As this week’s episode, “Jimmy,†ends, we hear familiar voices — the Clash, Rescue Me soundtrack regulars, whose stark “Guns of Brixton†provides a backdrop to the closing scenes. It’s a fitting end to an episode that’s all about the choices the firemen must make about how to respond to that constant soldier at their door: grief. Some surrender, perhaps losing a little dignity while gaining some sanity (see Mikey, who’s writing notes to his dead mom about how to fix up the bar, but seems back to his dopey-go-lucky old self). And then there’s Tommy, who, as usual, puts up a front, thus earning the unique privilege of seeing Jimmy Keefe in 9/11 footage from after he died.
Egotism
It’s no wonder Tommy has ego issues, when even Sheila’s psychodramaturge is calling him a “seething urgent animal†who slays dragons and lives outside of society’s rules. But it’s high time someone other than Janet put him in his place: enter Kenny and a magnificently moving bitch-out session brought on by 46 pages of poetry by the illustrious Lieutenant Shea himself. “You weren’t the only one down there that day,†Kenny screams, “and sometimes you forget that.â€
Ignorance
Our favorite bulldoggish, strangely-Boston-accented Gavin cousin, Mick, shows up at the new bar to confront Tommy with his options: succumb to the Jimmy visions and walk right back to the bottle, or “move on — leave it in the past†and go to a meeting. We’ve always been a little skeptical of Mick’s own stability and “meetings cure-all†mentality, but Tommy ignores the voice of reason, quite literally going back to the bar — and then home for more quality time with Jimmy’s onscreen ghost, who now appears to be winking right back at him.
Lying
“This whole psychic thing sounds pretty, uh … retarded,†Tommy tells Mikey with trademark sensitivity, before asking him to make him an appointment. Livid after the psychic — who, hilariously, is like Janet’s evil, calmer twin — says she knows he has “the gift†for seeing dead people, Tommy storms out, only to give people different stories: He’s seeing someone! He’d never see a psychic! She’s “a carny with teeth!†Oh, wait, no, maybe she’s not. “The footage doesn’t lie,†Dr. Blonde tells Tommy. We’ll see if he takes the advice in next week’s episode, enticingly titled “Sheila.â€