TVSquad

(S05E10) "See? I told you he's got it under control." - Mike

As fans, we've really been rooting for a horrible thing if you think about it. The fact that we've all been waiting for Tommy to start full-blown drinking again is pretty twisted and now that it's been going on for a few episodes, we're starting to see the Tommy we remember - both the good and bad.

The issue of control is an obvious path to explore. We' ve seen Tommy lose it before - when we first met him, his original downward spiral was just beginning. That being said, I don't think any of us ever expected a year of sobriety to do him any good.

Can you make the argument that right now, Tommy has his drinking under control? Yes, absolutely. For the most part, he's imbibing in moderation, he took Sheila's advice and told everyone else that he's hitting the bottle, and most importantly, he believes he has it under the control.

However, the signs of the alcoholic in him really started to rise up in this hour - the look in his eyes when he grabbed the bottle of wine, the fact that he couldn't walk by that bar without getting a drink, or the way he had to have that one last tumbler of whiskey before he went to bed - it all hearkens back to Tommy's old ways. Sheila made that one argument, about the general who just kept fighting a battle and winning the same hill over and over. Obviously, she was referring to Tommy and Janet, but if you flip the logic, he's continually losing the same battle with the bottle. Whether or not Tommy starts drinking on the job again will be the true test. And don't forget - everyone knowing about it works as a buffer only when he's around others. If anything, it gives him an incentive to be more secretive when in the presence of others.

For most of this ep, I was pleased with how things played out. The continuation of the love/hate relationship that Mike has with Tommy continues to be a source of great moments, dating all the way back to last season when Mike himself stated boozing on the job just like Gavin. After Mike laid a drunk Tommy out last week, the opening scene here, with Tommy finding out that Mike ain't much better under pressure than a first-week probie, was obviously a big revelation. The fact that the two of them will keep each other's secrets is laughable though - Needles made the point earlier in the season that the firehouse is like a big sorority and all they do is gossip. Tommy's secret is out, so it just makes you wonder when he'll use Mike's secret against him.

One thing worth pointing out, and this is constantly jammed down our throats, is that a drunk Tommy is often better at being the hero than a sober whoever. Take his memory even. Gavin recalled everything possible about that building after only being in it once, years ago with Jimmy. Think Mike ever would have known where to direct Lou with the saw? Nope.

A few other things worth mentioning about "Control"--

• Bringing back Candy (Milena Govich) is a great idea. Despite the way it ended between her and Lou, you have to admit that more than any other relationship we've seen Lou have, he had the most chemistry with her. Let's just hope she really has changed, because if she's playing Lou as a mark again ... well, I honestly think we'd see a dark side of Lou emerge. The next few episodes really flesh this out though. It's solid stuff and easily the best guest performance this season, second only to Michael J. Fox and not counting Maura Tierney, who we haven't seen yet.
• I'm really not enjoying the sub-plot with Teddy and Maggie right now. It's gotten to the point where it's so detached from the rest of the show, that it just ain't working anymore. That being said, Teddy and Maggie do end up back in NYC in the coming weeks in a way that takes advantage of the "techniques" that both of them have developed at the veteran's hospital, so it's not all for nothing.
• Speculate if you want - anyone think there's any significance to Damien asking his mother where his red shirt is?
• Speaking of foreshadowing, Sheila seems so hell bent on making sure that she doesn't sleep with Tommy on the same day that he sleeps with Janet, not only does it a.) guarantee that it'll happen, but b.) it makes you wonder what happens when Janet finds out about the arrangement.

Fortunately, despite the depressing (do not read that as "bad") turn that many of the plots are taking, there's still been plenty of classic Rescue Me humor, due largely in part to Sean's idiot older brother Terrance (Kevin Chapman). All I'll say is that if this were an Alan Sepinwall review, the line before the jump would have certainly been, "Spoilers for "Control" coming up just as soon as I check my green B.M."