S06.E01: I Only Miss Her When I'm Breathing

[dangwoodchucks]

I don't really know much of Jeffery Dean Morgan (although he had a small stint on Greys, right?)  but I do still wonder why they changed the actors? But I find the character grates too, maybe because it's more of the same with Fiona?  Plus, wow, it was funny how for most of last season he was all to Fiona, "you have a crazy life filled with chaos that I can't deal with it, we can only be friends and not be together" but once his son left the state with the mom he was all in. Like way to do a 180.  Plus, Fiona is still married. That was left very open-ended, at least on Gus's end from my understanding? Fiona said they're separated but I think Gus was sort of leaving the door open for a possibly to get back, right? Sidenote: I like Gus a lot, I also liked Jimmy/Steve, I feel like I'm alone on that boat in these forums but I always liked him on the show, I however didn't like his two episodes last season, it felt like the writing and character was different, but then I was like, 'I hope she stays with the band guy' and of course, she didn't.

 

 That they teased us at the end of S4 with Jeffery Dean Morgan and then gave us Dermot Mulroney is one big reason why I never liked the character but even an entire season later, I still don't like him but I can't tell if it's the actor or the character.  Probably some of both.  

 

Yes.   

 

Just kidding, I'm sure there are at least a few more people but I've always liked how Shelia referred to him as, "That Chuckie thing."  when she was telling Frank she not only wanted Sheila gone but she couldn't help it, she didn't want "that Chuckie thing" in her house any more.   From then on, that's how I referred to the character too.    Was there any doubt this kid would spend his life in jail/prison one small sentence at a time? 

I read in a couple of places that JDM wasn't available for season 5 that's why they got Dermot. I hadn't realized it, but they changed the character's name. When JDM appeared the character was named Charlie Peters.Would things have been different with JDM? Who knows, but damn does he exude hotness.

 

I was totally uninterested in what Sean was going through last season with his son/him using or not using, etc. because I didn't care about the character. Plus I was angry with Fiona spending so much time worrying about Sean when she should have been worrying about what her siblings were getting into or heaven forbid, devote time to the marriage she agreed to.

 

You're not alone Whosthatgirl, I liked Gus and Jimmy/Steve too.

 

Wow, Liam is finally in pre-K.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Shameless Returns With A Juvie Kind of Love
It's a new season with the Gallaghers, as Carl comes back from kiddie prison, Fiona continues boss-humping, and Debbie remains determined to keep her pregnancy a secret.

[iMonrey]

 

I don't think he makes sense as a person that Fiona would be into.

 

Plus as a recovering drug addict he shouldn't be anywhere within a mile near the Gallagher family. 

 

I just can't with Debbie anymore. Is she really so delusional she failed to pick up on her boyfriend's total lack of enthusiasm about the Planned Parenthood appointment? She's yammering on and on about it and couldn't pick up any signals from him whatsoever? Moreover, I feel like the show cheated by not showing us the scene where she tells him she's pregnant. What was his reaction? It's easy enough for her to ignore his reactions to her blathering about a meeting with the doctor but his reaction to actually finding out she's carrying his baby? Was it jaw-dropping shock? He had to have made it pretty plain he wasn't thrilled. Ignoring this and pretending he's just as happy about it as she is makes her look like she's the craziest one in the whole family. Maybe she's the one with bipolar disorder. Seriously, Monica is more grounded in reality than this kid.

[rose711]

Sorry I can't find the post to quote. But Debbie absolutely has a right to medical privacy from Fiona. Depending on the state, parents or guardians only have the right to certain things like appointments and immunizations.

These privacy laws are why some states require the parent or guardian or grandparent of a minor to consent to an abortion.

Without that provision, the minors privacy would be protected and the parent or guardian not be required to be notified.

[WhosThatGirl]

Plus as a recovering drug addict he shouldn't be anywhere within a mile near the Gallagher family. 

 

I just can't with Debbie anymore. Is she really so delusional she failed to pick up on her boyfriend's total lack of enthusiasm about the Planned Parenthood appointment? She's yammering on and on about it and couldn't pick up any signals from him whatsoever? Moreover, I feel like the show cheated by not showing us the scene where she tells him she's pregnant. What was his reaction? It's easy enough for her to ignore his reactions to her blathering about a meeting with the doctor but his reaction to actually finding out she's carrying his baby? Was it jaw-dropping shock? He had to have made it pretty plain he wasn't thrilled. Ignoring this and pretending he's just as happy about it as she is makes her look like she's the craziest one in the whole family. Maybe she's the one with bipolar disorder. Seriously, Monica is more grounded in reality than this kid.

Yeah, I'm still confused on what Debbie's whole endgame was. First being that she lied to Fiona, eventually, even if the boyfriend was all in it (which doubtful, but none withstanding let's just go with that he was all in it to raise a baby) Fiona would figure out that Debbie was pregnant at some point. So, yeah. Then with the boyfriend up and went to Florida, aside from Debbie and the crying scene, I don't know why she didn't say anything to Fiona right away after that. Once the boyfriend was gone, I don't know why Debbie didn't come clean right away.  Like, I don't get the endgame. 

[Cosmocrush]

You're not alone Whosthatgirl, I liked Gus and Jimmy/Steve too.

Me too.   But then at Fiona's age, I had the same attraction to terrible-but-fun guys and musicians.  

 

Jeffery Dean Morgan on the other hand?  I think he could portray sexual chemistry with a chair.  That guy is Hot enough for two actors. 

[Petunia13]

Yeah, I'm still confused on what Debbie's whole endgame was. First being that she lied to Fiona, eventually, even if the boyfriend was all in it (which doubtful, but none withstanding let's just go with that he was all in it to raise a baby) Fiona would figure out that Debbie was pregnant at some point. So, yeah. Then with the boyfriend up and went to Florida, aside from Debbie and the crying scene, I don't know why she didn't say anything to Fiona right away after that. Once the boyfriend was gone, I don't know why Debbie didn't come clean right away. Like, I don't get the endgame.

Debbie was trying to wait until she was too far along for an abortion.

[Isazouzi]

Jeffery Dean Morgan on the other hand?  I think he could portray sexual chemistry with a chair.  That guy is Hot enough for two actors. 

He could and he does, but on The Good Wife.

[pfk505]

I still enjoy this show for the most part but Lip's storyline bugs me to no end as its so, so stupid.

 

1. Professor Rizzoli and Isles risking the total obliteration of her career to not only have sex with Lip, because he's irresistible or whatever, but to do so on school property sneaking in and out of the dorm.  Inappropriate doesn't even begin to describe her, she's reckless in the extreme and apparently just following a pattern she's been at for years.  Sorry, but no.

 

2. Lip taking upper level philosophy courses for his robotics degree.  Nope.

 

3. Lip has been in school for what, 2 years?  He's now a TA in a class which, at best, he took one year ago.  I can't say that this would never happen, but come on.

 

4. "You should be a teacher" based off a single interaction with a student in which Lip "bends the rules" for the student (apparently TA's have such authority).

 

5. Lip beating up Professor Rizzoli and Isles' son in a rage because he's apparently in love with the magic philosophy teacher.  Bleccch.  Reckless even for him.

 

The rest of the show is skating by as normal.. A few laughs a week but nothing spectacular.  Kev is still #1

[iMonrey]

 

Yeah, I'm still confused on what Debbie's whole endgame was.

 

Last season she was talking to that sister-in-law of her boyfriend who'd gotten knocked up, saying how the family had taken her in as one of their own, which was especially meaningful because she had such a crappy family of her own, similar to Debbie's. So Debbie wanted that too. That much I get. 

 

What I don't get (and what we were kind of cheated out of) is how Debbie could be so delusional as to think her boyfriend would be just as happy as her about the pregnancy, and we never saw his reaction to learning about it. They skipped right to him knowing and saying he thought maybe they should sit down with their parents and tell them about the baby. We at least saw he wasn't too enthused about the doctor's appointment. She's fooling herself into thinking his family forced him to move away to keep them apart (her text to him demonstrated as much). I just don't see how she could be this delusional. 

 

 

4. "You should be a teacher" based off a single interaction with a student in which Lip "bends the rules" for the student (apparently TA's have such authority).

 

It wasn't just that. The professor walked into the lecture hall while Lip was actually teaching and saw how good he was at it. That's believable enough. Some teachers are terrible at teaching (believe me, I've had my share). Just because you understand a subject doesn't mean you're good at explaining it to other people. Math teachers in particular - a lot of them have terrible communication skills and suck at explaining things to students who aren't hard-wired for math the way the teacher is. 

[Cosmocrush]

 

What I don't get (and what we were kind of cheated out of) is how Debbie could be so delusional as to think her boyfriend would be just as happy as her about the pregnancy, and we never saw his reaction to learning about it. They skipped right to him knowing and saying he thought maybe they should sit down with their parents and tell them about the baby. We at least saw he wasn't too enthused about the doctor's appointment. She's fooling herself into thinking his family forced him to move away to keep them apart (her text to him demonstrated as much). I just don't see how she could be this delusional. 

 

 

It wasn't just that. The professor walked into the lecture hall while Lip was actually teaching and saw how good he was at it. That's believable enough. Some teachers are terrible at teaching (believe me, I've had my share). Just because you understand a subject doesn't mean you're good at explaining it to other people. Math teachers in particular - a lot of them have terrible communication skills and suck at explaining things to students who aren't hard-wired for math the way the teacher is. 

Bolding mine.   

 

I find many 13 year old girls almost entirely delusional about boys.    It's not hard for me to believe that Debbie believes this baby is the answer to her crappy homelife.    But I hate that we were cheated out of the pregnancy reveal

 

And I agree 100% about math teachers and in my case, science teachers.  Teaching itself is a particular skill/talent that many, many professors just do not possess. 

Edited January 13, 2016 by Cosmocrush

[ElectricBoogaloo]

2. Lip taking upper level philosophy courses for his robotics degree. Nope.

3. Lip has been in school for what, 2 years? He's now a TA in a class which, at best, he took one year ago. I can't say that this would never happen, but come on.

These two I have no problem with. Some schools have weird requirements for graduation or specific majors. The philosophy class may also just be because he's interested in it. I took several classes that were completely unrelated to my major just because they covered something I was interested in. Does a biology major ever HAVE to take a class about 19th century Italian opera? Nope, but I did. I also took an upper division literature class about fairy tales, a class comparing the movie Amadeus to Mozart/Salieri in real life, and abnormal psychology - all just for fun.

Mr. EB was a TA for a class he hadn't taken and that wasn't even in his department. He did this during his second year and it was at a very large university (not some tiny private college). It definitely happens.

ITA that some professors are horrible teachers. Ot seems more common in the science fields because these brilliant people are hired for their research but they are terrible at teaching anything, especially lower level stuff. My dad was an engineer (not a teacher) but he had the same problem helping me with my algebra homework in middle school which was really frustrating for me at the time. I later realized that a lot of that kind of math was so simple/easy/obvious to him that he did it without thinking and he couldn't understand why I didn't already get it. Needless to say, it was mutually frustrating at the time.

Edited January 13, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[iMonrey]

 

I find many 13 year old girls almost entirely delusional about boys.

 

Debbie is 15 now. Not to say she can't be delusional about boys at that age too but given her hard life she should be wise beyond her years. They've also established, many times, she's good at school and gets straight A's. She's no dummy. But this whole baby thing just makes her look stupid.

[WhosThatGirl]

Debbie is 15 now. Not to say she can't be delusional about boys at that age too but given her hard life she should be wise beyond her years. They've also established, many times, she's good at school and gets straight A's. She's no dummy. But this whole baby thing just makes her look stupid.

This. I..don't really get it.  I know that the idea was given to her when the boyfriends brothers girlfriend had such a great experience when she had a baby with the family and Debbie wants to get away from her family, but like we are saying, Debbie isn't dumb. She's a smart girl. Although last season there was hardly any mention of school so the writers probably are forgetting all that in favor of being boy crazy. 

[TV Anonymous]

I guess the term "Shameless" here applies not only to the main characters, but to the whole universe of the show. Case in point, the girl that Lip has sex with. When the professor barges in, she is on the bed, completely naked. She then happily greets the professor and introduces herself. Her first priority. Instead of covering herself with something, anything...

[SimoneS]

Debbie is 15 now. Not to say she can't be delusional about boys at that age too but given her hard life she should be wise beyond her years. They've also established, many times, she's good at school and gets straight A's. She's no dummy. But this whole baby thing just makes her look stupid.

 

While this story might be frustrating, but I think that it realistic. Other than on tv, teenagers generally are not "wise" and those who are emotionally abandoned and ignored by their parental figures like Debbie are not likely going to make good decisions. Also, the highest teen pregnancy and birth rates are found in low income teenagers just like Debbie. They are far less likely to have abortions than their higher income counterparts. 

Edited January 17, 2016 by SimoneS

[Happytobehere]

Dermot Mulroney's character just grates on me. I was hoping we'd be done with him, but I guess we're stuck. I can't put my finger on it... He just seems so bland and kind of pitiful. I don't think he makes sense as a person that Fiona would be into. I mean, he's got drama attached to him, so there's that. But he's not charismatic at all.

I have ne et seen Dermot Mulroney be appealing in any role. He is dishwater daughter and always causes me to tune him out every time I am subjected to his presence on screen. Definitely a poor substitute for the more talented, more charismatic and better looking Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

I too am happy that Kevin and Vee are back on solid ground. With no Mickey and Ian, the show desperately needs this pairing to keep the show on solid ground.

Fiona truly is Frank and Monica's daughter.

Lip and the professor story need to go away ASAP.

[kieyra]

Bummed that the show has to make every single teenage girl in the neighborhood get pregnant. I understand it's realistic, but Debbie seemed different.