TVSquad

(S04E10) "This guy ain't no souse!" - Teddy

And thus deteriorated the first Gavin AA meeting. These people are nuts. Everyone drinks, no one can listen, they're all stubborn, and none of them think that Sean is actually an alcoholic. I tend to agree. No one with a raging booze addiction thinks that God is a "giant cloud of pink gas."

That scene was only a dent in this episode though. I can't remember an episode of Rescue Me having so many things going on at once. It got a little tiresome to be honest. There was no real direction as each new scene rarely had a connection to another one. There were short little blips. Valerie called Tommy again and he blew her off since he was playing with that dog. Or take Richie. He came and told Franco about Natalie's new guy. Think about it for a second though. There was a lot going on here. But where's it all headed?

Everything felt so different this time around. Colleen has "Wyatt" now, Janet got a job, and Sheila actually seemed calm about not having "Elvis." Does any of that make sense? I honestly don't know how Tommy deals with all this and perhaps that was the point. He's breaking down and fast. Loitering around bars, wanting a drink. Seeing his alternate "black shadow" self and having his faith insulted. (Anyone pause their DVR during that scene? The ghost thing, or whatever it was, wasn't all black this time around. It actually looked like Tommy.) Or even just his Dad mentioning Tommy's fear of heights. All it took was saying it to re-ignite something inside of Tommy that probably hasn't affected him since he was 5 or 6 years old.

Moving on, two scenes in this episode really did stand out for me. They weren't short like many of the others. They were long, well acted, and possibly some of the best of the season. That one conversation in the kitchen, as everyone listened to Tommy talk about race relations in the FDNY, what makes a hero, and his lack faith was something to watch. That was one hell of a rant. I love how Leary can make such disparate topics blend together so smoothly. Reminded me a lot of his stand-up.

The other scene that really hit a home run for me was in that torched antiques store as Lou and Tommy discussed Lou's plans for revenge sex. Cousin Mike has been sleeping with a waitress (Latrina) who Lou refers to as being "Aretha Franklin black." He couldn't be more dead on. Point? As they discussed this ridiculous idea, the whole scene was shot continuously (like straight out of The West Wing) as they weaved down aisles, made small-talk with other firefighters, and stole furniture that wasn't harmed in the blaze. It was just a really ambitious scene and also brought forth memories of Entourage when the guys stormed through the floors of a Vegas casino in one fluid shot during season three.

Elsewhere, far too many other things transpired. As I said, Janet got a job and in the 3.7 seconds she's had it, she's already sleeping with her boss. Sean attempted to be an alcoholic and managed to just fall asleep and dump beer on himself. I think the person with the most random story was Mike. He got sucked into a mother/daughter threesome and the woman you assumed to be the mother? She was the daughter. Ugh... horrible. On top of everything, Tommy has to worry about his job again since Feinberg is talking transfer ever since Tommy's failed date with his daughter, bi-polar Beth. This is what I'm talking about. How does he deal with all this?