramatic things happening every five seconds. If you think about real life, people just live it day by day.

As far as the ending, I think they set it up really well that Tommy was at the end of his rope. After what happened at the Baby Fire, and getting no support from his family (the line to his older daughter of, "Do you really love me, or is it just the money", I think was telling, as he was desperately reaching out for someone in his family to lean on), he felt there were no good options. Obviously, throwing the baby in the water isn't the solution, and I am pretty sure he didn't do it (I can't imagine the jovial tone for the previews for next week would be there if he actually dropped the baby).

People need to remember that Tommy has always been a screwed up alcoholic, and sometimes screwed up people contemplate doing screwed up things.

I was on the edge of my seat at the end of this episode (and the beginning), and that more than made up for any supposed flatness at the end.

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I agree is under pressure and he is a reprehensible human being but driving to the river when Sheila was begging for him makes no sense..I know It's stupid to expect sense from insane damaged people but if she didn't offer and wasn't rich and a relative? I don't know I guess my mommy instinct can't accept it. Good episode in pieces. Sean and Mike were very funny and the basketball scene was good too.

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He doesn't throw the baby. In the "scenes from next week", Janet yells at him for giving the baby to Sheila.

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Just a few things... I know you guys were horrified at the idea of Tommy thinking about dropping the baby but you're forgetting a crucial thing...

Tommy's own dead brother (who is the father of the baby) is begging Tommy to throw the baby in. I don't know how I'd react if I knew I'd inevitably see a dead family member every other day, let alone the fact that he's going to demand I do something reprehensible.

But he didn't kill the baby. Tommy, for all intents and purposes, has a huge heart. It's that struggle that he has, dealing with all of these issues (His struggling wife, crazy daughters, kid with no name that isn't even his, etc.), but he always seems to come out of it with a cooler head than the others involved. He's their rock but he's starting to crack. This was the beginning of the downward spiral that Tommy will inevitably fall into.

The thing about this season is, unlike the 2nd or 3rd season every single episode has been better than the last. So while it does seem like they're in a slump (I still think the show is great) they've been building up this season more and more instead of just throwing everything out there like they did in Season 2, making you crave for that one moment that this show is known for... The mouth agape "are you f***ing serious?!" moment...

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The Twilight Singers song played was "The Lure Would Prove Too Much" from the A Stitch in Time EP.

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Were people seriously offended by something they saw on Rescue Me? Really? People who had seen the show before?

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The opening was powerful because it was TRUE. That actually happened earlier this year in the Bronx. Just thought I'd point that out.

While the baby is screwed with Janet or Sheila, I disagree with Johnny's wish that the kid shouldn't be raised by a stranger. Dammit, just give that kid up, he'll have a much better life when he gets away from all these a-holes!

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This show has me hooked but Tommy holding the baby over the river went too far. It is not that tiny little man's fault that Tommy "raped" his mother and his "father?" was shot. Tommy is the legal father and should take the baby and his little daughter and raise them. Be a single working father. He is a recovering alcoholic, people, and if you have not noticed AA-recovering alcoholics are the most soulful, spiritual and strong individuals walking the face of this earth.

He needs to go to a substance abuse therapist, Alanon, get away from Janet, name the baby and be a man! He could do it, he's a tough old Irishman!

I know it's a television show but I love these characters!

Lou is my favorite, hands down all the way! Glad he dumped the horn-dog nun.

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Tommy did not throw the baby in the river. He is not that kind of person. Nor did he give the baby to Sheila. In the preview Janet is *asking* him if that is what he did. If foreshadowing is any indication he gave the kid to Lou who broke up with the nun because he wanted a kid.

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I've always thought the dead people that Tommy sees are his sub-conscious and not really them. So that wasn't really what Johnny wants, it was the extension of everything that had happened, the 'baby fire', the talk with Mick, bringing up his son's memory, etc. Even the book.... wasn't the phrase he was reading about having to teach your children about faith because they won't find it themselves? Well his oldest was being nice to get money, the youngest daughter was fussing with her mother and says she hates her brother, his other son died while under his watch and now the outlook for this last child is even worse. Johnny was speaking the unspoken words in Tommy's mind.... or what Tommy wants Johnny to say to him but it's not Johnny's wishes.

I think he gave him to Shelia because it looked like Shelia loving him while he hugged the kid vs Janet fussing at the kid. He was thinking about the kids future and the loving future was with Shelia. But can someone help me...... where is Shelia's son now? From what I remember she didn't do the best job raising him.

I was thinking Tommy might drop the kid off at the church. He tends to turn back to religion eventually and I thought NYC had the no questions asked for dropping off kids at hospitals or churches.

But if he drops that kid in the river... I'm done. I will not watch this show any more or recommend it to anyone else if he drops him in the river.

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Tommy Gavin has been talking to dead people since the first scene of the first episode. I don't understand why people expect him to act rationally.

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I'm with you, if the kid got dumped in the river that's it for me. Doing something like that is not a Tommy thing to do. Tommy has done horrible things, stupid things, drunken things; but the character is not a kid killer. That last scene was just awful. The rest of the episode was (I think) the best this season, but that ending to me was just tremendously disappointing. I really hope the giving the kid to the Lieutenant idea is how it goes.

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