Rescue Me

[The Brain]

Originally posted by JimmyBlueEyes
The ghosts bugged me a bit because I thought it was a bit over the top.

Well, I think the whole point is that Leary's character is quite literally haunted by the people he's unable to save. As to the question of just how much the ghosts are real, and how much is just his mind playing tricks on him... that's what they're getting into; his psyche, how the life of a firefighter isn't all fame and glory, and how it can wear the shit out of even the most mentally strong.

It's well understood that they'll take liberties; otherwise it's a documentary. But at the very least, Leary made the character very 3-dimensional. He could have just as easily gone into a caricature route, where his guy just masks everything behind jokes. There are a lot-- and I mean a <i>lot</i>-- of nuances lying just beneath the surface, and I think as the show goes on, each one will be pulled out for us to see.