He Wasn't Bulletproof and Neither Are Any of You

If there is one theme that shows up more than 9/11 on Rescue Me, it is alcoholism. The disease cost Tommy Gavin his family, caused him to visualize everyone from his dead cousin, to people he was unable to save on the job, even Jesus, and his son, who of course was killed by a drunk driver. The show has kicked up the alcoholic theme for the final season (technically split into two seasons, the first ending tomorrow, so FX could air the final season to coincide with the tenth anniversary of 9/11).

It was thanks to the sauce that we started this season with Tommy heading to the hospital after his uncle shot him, blaming Tommy for the death that died while driving drunk herself off of some booze provided by Tommy. But staying clean and sober never goes well for Tommy and it doesn’t help that upon her twenty-first, his daughter takes up drinking and quickly competes for the title of drunkest Gavin. Dealing with your own addiction is tough, and having witness his daughter’s pushed him over the edge by baptizing her in a pool of liquor. But who am I to judge, it actually worked (for now).

Tommy was not the only one dealing with addiction this season and Lou’s penchant for eating too much has finally caught up to him leading to multiple heart attacks over the course of the season. His doctor tells him that his heart is only working at fifty percent and he only has two options, retire or die (why changing his diet isn’t mention, I do not know). Option B led us to the cliffhanger of the last episode before the season finale where his inability to breathe puts himself, and this time, his crew in danger as the episode goes to black with himself and Damien underneath debris.

One wonders why FX didn’t use that cliffhanger as the season finale; sure the final scene in tomorrow’s finale is shocking, but it doesn’t leaving you wondering what will happen next as much as the pervious episode. As the finale picks up two months after the fire, we do learn the fates of Damien and Lou fairly quickly, one before the title sequence and the other shortly after, one of which should led quite the storylines going into the finale season. We also get satisfying resolution to the fallen cancer patient storyline which results in a humorous discussion between Garrity and Mike on what a Pavilion is. And the guys stoop to an all-time low in picking up women (not to say I didn’t laugh especially when Needles joins in).

So that leads only nine episodes left for Rescue Me to air sometime next year. As long as the show didn’t happen to take place in a purgatory where all the firefighters meet up in after they die or that Tommy actually died on 9/11, it should be satisfying finish to a stellar series.

Rescue Me 6.x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.