Kenny Shea

Lt. Kenneth Shea aka Lou or Kenny is a fictional firefighter on the FX drama "Rescue Me". The character is played by John Scurti.

Perhaps the most complex character on the show, Lou (called such due to his rank) is a sensitive, artistic firefighter who spends much of his time trying to reconcile his love for such things such as poetry, alternate forms of spirituality, and yoga with the "he-man" nature of his job and his fellow firefighters, often with little success. At the end of season one, his attempts to use poetry to deal with the trauma of the 9-11 attacks led to his wife cheating on him and leaving him for another man. In season two, he befriends a call girl, Candy, who is revealed to be a con-artist who steals all of Lou's money, leaving him broke and living in utter poverty and alcoholism.

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Ken starts the season living in a small apartment and drinking heavily to deal with his depression. He hides Candy's scam from the crew, who are constantly asking him for money. Kenny starts to get into screaming fights regularly with the crew. While drinking near the train tracks he contemplates suicide. Lou then moves in with Tommy so he can get a focus on his life. He also visits his uncle, a retired firefighter that famously saved a young boy in the sixties. Lou regains his self-worth upon learning that the con-artist who scammed him was arrested and he begins trying to rebuild his life with help from his new girlfriend, a nun who is in the final stages of leaving the church.

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Lou is still dating the ex-nun and brags about the amount of wild sex he has been receiving. One scene shows the couple having sex in a church during mass. However, he asks for a "break", insisting that he can't handle so much and that it detracts from their personal relationship. He catches her sleeping with his cousin.

In spite of the conflict with his personality and his job as a firefighter, Lou is well liked by his fellow firefighters, who often turn to him for advice. He also has a close friendship with Tommy, perhaps motivated by their failed marriages and desires to help each other deal with their need for sobriety.