If you haven't watched tonight's "Rescue Me," come back after you have, because I am going to talk about plot developments.
And I am ticked off about them.
If you've read anything about "Rescue Me" the last of weeks, then you know about the debate over a scene where Tommy Gavin — Denis Leary's character — attacked his ex-wife Janet. To some viewers, myself included, it looked as if he raped her, and that she eventually enjoyed it. Others have looked for a less damaging interpretation; Robert Bianco in this morning's USA Today said that "to imply that (the scene) endorsed or trivialized spousal abuse is to misread the scene."
Bianco also urged that "before we decide the story doesn't work, let's see where the talented people in charge at 'Rescue Me' plan to take it."
Well, we saw some more tonight. And, as I said, I didn't like it.
In the key scene tonight, Janet showed up at Tommy's place and had a brief, aggressive sexual encounter with him. She may or may not have been doing it because of a public exhibition Tommy put on with his brother's ex (as part of a scheme to make Janet and his brother jealous). That quadrangle will interact more next week, according to the previews, and there's a fifth player — Tommy's sometimer Sheila — who could become pivotal.
But this doesn't really get us past the earlier scene. Nor does it justify Tommy's earlier actions. It indicates that Tommy is caught up in a tempest of sex and near sex, sure. Only the previous scene wasn't about sex. It was about Tommy's uncontainable violence and rage, which were unleashed against Janet — an extension of the beating Tommy gave his brother.
"Rescue Me" has not dealt with that side of what happened — unless it is, indeed, trying to to trivialize or diminish it. Janet's reaction sure seems minimal.
There were other scenes tonight that I enjoyed to some degree, but when I was trying to get back into my old "Rescue Me" groove, I kept thinking about that rape scene and what they were going to do about it. So far they haven't done much. And the show won't work for me until they do something more serious about it.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
When I saw the scene you refer to as the "rape scene", rape didn't enter my mind. Did she say 'no' or 'stop'? Was she upset after the event?
No, she appreciated it for what it was; Tommy was taking her back.
I didn't see him expressing rage; he was showing her that he owned at least part of her, and she liked it.
It seemed authentic to me, and I thought it was well acted, directed and written. I was surprised to read all the "rape" hoopla online.
Well, I missed the entire 'rape' episode, but was shocked that they would have Tommy stoop to that level.
In this week's episode, I thought Janet was just trashy…does she even know who or what she wants?
I'm trying to understand that the loss of their child would send them reeling beyond all sense of normalcy. I guess the writers want us to be thrown off guard, so the characters' actions don't jive with what we'd expect from them.
Let's see…..he threw her down, she resisted, he forced sex onto her..sound like rape to me.
But, since this is written by a He-Man's Boys' Club, she appears to enjoy it and comes back for more later.
This season of Rescue Me has been a big disappointment. They've been absolutely ridiculous with the absurd comedy they've ratcheted up this year, and the dramatic scenes have just felt like Leary's male sex fantasies on tape.
On the Shield, I've been getting tired of Vic always finding a way to have sex with every female character, and that vanity is finding its way into Rescue Me. Leary keeps writing himself into scripts that have him in sex scenes with just about every female his character interacts with. OF COURSE, he's going to have sex with his ex-wife. OF COURSE, he's going to sex with the teacher. OF COURSE, he's going to have sex with his buddy's widow. OF COURSE, he's going to have sex with Marisa Tomei.
Hell, he can physically assault his own brother, and no one calls the cops. The worst thing that happens is he gets some dirty looks.
Whatever, Denis.
Was I dreaming or did Tommy not get "raped" last night after a viagra and a roofie were mashed up into his drink? Maybe I imagined the whole thing because that, I thought, was way more shocking than two almost-former spouses getting it on but I can't find Word One about it on the internet today…
You've got my comments on this week's episode in a new post on Wednesday.