Shameless: Season 1, Episode 11: Re-Cap

It was a busy hour on Shameless this week, not only did we get to meet four new characters – including three new Gallagher’s, but also a familiar face filled the villain role left open by the departure of Monica late in last week’s episode. That’s not all either, Frank got a job while Karen isn’t doing what I would describe as fine, after the Purity Ball meltdown. And oh yeah, two Gallagher’s were arrested.

After last week’s bombshell that Frank is not Ian’s biological father, Lip and Ian (Mostly Lip), made it their mission to find out which of Frank’s three brothers is Ian’s actual father. Not surprisingly, the Gallagher’s don’t really do family reunions (add it to the list) so the boys have never met any of their uncles. In fact, in order to find out their names Ian and Lip had to go visit Grandma. Silly me, I was thinking Ian and Lip were going to go over their Grandmother’s little cottage house, where she would have warm cookies waiting on the table. I should have known better, turns out Grandma Gallagher is in the clinker, and has been since her meth lab exploded.

The boys get their info in exchange for a weekly pack of cigarettes and they go off in search of Ian’s father. The duo skips Wyatt who lost his testicles in the Navy, how we don’t and we don’t care to know. Instead the boys start with Jerry Gallagher who may or may not be Frank’s twin, but what we know is that he has a shotgun and he wants nothing to do with anything having to do with Frank, including his kids. Lip and Ian move on to Clayton, who seems to have an amazingly suburban life when you consider he’s a Gallagher. He lives in a beautiful neighborhood, he has an enormous house, he’s a bit on the religious side – and he’s looks exactly like Ian. It was the elephant in the room, everyone could tell, including Clayton’s wife who was none too happy, figuring out that yes, he had indeed slept with Monica even though he had previously promised otherwise.

Ian quickly takes off at the first chance he gets which leads to a dynamic scene between the two brothers, which gives us a side of Ian we hadn’t really seen. Ian previously seemed like the most detached Gallagher, the Gallagher who was the exception, the outlier – the one who wants to do his own thing. He may have had that opportunity, but he wanted no part of it on this day.

The fallout from Monica continued this week as Fiona had to go help make decorations for the St. Paddy’s Day party Debbie’s class would be having. While Fiona in the past had shied away from such events due to the “snob mob” mothers, however this time around Fiona was befriended by a mother named Jasmine Hollander. What followed were kisses on the lips, a potential job, free coffee, free clothes and an offer of doing something in the bathroom – exactly what was a little murky …

That’s because Fiona got a call just after Jasmine’s strange offer, with news that Lip and Ian had been arrested for stealing a car. It all goes back to Tony, who early on in the episode figured out what Steve was up to. Tony followed Steve, confronted him, knocked the crap out of him and then gave him an ultimatum – turn yourself in or leave town unannounced. While we assume Steve chose the latter, we aren’t sure yet. Tony thought Steve defied him though, as minutes after the back alley confrontation Steve’s stolen cayenne went flying by officer Tony, he called it in and when he caught up to the vehicle, he was surprise to see Lip and Ian standing there with handcuffs on. I don’t think that went the way Tony was hoping it would.

Finally, to put it short and sweet – Karen is having a bit of a break down. Well, actually a larger breakdown. She started her own freaky online video diary, she tattooed the word ‘whore’ to her arm, she died her hair black, and she has some type of fancy nose ring. It was also a rough episode for Frank who was dealt a hard blow this episode when his workers comp. was terminated. This meant Frank had to go out and find the most dangerous job he could. It took a while, but eventually Frank was successful and found a job where he had the opportunity to stick a drill through his hand. After taking a handful (or two) of “Oxy”, Frank went downstairs and let’s just say, things quickly got illegal and strange between Frank and Karen – we haven’t seen the last of that video, unfortunately.

Other Observations:

• No Sheila this week L
• I’m pretty positive we’ll never be getting that family reunion
• Why did I ever think Grandma Gallagher wouldn’t be in prison? That would defy gravity
• Karma’s a bitch, Tony!
• Loved Frank’s new “Work friend”, kind of wished that went on a little longer, would have added an interesting dynamic – maybe he’ll have to go back once the hand is healed
• Debs is getting some good stuff out of this whole “Jimmy” thing, I’d keep the piehole shut
• No idea what to make of Jasmine…
• Is that really what soccer moms talk about? Refinancing?
• I love that we seemingly learn a new tidbit about the patriarch of the Gallagher family every episode, this week is that his nickname as a child was, “Father Frank” because he was first in his catechism class, who would have thunk?
• Season finale next week, big things are gonna pop, I can feel it – don’t miss it!