S06.E03: Ghost Your Baby

[whiporee]

I don't think you an call what Fiona did ghosting. What Jimmy did to her was ghosting.

 

Gus went on tour, he knew where she lived, and he made no contact with her, either. If anyone ghosted, it was Gus, not Fiona. 

 

But Fiona feels bad because she's got no self-esteem. She's got bravado, but not self esteem. and she's used to thinking of herself as the bad guy, even when she's trying as hard as she can to be the good one. They all have it -- one of the real differences between the British and the American versions is that the class system is so entrenched in Britain that the kind of situational self-loathing the Gallagher's situation incubates isn't a part of English culture, but it is a large part of the American one. Fiona thinks she's a bad person who does good instead of thinking she's a good person who sometimes does bad. So when her bitch little sister and her well-meaning friend accuse her of abhorrent behavior, her first instinct is to believe it. 

 

You can take it back to the thing with Mike -- his brother got her drunk and screwed her. She went over to end it and instead of saying okay, he screwed her again (she had a choice, but it wasn't as though she ripped his pants off). Then his brother used her as a pawn in his little family gamesmanship, and instead of listening to her, he just cut her off, letting her be shamed by his family when she was a victim of his family's little war. Then the brother left drugs on her coffee table. He was the unequivocal bad guy in that situation, but instead of getting in the face of Mike's sister and letting her know exactly what her sibling had done, Fiona took the blame because at her core, she believes she deserves it, just like the believes she deserved Gus's high-school assault and just like she's sure she deserves to being screwing a partially-recovered junkie. 

 

I don't think any of that is true -- I think Fiona's been a good person who at times has done questionable things. But she sees herself as the opposite, and until she changes that perspective, these things will continue to happen, and as they do, continue to make sense. 

Edited January 27, 2016 by whiporee

[Tara Ariano]

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

 

Shameless's Frank-Approved Pregnancy Is, By Definition, A Bad Pregnancy
Shameless may be all over the map, but Emmy Rossum nails it down.

[Chaos Theory]

As much as Gus's song is healthy and cathartic for him and in a lot of ways it is it was childish and bratty of him to sing it repeatidly, publicly and in front of her. If he wanted her to hear how he felt there were better more adult ways to go about it,,,.its called a mixed tape. It's called the mail.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I don't think you an call what Fiona did ghosting. What Jimmy did to her was ghosting.

Gus went on tour, he knew where she lived, and he made no contact with her, either. If anyone ghosted, it was Gus, not Fiona.

Especially since Fiona offered to go on tour with him and he told her not to. Granted that was after she slept with Jimmy so it's understandable that he wouldn't want to spend all day trapped in a van with her, but it's not like she cheated on him and then disappeared without a trace.

I don't consider what Fiona did to be ghosting Gus and I don't think that having an abortion is ghosting your baby. Monica taking off without a word for years is ghosting your kids. I felt like the writers were just trying to use the term "ghosting" and failing miserably.

Edited January 27, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Tatum]

The impression I got from the end of last season was that Gus was open to reconciliation. Fiona went to Sean and more or less asked if she should try and work things out with Gus or if Sean was interested in starting up something with him. It was pretty shitty of her- like she only wanted Gus if Sean wasn't an option. I think we are supposed to assume that Gus thought they were working things out not realizing he was Fiona's plan B.

While Fiona was selfish and immature, I agree that Gus singing that song in front of her, after pointing her out to the crowd, and encouraging her to stay by acting friendly, was unnecessarily cruel. If he couldn't adjust his set list at bare minimum he should have given her a heads up his song about her was offensive.

[stagmania]

The impression I got from the end of last season was that Gus was open to reconciliation. Fiona went to Sean and more or less asked if she should try and work things out with Gus or if Sean was interested in starting up something with him. It was pretty shitty of her- like she only wanted Gus if Sean wasn't an option. I think we are supposed to assume that Gus thought they were working things out not realizing he was Fiona's plan B.

 

Yep, it's hard to remember or track the story since the opening of season 6 basically completely rewrote what happened in the season 5 finale. Fiona chose to go to Sean despite Gus trying to reconcile, and Sean rejected her. That's how last season ended. And suddenly now she and Sean are in a relationship and we're left to fill in the blanks of how that came to be and what happened with Gus after that. I think the implication is that Sean changed his mind and she ditched Gus to be with him. Though I agree that calling it "ghosting" is a stretch and seems borne of an attempt to coin a new abortion phrase.

Edited January 28, 2016 by stagmania

[Chaos Theory]

I was watching a couple episodes of season 1 last night an I realized why I am enjoying this season so much. I looks like it is going back to basics. I loved the randomness of the scams the Galaghers pulled; scamming a water heater from a funeral. That episode where the neighbor emptied a truck full of meat. That kind of stuff that is meaningless to the overall plot of the show. I see Carl doing that kind of stuff that season and I am loving it. Selling guns to teachers and having it snowball and then having him use the money to buy groceries was s very Galleger thing to do.

Plus Frank is always at his most interesting when he shows interest in his kids.

Edited January 29, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[aemom]

I am very confused. What is the time lapse here?

Carl was in juvie for how long? Fiona is pregnant and it could be Sean, or Gus or Jimmy/Steve? Hasn't it been a while since she's seen them?

Once she finds out she's pregnant, then she has nausea and symptoms, but it seems like she could be further along based on the potential father list.

Has anyone figured this out or am I dense?

[dancrow236]

Especially since Fiona offered to go on tour with him and he told her not to. Granted that was after she slept with Jimmy so it's understandable that he wouldn't want to spend all day trapped in a van with her, but it's not like she cheated on him and then disappeared without a trace.

I don't consider what Fiona did to be ghosting Gus and I don't think that having an abortion is ghosting your baby. Monica taking off without a word for years is ghosting your kids. I felt like the writers were just trying to use the term "ghosting" and failing miserably.

 

Same. What Fiona did may have been crappy, but it wasn't ghosting someone. That's Monica's deal.

[whiporee]

 

I am very confused. What is the time lapse here?

I don't know either. It couldn't be more than two months, maybe three since the last season ended, because Fiona would know by then.

 

All of the rest of it makes sense except Carl. Maybe he got a ... I don't know. And I don't know how Chuckie's still in if he's not. 

 

But let's say Carl got out on good behavior. Then maybe a month since the finale, I would think. 

[stagmania]

I am very confused. What is the time lapse here?

 

There is no answer that fits all the storylines. Shameless's timeline has been a total mess since around season 3, and they've given up even pretending to care. For instance, just with the start of this season, you've got Debbie still being early in her pregnancy (which was discovered in 5x12) and Fiona being less than 12 weeks pregnant (since she can still get an abortion) and thinking Jimmy could be one of the potential fathers (she slept with him in 5x06), while somehow Carl has already served 10 months (which he started in 5x09) and Mickey has been arrested, charged, tried, convicted and sentenced to 15 years, when last we saw him in 5x12 he was out and running from Sammi. That doesn't even get into the problems with the timeline of Lip's college story, which has always been all over the place.