Tommy and Lou save lives on "Rescue Me."
Ghosts have been a recurring theme ever since “Rescue Me” debuted five seasons ago.
Front and center from the beginning have been Tommy Gavin’s ghosts, the ghosts of his cousin and friends lost in 9/11. The ghosts prodding him to stray from sobriety.
In “Sheila,” we are introduced to the ghosts of Dwight, the paralyzed boyfriend of Tommy’s wife.
His ghosts, however, can’t compare to those that still haunt Sheila, who lost her husband, and, essentially, her life, in 9/11.
I’ve always viewed Sheila as a one-dimensional character, a self-centered flake, flitting through life on the wings of whatever medication she presently is on, jumping from relationship to relationship (including an ill-fated one with her late husband’s cousin) while trying desperately to find answers to her life, be it through her dramaturgist or any of her other flavor-of-the-month narcissistic salves.
This week, however, we see the depth of Sheila, her strength in trying to deal with her stubborn son, Damian — who suddenly wants to become a firefighter just like his old man — and with the feelings that overwhelm her when she sees her dead husband on the television screen. In an incredible performance by Callie Thorne, we see the pain in her eyes as she watches the video, then the shock of seeing her husband and, finally, the happiness in seeing him once again.
Speaking to the French journalist who is writing a book on 9/11, Sheila explains how she always knew her husband didn’t die in the first tower, as everyone believed. She always knew that he died in the second tower, which seems to be proved in the video, because it was at that moment, when it all came crashing down, that she felt his death, that her love was gone. She says she knows that there are times where Tommy wishes he had died in the towers and that Jimmy had lived. She simply adds, “so do I.”
Dwight’s ghosts were born in the car accident that killed his brother and cousin and left him paralyzed from the waist down eight years ago. Continuing to play against type, Michael J. Fox is completely believable as the man who used to climb Kilimanjaro but now is stuck in his wheelchair, downing alcohol and uppers and downers in a desperate attempt to keep his ghosts at bay.
Tommy is rewarded for enduring a frightening ride with his new kindred spirit when Dwight spills the beans about the whereabouts of Katie, Tommy’s 12-year-old daughter who he has been dreaming about (including the jarring nightmare that opens the episode). Because he’s Tommy, he first switches Dwight’s uppers and downers just to mess with him. He then then takes advantage of the situation to tell his wife that they are going to go see their daughter at boarding school, where they will give her the chance to return home, and possibly even live with him.
Plagued by back pain and, um, performance issues, Sean goes to a doctor and learns he has renal cancer, which most likely he contracted during Ground Zero cleanup. Talking to a fellow firefighter with lung cancer, Sean is told he can’t tell anyone about his condition and certainly can’t use his insurance to pay for treatment because if the FDNY learns of his condition, he either would be given a permanent desk job or let go entirely.
Though not always the brightest bulb, the irony that he developed cancer through his hard work and dedication and now can’t let anyone know of his condition, is not lost on Sean.
The episode’s final ghosts on display aren’t as serious as those that plague Tommy, Sheila and Dwight, but the ones that come out to visit Black Shawn aren’t any less frightening. Finally kicking abstinence to the curb, Shawn is immediately terrorized by Ghosts of Boyfriends Past when he learns that Tommy’s daughter isn’t, uh, let’s say, pure as the driven snow.
So what did you think of the episode? Were you surprised by Sheila’s response to seeing footage of her husband? Were you surprised that Franco would espouse conspiracy theories just to get lucky? Will Black Shawn actually tell Tommy that his daughter is super freaky?
