RESCUE ME Recap: Babyface

Title: “Babyface”
Original Airdate: June 14, 2007

Last night was the Season 4 premiere of perhaps one of the best shows on television today, RESCUE ME. I was a late comer to this show and really only started watching last season, and I’m so glad I did. It’s not an easy show to watch. But it’s real and it’s honest, and real and honest aren’t always pretty. Especially for the FDNY.

The fourth season picks up 9 months after the end of Season 3. Tommy is being investigated for insurance fraud as the police believe that he took out a life insurance policy against Sheila as well as a new insurance policy out on the beach house a short time before it went up in flames. Everyone is convinced he’s going to jail for this one, but Tommy claims to not remember exactly what happened. The police don’t buy it, nor does Tommy’s lawyer who suggest Tommy lies rather than go back to the cops claiming he doesn’t know what happened. And as for what really did go down, all we know is that Tommy was rescued by a hot female volly (volunteer firefighter) played by the sexy Jennifer Esposito.

Per usual, nothing in Tommy Gavin’s life if working out for him. He is back with Janet. Well kind of. They are living under the same roof in a platonic relationship (let’s see how long that one lasts) and together raising “little no name” who may or may not be Tommy & Janet’s son. Neither of them are sure if the baby is Tommy’s or his recently departed brother, Jimmy. Although little no name might not be Tommy’s, Colleen sure as hell is. His former lesbian, born again daughter has turned into a sex crazed, drinking, pot smoking punk. While Tommy is frantic about his daughter’s behavior, Janet seemed unphased and reminds Tommy that Colleen is Gavin after all – what did he really expect?

In the most shocking moment of the night we learn that Maggie and Sean are still married. These two made it through nine months of marriage. Notice I didn’t say nine months of married bliss. Sean married Maggie, he couldn’t assume that he was going to be happy, right? He’s certainly not happy with Maggie’s porn collection. He tries to ditch them but gets caught and ultimately decides that if he can’t get he to trash them he might as well watch them with her…yeah, maybe not his best idea.

In happier couple news: Franco and his lady are still going strong. Richard is pushing Franco to marry his sister….how else will he get her out of the house so he can have sex? Jerry’s son has decided to get married and has asked his father to be the best man. Showing just how far he has come in the acceptance of his son’s homosexuality, Jerry agrees. And Kenny is still doing God’s work aka sleeping with his girlfriend the nun…in the church…during Mass. A straight ticket to hell for that guy.

Despite the good and the bad in their personal lives, the guys are always firefighters first. And when a call comes in for the guys to rescue some trapped kittens (no I’m not kidding), they never expect the building to explode and the floor to collapse leaving them all hanging for their lives. As an eerily upbeat B-52s song plays in the back, the guys start falling down the collpased floor in slow motion into the awaiting flames. Thankfully (and conveniently) the explosion also knocked out a side of the building so when the guys slid down the floor they were actually deposited on the outside ground below. A few scrapes and bruises but the guys are all fine…and they even managed to save a few cats.

Just another day in the life of Tommy Gavin. So here’s where it all gets a little tricky. We know that Tommy is being investigated because he took out the house and the life insurance against Sheila. But where is Sheila? When we last saw her she left Tommy behind as she ran from the burning house, no? Was she dead? Was Tommy collecting her life insurance? Just as we think Tommy is heading into a final meeting with the police he instead lets himself into an apartment, and as the camera pulls back it’s revealed that Sheila is enjoying a drink on the sofa. Huh? And to complicate matters even more she says “We’re sitting on $2 million dollars and you’re screwing it up!” What?! I’m confused.

I’ve got lots of questions. Was Tommy in on the insurance fraud from day one? Was Sheila? Is Sheila alive or was Tommy seeing her ghost? So confused. Any thoughts?