S10.E05: Sparky

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Frank hatches the idea for a new scheme when an unexpected visitor shows up at the Gallagher house. With Tami back in the house, Lip struggles to give up control of Fred. Ian returns home and is immediately thrown in with a corrupt parole officer.

Promo:

Clip:

Original air date: 12/8/19

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I'm glad that Ian tried to stay on the straight and narrow (however short-lived that was).

Heh, I love that Anne and her entire family can see what idiots the Gallaghers are. Her family's descriptions of what the Gallaghers were doing were 100% accurate.

And OF COURSE Frank is just selling his grandchildren (and saying he should have sold his own kids).

I can't imagine that Peppa actually wants to raise Franny so is she just calling Debbie's bluff? Or is this her way of getting to keep all of the death money even if it means raising another kid? Is there a part of her that thinks Franny would be better off with her than with Debbie and the Gallaghers?

V is getting $20 for each prescription that the doctors write. How much is Mimi making?

[Mindthinkr]

45 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Heh, I love that Anne and her entire family can see what idiots the Gallaghers are. Her family's descriptions of what the Gallaghers were doing were 100% accurate.

That’s one of the best aspects of this show now. I was hoping for a confrontation with the grandmother and Frank over his stealing the tamales. 

I’m not enjoying the return of Lip’s baby mama being back. To latch or not to latch is not a storyline I’m interested in. 

Did I miss something? How did Liam get all those new sneakers, and why aren’t they being sold to get money rather than being given out as party favors? 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

7 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

How did Liam get all those new sneakers, and why aren’t they being sold to get money rather than being given out as party favors? 

Liam was acting as the manager for a basketball player who’s deciding between two teams. The recruiters heard Liam say he was planning a party so they started offering him all kinds of stuff (catered food, shoes, etc). Even the welcome home sign was sponsored!

Edited December 8, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Mindthinkr]

@ElectricBoogaloo Thank you

[LibertarianSlut]

This episode was so much better than last week's. Better use of characters. Better cinematography.

Best was probably Ian's storyline, with the insane parole officer and scam ambulance scenario, because the conundrum was real--do I stay or do I go now? And the PO was Classic Shameless, which I love.

Second was Kev, because it was so bizarre and out there and non-PC. I'm fucking shocked that this show made humor out of molestation without bashing us over the head with a cause, and...it was actually funny and dare I say, I could see Kev's POV? 

Frank's story with the babies was Classic Frank, and I was glad to see Randy again, because I love when vanished characters reappear. Frank performed exactly as expected, and it was done well.

Liam's SL was ok; it was a good way to tie the episode together with the SWAG, and Liam got to be a Gallagher by pocketing Deb's $60 free and clear. I still don't know how I feel about the kid's acting--can't tell if I hate it or it's brilliant.

Fifth would be Vee, because it was actually funny, so it didn't need to be realistic. This was what I wanted her to do last week. Plus, Jemma and Amy are alive, yay! 

Carl...I can sum my feelings with "eh." So Kelly is fucking another guy, but she and Carl aren't breaking up yet, but Carl kinda has permission to fuck Anne...yawn. Why don't they show them at work anymore? What about their vaping scheme? Was that just forgotten, like Carl and Kelly's scam to steal municipal segues in season Who Cares?

Anne's family serves as some comic relief, but I'm not at all convinced Deb would have just let them move in, with no mention of rent/ponying up for utilities when last season she was charging rent to Liam. Also, where do they sleep? When Ian came home, he surveyed the bedrooms and concluded which Gallaghers were staying where, with no stumbling over a sleeping bag or anything. For these reasons, I can't just accept this storyline.

Debbie's was my second least favorite storyline, because, once again, it was fake, the way the consequences for setting up an account in Lip's name was fake. Debbie can't serve Pepa. It would have to be the sheriff. Neither Deb nor her posse would be ignorant about this kind of thing prior to attempting it, so it was just really shoddy writing, on which we spent a quarter of the episode? Plus, when they had their sit-down, Pepa offered Deb a percentage of the death benefit if she could raise Frannie. That's an offer; that's not "going for custody," as it was later characterized in the episode. Get your shit straight, show.

I have to save my least favorite storyline for Lip, not because of Tammi and the baby, which was just boring, but because Lip's vaping was an anti-vaping PSA--not a thinly veiled PSA, just a PSA--and I was appalled, because this is a fictional television show, not the news.

     "Hey, you know they market these things to kids?" is about the most unsubtle line of dialogue ever.  Later on Ian teases Lip about the marshmallow flavor. Finally Lip asks Ian to destroy the thing. Just like an after school special. If life were as simple as putting things in groups of 'good' or 'bad,' I suppose vaping would be 'bad.' But you know what is worse than vaping, Ian and Lip, you fucking toolbox children? Smoking cigarettes. 

If Lip, a recovering alcoholic, who was been smoking since he was 10, is able to quit smoking cold turkey, well then I don't know what to say, except it's hardly the way things work in real life. Just let fucking Lip smoke, my God, this show is so woke-scold.

[chabelisaywow]

Quote

V is getting $20 for each prescription that the doctors write. How much is Mimi making?

I thought this may lead to V becoming a rep herself - but she can't explain how the drugs actually work.

[Chaos Theory]

Liam is where Lip was the first few seasons.  He has brains and street smarts and uses them both.  Lip was the kid who made money taking jocks SATs but had no intention of going to college himself because he thought it was a joke and white college people where jokes.     But also we deep psychological problems.   Later seasons have forgotten that about Lip.    
 

Right now Liam is being written that way.   The kid who will play manager to a jock and actually be able to negotiate with adults and walk out with what HE needs out of the deal.  
 

As for Debbie I don’t think she thought this whole money thing through.   She thought Pepe would just hand over some cash then walk away.  I am thinking the show is acting again trying to write a “what kind of mother is Debbie really” story.   I know people do t like her but she does love Frannie and while Frank would sell Frannie for a couple of dollars and not think twice about it and even tried to do that with Liam way back when Debbie actually loves Frannie and would fight to the death for her.    

[iMonrey]

Quote

Pepa offered Deb a percentage of the death benefit if she could raise Frannie. That's an offer; that's not "going for custody," as it was later characterized in the episode. Get your shit straight, show.

Yeah that was strange. Why did Debbie tell her siblings that Peppa was "filing for custody," and why did Lip have to reassure her that they wouldn't let anyone take Frannie away from her? Peppa didn't "file" for anything. And we've already been through this with Derek's mother, and the judge or arbitrator let Debbie keep Frannie. There's no way anyone is going to give Frannie to her dead father's second wife. Get your shit straight, indeed. 

Quote

If Lip, a recovering alcoholic, who was been smoking since he was 10, is able to quit smoking cold turkey, well then I don't know what to say, except it's hardly the way things work in real life. 

Actually, Lip asked Ian to give back the vaping pen right after, and he was still using it when he got to work, so he hasn't quit yet. I agree the vaping dialogue was ham-fisted though. Not to get all PSA but sometimes I think Big Tobacco is behind all the anti-vaping propaganda. Vaping is the way I quit smoking. 

I did think it was kind of funny that Anne's family switched from watching the telenovela to the drama unfolding with Frank and the babies. And that they were racing the babies to see which one was better. The shot of the babies crawling across the floor in the background was really good.

I really don't understand the EMT scam. Do they actually get paid by the mile? Is this a private ambulance or something? Who pays them? My insurance did not cover a ride in the ambulance.

[Chaos Theory]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I really don't understand the EMT scam. Do they actually get paid by the mile? Is this a private ambulance or something? Who pays them? My insurance did not cover a ride in the ambulance.

Insurance scam.  The first question they asked the woman they “saved” was if her insurance payments were up to date.   Then they rattled off all these treatments that get billed to the insurance.    The insurance gets billed and Ian Parol officer gets a kickback from somebody I wasn’t clear exactly who.   But it is an insurance scam that could get a bunch of Ex cons in a lot of trouble which makes them the perfect fall guys if things go sideways.  

[taanja]

On 12/9/2019 at 12:22 PM, Chaos Theory said:

Insurance scam.  The first question they asked the woman they “saved” was if her insurance payments were up to date.   Then they rattled off all these treatments that get billed to the insurance.    The insurance gets billed and Ian Parol officer gets a kickback from somebody I wasn’t clear exactly who.   But it is an insurance scam that could get a bunch of Ex cons in a lot of trouble which makes them the perfect fall guys if things go sideways.  

That's how I understood it too. And if they complain to the PO -- she gets them sent back to jail.

I did laugh at Frank selling the baby to a black couple -- twist! Black couple adopts white baby. And Carl found out they were his kids.  So Debbie, Lip and Carl have the new generation of Gallagher's happening right now. Love it!

I did enjoy Ana's family watching all the Gallagher drama-- better than a telanovela

Can that Peppa chick actually sue for custody? How would she have any claim whatsoever to Frannie? I was confused.

Edited December 11, 2019 by taanja

[preeya]

6 hours ago, taanja said:

Can that Peppa chick actually sue for custody? How would she have any claim whatsoever to Frannie? I was confused.

I don't think she was suing, she was negotiating a deal. A portion of the insurance money for custody.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

19 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Insurance scam.  The first question they asked the woman they “saved” was if her insurance payments were up to date.   Then they rattled off all these treatments that get billed to the insurance.    The insurance gets billed and Ian Parol officer gets a kickback from somebody I wasn’t clear exactly who.   But it is an insurance scam that could get a bunch of Ex cons in a lot of trouble which makes them the perfect fall guys if things go sideways.  

I think they actually asked if she was still on her parents' insurance.

[Dance4Life]

On 12/8/2019 at 6:53 PM, LibertarianSlut said:

This episode was so much better than last week's. Better use of characters. Better cinematography.

Best was probably Ian's storyline, with the insane parole officer and scam ambulance scenario, because the conundrum was real--do I stay or do I go now? And the PO was Classic Shameless, which I love.

Second was Kev, because it was so bizarre and out there and non-PC. I'm fucking shocked that this show made humor out of molestation without bashing us over the head with a cause, and...it was actually funny and dare I say, I could see Kev's POV? 

Frank's story with the babies was Classic Frank, and I was glad to see Randy again, because I love when vanished characters reappear. Frank performed exactly as expected, and it was done well.

Liam's SL was ok; it was a good way to tie the episode together with the SWAG, and Liam got to be a Gallagher by pocketing Deb's $60 free and clear. I still don't know how I feel about the kid's acting--can't tell if I hate it or it's brilliant.

Fifth would be Vee, because it was actually funny, so it didn't need to be realistic. This was what I wanted her to do last week. Plus, Jemma and Amy are alive, yay! 

Carl...I can sum my feelings with "eh." So Kelly is fucking another guy, but she and Carl aren't breaking up yet, but Carl kinda has permission to fuck Anne...yawn. Why don't they show them at work anymore? What about their vaping scheme? Was that just forgotten, like Carl and Kelly's scam to steal municipal segues in season Who Cares?

Anne's family serves as some comic relief, but I'm not at all convinced Deb would have just let them move in, with no mention of rent/ponying up for utilities when last season she was charging rent to Liam. Also, where do they sleep? When Ian came home, he surveyed the bedrooms and concluded which Gallaghers were staying where, with no stumbling over a sleeping bag or anything. For these reasons, I can't just accept this storyline.

Debbie's was my second least favorite storyline, because, once again, it was fake, the way the consequences for setting up an account in Lip's name was fake. Debbie can't serve Pepa. It would have to be the sheriff. Neither Deb nor her posse would be ignorant about this kind of thing prior to attempting it, so it was just really shoddy writing, on which we spent a quarter of the episode? Plus, when they had their sit-down, Pepa offered Deb a percentage of the death benefit if she could raise Frannie. That's an offer; that's not "going for custody," as it was later characterized in the episode. Get your shit straight, show.

I have to save my least favorite storyline for Lip, not because of Tammi and the baby, which was just boring, but because Lip's vaping was an anti-vaping PSA--not a thinly veiled PSA, just a PSA--and I was appalled, because this is a fictional television show, not the news.

     "Hey, you know they market these things to kids?" is about the most unsubtle line of dialogue ever.  Later on Ian teases Lip about the marshmallow flavor. Finally Lip asks Ian to destroy the thing. Just like an after school special. If life were as simple as putting things in groups of 'good' or 'bad,' I suppose vaping would be 'bad.' But you know what is worse than vaping, Ian and Lip, you fucking toolbox children? Smoking cigarettes. 

If Lip, a recovering alcoholic, who was been smoking since he was 10, is able to quit smoking cold turkey, well then I don't know what to say, except it's hardly the way things work in real life. Just let fucking Lip smoke, my God, this show is so woke-scold.

They are watching Frannie, sleeping with Frank and taking care of the house. They also go tamale money. 
 

But, the funny thing....is that they all come and go from the scenes.  
 

The fakest thing this episode was Tammys (if this her name?) post baby belly.

hahahahahahaha!  Production didn’t even try! 😗

[taanja]

On 12/10/2019 at 2:13 PM, Dance4Life said:

  The fakest thing this episode was Tammys (if this her name?) post baby belly.

hahahahahahaha!  Production didn’t even try! 😗

The bloody bandage was kind of gross. That's enough realism for me. I don't need to see a stretch-marked doughy puffy stomach.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

You've been served, bitch!