Has Rescue Me Rescued Itself?
Denis Leary
After an uneven fourth season and an 18-month absence, Rescue Me is back with 22 buzzy new episodes. Franco's spouting 9/11 conspiracy theories, best buds Tommy and Lou come to blows over a woman, someone will find out they have cancer and the brilliant Michael J. Fox plays Janet's new boyfriend — but is this enough to bring Rescue Me's audience back to the firehouse?
Remember the outrage lobbed at The Sopranos after the show took a 16-month break between its third and fourth seasons? Some fans and critics derided such a long break as the beginning of the show's decline. Unlike The Sopranos, which was on a high note before its hiatus, Rescue Me was in desperate need of a makeover — and that's exactly what it did. Judging from the first eight episodes, which FX sent out for review, the series seems reinvigorated, pushing the envelope like it did in earlier seasons.
Did you watch the season premiere of Rescue Me, and do you think the show has rescued itself from a shark jump?