Grid Effect

Stumbling through a post a couple days ago, it dawned on me that the parallels between The Sopranos and Rescue Me have been almost inarguable. From major plot points to character deaths to structural changes, the assertion the Rescue Me is The Sopranos with firemen is not just a loose analogy, but a defining tag line. We are going to compare and contrast the two series’ up through their first four seasons, one season at a time. Let’s look at the similarities, shall we?

Season one of The Sopranos invoked Tony’s conflicted yet sociopath mentality and made the audience sympathetic towards his plight, turning him into a brand of everyman that struggled with home life as much as work. It was, for much of the time, rooted in dark humor as much as it was in drama. Before Paulie learned to cry over his non-mother he was a caricature of a traditional Italian gangster that rarely sported more than a jumpsuit, and his crass simplicity was a defining characteristic. Before AJ was trying to drown himself over a Yeats poem and complaining about the excesses of capitalism, he was the kid cursing the lack of ziti at his birthday party. In short, this series rarely approached addressing the human condition in its first two seasons. It was primarily plot driven, and though it contained subtext and Freudian themes and questioned the legitimacy of contemporary American institutions, it was basically a lighthearted “dramedy” about a mob boss whom we cheered when he told off his mother after she sustained a minor stroke.

Season one of Rescue Me, though rooted in comedy, was much more heavy-handed with its drama. The basic premise was New York firefighters coping with their lives and the immediate fallout from 9/11. Whereas Tony was a criminal millionaire and Tommy Gavin was a working stiff, we knew that despite regularly operating within the confines of the law, Tommy had his own demons to battle. Namely, alcoholism and sleeping with his cousin Jimmy’s widow, whom he regularly saw in his dreams. And while his moral quandaries never ventured into the territory of whether or not to murder someone, they were certainly despicable in that he was even contemplating them.

Tommy and Tony also bout depression in their pilot seasons (and cope with it throughout the series). Tony sought psychiatry at his doctor’s insistence, and Tommy’s mental health was self-medicated with varying forms of alcohol. While Tommy was suffering from survivor’s guilt and the estrangement of his family, Tony was having a difficult time coping with his criminal life, his mother (though not even realizing it) and the notion that the best is behind him and those who, um, procure his lifestyle.

As evidenced by the depression, both characters were burdened with major familial issues, struggling on both ends of the parent-child spectrum. Tommy lost his mother and resorted to little more than bribes and blackmail to extort information from his children about their mother’s boyfriend(s). Tony, still together with his wife, sought therapy after a panic attack and spent the majority of the time exploring his childhood and the volatile relationship he had with his mother, Livia. And he struggled with the everyday detail of child-rearing, balancing the modern (his wife’s and the schools preference) and the traditional (his preference) approaches.

In the non-blood relations of the family, Tony dealt with his best friend possibly turning against him and the managerial aspects of his title of “mob boss”. Keeping everyone in line while humoring them enough so should they ever get arrested for any charge, they won’t turn government witness. Tommy was greeted by his ghost cousin, Jimmy, who offered him advice on his day-to-day life, and wanted information about his wife, Sheila. Whom Tommy saw on a regular basis. Jimmy also regularly provided comedic relief, as did Tony’s friend, Big Pussy (the same friend he was worried about turning to the FBI). Both characters also lost friends, the only difference being Tony was usually responsible for his friends’ deaths, and fires were responsible for Tommy’s. The one exception would be Jackie Aprile, Tony’s long time friend and mob boss who died from cancer early in season one.

There were subplots in both series as well. Chris Moltisanti was the Rescue Me equivalent of Probie (Mike). Both struggling to earn recognition and respect from their mentors (this continues into season two), with little to know success Both series’ had confirmed bachelors in Franco and Paulie, and the protagonists both had “informants” somewhat isolated from the rest of the cast, with detective Mackie in The Sopranos and Johnny, Tommy’s brother, in Rescue Me.

And obviously, the themes were resoundingly similar. Issues dealing with death, aging, religion, family responsibility, generational differences and addiction, all in contemporary America. Season one for both series is often regarded as their magnum opus. And while I tend to disagree in regards to The Sopranos, its only because one and a half of their last two seasons I believe trumped their freshman effort, a point in the series which Rescue Me has yet to attain. And that, along with the strength of “Seven” and “Yaz” are the only reasons I’m coming back for season five.

Links and IASIP recap coming later.