S10.E04: A Little Gallagher Goes a Long Way

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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Frank and Mikey set off on a day of adventure around the city in pursuit of Mikey's dreams; Debbie discovers a new way to make money in the midst of a strike; Lip leans on his new friend for parenting advice.

Promo:

Clip:

Original air date: 12/1/19

[scrb]

Frank is going to get a job and stop drinking for Mikey?  He’s going to get responsible in season 10?  For some other grifter?

Meanwhile all the moms in the support group lust for Lip of course.  Zombie Tami finally makes an appearance.  Why did they keep her character?  Why saddle Lip with a baby in the first place?

Debbie seems okay with losing tens of thousands of designer clothing.  Now she will try to strongarm her baby daddy’s widows into giving her the death benefit.

Carl is now champion for the downtrodden Latinos.

None of these antics look particularly shameless.

[LibertarianSlut]

There was almost nothing redeeming or rewarding in that episode.  Each storyline is so weak.

What was probably the lamest was Kev continuing to buy and sell secondhand shit with the addition of the crackhead. What did their exchanges even mean? Was it supposed to be...funny? What was comedic about it?

The women did it this episode, and I look forward to seeing how this death benefit turns out, but I'm reversing myself this week and saying Deb seemed like a smug little bitch for most of the ep. The woman in the grocery store with four different baby daddies really stole the scene. She was funny and sexy and crazy.

Vee and Mai Le (sp?) had a bit of promise, but why couldn't Vee have actually gone with her friend to sell the pickle jar medicine, instead of just talking about it? It's not like much of anything else was happening in this episode!

Tammi's and Kelly's returns look vaguely interesting, but nothing actually happened with either of them, so that's a non-starter.

Once again, I'm calling out Lip's storyline for having zero realism, as there would be people to care for Freddie. Maybe the show shouldn't have written Tammi to be part of this big, close-knit, supportive family if they wanted Lip doing it all by himself.

And Lip, just what is it that you don't get about babies in pool water? (That wasn't swimming). Why was the concept so confusing that Lip had to not only see it up close and personal during another baby's lesson, but then balk and blanch and pepper the instructor with questions and comments the whole time? Was that an attempt to show how "South Side" Lip is? Fail. Lots of babies "swim" on the South Side.

Lip's storyline would have better served a million other ways. They all could. What is at all interesting about Liam fraudulently acquiring money for flowers? He's a Gallagher; that's what they do. It would have been an ok scene, but it's not a storyline. I'm not even going to mention the rest of the episode, except to say the Mikey shit was startlingly misplaced. The entire storyline belonged on another show, save for sneaking into the hotel for breakfast, which was classic Shameless. So if the show was 50 minutes, I enjoyed maybe five of them. Awesome. I think there were five enjoyable minutes in all of season nine, so...an upswing?

I think this show should have been cancelled right after the season that Fiona flipped the Laundromat. That season was pretty damn good, and it was the last time we had anything "there" there.

ETA Wasn't Liam a baby when the Gallaghers used to open their pool in the early seasons? I don't recall Lip having a cow then.

Edited December 2, 2019 by LibertarianSlut
The hell, Lip!

[preeya]

2 hours ago, LibertarianSlut said:

There was almost nothing redeeming or rewarding in that episode.  Each storyline is so weak.

What was probably the lamest was Kev continuing to buy and sell secondhand shit with the addition of the crackhead. What did their exchanges even mean? Was it supposed to be...funny? What was comedic about it?

The women did it this episode, and I look forward to seeing how this death benefit turns out, but I'm reversing myself this week and saying Deb seemed like a smug little bitch for most of the ep. The woman in the grocery store with four different baby daddies really stole the scene. She was funny and sexy and crazy.

Vee and Mai Le (sp?) had a bit of promise, but why couldn't Vee have actually gone with her friend to sell the pickle jar medicine, instead of just talking about it? It's not like much of anything else was happening in this episode!

Tammi's and Kelly's returns look vaguely interesting, but nothing actually happened with either of them, so that's a non-starter.

Once again, I'm calling out Lip's storyline for having zero realism, as there would be people to care for Freddie. Maybe the show shouldn't have written Tammi to be part of this big, close-knit, supportive family if they wanted Lip doing it all by himself.

And Lip, just what is it that you don't get about babies in pool water? (That wasn't swimming). Why was the concept so confusing that Lip had to not only see it up close and personal during another baby's lesson, but then balk and blanch and pepper the instructor with questions and comments the whole time? Was that an attempt to show how "South Side" Lip is? Fail. Lots of babies "swim" on the South Side.

Lip's storyline would have better served a million other ways. They all could. What is at all interesting about Liam fraudulently acquiring money for flowers? He's a Gallagher; that's what they do. It would have been an OK scene, but it's not a storyline. I'm not even going to mention the rest of the episode, except to say the Mikey shit was startlingly misplaced. The entire storyline belonged on another show, save for sneaking into the hotel for breakfast, which was classic Shameless. So if the show was 50 minutes, I enjoyed maybe five of them. Awesome. I think there were five enjoyable minutes in all of season nine, so...an upswing?

I think this show should have been cancelled right after the season that Fiona flipped the Laundromat. That season was pretty damn good, and it was the last time we had anything "there" there.

ETA Wasn't Liam a baby when the Gallagher's used to open their pool in the early seasons? I don't recall Lip having a cow then.

THIS ↑

I've given up on this show, so in lieu of comments I echo the above quote.

[Chaos Theory]

The Liam plot was well done.   Of course he turns out to be a Gallagher after all.

Lip and his mother’s group was funny.   It was the same when he took little Liam to college with him.  Babies are a chick magnet.

I hope the ICE agent know that Carl is a dog that bites.   Watching the Hispanic family walk into the Gallagher home and call it a trash dump was funny.

Say what you want about Debbie but she has been mostly singlehandedly taking care of Frannie with little to no help from the dad.   Maybe he didn’t want the kid to begin with but he also hasn’t signed away his rights to her which makes him responsible.  Debbie has every right to demand child support.

Frank willing to give up drinking for Mikey was sweet considering he was never willing to give it up for his kids.  But Mikey is right prison is the best place to get healthcare when you are poor.

Edited December 2, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[msrachelj]

This show officially sucks. Hate watching till the end, which I hope is this season. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Frank and Mikey getting free breakfast at the hotel and then swiping badges to get into the conference was the kind of Gallagher scam I expect from the earlier seasons.

I remember Mr. EB once told me that if you ever needed some food and free swag, all you needed was a decent looking suit because that would get you into a lot of meetings in downtown hotels. At some of the really huge ones, they do check badges at the door but at a lot of the smaller ones, they don't so you can just walk around, get free crap, and walk right into the happy hours and hospitality suites which often have lots of free food and alcohol.

I worked at some of those conferences and it really depends on who is hosting it and who they hire to be near the doors. Some of them are super lax about checking badges/credentials at the entrance. I also inadvertently attended some sponsored happy hours at various downtown bars. I just walked in after work and unbeknownst to me, they were hosting sponsored happy hour so there were tables full of free food.

And it was hard for me to feel bad about Frank and Mikey getting free totebags and t-shirts. All of those companies have marketing budgets for conferences so two less water bottles or whatever is not what's going to put anyone out of business. Besides, half the people who legitimately attend the conferences and take the free merch are never going to do business with those companies anyway and everyone knows it. They're happy to give all that crap away because whatever is left over they have to pack up and ship back to their office.

I don't think it's unreasonable for Debbie to ask for some of the money from Derek's death benefit. Franny IS his biological child and that's usually what the law is concerned with.

[Chaos Theory]

I think this show has the same issues a lot of shows do when the kids grow up.   You can make it cute and sad when kid Debbie kidnaps a baby or Carl is a big bully as long as it’s funny as well.   A bunch of teenagers robbing a truck can look funny if the guy driving the truck is a douchebag.      But  when kids grow up it becomes increasingly harder to figure out what to do with them.     Debbie has a good paying job that she just lost because everyone went on strike so now she has to find a new way to pay for Frannie.   She can either take eight jobs like Fiona did and it still won’t matter or demand the father pay his share.    You have Carl in the position of letting people who are even worse off them him stay in the house just like he did with the family that lived in the van.   You have Lip who has always wanted to prove he could be a better father than Frank actually trying to accomplish that.   You have Liam seeing his other side of the family and being freaked out by their niceness.     
 

I thought it was all done really well

Edited December 2, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[taanja]

37 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

I think this show has the same issues a lot of shows do when the kids grow up.   You can make it cute and sad when Debbie kidnaps a baby or Carl is a big bully as long as it’s funny as well.   A bunch of teenagers robbing a truck can look funny if the guy driving the stick is a douchebag.      But  when kids grow up it becomes increasingly harder to figure out what to do with them.     Debbie has a good paying job that she just lost because everyone went on strike so now she has to find a new way to pay for Frannie.   She can either take eight jobs like Fiona did abd it still won’t matter or demand the father pay his share.    You have Carl in the position of letting people who are even worse off them him staying in the house just like he did with the family that loved in the van.   You have Lip who has always wanted to prove he could be a better father than Frank actually trying to accomplish that.   You have Liam seeing his other side of the family and being freaked out by their niceness.     
 

I thought it was all done really well

 I agree. This show still entertains me and makes me laugh.

Frank and Mikey are like soul mates. They truly understand one another. and that little kiss Frank gave Mikey? Ahhhh. My cold dead heart grew a little warmer.

I've always thought Debbie deserved child support. Takes two to tango and create a child -- I always felt Derek should help support Frannie. I hope Debs gets some of that money from Dereks widow-- but being Shameless and all I won't hold my breath!

I laughed at the end when both Tammi and Kelly walked in! Ha! Lip and Carl were already moving on to the "next one" So very Gallagher of them.

I was liking that Lavar (sp?) dude showing Liam how to be a black man in a white man's world but Liam was suspicious of his niceness! Once again -- so very Gallagher!

I really miss Fiona. I keep hoping at the end of each ep -- Fiona will just show up and all will be right with the world.

Edited December 2, 2019 by taanja

[iMonrey]

Forget fumes, this show is running on empty. I thought this episode was possibly the worst in the series, ever. They are just plain out of ideas for Frank at this point and he just becomes more tedious and pointless by the episode. Every one of the women in the support group throwing themselves at Lip . . . again . . . honestly, everywhere this guy goes women throw themselves at him. Carl's story with the co-worker is reminiscent of Debbie's story with Derek. Debbie falling back into old patterns, nothing interesting going on with Liam, and Kev and Vee's story is downright stupid. 

I was hopeful during the last episode things might pick up with Ian getting out of jail but his absence this episode showed why they threw a bag of money at Cameron Monaghan to come back. They really need him because without him or Fiona they just don't know what to do anymore. It's actually sad. 

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I don't think it's unreasonable for Debbie to ask for some of the money from Derek's death benefit. Franny IS his biological child and that's usually what the law is concerned with.

It's hypocritical of Debbie to go after Derek's money after she tried to cut him out of Frannie's life. She deliberately chose full custody because she didn't want to share custody and turned down any kind of parental support from him. She's only doing this now because she's broke.

I'm wondering about Derek's mother, though. She was really the one who wanted a relationship with Frannie, but apparently Derek had more children with his wife because she said the money went to "his legitimate children (plural)." Maybe Derek's mother wrote Frannie off once she had more grandchildren.

[chabelisaywow]

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I laughed at the end when both Tammi and Kelly walked in! Ha! Lip and Carl were already moving on to the "next one" So very Gallagher of them.

Tami didn't die.. but I wonder if they will write her off soon? She is being written like a mother who isn't really interested in being a mother.  How does she walk in and confuse her baby with another (an AA baby!)? 

Soon. I hope she is gone soon. 

Kelly and her racist ass too. 

Edited December 2, 2019 by chabelisaywow

[ladle]

The issue is that this show now rests on the backs of a bunch of kids who were only meant to be tertiary characters. Fiona as a character was annoying as shit, but at least Emmy Rossum can act. 

[LibertarianSlut]

I think Emmy Rossum is a decent enough actress, but no range.  Her crying face, which was basically a big grin, then an exaggerated overbite and then eyes crinkling up was so corny.

I don't know all their real names (never wanted to become that viewer) so I'll just use their character names:  I think Lip, Ian and Frank are better, Frank the best technically.  Lip has a subtle handle on emotion that is rare.  Ian needs to workshop his Chicago accent as well as changing the way her approaches sex.  He is always so bro-ey about it; never a hint of romance.  He was like that with Trevor, not just Mickie.  I think Deb's a fine actress.  Carl is talented, but nothing to write home about.  He doesn't get much of a chance.

Liam is just reading his lines.  I can't tell if he's an awful actor, or if his underacting is a brilliant take on just how void of emotion one can become if they were raised by wolves.

Kev can turn it down several thousand notches, and he'll still be too much.  Vee also overdoes it, but I think the show is pushing her into the sassy black woman stereotype, complete with pursed lips 24/7.  I'd like to see her in something else, and away from Kev, because she's done some really good sad/serious scenes on this show. 

Off-topic:  Where are Jemma and Amy??  Are they with Sammy and Chuckie somewhere??

[Dance4Life]

9 hours ago, ladle said:

The issue is that this show now rests on the backs of a bunch of kids who were only meant to be tertiary characters. Fiona as a character was annoying as shit, but at least Emmy Rossum can act. 

Well, they are promoted to mains!

Carl’s kids return next week and they are the new tertiary characters. 🤣

 

Edited December 3, 2019 by Dance4Life

[Dance4Life]

7 hours ago, LibertarianSlut said:

I think Emmy Rossum is a decent enough actress, but no range.  Her crying face, which was basically a big grin, then an exaggerated overbite and then eyes crinkling up was so corny.

I don't know all their real names (never wanted to become that viewer) so I'll just use their character names:  I think Lip, Ian and Frank are better, Frank the best technically.  Lip has a subtle handle on emotion that is rare.  Ian needs to workshop his Chicago accent as well as changing the way her approaches sex.  He is always so bro-ey about it; never a hint of romance.  He was like that with Trevor, not just Mickie.  I think Deb's a fine actress.  Carl is talented, but nothing to write home about.  He doesn't get much of a chance.

Liam is just reading his lines.  I can't tell if he's an awful actor, or if his underacting is a brilliant take on just how void of emotion one can become if they were raised by wolves.

Kev can turn it down several thousand notches, and he'll still be too much.  Vee also overdoes it, but I think the show is pushing her into the sassy black woman stereotype, complete with pursed lips 24/7.  I'd like to see her in something else, and away from Kev, because she's done some really good sad/serious scenes on this show. 

Off-topic:  Where are Jemma and Amy??  Are they with Sammy and Chuckie somewhere??

Hahaha!  I am still waiting for their brother and grandma to return! 

[iMonrey]

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The issue is that this show now rests on the backs of a bunch of kids who were only meant to be tertiary characters.

I'd say that Lip, Ian and Debbie, in particular, have always been primary characters since Day 1 and that the show had to be careful casting them. Carl was sort of a one-note joke back in Season 1 and Liam was just a prop.

I don't think the problem is acting talent. William H. Macy is extremely talented but I'm just so tired of Frank and his silly antics. It's the writing that's the problem. The show needs new writers or something. Everything feels stale and rehashed and just plain lazy, like everyone is just phoning it in at this point.

I actually still like some of the characters which is why I'm still watching, but good grief, everything going on right now annoys the hell out of me. They could do so much better with these characters and it's like they're not even trying.

Edited December 3, 2019 by iMonrey

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I know who I am:

[DrSpaceman73]

Why does every woman instantly fall for Lip?  He is young and in shape, other than that though, I don't get it

[scrb]

6 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Why does every woman instantly fall for Lip?  He is young and in shape, other than that though, I don't get it

He's bug-eyed and smokes like a smokestack.

He's poor too, probably not big on personal hygiene.

[kathe5133]

I know this is mean, but I think he's kind of a male version of the "butt(his)er face".  Only writing could make him a chick magnet.