Blech. Well, that season was a whole lot of nothing. Worst season of a show since Season 3a of LOST. Tommy's dad died. Big deal. That fucker looked like he's been knocking on death's door since season 1.

Couldn't disagree more.

I know Tommy and his immediate family will always be fucked up on some level, but I thought the whole post-partum depression storyline was badly done. Janet is cunty enough to be a complete bitch about her baby. But I thought it was ridiculous that Tommy (a firefighter, one previously haunted by dead people, including his son) would even CONSIDER killing the baby - especially when he hasn't been drinking, and there would be no way in hell that he'd give the baby to Sheila's crazy ass. The "resolution" of last season's cliffhanger was poorly done. I really was hoping that the whole sesaon would prove to be some coma-induced dream that would explain everything (including Tommy's teetotaling, his pussification and all the shit that seems to surround not only him, but his family and friends).

There were some funny moments with the Gavin family o' drunks, but they shortchanged us at the end and didn't even let us see the fight in the classroom. I love how they just "Judy Winslow'd" Tommy's other brother, Timo, who didn't even show up for any of the funerals. And I thought it was really stupid that there was no correlation between the Gavins and their alcohol issues and the untimely death of Johnny (not to mention, the rather fucked up scenario of Janet boinking both Tommy and Johnny). They didn't even give a fuck about the new baby Gavin. Not even his cousin. Hell, I think that whole storyline was created to give Burke more airtime.

Franco's story was so contrived. He's getting in good with his new gal and suddenly the cougar and his daughter show up. After proposing to his girlfriend, she inexplicably pushes him away to get with some douchebag, while dumping her brother off on Franco (who accepts it all in the hopes that this indecisive harpy will make him her hen-pecked bitch).

And then there's Lou's completely pointless storyline about his brother and a fat, black woman who makes his cock and his stomach sing. How fun.

And what of Probie? The guy almost kills himself and after one encounter with SuperTommy, he's back to being a device in the Tommy vs. Black Sean storyline that essentially has no meat. I thought they were going to go somewhere after that one rescue where they both impressed each other, but that fizzled and now we have Black Sean moving in on Tommy's bratty (although legal) daughter. Black Sean obviously has his assholish ways (as all the characters do), but suddenly they're making him to be some perverted cretin.

And don't even get me started on the new chief and his crazy daughter. What happened to the old chief? Where's the fallout from his suicide? If any of the other main firemen characters get killed in the future, I guess we can expect maybe 1/2 an episode to wrap things up and it'll be back to Tommy's drama.

I've always liked RESCUE ME because it's funny, irreverent, gritty, emotional yet still well-acted and well-written. And despite the crappiness of this season, it's still one of the best dramas on TV. Moreover, most of the best shows on TV have a less-than-stellar season, so I'm not writing this show off. I'm glad that there will be at least one more season that holds the chance to correct all the missteps from this season. Some great shows (DEADWOOD) never got the chance.

I'm nervous for DAMAGES too.

They'd better come on with the come on on RESCUE ME next year. 22 episodes? I don't like that actually. One reason why cable series tend to be vastly superior to regular TV series is the shorter seasons which usually mean more focused storylines. If I only have 13 episodes to tell a story (as opposed to 22), I'm gonna get to the point.