I've had a love/hate relationship with Rescue Me throughout its run. Within a given season -- often within a given episode -- it can swing from compelling to clichéd, from touching to ridiculous. At its best, it can be a devastatingly funny look at very, very screwed up people whose job just happens to be running into burning buildings to save the rest of us. It's a tenuous alchemy, though, and the show often makes its characters either too cartoonish or so unlikeable that it becomes difficult to stick with. In fact, I'd actually given up on the show last season, but decided to give it another shot this year. I'm glad I did, because while it still suffers from the same problems, it's been a lot more on its game this year. The fifth season has provided some of the biggest laughs yet ("It's orange!"), and ended on a note that sums up the best and the worst of the show: ballsy, brutal, and almost too much.
The second volume of season five arrives on DVD next Tuesday, December 8th, for $49.95. If you're a newcomer to the show, I'd recommend sampling from the beginning, because the subplots and character interactions are fairly convoluted by this point. If you're just looking for a taste of the tone, however, we've got several clips from the new release that you can check out below. Love him or hate him, the continuing adventures of alcoholic, misanthropic firefighter Tommy Gavin (played by series co-creator Denis Leary) never fail to elicit a strong response one way or another. I only wish the clips did a better job of highlighting the humor that's been a real strength this season. Sure, it can do straight-up drama, but Rescue Me also does "the comedy of the confidently stupid" better than just about anybody else.
