Sony Home Entertainment
Release date: June 3rd, 2008
SRP: $49.95
Four-disc set with 13 episodes
Stars: Denis Leary, Steven Pasquale, Mike Lombardi, Daniel Sunjata, Andrea Roth

Anyone who has seen this show knows that it is full of bittersweet moments. Leary’s character Tommy Gavin is a man troubled by many things and in turns tends to make many bad decisions.

The people around him are similar, if not to the same extremes. But what makes this such a great show and so utterly watchable is the fact that everyone on this show is so believable. There is definitely some extreme behavior, but I’ve know people who have acted like this for real. Every episode I watch has me rooting for these folks to succeed, yet leaving me not the least surprised if they don’t.

Season Four sees a different Tommy Gavin than the one we met in season one, he’s sober, he quit smoking, and he seems more mature. He’s struggling with his problems and trying to find answers. He still battles the urge to drink, he has questions about his faith and his job and his family. The season opens with Tommy facing arson charges. There is also a new baby boy in the house and there is a question about whether it is Tommy’s or his dead brother’s. Members of his firehouse are all struggling with relationship issues and there is a tragedy early on that changes the dynamic at work.

I think what this season is about is not so much redemption, but acceptance. Accepting that you can’t control life, only make the best of it. There is a wonderful little speech at the end in the last episode by Lou at a baseball game that compares life to baseball that really wraps it up nicely. This is immediately followed by one of the best acted scenes I’ve ever seen Leary do. He and his Father played by Charles Durning are having a real bonding experience at a ball game. This is the front of a montage showing various characters with the Cars “let the good times roll” playing in the background. As the camera comes to rest on Leary and Durning and then pulls back and fades into the credits I got choked up. Sadness, understanding and satisfaction filled.
Bittersweet to the very last, and some of the best TV I’ve ever watched.

Jon
For more reviews from myself, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.