The third season of Denis Leary and Peter Tolan’s Emy® -nominated
series examines the aftermath of devastating personal losses that
the 62 Truck crew experienced at the end of the scorching second
season. Tommy is trying to hold his life and team together while
dealing with the devastating loss of his son. Franco studies for
the lieutenant's exam while “Probie” contemplates the end of his
probationary period and now both ponder leaving the house. Lou
and Jerry each grapple with – or try to hide from – the financial
crises they’re facing. And Sean has a good reason for trying to
keep the identity of the new woman in his life a secret. They’re
all falling apart in one way or another … can Tommy make the only
family he has left come back together?
.com
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In Rescue Me's most controversial season, Tommy Gavin's demons
really turn up the heat on the seriously damaged New York
firefighter. Glavin (Emmy-nominee Denis Leary in searing
performances throughout) is wracked with grief over the tragic
death of his son and struggles to deal with his estrangement from
his wife, Janet (a superb Andrea Roth). In the season's most
hotly debated episode, Tommy forces himself on Janet in,
initially, non-con sex. Later, she takes up with Tommy's
brother, Johnny (Dean Winters). By this time, devoted viewers, in
the words of one character, know Tommy's every "grunt, tic and
tell." But even his ghosts can only laugh at how low he sinks
this season ("Next stop, China," Tommy ruefully replies). To get
back at Janet and Johnny, he begins to date Angie (guest star
Marisa Tomei), Johnny's ex-wife. He continually succumbs to his
"basest levels," as when he has sex with the high school science
teacher who is having an affair with his godson, Damian. But
Tommy is able to show courageous restraint as in the intense
scene in which when he is left alone to confront the prime
suspect responsible for another tragic death in the family.
Rescue Me's other flawed characters try to contain their own
life crises. Chief Reilly (Jack McGee) is in desperate financial
straits when the nursing home caring for his wife, who is
suffering from Alzheimer's, raises its fees. Sheila (Callie
Thorne) goes to her own shocking desperate measures to pursue
Tommy. Tommy's her (venerable character actor Charles Durning)
is becoming increasingly difficult to care for. Sean (Steven
Pasquale) is secretly involved with Tommy's outrageously unstable
sister, Maggie (Tatum O'Neal). Franco (Daniel Sujata) meets a
"sugar momma" (Susan Sarandon) with devastating consequences. And
"Probie" (Michael Lombardi) wrestles with his sexuality. Played
mostly for comic is Teddy's (Lenny Clarke) stint in jail
for the murder of the drunk driver who killed Tommy's son. This
third season divided critics and viewers, but the uniformly
excellent ensemble grounds even the most outrageous plot turns in
reality. And it's a testament to the incisive writing and
ly observed performances that even when these characters
behave most unsympathetically and invite the slings and arrows of
"a little thing called karma," we are compelled to continue to
take them into our homes and hearts. Or, as Tommy might say to
that, "Blah, blah, blah." --Donald Liebenson