Pacing
Rescue Me has some clunky pacing, but it usually pays off later as a joke or narrative. For a few episodes, Mick's been asking Tommy if he has seen Teddy. This week we see finally Teddy and Maggie briefly in the VA hospital. No doubt their two scenes will later result in a Teddy-as-possible-mercy-killer…

The Irish Factor
It seems sort of natural to me that the life of an Irish American main character created, mostly, by Irish American writers would be a life filled with horrendous shit. The doom and dread on Rescue Me can go beyond melodrama; but that's not out of sorts for an Irish story.