Dee

It wasn't so much Sean, himself, that Frank dislikes. It's the kids more or less agreeing with Sean's push for order and resolute boundaries in their lives. If there is one thing Frank cannot stand, it's when the rest of the Gallaghers refuse to center his insanity. In his mind everything is fine, as long as the kids allow him carte blanche to do as he pleases. But now there's an adult in the house who isn't the least bit afraid of, or emotionally co-dependent upon, Frank; Frank, the eternal narcissist, is virtually beside himself. So, in his warped mind, Sean must be eliminated in order for the Gallaghers to be restored back to the status quo.

I think the kids relationship with Frank is fairly simple. For all his narcissistic loathsomeness, he's still a Gallagher. It's the same reason they repeatedly allowed Peggy and Monica back into the fold, in spite of, their relentless toxicity.

A huge reason why Lip has self destructed this season is because he's lost or ruined virtually his entire existing support system. His first love (Karen) is long gone, his reliable fallback (Mandy) has cut and run and even his newest erstwhile partner in crime (Amanda) has recently flown the coop. He loathes his bio parents, doesn't trust Fiona or Ian, feels too guilty to burden Debs, and has never been close to Carl. He's also outgrown his pseudo big brothers (Kev & Tommy) and his pseudo big sis (Vee) is off limits because of her unflinching loyalty to Fiona. On top of everything else, his closest college friends (Joaquin & Ron) are MIA, and his stand-in Dad (Youens) & Mom (Helene) have set very strict boundaries with him. For the first time Lip is truly alone, emotionally, and he's crumbling under the weight of himself.

He scammed Derek's parents for money, via a statutory rape threat, if they didn't acquiesce to his demands. Speaking of Liam, any bets on how long it'll be, before he joins his siblings in exiling Frank from his life?

That was a great episode. Hampton, Howey and Goreshter are golden together. Loved that one of the things that endeared Svet to Vee was Svet's hard luck childhood. Vee has a thing for kicked puppies. First Kevin (a big old lovable St. Bernard) and now Svetlana (a pitbull in a skirt). The three of them make an oddly compelling, and infinitely watchable, trio. Frank is scum but William H. Macy was awesome tonight. It was unsurprising to see him initiating Liam into the Gallagher family business, now that Carl is firmly aligned with the rest of his siblings in the Fuck Frank camp. The understated way he played his disappointment at missing Franny's birth was great, as was the way he subtly disassembled when Sean made him confess to scamming Derek's family. That said, I was so glad Fiona called Sean out about confronting Frank to feed his ego, especially since their brawl was a total callback to Frank's scuffle with JimmyJackSteve. Sean's a good guy and was completely right about the family needing to set serious boundaries where Frank is concerned, but he was projecting his own insecurities about Fiona & the wedding onto Frank as much as he was protecting his new family. Fiona hitting a Nae Nae in the church pulpit was hilarious. Girl may have the worst luck in love but her joy in that moment was infectious. Swooned at Caleb gifting Ian with a snack, in a Superman lunchbox no less, for his first day at work. I love that they're so sweet on each other, without feeling the need to unnecessarily rush or prematurely label, their relationship. I did however get a good laugh at Caleb's eagerness to meet the Gallaghers. If nothing else, that's a recipe for disaster. I did feel for Ian getting fired. And despite lying initially, he's right; it's not his fault he's mentally ill, nor would it interfere with him doing his job, as long as he remains on his meds. Unfortunately, it looks like Ian might be about to pull a backslide worthy of big sis Fiona in the finale. I loved Debbie's scenes with Fiona & Lip. For all their reservations about Deb's pregnancy, now that Franny's there, they're all in. It was nice to see them offer their exhausted little sister some much needed non-judgmental support. It was also nice to see Debbie not feel entitled to their help, and be so committed to dealing with the consequences of her own choices. Lip's flameout continues to be epic. Jeremy Allen White was fantastic throughout the episode, imbuing Lip with all kinds of depth, but his shell shocked reaction to Youens setting boundaries between them in his office and his subsequent breakdown in the lecture hall hallway were breathtaking. As I've said in a previous thread, Lip's Come To Jesus meeting has been long overdue. Hopefully his siblings, particularly Ian and Fiona, will be there for him when he reaches his emotional waterloo. Carl's quest to become a cop continues to be amusing. I'm glad Officer Winslow refuses to fall for his abrupt about face. And he's right that personal responsibility begins at home. All Carl's earnest protestations of earning Dominique's love, mean nothing if he doesn't get his own house in order first. I did a binge rewatch of this season over the weekend and it really holds up. There are some definite pacing issues and the deportation stuff with Svetlana feels like an unnecessary plot contrivance but overall, it's been a pretty solid season.

And Tracee's only a couple of years behind her, at 43!

It's interesting there are references to the Johnson's ill-advised spending habits but no mention of financial planning.

I liked that Zoey tapped into her inner Mean Girl to help Diane win the election. Much is made about Diane's attitude, but I love that the show doesn't forget that both her mother and sister also have considerable cruel streaks themselves.

Regina Hall, as always, was phenomenal. I hope she becomes a regular cast member. Daphne keeping one of her nannies because she was her Spades partner was Peak Blackness. Jack beating Junior out for Vivian's affection was awesome. I love when Jack uses his cuteness to his advantage. I lost it at Diane's initial campaign video and her gleeful anticipation of a knife fight. That's why you're in court mandated therapy now, girl! I'm glad Rainbow & Vivian became fast friends. Rainbow has been in dire need of a good girlfriend for ages.

Lip's school "stories" amounted to Healey rearranging his schedule and pestering him to pad his college applications with extra-curricular activities. And even that very minor story is largely done by the end of season two. By season 3 Lip regularly ditches school to complete community service and sleep with Mandy and/or Karen. And then, in a fantastic show of entitlement, shows up to take the final at the school he was expelled from, after being gone most of the year, with nary an apology to the teacher he grossly disrespected. It's the same with Ian & Fiona. After McNally disappoints Ian in the middle of season two, all of his military talk ends, save Monica taking him to a recruitment center on a whim. By season three he's turning down expensive military gear and only shown practicing military maneuvers once. The rest of his time is spent obsessing about Mickey. Fiona stops pursuing club promotion by the beginning of season three, and Jimmy never takes a backseat to her financial and family concerns. Upon his return in season two, he spends his every waking hour ingratiating himself back into her life, despite being married; to the point where they're a full fledged couple again by Thanksgiving. In season three he goes to great lengths to assure her they're a team, to the point where she felt comfortable enough to uproot the entire family to Michigan, to follow him, until she realized he had no intention of including them in his plans. From the beginning, Shameless routinely has had to devote extended scenes to the various Gallagher siblings catching each other up on their lives because they regularly spend so much time preoccupied with their own relationships they have no idea what's going on with each other. The only difference now is that the older Gallagher siblings love interests are unpopular.

Shameless has, from Day One, always prioritized the older kids romantic relationships to the detriment of their characterization. It's hardly a new development.

I'm glad the Milkoviches are gone. I really tired of Terry being the convenient scapegoat for his family's flaws.

I love that black-ish continues with those little meta touches. With Kenya also making a cameo in this episode and Anthony's son popping up as Cousin Dante, I wonder how long before one, or more, of Tracee's siblings make an appearance.

When Debbie told Frank that he'd always been the only one there for her, she just meant for her during the duration of her pregnancy IMO. Remember, this is a girl who resolutely sided with her siblings when Frank considered letting Monica take Liam, beat him with a pillowcase full of soap for taking her for granted and gave big sister Sammi a crash course in Frank 101. But when everyone else in her family has ranged from decidedly nonplussed about, to full on dead set against, her pregnancy, I can totally believe her appreciating Frank's support despite being fully aware that most of it is ultimately self-serving.

I can't see Debbie willingly giving Franny up for adoption, especially with Fiona in her reflexive Mama Bear mode. The only way I could see Debs even remotely changing her mind to part with the kid, is if Derek's parents made the case to her that Franny would be better off with them.

Shameless has always played fast & loose with continuity when it suits them. Karen gets pregnant in the middle of summer yet gives birth to a full term baby by Thanksgiving? Sheila & Frank spend a season & a half as a "married" couple even though Frank never divorced Monica? Lip & Ian are able to rustle up $150, each, for paternity tests yet can't afford concert tickets or discount water heaters? Mandy & Mickey's MIA mom and endless array of plot dependent siblings? Peggy leaves Jerry a huge wad of cash despite threatening to gouge his eye out for stealing from her a few months earlier? Terry threatens to shoot Ian, yet is magically ok with Ian attending Mickey & Svetlana's wedding AND his own welcome home party? The less said about the timelines of Fiona & Debbie's stereo pregnancies, the better.

Another great episode! Only in a commune where the median age is 70 would Frank be considered a catch. And even then that's a stretch. I felt for Queenie with Frank leaving her in the dust, again, but she knew who Frank was from the very beginning. Loved Caleb & Ian's scenes. It was great that Ian confronted Caleb about being childish about Ian not wanting to disclose his sexual exploits, but it was also refreshing that Caleb maturely owned up to his earlier behavior, was willing to honestly & openly accept Ian's past once Ian opened up to him, and remained fully supportive of Ian's continued aspirations of being an EMT, even if it meant slightly bending the rules to help him get there. For all the wonkiness in terms of the timeline of Debbie's pregnancy that final scene between her & Fiona packed a real emotional wallop. For all of Fiona's protestations of Debbie being on her own, her inner Gallagher kicked in and she was all in for Debs without a second thought. However it was a nice change of pace to see Debbie soberly taking Fiona's tough love lesson to heart. I empathized somewhat with Kev about his leeriness about Vee & Svet's nuptials, but since he didn't feel the need to finalize his own divorce after all these years, and it was his big mouth that jeopardized Svet's status in the first place, he really needed to put his big boy pants on & man up. Lip's ongoing fall from grace has been glorious. From the very first episode, out of the older trio of Gallagher children, Lip is the only one who has never had a true "Come To Jesus" moment. Sure, he's done mild community service for juvenile crimes, but he's never had to truly assess his life without the world conveniently dropping gifts at his feet. It's about time he faced a real trial by fire in the same way that Fiona & Ian have in the past couple of seasons. Really enjoyed Carl & Officer Winslow's ride along. Carl is way too much of a Gallagher to make a good cop, but he'd make a GREAT bail bondsman. Moving in with the Gallaghers doesn't bode well for Sean's existing custody arrangement. I'd almost venture Sean subconsciously wants to relapse, but that would be giving this show the benefit of the doubt, which is rarely a good thing. Did not need to see nearly naked Tommy or Kermit. Ever.

I got a good chuckle at Ruby and Rainbow being on the same side about Andre's comedy career. Also got a good chuckle out of Andre & Rainbow both being overly obnoxious/celebratory at Jack's basketball games. Lastly, Anthony Anderson should be given an award for casting this show, because not only are all the kids fantastic little actors, they also all look as if they could be his & Tracee's bio-children.

Rainbow looked amazing in that pantssuit. Tracee Ellis Ross is gorgeous.

This was a really good episode. All the Gallagher kids returned to form Welcome back Mandy! And between rolling down the pile of poo & being chased by mountain lions, this may have been the most I've ever enjoyed Chuckie.

Love Caleb & Ian. The actors have a really sweet, tender chemistry. Glad Ian realized that normal doesn't have to mean better or worse, just different; and that Caleb & Ian as a couple are being allowed to build slowly. The writers will probably destroy them, as they do with every other ship on this show, in the next couple of weeks, but for right now they're pretty great together. Loved Vee & Carl. She's the tough, warmhearted Auntie that every family needs. Over Sean bitching at Fiona. He knew exactly who she & her family were when he trusted her to babysit Will and seeing as he gave Carl sanctuary a couple of weeks ago, he was more than willing compromise his custody of Will all on his own. Lip & Queenie were really gross. It's interesting, if unsurprising, to see him drown himself in sex to forget Helene. Debbie & Larry were even more gross than Lip & Queenie. Glad Debbie was creeped out & left. Dude was seriously giving me serial killer vibes. Frank's shenanigans were a waste of airtime. William H. Macy deserves better.

Instead of token white dudes, I wish Eva would hire a few afro-latino actors.

I hated Bow's joy that Zoey exhibited "depth." She's as bad as Dre is about Junior.

Outside of Bow & Dre's discussion around Obama's inauguration, I thought this episode of black-ish was supremely boring. It tried way too hard to be a Very Important Episode instead of just a funny family sitcom.