S09.E05: Black Haired Ginger

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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Frank's new liver medication comes with tragic side effects.

Promo:

Clip:

 

Original air date: 10/7/18

[Dee]

Liam is the best!

[100Proof]

Why does Liam's bully stalker and Carl's general's daughter look the same

[planet17]

This is the first time I had tears in my eyes watching Shameless since season 7. That is a good thing.

It's not as good as it was before, but it was the best episode this season. By far.

I loved Ian contemplating what he would've missed from his family if he went to jail. I loved the family dynamic. I loved Lip carefully helping Carl with his tye, and both looking at each other dearly. I loved Lip and Ian talking in the kitchen. I loved Debbie, Carl and Liam talking about the "pregnant" girl. And I loved Ian's speech at the end.

Those scenes are Shameless at its best.

[HollyG]

This was my favorite episode in awhile. Loved Ian & Lip's conversation in the kitchen. Loved that all of the Gallagher's (except Frank) were waiting for Ian in the living room... all dressed up to go to court with him. Happy tears.

Frank with Katey Sagal's character at the hospital were a hoot! 

 

p.s. Does anyone know the name of the song that Fiona & Ford were dancing to?

Edited October 7, 2018 by HollyG

[Dee]

This episode is far from perfect, but character-wise it's pretty great.

However, I loathe the blatant mis-characterization of Fiona & Ian's relationship.

[chocolatine]

14 hours ago, Dee said:

Liam is the best!

The current Liam actor really makes up for all the years Liam didn't talk.

If Ian is pleading temporary insanity, won't his initial statement hurt him? It sounded pretty eloquent and well thought-out, not something that someone would come up with in a fit of insanity.

I feel like I missed a piece of Lip's racing storyline. Have we seen that guy before who invited him? He acted like he knew Lip. I'm worried this will become his new addiction; he may have gotten a handle on his alcoholism, but not on his tendency to self-sabotage.

I still don't care whether or not Debbie is a lesbian, but it was fun to see Jessica Szohr's bitchy wife again. Wasn't Ford their sperm donor? So now he has a biological child of his living upstairs from him, and he still cares more about some obscure blueprints. At least he was an ass to Fiona for only 3/4 of the episode, that's a tiny bit of progress.

3 hours ago, HollyG said:

p.s. Does anyone know the name of the song that Fiona & Ford were dancing to?

According to Shazam, it's The Magic by Robert Francis.

Edited October 7, 2018 by chocolatine

[HollyG]

55 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

According to Shazam, it's The Magic by Robert Francis.

Thank you Chocolatine!

[iMonrey]

I had completely forgotten about the lesbian couple who lived upstairs. Was that even the same actress? I didn't recognize one of them at all.

While Ford may be correct that Ian is an adult and doesn't need Fiona to take care of him, helping a sibling in trouble still outweighs a planned social event. 

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If Ian is pleading temporary insanity, won't his initial statement hurt him? It sounded pretty eloquent and well thought-out, not something that someone would come up with in a fit of insanity.

His plea is that he was off his meds at the time he set fire to the van . . . not now, when he's in court. He's back on them again.

[kieyra]

On 10/7/2018 at 1:11 PM, 100Proof said:

Why does Liam's bully stalker and Carl's general's daughter look the same

This drove me crazy. Also, what happened to the uh ... Liam's version of the same person? I might have missed a scene.

[whiporee]

The Gay Jesus people are rather demanding, aren't they?

Interesting -- but sort of realistic -- that Ian went to Milkolvich fore prison insight. And that he got something worthwhile out of it. As a parent with kids are getting older,Ii thought it was accurate that our perspectives do change as the kids you knew growing up aren't little kids anymore. Even for hardened criminals, it's a different mentality when one of them comes to you as an adult. 

I know I was supposed to feel this way, but I was glad Lip didn't drink. They good job of showing how deadly boredom can be for addicts. I know the horse is long since dead, but I found myself really hoping for a Karen return at the end of the episode. Or at least Mandy. Or Sierra. Someone to give him something to do. He does need to get back to school before he lets too much time pass. 

While I thought it was a good thing, "going all Fiona" would have been a lot better if we'd heard reference to it in the past. I wish they had dived a bit more into it, with Fiona telling Ford that she had raised them, and Debbie, Lip and Ian talking about the same thing. They have been through a lot together, and it would have been good to address it. 

Liam and his bully were funny It was a little fast for Gallaghers to throw someone out, though. 

Carl seems to have taken on Lip's magic penis. "You're an officer and a gentleman" was quite forced, but I could also see a teenager saying it. 

Debbie's reaction with F's lesbian pals was good. But there were little parts of it that made it work. The reaction of the one who didn't undress -- like she was saying of her partner, "she can't help herself" was priceless. As was Debbie's absolutely gobsmacked look when she saw the beautiful naked body and getting a beautiful naked kiss was damn near perfect, In all, far and away the best Debbie episode in a while. 

As a father of a daughter (who is older than Kev's, though) I thought all his reactions were spot on to the extent Shameless would allow. But I have certainly spent plenty of time singing things like "stay away from boys." 

One thing I was happy about was that the telegraphed giant blow up fight between Ford and Fiona didn't happen. I don't care for Ford, but they worked so hard to let us know Fiona was going to miss the event. So when he was mad but not in a breakup way, I was relieved to see something different. 

[100Proof]

1 hour ago, kieyra said:

This drove me crazy. Also, what happened to the uh ... Liam's version of the same person? I might have missed a scene.

Hmmm, yeah, she came to the house, plopped on the couch, then the whole family was off to Ian' court appearance. Were'd she go?? lol

99% of all the movies and tv shows I watch go in one eye and out the other anyway. Once a show/movie is over, ten minutes later it's gone from my brain. That's why I don't get how some people can reach back to earlier episodes and seasons and come up with all the self referential stuff. Who was that?? Who said what? When did that happen?? I dunno!  hehe

Its Always Sunny In  Philadelphia fanbois driving me crazy. Oh, hahaha, What Dee just said to Charlie in ep2, S13 was a response to what Charlie said to Dee back in ep7, S03.  That was HILARIOUS!!  Grrrrrrrrrrr, no it wasn't

Edited October 8, 2018 by 100Proof

[arachne]

During the closing credits, the Gallaghers dropped off Liam's bully -- apparently drugged and unconscious -- in front of a Planned Parenthood clinic. 

[iMonrey]

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Interesting -- but sort of realistic -- that Ian went to Milkolvich for prison insight.

I thought it was a real stretch. Terry seems like the last person in the world Ian would go to for anything given the animosity and violence Terry has shown him in the past. Surely Ian knows someone else who's been in prison. Heck his own grandmother spent years in prison. (I know she's dead but I'm just saying, growing up in that neighborhood Ian probably knows a lot of ex-cons.) I'm wondering if maybe the show just threw some work at Dennis Cockrum to help him out. Frank going to Terry last week felt somewhat more organic than this.

[Enigma X]

Seeing all the family (which I include Vee and Kevin part of) waiting to go to court with Ian is the Gallagher clan that I love and have missed.

 

I am so done with Frank and his dick.

[Armchair Critic]

You would think after his wife that Carl would steer clear of the crazy women, must be he has a thing for them like his father.

[monagatuna]

22 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I had completely forgotten about the lesbian couple who lived upstairs. Was that even the same actress? I didn't recognize one of them at all.

 

The hot one went blonde and it's not working for her.

I'm so sick of the "I hate men so I must be a lesbian/I'm attracted to this person so I must be this orientation." Bisexuals exist. I understand Debbie's coming-out conundrum, as it's confusing and difficult, but someone on the show could at least mention that she might be bi. It's not like it's some new out-there thing for this show; after all, Vee has been out as bi for a few years now.

And I'm calling shenanigans on Kevin not knowing about some of the things women go through. His own ex-partner was trafficked! I get some guys can be pretty dense (it was kind of cute to see the bar flies act shocked when they consider the reality we face), but Kevin is not that stupid or unworldly.

I liked the ending but I was disappointed to see Ian cop out. While I can't blame him for taking the plea, I hated that smug self-satisfied look on Fiona's face when he said it. Fiona meddles and gets her way yet again. I don't like the whole "gays versus Fiona" angle at all anyway. They can both be right--admitting his mental illness does hurt the Gay Jesus cause, but it's also true--he was manic at the time and should be taken into consideration. Having them pick sides left a bad taste in my mouth.

I can give Ford a pass on not caring about his biological kid with the lesbian couple. It seemed pretty clear to me that they were only after his genetic material and weren't interested in coparenting with him. 

How in the world is Frank still alive?

Edited October 9, 2018 by monagatuna

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The best thing about this show is not the various Gallagher shenanigans but their relationships with each other, something that has been sorely lacking this season as they each have their separate storylines. I'm okay with the characters having stuff to do that isn't family related but we have seen so little meaningful interaction between them which made this episode's small moments even better. Lip adjusting Liam's clip on tie for Carl, Lip and Ian finally having an actual conversation, Carl and Debbie's conversation with Liam about his pregnant bully - those were the kinds of things we saw far more often in the earlier seasons when the Gallagher siblings spent more time together.

As much as I understand Fiona not wanting Ian to go to prison (especially just to help the Gay Jesus movement), Lip was right - Ian is an adult who is making his own decisions. I rolled my eyes when she whined to Ford that her siblings don't need her anymore. Uh, you're still Liam's legal guardian and he definitely needs a lot more attention than he's currently getting so maybe use some of that extra time/energy on him? And aren't Debbie and Carl still under 18? I think part of the problem is that Fiona is so used to being the one in charge that she expects to still make decisions for them. Just because they don't need her to be the responsible adult (in lieu of Frank and Monica being any kind of parents) doesn't mean that they don't need her presence. She can still be a support system and an ally for her brothers and sister without telling them what to do.

[msrachelj]

who is taking care of liam? isn't that fiona's responsibility? in the real world he'd be off to social services.

[iMonrey]

I don't find it necessary to do a lot of hand-wringing over who is taking care of Liam. Clearly he's doing that himself, which is what all the Gallaghers have had to do growing up. Fiona had to petition to be legal guardian because they had all been put into foster care - something Frank orchestrated, by the way. That's long over now. Lip is living at home and getting Liam off to school, and that's about as much as Fiona was ever going to do so I don't begrudge her a little freedom. Clearly Liam is no longer an infant. It would be nice if he had better supervision, sure, but . . . none of the Gallagher kids has ever had that.

[jww]

How can Carl be in a military school which I assume requires students to wear an uniform and not know how to tie a tie?   Is he a senior now?  I assume he is like all the Gallaghers( all get top scores on SATs for hire, GED and  EMT)and aced his SAT with at least a 1200 and is taken a rigorous schedule including physics and trig.

[aemom]

Liam is supposed to be how old now - 9 give or take a year? How would a 9 year old even get somebody pregnant? 

So, nobody has reported Kassidi missing and come to see Carl about it?

It's like this show connects maybe a few episodes together with some plotline, and then erases it and moves on to the next one.

That being said, it was nice to see some of the conversations that we did see. More of that please! 

Edited October 13, 2018 by AEMom
Typo

[SuprSuprElevated]

Look away @jww, just look away from the minor little details.  This is ennertanement, got it?

[Dee]

I still can't get over Lip not visiting Ian in prison.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

[TV Anonymous]

Why did they play The Marines' Hymn in a West Point candidates mixer that happened in the home of an Army Major? Speaking of which, how did an Army Major afford that kind of a house?

[SuprSuprElevated]

13 hours ago, TV Anonymous said:

how did an Army Major afford that kind of a house?

Russian graft.