Rescue Me Recap (Hell)

Julie is back with another kickass recap of Rescue Me. I don’t usually like to taint her recaps with my babble, but I just need to say that I had such an emotional reaction to last night’s show. I mean gut wrenching tears, fits of laughter, and one holy sh*t scream that I’m sure my neighbors didn’t appreciate. I just think this show gets better and better with each episode. And I’m so sorry that I didn’t jump on the bandwagon until this season.

Title: Hell
Original Airdate: August 22, 2006
As a rhythmic song plays over the opening scene, we see Johnny’s doctors give up and pull the sheet over him, then a series of reactions by cellphone: Tommy stoically receiving the news from Johnny’s partner; Tommy’s cousin, who can barely believe it, hearing it on a crowded street; Sheila crumpling to the ground outside a store; Maggie tightly gripping her phone, exasperated; Janet, sobbing openly as she slumps down a wall. Tommy picks Janet up, tells his girls, who react mutely, and then holds Janet as she collapses against him.

The crew are debating what to do about Jerry’s tardiness (2 hours late is unlike him, and he’s not answering his phone) when Tommy walks in. He delivers the news about Johnny numbly, plainly, asking if someone can come with him to tell his dad, because Tommy’s not sure how he’ll react. Lou agrees, and they instruct the other guys to go grab another fire chief and check out Jerry’s house.

On the drive to his dad’s, Tommy explains to Lou that Johnny was going to testify against a drug dealer with two strikes against him. They think the drug dealer hired someone to do the shooting. The partner got an ID, though, so they’re looking for him.

When they arrive, Tommy is belligerently greeted by his dad. Tommy and Lou both suggest he sit down, but he refuses. He does, however, take a glass of whiskey, which he downs when he hears that Johnny’s dead. Tommy’s dad, voice cracking, says he’s going in the bathroom. He needs a little privacy for a moment. Afterwards, he says: “No black suits, no black ties, no black dresses…I want everyone in colors, bright colors, like spring in bloom.” His voice is full of sorrow, saying they’re going to need a lot more whiskey.

At Jerry’s house, the crew breaks in to find Jerry on the floor. He’s alive, he’s breathing. They call for a stretcher and take him to the hospital. Later, the doc informs them that he’s had a heart attack, and they need his closest family member, his son, to come help with any decision-making.

Teddy heads in for a conjugal visit, only to find his wife weeping. He’s thinking more ‘copulation’ than ‘consolation’ but his wife doesn’t agree, thinking he’s heartless. Later he tells his attorney he wants out of jail because he can’t take his wife anymore. He figures she’ll dump him once he’s a free man.

At the funeral parlor, Tommy opts for the ‘Honda Civic’ of caskets, rather than the Benz. (Is the Honda Civic Hybrid casket made of compost? It’s environmentally-friendly!) Lou gets a call telling them Jerry had a heart attack. As the drive around later, Tommy blames himself for giving Jerry the Viagra. Lou argues that even if he did, he did Jerry a favor, allowing him to leave the world with a magnificent hard-on, a “cock like a shovel” rather than “Mr. Potato-Head-style”.

When they arrive at Tommy’s, they listen to the answering machine messages while preparing for dinner. There are messages from a contractor, Sheila, Lou’s nun friend, and then – Johnny, who hangs up at first. He calls back, apologizing for everything that’s happened. He loves Janet, but Tommy’s his brother, and he wants what’s best for the kids and for her. “I get the sense that she’s still kinda carrying a torch for you. Maybe that’s the best thing.” He ends by apologizing, telling Tommy he loves him, and pleading him to call. Beep – silence. Tommy’s face a frozen mask of despair.

In the morning, Johnny’s partner calls to say they found the shooter. Tommy gets ten minutes in an interrogation room with him. No cameras, no witnesses. Tommy walks in, slowly, uncuffs the shooter, a young, scared-looking black man. Asks him what they paid him. “Probably like $8,000.” Eight grand, Tommy repeats. “My little brother was 41…that comes to…$200 a year, something like that.” He takes out his wallet, tosses 80 bucks on the table, asks how much time that would have bought them. Tommy tells the kid to get up, forces him into a position leaning over the table with his ass in the air. Asks the shooter if he likes it. He doesn’t. Well, too bad, because that’s the position he’ll be in for the next 30 or 40 years. “Taking it up the ass, bitch.” Letting that sink in, Tommy walks out.

At a bar, Mike and Sean scope out some hot people. Sean finds it unfair that Mike can hit on both guys and girls, making it a lot easier for him to get digits. Maggie calls Sean back, but she goes agro on him when he tells her he was just calling to check in and make sure she was doing okay.

At Franco’s, he and Natalie snuggle before she leaves so he can study. As she walks out, she spots Keela’s picture. Studying it more closely, she picks it up and carries it in to Franco, where she shows him a comparison between Keela’s pic and one of her. The similarity is striking, and it gives Franco the heebie jeebies. Though freaked out, he tries to convince Natalie he’s with her because he loves her. She says maybe he does, but he’s got to get stuff with his daughter figured out.

Jerry wakes up in the hospital, disoriented. His son explains what happened, but Jerry starts saying he’s got to go to work. His son tells him to relax.

At the funeral home, Janet clutches Tommy’s arm as they approach Johnny’s open casket, where he’s laid out in his police blues. As Janet kneels, Tommy asks her if they should do open casket or closed. She says, some people might want to see him. She loved his dress blues. She starts to cry, saying it doesn’t even look like Johnny. Tommy tries to comfort her, saying it’s not Johnny. He’s gone. It’s just his body. (Personally, I think Alex was more convincing when he told Izzie the same thing.)

Lou calls his nun, who excitedly tells him she’s “in” for the boat: summers in the Hamptons, winters just with him. Lou’s ecstatic.

Tommy’s still at the fire house, leaning over Johnny’s casket, reminiscing over frogs and nicknames and the shared bittersweet joy of being young and carefree. He starts to cry, telling Johnny he’s sorry for what he did to him. Tommy called him, to say he was sorry, wishes he knew whether Johnny got the message. Suddenly, Tommy sees Johnny’s eyes open and head turn towards him. With a start, he slams shut the casket – on his hand. As Janet helps him extricate it, she asks about the message.

Tommy and Lou collect Johnny’s things from the police. Among his belongings is his cell, which Tommy dials to hear his messages. There’s one unheard message, from Tommy, which he and Janet listen to: “Listen man, about the thing at the firehouse the other day. I just wanted to say, you know, I’m sorry man, you know? But, what can I say…I still love her. I always have. I screwed up and I don’t blame you for, uh… She’s a great chick, man, she’s just a…I don’t have to tell you. I love her, man, I wish I hadn’t had my head up my ass all these years when it came to her. Anyways…” Beep. Janet saves the message, and she and Tommy give each other a look. The truth is out there now. But how will they handle it?

Later, at the graveyard, Amazing Grace playing on the bagpipes. The funeral is a sea of suits spotted with bright summer dresses, with the attendees resembling wedding guests more than people in mourning. As the priest speaks, Tommy watches his ghosts mill among the people – like we needed this scene to get more unsettling and melancholy. He then spots a woman who looks better than dead. Maggie spots her too, and begins signing to her, in words we see subtitled: “Rosemary, goddammit, I love you!” She responds: “Think I’d miss a chance to make Dad pissed off?” Turns out Rosemary is their “long-lost sister,” who was born deaf, and who their parents put in a private school so she wouldn’t embarrass them. (Hah! This from a family that probably has the middle finger emblazoned on their family crest.) They never spoke of or to her.

Apparently funerals are the time for building bridges. Papa Gavin tells Rosemary life’s too short, and they make up, hugging.

Maggie, who has decided that Sean knowing sign language is “hot” (it is), spur-of-the-moment decides to marry him. She grabs a priest, who tells her the Catholic church expressedly prohibits outdoor weddings. A $500 bribe, however, convinces him, and suddenly the mourners become revelers, observing Sean and Maggie get married above people’s graves. The priest now pronounces them Mr. and Mrs. … Sean: “Garrity-Gavin.” Maggie: “Gavin-Garrity.” Priest: “Gavity”. (Better than “Garritin” – that sounds like an athlete’s foot treatment.)

At Tommy’s, there’s dancing and drinking. Janet wants to turn off the music, but Tommy convinces her that “inappropriate” is the family’s middle name. Rosemary and Tommy look at a collage of pictures of Johnny. He asks her how she’s doing. She’s great – total happiness. She tells him she heard about everything with Tommy, Janet, and Johnny. “Listen, it’s all about sex and love, right? Life. We could all die tomorrow. Happy is the key. You’ve gotta be happy.” Nice speech? She first heard it from Tommy—he gave it to her years ago, and opened up her eyes. Her message delivered, she ditches Tommy to dance with Lou.

Ruminating on Rosemary’s words, Tommy gazes over at Janet, but Sheila chooses that moment to go tell him her big news. She bought the house, the one he liked. Sensing this is the time for a bigger conversation, they try to find a room to talk. Behind door #1 is Sean and Maggie in flagrante. Behind Door #2 is Mike and the priest “talking”. At last, the third room is empty. They head inside.

“I’ve made my decision,” he tells her. “I’m going to leave the FDNY.” Sheila squeals, cackles, and tackles him, kissing him as she pulls him out of view.

Next week: Decisions, decisions. Will Tommy leave the FDNY? Will he shack up with Sheila or Janet? It’s the season finale, so I more suspect they’ll leave us hanging a bit till season 4. One things for sure: I’ll definitely miss this crew and their sometimes raucous, sometimes somber, always entertaining exploits.

Julie is a GMMR recapper extraordinaire, but she also has her own fabulous TV website. Head over to TV and Sympathy to read more from Julie.