Shameless: Season 1, Episode 12: Re-Cap

Twelve weeks ago, I sat down to check out the premiere of a new show called Shameless. While I had never watched the British version, I was curious to see this show. At first look, Shameless seemed a little racy, a little rough, and most of all, very real. Throughout season one, Shameless has lived up to the billing. Heck, in the pilot alone how much booze, drugs, sex, and stealing did we see? Yeah, there will be people who don’t want to watch that and that’s their right, but you know what? That’s real life – all that stuff really happens, and it’s not necessarily the end of the world when it does. The Gallagher’s, just like everyone else, are trying to do enough to get by, while making sure to have some fun along the way. The Gallagher’s aren’t perfect, far from it, but who is? There wasn’t one character we met on the show this season who had anything I would describe as close to a perfect life, but they all find their own way to get by to make things work; they all find strength and as a result, some sort of happiness.  As Frank said in the open of the pilot episode, “We may not have much, but all of us to a man, knows the most important thing in this life … we know how to fuckin’ party.”

There wasn’t one weak episode all season long, the finale included. Finales can be tough to put together, because viewers want answers, but you can’t give viewers all the answers or there would be nothing to build next season off of. But the writers pulled this week’s episode off perfectly. We begin with Frank, whose conscience flashed this week when he woke up in the Jackson’s basement realizing what had happened between him and Karen the night before. It was a little creepy, I think even Frank would admit that. Not only, was she a minor, not only did she record the act, but she also has a close relationship with Frank’s eldest son, Lip.

Much of the finale revolves around the aftermath of that incident. Karen sends the video off to Eddie and everyone else with the misleading title, “Father of the Year.” Soon after, everyone on the South Side had seen the video from Eddie to his co-workers to other neighbors. In fact, Lip was one of the last to hear of it, but when he found out he was none too happy, this was of course after Karen broke things off earlier in the episode – now he knew why. To make things worse, around the same time, Lip came to the realization that he was actually falling in love with Karen – something he wasn’t sure what to make of. There was more fallout from the video as Eddie chased Frank around, before ultimately committing suicide in the season’s lowest moment. While Frank didn’t try to kill himself, Lip tried to kill him, ironically, with a car he had stolen. Lip didn’t run down Frank, instead crashing the car, but he got a few good jabs at his father before Kev stepped in to break things up.

The other major storyline revolved around Steve, Fiona, and Tony – the awkward love triangle of the season. We left off with Lip and Ian behind bars in episode 11, thanks to Tony who thought he was getting Steve five years in prison. Instead, what Tony got was a detective who wasn’t going to budge easily, ultimately Tony was forced to give up his Bears tickets (pre-season and playoffs included) to get Lip and Ian off. After the fact, Steve, not knowing Lip and Ian were out of prison already, offered Tony his newly purchased house, which he wouldn’t be needing as he planned on following Tony’s orders and taking off to Costa Rica the next day.

Steve of course, wasn’t going to flee the country without returning to the Gallagher house first and dropping off a ticket for Fiona to join him. Fiona, you can see is feeling conflicted and much like Lip’s realization, Fiona realizes that she’s falling in love also. After Steve leaves, one of the most poignant moments of the entire season takes place when Lip walks into the room in the dead of night and tells Fiona that it’s alright and that she should go off with Steve. V tells her the same thing the next day, more in typical V fashion, not quite in the same heartfelt way Lip delivered his message.

We end the episode with Fiona packing her bag, heading off to the train station, Steve waiting at the O’Hare Terminal, and finally Fiona turning around and heading back to the South Side to stay.  In the end, I feel like Fiona just couldn’t leave those kids, if she did how could she say she’s any different than Monica? She’s a hood girl who is deadly loyal to her family, and not even a guy she has fallen hard for can lure her away to the comfortable beaches of Costa Rica – that’s just not who she is. That’s not who the Gallagher’s are, they don’t need white sand beaches to have a good time and party – they have each other.

Other Observations:

• I really thought Fiona was leaving for a few minutes there…
• I’m not sure if that’s how it went down, but supposedly Fiona did follow through and leave the family on the British version of Shameless
• While I know Fiona used the excuse that she could finally make some steady money at Hal’s accounting office, that wasn’t the reason she stayed, you could see it on her face at the train station, she couldn’t leave the kids behind
• I guess this becomes the first cliffhanger of season 2, is Steve a goner? Does he return and if he does, will Fiona take him back?
• Curious to see what dynamic Tony moving in next-door will play?
• Curious if Steve’s mother ever got in touch him after Debbie returned to the Lischman household and spilled the beans
• By the way, at the end of day, I’m still Team Steve, I can’t warm to Tony
• Another major storyline this season took an interesting twist as Ian came out to Fiona, who then replied that she already knew … how?
• Sheila has made it 13 steps out of the house, can’t wait to see what kind of progress she’s made when next season begins!
• Oh Sheila, you’re really going to believe Lip kicked the shit out of Frank over $40?
• The last scene was priceless, and Frank deserved every last drop
• Ok, I think that’s it, how long until Season 2, Episode 1???

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!

Shameless: Season 1, Episode 10: Re-Cap

Well, it took a little longer than we I hoped for, but Monica is gone and thankfully she took “Bob” with her. We pick up episode 10 pretty much where we left off last week. Fiona is at Steve’s new pad, which is within an ear shot of the Gallagher home which makes things that much worse for Fiona as she can see Monica fail through the windows, rather than just imagine how she’s screwing up. While they don’t have a couch – Fiona does have a monitoring system set-up in Debs room where she instructs Debbie and Carl it’s time for bed.

 

Lip and Ian who each had really strong episodes this week, overheard Bob and Monica’s plan – even though it’s clear Bob is pulling the strings and Monica is the “Yes-girl” in the relationship. Bob and Monica swabbed Liam and dropped off his DNA sample in hopes of proving that he wasn’t Frank’s and that they could freely take him. In the meantime, the kids were stuck with Monica, while Fiona was stuck couch shopping with a new iPhone in her pocket that Steve gave her.

While I’m not sure whether I like Monica or Bob less, or hate them both equally – one positive if you can call it that, about Bob is that she has no interest in sticking around and she pretty much convinced Monica to leave, even though “flaky” Monica, as Fiona described her accurately thinks the kids “need her.” No, Monica – not only do they not need you, they don’t want you. Monica seems to be living in a bit of a delusional world.

While Lip doesn’t sucker punch Monica like he does to his father on occasion, including this episode – he on multiple occasions gave her a verbal slap in the face. He certainly isn’t “Broken-hearted” like Monica thinks. Meanwhile, Ian wants absolutely nothing to do with his mother, he seems to have a hard time just looking at her. Carl and Debs also cooled off on showing any sort of forgiveness to their mother this episode, kind of realizing that things are better with Fiona.   

Lip and Ian, both fiercely loyal are not letting Bob and Monica get away with taking Liam. They follow them, in a sweet Mercedes Steve let Lip borrow, and wait outside as Bob and Monica go in to pick-up the results. Lip and Ian know how things turned out when Bob comes out fuming – you would think she knew Liam more than like 48 hours the way she was going off. Here’s an idea – if you want to start a family so bad why don’t you do that? Adopt a baby who needs a home, don’t steal one from your former family – just a thought, there!

Monica called a family dinner for some reason, I don’t know maybe so she could fight with Frank more? Lip and Fiona confront Bob and Monica saying they know the paternity results, and reiterate that especially now, there is no way they’re leaving with baby Liam. As for those other paternity results, while Liam is Frank’s we found out Ian isn’t, but that most likely he is the son of one Frank’s brothers, which means … and just when you thought Monica couldn’t dip any lower.

In the end, Monica and Bob leave sans Liam in a very emotional final scene, where Fiona didn’t say anything to her mother, but she didn’t have to. 

Monica and Bob aside, plenty else happened this week too, including the demise of the clown paraphernalia (I’ve been waiting a long time for that!) It was the big night as Eddie and Karen went off to the purity ball, which turned out to be even stranger than I imagined it would. It started off fine and all, until it was Karen’s turn to list her “transgressions.” That of course led to more than a couple of dropped jaws and Eddie calling his daughter out as a whore. Besides Karen taking out the clowns, Sheila was so pissed at Eddie she chased him right out of the house. Tony the cop reappeared this week as well and it was Fiona who broke the news to him that Steve would be a neighborhood fixture. Tony then apparently drove around town in search of Steve to congratulate him and tell him Fiona’s a “Good girl” – thanks there, Tony!

Other Observations:

• This is the second time in three episodes that Sheila has left the house, are her days as an agoraphobic almost over?
• No mention of the Steve/Jimmy storyline this week, how long can Debs keep quiet for?
• I really hope we don’t see Monica and Bob again … but that’s unlikely
• Hopefully we get to meet Frank’s brothers at some point, very curious to see what they’re like
• How bad do you feel for Ian? When he told Lip he had a lot going on he meant it, and that was before the paternity results came in…
• One of my favorite things about this episode is that we got a large look at that bond between Lip and Ian, they’re so open and comfortable with each other, they have a really special trust and really do tell each other everything …
• How awkward is Tony the cop? Every conversation he has in uncomfortable – it’s like, dude Fiona isn’t into you, get over it
• This week’s most Shameless behavior award goes to Frank for setting up “The accident” … even though it hurt, I bet there was a part of Carl that liked it
• The Ian and Mickey scene was really well done I thought, you can tell Mickey isn’t all tough like he portrays, he’s a real interesting character, hopefully he doesn’t beat the Jello stealer into submission and gets out soon
• Well, it’s pretty clear Monica’s easily impressionable, she did the right thing … it was a rough two weeks but in the end all is right again in the Gallagher house
• My only concern – do we think maybe, just maybe Frank and Monica are still attracted to each other?

Shameless: Season 1, Episode 9: Re-Cap

I’ve got a problem, I admit it right here, right now. You know you’ve become way too attached to a show when a scripted series of events pisses you off so much that you lose sleep after watching an episode. For me, that was last night, yes, I lost some sleep over Shameless. I suppose we can blame Frank Gallagher for getting us in this whole mess, but after this episode I have a little bit of a different outlook on him than I did before, more on that in a minute.

Tonight Frank, with assistance from Sheila and Kev, two unknowingly accomplices, introduced us to the mother of the Gallagher kids, Monica (Chloe Webb). Frank needed Monica to sign something so he could get another disability check after apparently getting his foot caught in a train – on a side note, if you get your foot stuck in a train the government should be taking money from you, not giving you money. I digress, long story somewhat short, Frank tricked Monica into showing up at a supermarket thinking she won a giant teddy bear and a one-hundred dollar cash prize. Little did Frank know, Monica would show up with her new partner, Bob (who is not a man, but a big black woman).

Frank initially got away thanks to some sweet moves behind the wheel from Kev, but the ladies followed in pursuit and tracked Frank down at Sheila’s, where Debs happened to be taking a cooking lesson from Julia Child oops, I meant Sheila. Debs ran out once she saw her mother pushing her out of the way and heading home to tell her siblings what was going on down the block. This led to all the siblings (plus V) heading over to the house, except one notable exception.

I felt horrible for all six Gallagher children in this episode, let’s face it – they put up with a lot of shit daily, but this was a whole other level. Ian seemed to take the news the worst, running straight to the Malkovich house telling Mickey he had nowhere else to go. Mickey had buddies over and told Ian he would meet him at the Kash and Grab in 20 minutes. Mickey showed, they headed to the backroom and then who walks in the back door but Kash. Mickey takes off, only to return minutes later to make sure Kash would be keeping his lips sealed about what he saw. Then, in typical Mickey fashion, he grabbed a Snickers bar without paying, at which point Kash, who apparently had been practicing his marksmanship, shot a bullet through Mickey’s leg.

Back though to the Monica saga. Once the kids showed up, including Ian because he really had nowhere to go after the shooting you could see a clear divide. The eldest three Gallagher kids, Lip, Ian, and Fiona wanted absolutely nothing to do with Monica, while Carl and Debs, who initially pushed Monica away were more impressionable and gave in, similar to last week’s episode with sober Frank. Then there is the youngest Gallagher, Liam. Monica and Bob announce their intention to Liam with them – this sets Lip and Fiona off. Things get atomic and Fiona heads out.

While yes, this whole mess was caused by Frank and if the price was right, he apparently would let Liam leave with Monica and Bob, I have a newfound appreciation and a bit of a different outlook on Frank than I did after the previous eight episodes. Say whatever you want about him, we all know he has his share of flaws but so do all the Gallagher’s and everyone for that matter. But you know what? Frank didn’t bail – he stuck around – and while he may not be around much the family still has a father and I do believe the three older children respect that about him, maybe nothing else, but I do think they are appreciative of that.

There’s no way the elder three are going to ever be able to live with Monica, no chance – I have a hard time seeing Carl or especially Debs who out of all the Gallagher’s probably sticks up for Fiona the most, as evidenced in this episode, live without their sister who has done so much for them. Once they realized Fiona was out, I’m pretty sure it hit them. I doubt Monica sticks around anyways, I sure hope she doesn’t that’s for sure – she might be their biological mother, but one thing is for sure – she is not a Gallagher. A Gallagher would not turn their back and desert their family. Final thing, as for the Liam issue, no way Monica should have any right to take Liam after she skipped out when he was two months old. After seeing that entire display over the final ten minutes of tonight’s episode, I have even more respect for Fiona and all she’s done. As Debs and Carl leaned in to hug the woman who gave birth to them, not their mother – that’s Fiona – you could see the pain on the faces of Ian, Lip, and Fiona. Not only did you see that pain, but you could feel it.

Quickly, the other major storyline of the episode revolved around that guy Fiona’s dating – Steve, Jimmy, whatever you want to call him. Scrappy Debbie after some research, showed up at his parents house and got quite a bit of good information from Ms. D-Lish. Turns out Jimmy’s family believes not only that he’s studying at the University of Michigan, which we learned last week – they also think he’s at the top of his class at the University’s medical school. In order to get the underestimated Debs to keep quiet Jimmy gets her a few gifts and lets her in on another big secret … he bought the house next door from the Gallagher’s.

Other Observations:

• Honestly, a lot of the earlier parts of the episode went out the window, the last ten minutes were the most compelling, heart-wrenching, emotional minutes of the season
• I really can’t wait for Monica to leave, and Bob? How obnoxious is she?
• In Kev and V news, Jonah, the son of Ethel came for a visit this week and Kev has shown an interest in adding Jonah as a foster kid too, don’t think V is particularly keen on the idea
• Interesting to see what comes out of the Kash-Mickey shooting
• Haven’t mentioned it as much as the other relationships on the show, but I get the feeling Karen wants something more and Lip is totally happy staying on the friends with benefits route
• I wrote it above, but I seriously underestimated the ability of Debs to get to the bottom of this Steve thing, don’t lie you did too!
• Eddie’s bible study looks like a crazy group…
• It happened with the goons two weeks ago, then again this week with Monica and Bob, no matter the tension in the room everyone always complies with Sheila’s request and takes their shoes off … kind of turning into a running joke
• I think that’s it, I must have forgotten something, if you have made it all the way down here to word 1211 congrats, you must have the same unhealthy addiction to Shameless I do!
• Hopefully Monica leaves next week and as a result this post will be back to its normal length … if not there may not be a post, I may just combust, we’ll see I guess 

Shameless: Season 1, Episode 8: Re-Cap

This week on Shameless we saw a different side of  ‘ole Frank Gallagher – the sober side. It all started after Frank woke up in a hospital, after having been out cold for two straight days, which apparently is just a drop in the bucket when compared to Frank’s past blackouts. Upon waking, Frank was met with an offer to stay sober for two weeks as part of a study and be rewarded with $3,000 dollars. What’s the one thing Frank likes more than booze? Money… so of course, he accepted the challenge.

Frank in a sober state made for some fascinating, funny television. What made sober Frank so amusing was the fact that he was the exact opposite of drunken Frank in every sort of way. Sober Frank was a good father, ambitious, and even had good things to say about America. I almost think another few days and Frank may have even gone out to look for a job, but that might be pushing it a little. Frank was cooking up Mickey Mouse pancakes, getting high on the real kool-aid, playing the piano (a hidden talent apparently), and going bowling with the kids  – it was really a sight to behold.

By my count, Frank’s quest for $3,000 ended on about the third day when he got to the remodel-the-house phase of sobriety. The one who pulled the trigger? Debbie of all people. Debs and Carl were given a talking to by Lip the night before where he told them about how the new Frank was temporary, comparing him to a turtle the duo neglected last summer. Between that conversation and one Lip later had Fiona, you could see how much it hurt it him, and how he didn’t want Carl and Debs to go through the confusion and disappointment he went through. Debbie kind of understood what Lip was saying, Carl not so much … but he got a new turtle out of it.

In other developments this week, Kev and V’s foster child arrived, and I don’t think she was what anyone was expecting. Her name was Ethel, she’s 13 and she came from a religious sect, she was married to a 65-year-old man, had 4 other co-wives, and oh yeah she apparently has a child of her own. That’s just the beginning. While V was a little freaked out at first, and who can blame her she warmed as the episode went on, making her French Toast by episodes end. Kev on the other hand was excited for fatherhood from the start, it just proved to be a little different than he imagined. It was decided that it seems Ethel will be staying a little longer than one week.

We also need to touch on the Ian storyline. It seems he is totally off the Kash train, which lead to multiple awkward scenes at the minimart. Speaking of awkward – the Malkovich household, the situation felt awkward to me, but Ian looked right at home. He was hanging with Mandy then he faked going to the bathroom and instead once again went to bed with brother. Soon Ian was back on the couch sandwiched between Mickey and Mandy who it seems has no idea what happened minutes before.

Finally, let’s talk a little about Steve or should we say Jimmy? Steve is apparently not really named Steve. His name is Jimmy and it seems he’s playing everyone in his entire life. His brother thinks he is a student at Michigan, not living on the other side of Chicago stealing cars for a living. We also briefly meet Candice, who sends a text Debs discovers on Steve’s phone early in the episode, which leads to a Fiona-Steve confrontation, resulting in Steve claiming she’s a co-worker, that’s clearly not the case. All kinds of red flags here, I would give Steve the benefit of the doubt because I genuinely do think he has a thing Fiona and the entire Gallagher family, but how could you trust someone like that?

Other observations:

• If the already married thing threw you off the Kev bandwagon, hopefully you’re back on after watching this episode
• Loved Sheila trying to entertain Frank with her little jig, and playing ‘Go Fish!’
• Sometimes we overlook Fiona and forget she’s still only 21 and how rough and stressful life is for her, we really saw her struggle this week
• While Frank was hilarious, Fiona was heart-wrenching, I’m picking Lip as the MVP of this episode
• Pretty sure Kash and Ian are done, it’s clear Ian has had it but Kash hasn’t
• The Mandy dynamic is really awkward, almost uncomfortable
• Also enjoyed sober Frank reading the Hunger Games to Debs and Carl and on a side note, those pancakes actually looked like Mickey Mouse, well until Carl went all Gene Simmons on his
• What is Debs up to? She is not going to let this Candice thing go by the way side, for a 10-year-old she’s one scrappy little thing
• I have a feeling Steve is going to be a big part of next week’s episode – will he be exposed? Stay tuned…

Shameless: Season 1, Episode 7: Re-Cap

I have a way for the Gallagher clan to make some serious money, go into event planning. They do it all, from fake weddings to fake funerals. This week, Frank while preparing for a hobo wrestling match was inspired by the homeless smoothie man, to fake his death like smoothie man had (and obviously that worked out well for him, based on where he was now in life.)

Frank decided to go the fake death route to finally get those goons off his butt, because there was no way he was finding $6,000 in a day. Even though we did learn Frank has been spending, per the President’s request. Of course, Frank had been spending money that he didn’t actually have for booze, drugs, and new televisions for the Alibi Room, while using the names of his children.

Most of the Gallagher kids were in on the fake death from the start, enthusiastically may I mention. Lip and Kev swiped a Hearse with a casket included, Debs bargained meat for clothes with the laundry lady, and Carl stole flowers from pop-up memorials around town. Fiona however, was not in on the plan at first as she returned home from a night away with Steve, one she had to be convinced heavily to take. Fiona was just starting to feel comfortable with the idea that nothing had happened overnight when she walked up to house to see the hearse parked outside. 

The other Gallagher who spent the previous night away from home was little Liam who was babysat by none other than Sheila who enjoyed her role as babysitter, with the exception of one little incident which led to Sheila leaving the house attached to a rope of sheets – a monumental moment on Shameless, for sure.

This was a particularly meaty episode, literally and figuratively as Lip, Ian, and Mandy came across a truck driver broken down in their neighborhood. In typical Gallagher fashion they deceived and the rewards were grand. There was enough meat in the back of that truck to feed the entire south side of Chicago that night, as evidenced by the rapid run on barbeque sauce and charcoal at Kash and Grab.

That wasn’t all that happened at the Kash and Grab this week though. We learned that Kash pulled a gun on Mickey, but not surprisingly he wussed out and Mickey swiped the gun. It’s amazing that this guy apparently has some kind of conscience in certain scenarios. Anyhow, that set off quite the chain of events, Linda hooked the security cameras back up catching Ian and Kash, who were under the impression they were not being filmed. The other interesting development is that not only is Kash now in a love Triangle, but so is Ian. Ian went to the Malkovich household, crowbar in hand and while he left with the stolen gun, he got even more than he came for.

In the end, the goons were gone, Sheila made it out and back in the house alive, Linda is getting herself another baby, and the Gallagher’s made it through a night without Fiona. Now it’s time to start paying off that inherited debt.

Other Observations and Comments:

• Like last week, another really strong episode from start to finish  
• Curious to see how Sheila progresses in the week’s ahead, will she be shopping for that Indian food in no time? Too early to tell…
• Speaking of which, after seeing that picture of Sheila and Karen I’m curious if it will ever come out what led to Sheila’s agoraphobia
• While Fiona is the glue of the Gallagher family, hopefully she is starting to realize she needs and can take a night off every once in a while
• Steve’s really got cash flowing from his ass doesn’t he?
• Curious to see how the Ian-Kash-Mickey triangle develops, and the role Mandy plays moving forward
• Definitely felt bad for Linda, but also a little for Ian – not so much for Kash
• Lost a little bit in this deep episode was the news that V and Kev are “renting” a foster child, now that should be interesting!
• While each Gallagher is shameless in their own special way, Frank is head and heels above the others as the most Shameless character, let me know – am I right?
• That’s all for this week I’m hungry for a slab of meat now!     

Shameless: Season 1, Episode 6: Re-Cap

Well, episode 6 of Shameless tackled the topic of education and in more ways than one. The main plot of the episode revolved around the most underrated Gallagher, Carl, who as we already knew has a pension for pain. We were aware of Carl’s hobbies of torturing house cats and action figures, but this week we learned, not surprisingly, Carl is a bit of a bully in school – biting, punching, and kicking his fellow classmates. The issue was brought front and center when Carl handed Fiona a letter stating that a parent had to meet with the principal at the school’s parent-child night. Fiona went down to try to fix things, but to no avail, the school needed a parent. Fiona then pleaded with Frank to show up to avoid the school calling child services, that wasn’t looking good though because as Frank had just finished explaining to the Jackson’s at breakfast, he has a phobia of schools.

Lip also learned a lesson or two this episode, while showing a vulnerable side we hadn't really seen before. While there’s no doubting the kid’s a genius, you can’t win ‘em all, sometimes you’re going to get outsmarted and when you lose, it sucks. SAT season continued this week, and for Lip it was also the week it would end. After taking a test for a basketball player by the name of Morgan, who was not getting into that posh preschool down the street if he had to take the test on his own, Lip was approached by an investigator for the Education Evaluation Service. While Lip was let off the hook easy after the investigator certified his genius status, the more painful lesson came next when one of the football players Lip took the test for found out his “score” had been invalidated and showed up at the Gallagher house for revenge.    

While Lip’s book smarts were getting him in trouble, it was the street smarts that Kash was being taught by Linda, Ian, and NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip. Before Linda left Kash and Grab she scolded her husband, announcing the market was short on inventory yet again. Once Linda left, old friend Mickey Malkovich entered. Mickey grabbed, looked at Kash and left … before returning for some dip. Apparently, Kash has a history with Mickey’s father and doesn’t feel it’s worth the fight, sending Ian off with cash to replace the stolen items. Linda beat Ian back to the store though and quickly pieced it all together. That’s where the cardboard Michael Waltrip cutout came in. Linda takes the boys out back for some shooting lessons. Ian, thanks to his ROTC training impressed, while Kash – not so much. What was confirmed from this chain of events was that both Linda and Ian have balls, Kash doesn’t.

We were also educated by Frank and his wacko theories of life, even more so than usual. If it’s possible, I found Frank even less likable than usual this week. Frank had a job, a pretty simple one too, he had to drive a car a few blocks and park it for $6,000 dollars. Frank being Frank accepted, and Frank being Frank didn’t follow through on his word (Shocker!) While Frank wouldn’t attend a meeting with the principal on Carl, he did attend a parent teacher conference with Karen, which led to a frosty exchange in the hall with everyone except Debbie who was the one to grab Frank’s attention. Nonetheless, it was still less painful than the beating from the two goons who finally caught up to Frank in the school moments earlier. Even without Frank showing up, Carl got off the hook, thanks to Steve and his “teacher’s discount” price for pot.

While new lessons were learned this week, the show ended with something we already knew well, that through thick and thin; invalidated SAT scores and “Deadhead” principals, the Gallagher kids are always there for each other, even though their father isn’t.

Other Observations and Comments:

• Wonder what happened to Marty or V for that matter? At least the Alibi Room was still standing…
• Speaking of loose ends from episode 5, Steve got back in the good graces of Fiona awful quick
• Steve gets people and he’s very good at taking advantage of them: case in point, Principal Munroe
• On the same subject, Steve’s depiction of Fiona seems to be spot-on and she knows it, she doesn’t want to rely on him because she knows he’ll let her down, and frankly I think she’s right
• Not feeling Sheila’s going to be having a breakthrough anytime soon
• I’d bet we haven’t seen the last of that investigator, who also happens to be a professor at the University of Chicago
• Is Lip and Karen’s relationship on the rocks? There were certainly signs …
• This was the most tightly written episode yet, not sure if this is an original or an adaptation of an episode from the British version, but everything really tied together cleanly, while leaving a few loose knots for next week
• For those counting at home, Frank has now been dressed up on two different occasions over the first six episodes, the over bet won there for sure
• Episode 6, hard to believe the season is already half over, feels like it just began
• Can’t wait to see what the second half of the show’s inaugural season has in store!

Shameless: Season 1, Episode 5: Re-Cap

Episode 5 picked right back up with marriage-gate, and apparently it was Fiona’s job to convince V things aren’t all that bad the way they currently were between her and Kev. After just a little nudging, V bought the idea pretty easy. Of course, there was just one problem – “Momma” was already in full mother-of-the-bride mode and she was not turning back. It wasn’t until Kev and V sat Momma down and told her the wedding was off that she pulled out of her back pocket (figuratively) that V’s late father had left her a check for her to open on her wedding day.

Once V heard about the check, she reversed course and decided free things plus a fat check, would be worth getting married to Kev, who in all honesty isn’t a half-bad guy. In fact, he may be the most stable male character we’ve been introduced to over the show’s five-week run. Of course, with the exception of that whole already being married secret. Kev finally comes clean to V, and she doesn’t take it all that bad really – she’s most disappointed she won’t be getting that check. And that’s where the Gallagher’s come in.

When you’re in a jam and need a scheme, there’s always one brewing in that household. This time around, the idea comes courtesy of Fiona who suggests V and Kev have a sham wedding. The thinking behind this is that Momma will get her wedding, while Kev and V will get their check.

While weddings tend to be pricey, they’re much less so if you know the Gallagher’s. Not only did Kev and V not have to pay for a marriage certificate – I highly doubt they paid for anything. Sheila channeled her inner Vera Wang to make V’s dress, the Gallagher boys caught themselves a priest in yet another Lip special, and the Alibi room not only held the bachelor party, but also the wedding, and reception – what a versatile facility! In the end, it was a good thing it wasn’t a very expensive sham wedding as V’s father left her a check for a whopping five-hundred dollars (It’s still more than Frank would have left Fiona!)

The only thing Kev and V were going to be paying for was a new toilet after theirs was ripped from the wall by V’s brother, Marty, an alcoholic with Tourette’s and Bipolar disorder, and who has a pension for setting things on fire. Marty didn’t add a whole lot to the episode – it could’ve been a storyline scratched and wouldn’t have made a huge difference in my opinion. It certainly didn’t hurt the episode though.

While the wedding arrangements took up much of the hour, there was still plenty of other shameless behavior to go around. Among the highlights were Fiona trading her urine to a government employee for a sheet of lasagna, what some would call a trade, others (Lip) call it “Piss food.” We also got a glimpse of Frank at the disability center showing his true colors in conversations with those who are actually receiving disability checks because of an injury, opposed to Frank who is faking migraines.

Of course, Frank had his own health scare, as he learned the normal number of testicles for a man to have was two and not three, like he’s apparently been carrying around his entire life. You would have thought the doctor told him he was dying next week the way he was going around sobbing, going as far as wearing a tie everyday, never knowing which moment would be his last. At least the Gallagher’s weren’t going to have to bury him next to the real Aunt Ginger in the backyard, as Sheila was ready to give up her second plot, once reserved for Eddie, to Frank. In the end, after one nasty needle Frank wasn’t going to die after all … well, at least not yet.

Other Observations and Leftovers:

• Loved the chain-smoking doctor
• Equally loved the bachelor party garb
• Frank in the breast-cancer support group - priceless
• Glad Ian came to his senses and didn’t go through with staying over Kash’s house
• Curious if Ian is starting to second-guess the Kash thing now that the realization has hit him of what he’s doing and that he has a family
• Loved the Gallagher’s taking down the creepy priest and then forcing him to preside over the sham marriage … go Carl!
• Sheila does it all, those were quite the matching outfits she made for herself and Frank
• Frank mouthing to Lip “no way” as Sheila went through her going outside routine, “anti-anxiety disco biscuits” and all
• Didn’t take long for Steve to get back in the doghouse … I assume this is going to be a back-and-forth thing all season long
• Also, how long until Steve gets caught? I’m putting my money on Tony right now by the way as the one to figure it out
• Loved Sheila and Eddie ending the episode watching a tape of Charles and Diana’s wedding
• Is the Alibi Room still going to be standing come episode 6?

Shameless: Season 1, Episode 4: Re-Cap

No matter what the Gallagher’s do next week in episode 5, I won’t be surprised. Well, I’ll be surprised … I just won’t be surprised how shameless it is. This week, sweet little Debbie, the most innocent Gallagher, stole a toddler. That should say something about the family. In the end though, the actions that followed ended up saying more about the family than anything else.

Something was up with Debbie right from the start of the episode when she was pushing a bag of potatoes around in a baby carriage. More than anything, she was looking for a companion now that the infamous Aunt Ginger had been returned to the old folks home. And being a Gallagher, deceiving and stealing are a way of life – so that’s what Debs did – luring a little boy out of his front yard with a snickers bar.

Once Fiona along with Steve (who’s fully back in the picture this week, after last week’s Tony fling) found Debs with the kid, the family commenced in the Kitchen for what felt like a war room session as Debbie was peppered with questions from every angle, as swat team choppers flew overhead.

We soon learned the Gallagher’s were once split up, via some amusing Christmas Cards (apparently Rod Blagojevich was Liam’s foster father, who wulda’ known?) That little scene gave us some insight to at least partially why the Gallagher’s are so close and really bust their asses to make ends meet. That of course is the exact opposite philosophy of their nonchalant father, Frank.

Frank continued his stay at the Jackson B&B this week, which would soon look more like the residence of the muffin man. Speaking of children’s characters, Eddie and his strange collection of clowns returned after the realization he couldn’t afford to support Karen and Sheila (and as he soon found out, Frank, as well) and live on his own. As a result, Eddie ended up remodeling the basement, which should lead to an interesting living arrangement in the weeks ahead. Then again, isn’t every living arrangement on this show interesting?

And that includes V and Kev who were getting in some morning uh, exercise, as the Gallagher children entered their house one-by-one for hot showers, after the Gallagher’s hot water heater blew out. Wouldn’t you know it, by the time it was Kev’s turn to take a shower, he was in cold water … poor guy.

Back though to the pressing issue at hand the stolen baby, Lip put that mind of his to constructive use yet again with another complex scheme, which made sure to cover up every possible hole in the story. Lip’s plan worked to perfection, with everybody involved executing their roles perfectly – including Debbie at the police station.

It soon appears everything will end happily ever after in the episode as Debs returned Casey Casden safe and sound, the Gallagher’s got at least one more week together, and as money is raining down from the sky, Frank was a proud father while chastising onlookers who probably were searching harder than he was – because unless that kid was at the Alibi Room, Frank wasn’t finding him. In addition, Debs used that newly earned money from stealing, saving little Casey, to buy her family a new water heater. Oh yeah, and Kev and V got engaged – but that didn’t make everybody happy.

Fiona, despite having already drank a large amount of jagermeister could tell something was up with Kev who was not all that excited about V saying yes to his drunk-prosal earlier in the day, as it turned out Kev’s already married … Well there’s that heavy Kev plotline I’ve been waiting for!

Other Observations:

• Can you say awkward? Tony and Fiona in the police car at the end of the episode…
• I liked the rapport between Tony and his partner, led to a couple laugh out loud moments
• What’s with Karen trying to seduce Frank? Like, really?
• Glad we’ve seen a lot more Debbie these past two episodes
• Love the scene when Sheila was passing muffins out to Frank through the window to give to the police officers
• This Eddie-Frank-Sheila-Karen living arrangement is about as dysfunctional as one can get, am I right or am I right?
• Another strong episode for Lip, first concocting the entire scheme to get Casey returned with no traces of evidence left behind, then his pep-talk with “Debs” – for what it’s worth Steve also gave a nice talk to Debs, in what was his most human moment on the show up to this point
• While I did enjoy the light humor Kev has brought most of time, I am kind of looking forward to digging deeper into his marriage, can’t be good can it?
• The million-dollar question: How will he break the news to V? The two-million dollar question: How will she react? And maybe more importantly, how will mama react?
• Frank in that bathrobe? Priceless…

Shameless: Season 1, Episode 3: Re-Cap

Funny thing about this show – each week things get that much more Shameless yet every episode the characters of Shameless become that much more likable. This week’s main shenanigan revolved around the late, great Aunt Ginger. She did look like she knew how to have a good time, no?

Minutes after sending the family off to school, Fiona thought she was going to get a breather, but not so, as an inspector from social security showed up, believing someone had been falsely cashing Aunt Ginger’s checks. This could be quite a problem given Aunt Ginger owns the house the Gallagher’s call home – don’t think Kev would be to keen on the entire brood moving into his and V’s place (just a guess). 

Fiona confronts Frank, and soon finds out Aunt Ginger isn’t in a Wisconsin nursing home at all, but instead she’s been buried in the backyard for the past dozen years. Think we know who’s been cashing those checks…

This leads to the family going to the nursing home V works at and picking out someone with that “Old people’s disease.” They found the perfect candidate alright.

The next day the inspection lady returned, bought it, figured Aunt Ginger’s days were numbered and made a date for six months.

“Aunt Ginger” was then returned to the old folks home to pass out the rice krispie treats she made with Debs. You could definitely feel for Debbie in that scene, but fortunately for her – she’ll be back in another six months. You couldn’t help but feel for Debbie who was had enjoyed “Ginger’s” company the most. For Debs, it was like spending time with that grandmother she never knew, as evidenced by the precarious notes she was taking along the way.

The Ian storyline resumed after an off week, with Mandy Malkovich making multiple moves on Ian after he tripped a sketchy high school teacher making a not-so-subtle move at her during class. When Ian wanted no part of it, Mandy went running to her brothers, led by tough guy, Mickey.

While Ian was able to avoid the brothers, Lip was not. If you didn’t already love Lip, after this episode you have to as he stood there and took one for the team. That combined with his constant quick comebacks has to make him a fan favorite.

Two scenes other Lip scenes that stuck out for me was Lip coming to pick up Karen, and Frank answering the door, then yelling up to Karen, “There’s a boy here to see you.” Which of course, was then followed up by Frank wondering what Lip’s “intentions” were for the evening. The other scene was Ian and Lip in the bedroom. Like the van scene from episode one, you can feel the bond and the love between these two brothers and I’m really interested to see where their relationship goes as it seems Lip is definitely behind Ian 100-percent after some tension back in episode one.

We end the episode with Ian coming out to Mandy, getting in some good N’Sync talk, and becoming a faux couple, so no one suspects Ian is gay and so “creeps” stay away from Mandy, and oh yeah, so she calls off the brothers … sounds like a plan.

Other Observations:

• After three episodes it’s becoming clear there are three very strong, deep characters in this series – Fiona, Lip, and Ian – along with a whole bunch of other characters who compliment them perfectly
• Speaking of which … Carl is a little star in the making, we must get more Carl in future episodes!
• Funny way to end the episode with Sheila watching the news story on the missing old woman, who turns out to be “Aunt Ginger”
• Mr. Perry … enough said
• While I wasn’t sure what to make of Kash at first, I’m starting to like him, I don’t know how long him and Ian last but he’s not the worst thing for Ian right now
•  Tony was a virgin! I could totally see that … but it looks like that little fling is over. At the end of the day I still like Steve better, I just do.
• Wondering: will Sheila ever make it out of the house?
• I kind of want to know more about the burial of the real Aunt Ginger, but I kind of don’t, let’s leave it at that!