प्लॉट

An exotic visitor sparks mixed reactions in the firehouse. Tommy deals with the possibility of expulsion from the FDNY and a new sponsorship role in AA. As Mike and the guys renovate their new bar, Sheila learns that being a big sister isn't always easy.—Anonymous

Mickey sits at a bar, contemplating an untouched drink. Tommy comes in. Mickey asks if he found the place OK. The bartender's been timing him, it's been untouched for 43 minutes. He wanted Tommy to share in his moment of celebration. He's going to drink, but he's going to control it. He orders one for Tommy. As his sponsor, he demands it. He says if Tommy takes one sip he'll leave. He tells Tommy they can control it. Tommy picks it up and thinks about it. Mickey slaps it out of his hand and across the bar. He's not going to let his moment of weakness be Tommy's excuse to fall off the wagon.

Black Shawn sits on the bumper of a fire truck. He tells Needles he's waiting for Tommy. Needles guesses why. Tommy comes in and hears the end of it, but not what they're saying. Black Shawn runs off scared.

Tommy walks into the kitchen in the middle of Sean, Franco and Lou discussing the number of times they've enjoyed themselves in a day. Feinberg interrupts some particularly salty language to tell them the French journalist is there. Mike interrupts, telling Franco and Sean he bought the bar without them. Feinberg brings them out to meet Genevieve (Karina Lombard), the smokin' hot journalist. They stand dumb and are saved by an alarm. Lou shows off by pronouncing her name correctly.

At the fire scene, Sean tells Tommy his back has been killing him. Black Shawn walks up to Tommy, trying to talk to him about situations that come up in life. He says he owns his own reality and he respects the people around him. He makes no sense at all. Then walks away.

They return to the firehouse where Sheila comes in with a young African-American girl, her little sister through a program. Her dramatherapist suggested it, which she got from him saying she spends too much time in her head.

Franco talks to Genevieve, telling her he thinks 9/11 was an inside job. He goes on for a while, saying it set the path for the government to remake itself. Then, after a monologue of several minutes, he asks if she's single.

The crew checks out Mike's bar, it's covered in cobwebs and is dilapidated and crumbling. It was also once a lesbian bar. Sean and Franco worry about the woman vibes, but use a different verb. Mike wants to call it Lumberjacks, with a fake fireplace and antlers and a bear.

Tommy gets a call from Cousin Eddie, who says Uncle Teddy isn't doing that well.

Lou goes out to dinner with Genevieve. He wants to chat, but she dives right in with 9/11 questions. He tells a poignant story about how hard they were working in the days after, looking for people. And then they realized after a few days they weren't looking for people anymore, but parts. Tommy's cousin, all they found was a finger. He says he used every emotion he thought he was going to feel his whole life at Ground Zero. He starts to get choked up. She turns her tape recorder off.

Teddy, Eddie and Tommy sit at a strip club. Eddie tries to get Teddy a lap dance, but Teddy's in a funk over Michael. She tells him it's a strip club, lighten up. Eddie tells Tommy that just because it's OK for him, it doesn't mean it is for the rest of them. He accuses Tommy of being glad his dad is gone so that now he doesn't have to look at the kind of man he'll never be.

Lou and Genevieve walk home and he apologizes for breaking down. She double cheek kisses him goodnight, but objects to his scratchy mustache. She says she never gets involved with men with facial hair. He has the same rule.

At the fire house, Lou walks by with a broken car antennae. He's clean-shaven. Mickey brings Derek by from the meeting. He wants Tommy to be his sponsor as part of his recommitment to sobriety.

Black Shawn interrupts, saying he needs to talk to Tommy. He says he's not someone who usually hides things. He'll lay it all out, the good and the bad. But never mind, it can wait. Black Shawn runs away.

Mickey tells Tommy he gave Derek his number. He leaves. Derek calls 40 minutes later, saying he just walked by a bar. Tommy talks him down. Genevieve wants to talk to Tommy. She assures him it'll be done tastefully. He mocks the notion. She gets that he doesn't want to be involved. He says her book won't help the people left behind. For him it's a monster and he doesn't want to talk about it just because some hot foreign piece of a-- thinks it's a good idea.

Tommy drops by Janet's. Dwight's on the couch. He extends a hand, but Tommy won't take it. He suggest Dwight get off his hind quarters and shake his hand instead. When Dwight asks what Tommy's going to do if he says that doesn't appeal to him, Tommy wants to take him outside to fight. Janet comes out of the shower and tries to break things up, but Dwight starts asking her to bring his chair. She brings out his wheelchair. Tommy struggles to avoid calling him crippled and says he won't fight him. Dwight accuses Tommy of getting cold feet and Tommy says at least he can feel his. Janet, in her bathrobe, hustles Tommy outside. She says this is why he can't come over without calling. Because four minutes earlier he would have walked in on them having sex. She explains that Dwight's ready at random times and because he can't feel everything it lasts a really, really, really long time.

At Lumberjacks, they admire the remodel. It looks like the inside of a lodge. Tommy has to go to his section 8 hearing. He doesn't expect it to go his way. He says they made a great team and felt safe working with them. They try to cut him off, but he has more: Sean's a moron and Mike's the king of the morons. Franco laughs and Tommy says if Franco applied himself, he could have anything. He tells Black Shawn he doesn't know him that well, but he probably sucks, too. As for Lou, his best friend, he's a giant lush.

Sheila meets with her little sister and her mother, accusing her of stealing her iPhone. And then her couch starts ringing.

Tommy fields a call from Derek as he heads into his meeting. On the street by him, a car swerves and sideswipes a parked car. It crashes around the corner. A woman is knocked out at the wheel. She hit a man hauling a hot dog cart. Propane tanks are used to cook the dogs, and one of the propane tanks is stuck under the car. Tommy tells the man to clear out all the on-lookers. He picks up a pipe and smashes out her window and drags her to safety just as the car goes up in a giant fireball, blasting out windows of the nearby building.

Tommy meets with the department shrink who recounts Tommy's transgressions, including going out on calls as his dead cousin. Tommy explains about his drinking and pill problems, that his wife was dating his brother who's now dead and now Tommy's on the wagon. The shrink tells Tommy to leave and go back to work. The case is dismissed. Whack job or not, the department can't afford to lose guys like him. The shrink says if your job is to run at the fire, you've gotta be a little insane. He says years ago Feinberg, who filed the section 8, slammed his hand in a door on the truck and he's been on a desk since. Letting Tommy back is revenge.

Tommy goes back to Lumberjacks, happy with his news, but none of them want to speak to him. Black Shawn takes this moment to tell Tommy he's with daughter. He asks what he's going to do.

Cut to Tommy in bed with Valerie. He asks her to do a French accent, for no particular reason.

Franco calls Mike, telling him to get over to a bar, ASAP. Mike joins him. It's almost exactly like Lumberjacks. Mike allows for the possibly that he's been there before.