Rescue Me - 9/11 overload

“Rescue Me” has become one of my favorite television shows - it’s great drama and comedy. Denis Leary is fantastic. Now in its fifth season, his character, Tommy Gavin has made me laugh, cry, shake my head and love him more with each episode. Special thanks to my friend, Jeni, for letting me borrow the season 1-3 dvds!

The last few new ones have taken me back to memory lane a bit more than I’d like. I’m sure no one has fond memories of September 11, 2001, but “Rescue Me” is partially based on the aftermath of that event.

The second episode of the fifth season “French” introduces an author (Karina Lombard) writing a book on 9/11. Over episodes 2-4, she interviews several members of FDNY’s 62 truck and hits a few nerves. According to IMDB, she’ll be in at least two more episodes.

Lombard’s character, Geneviéve, also stirs up a bit of competition between Tommy (Leary) and Kenny Lou Shea (John Scurti). In an attempt to win Geneviéve over, Lou tells her he has some writings she might be interested in. She gives him some footage of the event to jog his memory, but he admits to Tommy that he could only watch 3 ½ seconds before beginning to unravel.

Hence, when Tommy walks in on Geneviéve’s praise of Lou’s writing, the following exchange occurs:

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Lou: I watched 3 ½ seconds, there’s no reason for her to know that.

Tommy: Boy 3 ½ seconds and you got 46 pages, that must’ve been some…

Lou (interrupting Tommy): Do you think I need to watch any (bleep) footage to remind me of that day, Tom? To remind me of what I saw and what I felt? To remind me of what my nightmares are still like, Tom, do you think I need that?

What I write down in these pages is a little bit, a tiny little chunk, a healthy little chunk of some of the shit that I’m feeling inside of me. And maybe by doing it Tom, maybe, just maybe, I can chip away at it and I can lighten my load, just a little bit. 3 ½ seconds of footage…

You know Tom, you weren’t the only one down there that day. Sometimes you forget that and sometimes I have to remind you. I just did.
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Tommy is not often rendered speechless. In fact, he more often prattles on and bumbles his way through arguments which usually end in incomprehensible babbling (hence my frequent laughter), but his argument with Lou left him speechless and me with chills.

Franco (Daniel Sunjata) and Mike (Mike Lombardi) also had a heated discussion regarding their differing opinions of 9/11.

Franco is the “conspiracy theory” man in the house. Mike is a firefighter because he saw that as his way of helping after 9/11.

In a later conversation – after a fight between them in the house – Mike admits to Franco that he can’t handle hearing his theories because he’s not comfortable viewing the “bad guys” as those who live at home. Mike is always viewed as the dumbass of 62 truck, and he plays that part well, but his admission to Franco sincerely touched my heart.

I love the show. Both Michael J. Fox’s last appearance and Sean's (Steven Pasquale) trip to the eccentric chiropractor had me on the floor laughing. But I truly hope the next few episodes are a little lighter on the gloom and painful memories.

As a side note, I am immensely grateful that my parents happened to be visiting me in Michigan on September 11, 2001. Having them with me that day made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world, while at the same time pitying those who had no idea what fate might have befallen their loved ones.