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Is firefighter and "heroic S.O.B." Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary) becoming, as one character so delicately puts it, "pussified?" As the fourth season begins, Tommy is listening to Dr. Laura and watching Oprah. He awkwardly and clumsily avoids the aggressive crazy-hot volunteer woman firefighter (Jennifer Esposito) who saved his life in the beach-house fire of which he has no memory; an act that has left him, shall we say, with a limp hose. In time, he will proclaim to be "back to the old me," but this season, he engages in behavior that would give even the old Tommy pause, and puts audience empathy for this deeply flawed character to the supreme test. In one of this season's most wrenching developments, Tommy and his estranged wife, Janet (Andrea Roth), are living together platonically to care for her new baby, whose paternity is in question. But, failing to bond with the infant, Janet sinks to the depths of post-partum depression, driving Tommy to think the unthinkable, and to do the unforgivable. Elsewhere, dim, but good-hearted Sean (Steven Pasquale) struggles to make a go of his rocky marriage to the unstable Maggie (Tatum O'Neal), Chief Jerry (Jack McGee) fails his post heart attack stress test and is relegated to a desk job, the firehouse makes a play for a new probie (Larenz Tate) who might change the basketball team's fortunes, and Tommy finds himself even further alienated from his rebellious and contemptuous daughter (Natalie Distler), who is living with a rock musician. Along with Esposito, Gina Gershon joins the ranks of series hotties as a bar pickup with some sexual kinks. But the one who really lights our fire is Amy Sedaris as the bipolar daughter of the new chief (Jerry Adler), who insists Tommy take her out.
Rescue Me doesn't just tear the basic cable envelope, it incinerates it. Unlike other long-running shows,
Rescue Me stays true to its gritty muse, with no attempt to make difficult characters more likeable. The edges remain sharp and the humor charred black (the series is not above--or beneath--cheap Anna Nicole Smith jokes in the wake of a shocking tragedy that rocks the firehouse). While perhaps not as consistent or compelling as previous seasons, No. 4 contains indelible moments, such as Tommy and Janet's visit to a marriage counselor, who, after hearing their tortured history, thinks he's being punk'd, and a Gavin family intervention ("We got enough drunks here to start our own AA meeting," Maggie observes). The bountiful bonus features, including nearly a half hour's worth of deleted scenes, a season overview and a featurette about real firefighters, add extra spark to this set.
--Donald Liebenson
Product Description
An arson investigation following the beach house fire targets Tommy, Janet worries that her new baby doesn't like her, Colleen runs away from home, a not guilty verdict is delivered in Uncle Teddy's manslaughter trial, Jerry commits suicide, the crew from 62 Truck is savaged in the press for not being able to save seven children from dying in a tragic fire - it's another season of challenge and turbulence for Tommy and the guys.
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