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What’ll they do

next on 'Rescue Me'?

In the closing moments of the third season finale of “Rescue Me,” our anti-hero, New York City firefighter Tommy Gavin, played by badass comic Denis Leary, was trapped in a beach house engulfed in flames.

Apparently what happened next was he was pulled from the flames by Nona, a volunteer firefighter played by the bodacious Jennifer Esposito, who now feels she owns him.

And what happened to the fire-starter – his cousin and best friend’s widow, the psycho date-rapist Sheila Keefe, played by Callie Thorne? It’s a bit of a mystery because one of the things pointed out in the fourth season premiere is that Tommy still has vivid dreams and, as some sort of “ghost magnet,” still sees dead people.

So when he confronted her in the waning moments of last week’s premiere, he could be making some sort of mental breakthrough, having some sort of mental breakdown, or he could be shacking up with her on the side and perpetrating insurance fraud.

Oh yes. On the side. Because he’s actually living with his ex-wife, Janet, and helping her raise Tommy Jr., who might be his son and might be his nephew. But he can’t get too upset at anyone about that because his brother, the child’s maybe-father, a cop, was executed on the job, and Janet is clearly in the throes of post-partum depression and is in no condition to deal with him. So he’s helping.

Meanwhile, his daughter Colleen, 17, is sleeping with a 26-year-old musician and she’s smoking pot and drinking and staying out way too late and her mother’s best response to this is to put her on the pill. When Tommy realizes what’s going on and demands an explanation, Janet coolly replies “Check her birth certificate. Where it says ‘Gavin.’”

What next?

So, what are they gonna do next?

In the world of “Rescue Me,” absolutely everything is in play.

Start with the fact that firefighter Franco is living with his girlfriend of six months and her mentally disabled brother who is just as much of a sweetie as ever, what with the Tourette’s and the demandingness and the irritatingness.

And firefighter Mikey is worried about developing colon cancer, which was firefighter Sean’s big deal back in the first season, so it seems to be a theme for the show. As for Sean himself, he’s somehow still married to Tommy’s sister, a viper-tongued porn addict.

Meanwhile, firefighter Lou’s dating a very naughty ex-nun who pulled him into a tryst in a church’s organ loft while a Mass was going on (darn footpedals). And former chief firefighter Jerry got a call from his gay son, a firefighter in Boston, asking him to be his best man at a commitment ceremony with his life partner, Stephen.

To give some idea, other topics the show has explored in the past include cross-dressing, drug abuse, depression, miscarriage, gambling addiction, bisexuality, Alzheimer’s disease, identity theft, death and disability, spiritual crises and .. well, really, every relationship issue under the sun.

So, what are they gonna do next?

No idea.

But this show is absolutely fearless, and I’ll be glued to my set every week to find out..

Features Editor Terry J. Aman compiles the Best Bets for The Minot Daily News.

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