That occured to me now that I think about it. Needles really enjoys having things to hold against people. He might feel it's the only way to keep people in line. It's still weird that we see Feinberg hanging out with the guys more than Needles now.

BTW, over on TWOP, people are speculating that Candy might be terminally ill and is only looking for someone to care for her. Possibly with AIDS, hence the not sleeping with Lou.

I also think Carla might be a tranny. At this point, Franco should just go back to the Chinas,Brittanys,and Heathers from season one. They just can't give the guy a break relationship wise. The best storyline for him was when he had Keela with him.

I wonder if Garrity's gonna be back to full duty once he gets out of the hospital? Since no one in the brass knows about his illness, it won't be like Jerry where it took months and months to try to get clearance. Maybe even light duty if he's not feeling up to it.

Brian & cdawg - Needles is holding Feinberg's letting Damien go in the rig to the fire (and consequently almost dying) over his head, effectively neutering Feinberg.

cdawg - It was Carla and Franco's trainer who yelled "GET OUT!", not Carla and Franco. Needles was in the training room as well.

SadiesRotten - I hadn't thought of it until now, but that pretty much makes perfect sense.

Another solid episode. If you want to watch it again, you can stream it online here:

http://rescuemeepisodes.com/2009/07/season-5-episode-14-wheels/

Well, the thing that gets complicated is the fact that in Rescue Me, it's still 2007 due to the fact that we had no season last year and they chose to pick up the story almost directly from the end of season 4 so they could deal with the aftermath of Tommy's dad's death. In past episodes they've made speciffic references to topical events. Season 3 talked about the upcoming 5th anniversary of 9/11, season 4 actually had a date of 3-27-07 on Jerry's death certificate. Tommy gets his on eyear chip in episode 6 of this season. In Season 4, at one of those Gavin meetings he mentions that he hasn't had a drink in eleven months, the last time being at that bar right before Johnny's death.So storyline wise season 4 and five are supposed to be a continous stream of events. Tommy's Brett Farve reference fit no where in here. It's weird because in every other season they do a time jump. This is the actual time that having a big one would make sense. The only problem with that is they would have had to drop lingering storylines from season 4 sense they would have been long resloved by now. Did anyone notice that it was never explained why Mike is back on this crew and not the Drunk firefighter crew? I actually think that the writer's forgot about it.

I actually really enjoyed this episode. The scene where they're in the crowd was awesome. I like Damien's character, although I think he's gonna get into some trouble. Either in a fire or make some enemies with someone on the crew. I hope Garrity gets back in shape and comes back to work. My question is that now that Feinberg knows, will he be allowed to come back to full duty? I hope that Lou knows what he's doing. Don't give her a LEGAL reason to take half your stuff. I hope it's legit.

Regarding the seasons changing, did anyone else notice the Brett Favre signing with the Jets reference when Tommy said grace at the dinner a couple of weeks ago?
Favre signed with the Jets in spring of 2008 (I'm from Wisconsin - we pay attention to these things), so maybe season 5 isn't in the present yet?
That doesn't explain the seasons changing, but it might come up in other aspects of the show.

I have one bit of advice for Lou: Prenupt. But we all know he would never do that.

I really don't think Carla is a lesbian - in the beginning of the ep she and Franco are in his dressing room before the fight and the trainer walks in and they both scream "GET OUT!" as if they were in the middle of hooking up. And then, obviously later in the episode. Well... she's obviously not a lesbian (maybe bi?) but I don't think that's an actual plot point. I'm more inclined to believe it was a way for Damian to be a jerky kid and get his comeuppance next ep.

And I totally agree about Candy. It's a LONG CON. It has to be.

Damien's character is the definition of loser. I don't know if that is how he is supposed to come across, like the kid who thinks he is to cool for school, or if it is just terrible acting. I can't stand him and I hope someone in the house humbles him immediately.

The one thing that confuses me. Is Feniberg under Needles or vice verse? I thought that Feinberg was the new Perroli and Needles was the new Jerry? But they make it seem as if Feinberg is afraid of Needles.

Another random observation, is it just me or did it change from Summer to Winter real fast on the show all of a sudden? Maybe it's just Fall, but it seems the weather changed reaL fast.

"It took up the last ten minutes of the episode and there was really only one joke that played through most of"

A Rescue Me reviewer who thinks Rescue me is a comedy show? What is wrong here?

That whole scene, however long it was, was the best thing in tonight's episode and paved way for us to understand why Tommy cared about these kids so much. It's because they are tougher than him.