Rescue Me – Are the women REALLY in charge?

The title of this episode, “Menses,” was none too subtle. And neither was its main theme, captured succinctly by Franco: “It’s clear that the women have the balls in the [Gavin] family.”

But is that really true? Does Rescue Me‘s anti-hero, Tommy Gavin — the daredevil, alcoholic, haunted firefighter — really get pushed around by the women in his family? Do they rule the roost? Or is everybody in that family simply unhinged?

“Strap yourself in sisters,” Tommy declared to Janet and Sheila about how things are going to work in the Gavin household, “because it’s going to be a ride driven by me.”

Sure, Janet and Sheila have this weird Big Love thing goin’ on, with them cooking together, making joint shopping lists (which they thrust into Tommy’s hands along with marching orders to fetch), whispering and giggling like schoolgirls, and complimenting one another on their perfume. And yes, the sight and sound of your daughters crying and whining and looking at their father with their “I’m your sweet girl” eyes does give Tommy plenty of pause, and often gets him to cave. (By the way, I hated the fact that part of this storyline was that all the Gavin women, except for the pregnant Janet, are having their periods at the same time. That’s such a male thing to do, depict women as stereotypical, weepy messes during their periods.) But seriously, are we supposed to believe that Janet, Sheila, Colleen, and Katy rule over Tommy’s universe? I have a hard time buying into that.

You know what I think drives all the decisions in that family? A massive case of family dysfunction. All the Gavins — including those who married into the clan — are all nuts, and their nuttiness is played out in various ways. Tommy, Uncle Teddy, Mickey, and Tommy’s dad all had/have drinking and rage issues, and that’s how they dealt/deal with life’s difficulties. Same goes for Colleen, who seems to have that quick-to-trigger Gavin anger and urge to fight, as evidenced by her behavior in the Harlem bar, much to Shawn’s horror.

Janet and Sheila have developed a Gavin weirdness as well (Janet recklessly driving with Tommy on the hood of her car last week, Sheila … well, just about everything she does) simply because they’ve been in close proximity to Gavin men for so long, and the dysfunction has infected their bloodstream. That means that Shawn — whose bizarre decision to ask for Tommy’s blessing to wed Colleen, only to publicly mock Tommy’s refusal by publicly accepting the wedding proposal — is likely to start succumbing to Gavin dysfunction pretty soon. It’s inevitable.

So while Tommy struggled to put his manly foot down and guide the good ship Gavin in the direction HE chooses, Lou had his firehouse buddies running around like idiots taking different aspects of his mandatory Fire Department physical exam on his behalf. Lest we forget, Lou has major heart problems and refuses to do anything to make himself healthier, like lose weight and quit with his non-stop eating. With Tommy, it’s booze and dysfunction; with Lou, it’s food. Lots of it.

The funniest moments of this episode came when the guys met with the doctors posing as Lt. Shea, particularly when Mike blabbered nonsensically to the psychologist and kept talking about masturbation during “Lou’s” psych eval. The fallout from Lou’s refusal to do anything to address his health issues — which puts himself and his colleagues in mortal danger — will be fascinating to follow throughout this final season.

Clacked by Meredith O'Brien
on Jul 21, 2011 @ 14:00 EST5EDT