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Same-sex relationships on TV are usually relegated only to secondary characters, guest appearances, and/or women. Rarely, if ever, do male members of an ensemble cast come out of the closet, or even have passing affairs with other men unless, as in the case of the bisexual serial killer played by Bruno Campos on Nip/Tuck--another hit from FX--they are somehow deranged or dangerous.

Even when major characters are given well-developed storylines that include same-sex attraction, the rule of thumb is that Things Must End Badly, as they did for Vito (Joseph Gannascoli) on The Sopranos this season.

For another example of same-sex attraction with a tragic outcome, take the deeply sublimated affection between Shane (Walter Goggins) and Lemansky (Kenneth Johnson) on The Shield (still another FX property). Those two, both major characters, were given to constantly teasing one another about sexual matters.

In one episode when Shane went undercover posing as a male prostitute, Lemansky taunted him over the radio with technical terminology for the different physiological components of the penis. They were even wont to engage in drunken wrestling matches and spent the majority of one season estranged, only to make up again.

And yet, when Lemansky became a liability to the show's corrupt "Strike Team," it was Shane who blew him up with a hand grenade, then apologized to the dying Lemansky through tears of anguish.

But these are the exceptions to the rule. More often, gays do not receive even the consideration of a well-written, if invariably tragic fate simply because in many shows there are few, if any, gay characters. And those that do exist are often secondary, have non-existent love lives, and are poorly written. On top of that, the number of gay characters on mainstream networks has actually decreased.

With the TV terrain littered with such inadequate examples of same-sex relationships, and with religious brigands waiting in the wings to bludgeon any emergent gay characters mainstream TV may dare to introduce, where could Probie's relationship possibly be headed? Will that provocative cuddle, and the hinted-at but unseen episodes of same-sex erotic activity between the two men, be treated the same way female same-sex storylines have been dealt with?

That is to say, will Probie soon move on to a more "traditional" mixed-gender relationship? Such is the fate that befell the queer characters on The O.C. and even on Rescue Me itself when Tommy's lesbian daughter saw the light and became a born-again Christian.

Or perhaps Probie's storyline will be dragged out over time, one scene an episode until it fades into irrelevance for want of meaningful dramatic development. Such was the case with LA Law's famous lesbian storyline that ended after the “shocking” same-sex kiss.

Calls from AfterElton.com to the Rescue Me's producers went unanswered, but there are some clues to be found as to what they might have in mind for Probie.

After the "Torture" episode aired, TV Guide's Michael Ausiello fielded a question in his online column about Probie's future plot development. Ausiello quoted one of the show's executive producers, Peter Tolan, as saying, "What he finds is not love but companionship and sexual release. But he's a confused guy, and I don't think he's gay."

Judging from those comments, it doesn't sound as though the writers for Rescue Me have plans to surprise us with a genuine, continuing same-sex relationship between Probie and his lover. Indeed, given that earlier in the series run, the chief of the show's fire brigade badly beat a retired fireman for voicing the statistically probable speculation that some of the firemen killed on 9/11 were gay, viewers will be lucky, and so will Probie, if the only thing broken in the wake of his same-sex fling is his heart.

Again, the Ausiello column sheds some scant, not entirely hopeful light on where Probie's storyline might lead. Tolan is further quoted as saying, "When you have a show about men, there's always going to be a homoerotic current. Honestly, the story line came out of a childish delight at discomfiting Michael Lombardi."

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