"rescue me"
Oct. 18th, 2004 02:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rusty_haloOkay, so like, last week, I was feeling all lazy, so I actually sat down after work and watched TV for a few hours. This is the first time I've watched TV in quite a while. (I haven't watched any of the new shows this season....)
So anyway, I ended up watching the season finale of the FX show "Rescue Me," the one about NYC firefighters, starring Denis Leary. It's one of those things that I always sort of intended to watch eventually, because I like Denis Leary, but never got around to. Anyway, it was AWESOME. I had no clue what was going on but it totally hooked me anyway. I know Denis Leary can be funny, but I didn't realize how well he can act. Just in this one episode he was amazing; he had this emotional scene that totally got to me. One episode and I became completely fascinated by his character.
So I went and downloaded all the episodes and watched them this weekend. Denis Leary plays my bulletproof kink kind of character: a totally fucked up angst-ridden morally ambiguous asshole/sort-of-hero with a dark sense of humor. I really love that the main character of the show is allowed to be morally ambiguous. He's not "really a hero with a just few flaws"; he's really genuinely fucked up. In real life he would be an unbearable asshole, but on the show he's riveting.
And I like that the show is ambiguous. All of the characters are deeply flawed. There's no good and evil, all grey areas. It's realistic; the world they live in is fucked up. I found LOTS to disagree with, obviously, given that is's about a bunch of working class NYC firefighters will all kinds of offensive sexist and homophobic ideas. But the show doesn't act like they're in the right, it just presents it like it is, and shows both their good and bad sides. It's so rare to see that kind of ambiguity presented without judgment and a neat little lesson or a "learning experience" or whatever.
Also, it's character driven and has continuous arcs, which made me very happy. It's totally about exploring these characters, not about the fire-of-the-week or whatever.
Plus, did I mention that Denis Leary can act? I've never seen him in a serious drama before (the show is "quirky," but definitely a drama). He plays this firefighter who is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after losing friends on September 11. But being a tough-guy firefighter, he doesn't know how to deal, so you're just watching him sink into this downward spiral. Even when he tries to reach out, it doesn't work; the people who should be helping him are just as confused and fucked up and unable to deal as he is.
And he is REALLY fucked up; he talks to visions of dead people, he's an alcoholic, he puts other peoples' lives in danger, he spies on his ex-wife and torments her boyfriend, etc. But at the same time, he saves peoples' lives for a living, he loves his children and wants the best for him, he's trying to fix his relationship with his wife. You can see his good side AND his dark side, he's all mixed up and struggling and you don't know what he's going to do. I love that, the unpredictable character, someone on the edge who could do anything. It's so cool, like I want to give him a huge hug but at the same I think he's a complete ass and I'm afraid of how he's going to fuck up next.
To recap: dark humor, grey areas, morally ambiguous fucked up characters, great acting, Laura happy.
So anyway, I ended up watching the season finale of the FX show "Rescue Me," the one about NYC firefighters, starring Denis Leary. It's one of those things that I always sort of intended to watch eventually, because I like Denis Leary, but never got around to. Anyway, it was AWESOME. I had no clue what was going on but it totally hooked me anyway. I know Denis Leary can be funny, but I didn't realize how well he can act. Just in this one episode he was amazing; he had this emotional scene that totally got to me. One episode and I became completely fascinated by his character.
So I went and downloaded all the episodes and watched them this weekend. Denis Leary plays my bulletproof kink kind of character: a totally fucked up angst-ridden morally ambiguous asshole/sort-of-hero with a dark sense of humor. I really love that the main character of the show is allowed to be morally ambiguous. He's not "really a hero with a just few flaws"; he's really genuinely fucked up. In real life he would be an unbearable asshole, but on the show he's riveting.
And I like that the show is ambiguous. All of the characters are deeply flawed. There's no good and evil, all grey areas. It's realistic; the world they live in is fucked up. I found LOTS to disagree with, obviously, given that is's about a bunch of working class NYC firefighters will all kinds of offensive sexist and homophobic ideas. But the show doesn't act like they're in the right, it just presents it like it is, and shows both their good and bad sides. It's so rare to see that kind of ambiguity presented without judgment and a neat little lesson or a "learning experience" or whatever.
Also, it's character driven and has continuous arcs, which made me very happy. It's totally about exploring these characters, not about the fire-of-the-week or whatever.
Plus, did I mention that Denis Leary can act? I've never seen him in a serious drama before (the show is "quirky," but definitely a drama). He plays this firefighter who is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after losing friends on September 11. But being a tough-guy firefighter, he doesn't know how to deal, so you're just watching him sink into this downward spiral. Even when he tries to reach out, it doesn't work; the people who should be helping him are just as confused and fucked up and unable to deal as he is.
And he is REALLY fucked up; he talks to visions of dead people, he's an alcoholic, he puts other peoples' lives in danger, he spies on his ex-wife and torments her boyfriend, etc. But at the same time, he saves peoples' lives for a living, he loves his children and wants the best for him, he's trying to fix his relationship with his wife. You can see his good side AND his dark side, he's all mixed up and struggling and you don't know what he's going to do. I love that, the unpredictable character, someone on the edge who could do anything. It's so cool, like I want to give him a huge hug but at the same I think he's a complete ass and I'm afraid of how he's going to fuck up next.
To recap: dark humor, grey areas, morally ambiguous fucked up characters, great acting, Laura happy.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-18 07:16 pm (UTC)I am THRILLED you mentioned it. I saw the one where the tough guy writes poetry to help himself heal and his wife tells him it's awful and he should throw it out. SO GOOD!!
I know I should hate Denis. I know I should be repulsed that he smokes and swears and is crude. But I love him. I looooooove him. And he plays the kind of downtrodden character that you want to root for, that you are practically begging to triumph even if he doesn't deserve it. Sort of like Spike that way, isn't he?
And...there are other episodes??? I (very naively) thought this was the first one. Don't ask me why. If you saw the one I saw, could you tell me where it fits in the puzzle - beginning, middle, end of season?
::runs off to add Rescue Me to my interests::