Grid Effect

Wow, what a staunchly unoriginal title. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if this was already the name of an earlier episode and they forgot about it. Anyhow, we rebounded a bit from the last episode two weeks ago, so maybe the recap will be a little less cynical than usual. Then again, this is Rescue Me, cynicism is somewhat born into the recaps.

We pick up with the fire truck pulling up to Clleen’s boyfriends apartment, he walks in with Kenny, Garrity and Franco, they see her walk out in her underwear and Tommy doubles back to tell Garrity to keep it out of the spank bank, he gets around to punching the boyfriend after he touches his arm. Tommy and Colleen have a pretty intense argument where she sort of crosses a point of no return, “Eat shit and die, go to hell” is how she closes it out.

At the house now, Janet is now berating Tommy about his antics with the boyfriend, particularly about punching the kid being counterproductive. But that’s why you love him, Jan. The baby stops crying while she is giving him shit for being a bad father, and they both decide to keep it up if thats what humors him. She demands Tommy apologize as a last ditch effort to get their daughter back.

Jerry is pleading with some paper pusher in the NYFD to restaff him with his old position, but its a fruitless venture as he is now an insurance liability. He makes a weak effort to bribe him and the guy offers him a desk job. Chief really resents the concept.

Tommy is reading a book about ED as a result of Sheila’s bullshit story, Garrity walks in and he claims to be reading about John McCain. Leary feigns interest in talking to his brother in law, they notice an informercial about face cream and Tommy pretends it is gay before rummaging through the Probie’s locker after Garrity said he might have some. Probie walks in and catches him, Kenny walks in asking about the possible apology and recommends Tommy let the kid beat his ass to regain sympathy, probably a sound, if incredibly devious solution. They catch Probie using the aforementioned face cream, Kenny makes some joke about having balls and Tommy essentially steals all of Probie’s product once Kenny leaves.

Probie asks Tommy out to dinner to talk about his mother, Tommy is completely self-involved. He declines when Nona calls and asks him about his date, then he uses Probies mom as an excuse and studders his way through a series of half-truths. Tommy assures her, that she won’t make it through the week. He eventually agrees to dinner with Probie only on the grounds that everything is comped and its as short as possible.

Murmur from The Sopranos walks in to his apartment to see Teddy waiting in his kitchen, going out of his way to make himself at home with the beer and pizza Murmur stumbled in with. He explains the story to Murmur and they exchange other pleasantries.

Kenny bitches about the nun being relentless in the bedroom and Probie explains he is celibate but still masturbating enough to develop callouses. Garrity offers Maggies porn stash to Probie who cordially dclines, the crew has some more homophobic rants, Tommy explains how Nona isn’t as one would expect, physically. Meaning she isn’t a disproportionately built. Chief asks all of the crew into the kitchen.

Sheila ice skates with her boyfriend that saved her life and she explains how she wants a new start before describing the state of her “tootsies”.

Chief is giving an unemotional speech about his retirement. He is best man at his sons wedding and wants to trick his son into thinking he has expected his lifestyle, they offer some stereotypical answers about how to put on the facade of being open-minded, he thanks them for their worthless advice.

Shiela is discussing Tommy to the new boyfriend, who seemingly idolizes his on-job heroics. He assumes she loves him and she explains it as the bad kind of love. “Bad kind of love” and “tootsies”?…Jesus Sheila, your even making me uncomfortable.

Tommy talks with Chief about the news that he will be working a desk, Tommy explains that he is facing some charges that are eventually going to be dropped, but that someone in charge might still be investigating, Chief promises to try and eradicate this burden. Tommy calls him Chief, he retorts that it is just Jerry from here on out, Tommy says he meant what he said.

Franco is bowling with his girlfriend, Natalie, Richie, and his wheelchair bound girlfriend, Barbara. She gives him shit about being emotionally distant, he puts it on trying to bond with Richie. She storms off in a huff after he sarcastically asks if ignoring the burgeoning relationship is an option.

Tommy is at dinner with Probie who is heartbreakingly revealing that his mom wants him to euthanize her, and it’s way to daunting of a task for him. Probie starts crying and Tommy gives him a man up speech which includes demanding he stop crying, and suggests increasing the morphine drip as the most painless and effortless method. Tommy starts to get insecure when he notices its all couples of men in the restaurant and when Probie explains its a new fad for two men to go out on a “man-date”, he makes eye contact with some abrasive individual when Nona walks in spying on him.

On the sidewalk, she shows how she carried Tommy to safety by throwing him over her shoulder, Probie is really into it, when the same guy from inside tries to pick a fight, she steps in between them and tells him to scram.

Chief is giving the best man speech at his sons wedding, its heartfelt, even if he doesn’t mean any of it.

Nona is dropping off Tommy and she lunges at him after he refers to Janet as his mom, he fends her off and it is revealed she is a volunteer firefighter. Tommy suggests waiting, for whatever reason, I’m sure it has something to do with the ED he believes he has, and she kicks him out of her truck. I want to know what her profession is supposed to be. She calls him princess and says she will call him before 11pm because she doesn’t want to upset his “mom”. I think its time Tommy found his own place.

Tommy walks in to find Janet sleeping with their baby, cradling him really, really close. Like if she moves an inch she’ll sufocate him, close.

Chief and his son have a conversation about his wife/his mom. Chief suggests he try and visit more often, he claims he will make it regularly after the wedding and such. They hug and Chief says he loves him.

Probie is meddling through the medicine cabinet, and looks at his mother, contemplating actually killing her.

Probie is woken up by the nurse to find out his mom has passed, he asks if he is in trouble, after the nurses befuddlement at such an odd question she assures him that she died peacefully, but it turns out he didn’t kill her. You figure he would be relieved (in a manner of speaking), but instead he is grief-stricken because he “let her down”.

Chief deletes the negative headings on Tommy’s file.

Frank is bickering with Murmur about there living situation and he attacks him when he mentions going back to his wife, then considers a killing spree to regain incarceration. I guess he’s an institutionalized man, now. Hopefully he doesn’t go out like Brooks from Shawshank.

Chief starts walking out of the house and Tommy catches him, Chief says he cleared up his problems. Tommy asks him to help with the door on the truck, which inside contains a new set of golf clubs in a bag with his house number on it. They break out the champagne which Tommy declines. They cheers and Chief is grateful, if sedated.

Janet begins to read a magazine when the kid wakes up and begins to cry, she starts nervously crying herself. I see where they are going with this, and I don’t need to see an infant killed on this show.

Garrity, Franco, Kenny and Tommy are waiting outside Colleen’s boyfriends house, in which it is revealed that Garrity has never heard of Raging Bull. They see the couple walking down the street and Tommy confronts them peacefully and the kid is resentful, Tommy puts his hand on him, to which the kid proclaims he is on probation and proceeds to go apeshit, he throws Tommy into a car and wrestles around with him a bit, it is interspersed with shots of Chief reading a magazine and eating a salad, then practicing with his new putter, then doing some primming in front of a mirror, then putting a revolver inside his mouth and pulling the trigger. So, yeah, they killed off yet another main character. Give them like two more weeks it will no longer be an ensemble cast.

The has been an ongoing issue with the fan base. Some felt it was forced, some believed it was in character. Now, I don’t think anyone can claim it was in character for Chief to commit suicide, he’s been too strong of a character for every episode up until this one, but it was developed well in this episode. But it was only THIS one episode. Whatever happened to this series building drama? Now it seems like half the dramatic happenings are more time killers than anything, and half of everything happens inorganically.

This specific incident might also be the result of behind the camera issues. But they will probably focus on this tonight then it will be all but forgotten come next Wednesday. Really, outside of the questionable ending I thought the rest of the episode was spotless. Oh well, I guess consistent development and sound narrative structure is what separates this from the likes of The Sopranos and The Wire.