This was a great episode of Shameless. Beginning the episode with most of the family splintered into different storylines, and ending it with them embracing their Gallagher pride was the best decision the show could have made. This show has a fantastic writing team with lively on-set locations that help build their world but the show lives and breathes by its cast and the uniformly great chemistry they’ve shared since day one. Season five (and to an extent, season four) has seen them off in their own stories for too long now and bringing them back just as things are sliding out of place made for a joyfully raucous end.
The Gallagher clan does seem to be in shambles for much of the episodes running time as we’re reminded about just how dark their paths could get. We have Fiona in defense mode, uncomfortable with her and Gus not talking when she’s used to fighting. The silence scares her. Ian is refusing to acknowledge his illness and fearful that Mickey is leaving him after seeing the truth of his situation and Mickey has drunk himself into a rage-full stupor. Carl has gotten himself into trouble by agreeing to be a drug runner to Michigan and ropes Chuckie into it by strapping the egregious amounts of heroin to his stomach. Lip is resorting to old ways to make money by dealing pot on campus with the help of Kev and Veronica and Kev’s relationship has never been in more dire circumstances.
It’s a rough week for our characters, certainly not as rough as it’s been in the past, but there’s a somber tone for much of the episode where even the infallible Gallagher gumption has hit a more sedate note. They all seem worn down this week and with what’s going on with Ian it’s hard not to understand why. This is a unit that’s worked hard to erase the markings of their parents whether it be abandonment issues or emotional abuse but they can’t run from their own DNA. Now when they see Ian they see Monica too which makes his steadfast refusal to admitting his illness all the more frustrating. It’s easy to put yourself in his head space though which makes it work. We wouldn’t want to be compared to Monica either.
This however all leads up to one of the highlights of the season thus far and one of my favorite Lip moments ever to take place on the show. And hey, he doesn’t even have to smash a car window this time to prove a point.
The episode doesn’t get any better than its scene with Lip and his financial aid adviser that smartly allows Lip to drop the act for more than five seconds. This brief scene is an exercise is restraint by Jeremy Allen White who does some fine work this week. From his first scene with Fiona waiting to retrieve Ian to his moment confronting his guilt with the adviser White plays the exhaustion the character feels phenomenally. I’ve always believed that if lead astray Lip could be a Frank, and Lip has actively run from those parallels. In many aspects Frank is a very intelligent man, he simply did nothing useful with it. Now, Lip is in the position to better himself and his family with his brain and is being given an opportunity that most of them won’t get and it’s this close from being taken from him due to one mistake. Despite his confidence I’ve always worried for Lip the most, even when other family members are in trouble, because at this point Lip is the one who has the most to lose. All of this reads on White’s face that has always done consistently stellar work, so much so that this break in the facade works tremendous wonders because we’ve all been waiting for it to happen for seasons. Few characters touch Fiona in terms of strength and the feeling of being fully and completely whole but Lip comes close due to the work White has put in.
Fiona also gets one of the more rewarding scenes of the episode when she goes to Gus to apologize in earnest and even asks to come and visit him out on tour at some point. He, however appreciative, doesn’t give in easily and tells her than they both need their space. She’s left a little crestfallen but, again, she’s survived worse.
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If anything this all leads us to one of the episodes last sequences, after Carl has been arrested for dealing heroin, and the siblings all sit in the waiting area to hear news about him. They all admit their failings to one another and it’s a reminder of why this unit is so strong. Even when everyone else in the world is seemingly against one another they’re there and they’re constant. Even when they’re at their worst they will come through for one another which is why they all run to the window, pound on the glass, and yell to Carl to keep his mouth shut when being questioned. Their lives are a little messy but it’s easier for them to sift through it together.
Once again (and again and again) Sami and Frank are the weakest link. However, I am beginning to wonder if Frank is going to outlive this season. His health is being brought up more and more frequently and he never looks entirely healthy. He’s been nearly blown up this year and was close to being fatally shot-how many lives does Frank Gallagher really have?
If that wasn’t enough for you the episode then ends in a genuinely sweet scene where Mickey shows up to Ian’s room back at home, apologizes for being late and then crawls in next to him, cradling his head. It’s a well-earned moment with emotional pay off and if these two characters are going to be the romantic heart of the series I’m certainly okay with it.
A fantastic episode to bring us in for the ending run of the season.
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9/10
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