Shameless Season 3 (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

Great episode tonight. Not a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, but it really captured what makes the Gallaghers the Gallaghers. I mostly think of Alex Borstein as Lois from "Family Guy", and her CV is full of comedy work, but she's written some of the best dramatic episodes of "Shameless." This one was right up there with "But At Last Came a Knock".

We continued the dark and downward trend, and the final scene tonight where Fiona realized what had happened was like a bomb going off.   Her facial expressions in that scene are what set this show apart.

Absolutely. The cardinal sin with Fiona is getting between Mama Bear and her cubs. She could forgive just about anything other than that, but Frank broke the cardinal rule. And his short-sighted spite is going to bite him, because Fiona knows where all of the (figurative and literal) bodies are buried. I hope we're not supposed to just forget that Steve cheated on Fiona with his wife.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I hope we're not supposed to just forget that Steve cheated on Fiona with his wife.

They are going to be dealing with Steve and his 'wife' in the next episode, and I would not be surprised it the topic comes up at some point. Perhaps during the season finale with Fiona crying her eyes out. The show certainly has a penchant for breaking her heart. Also, I think the show is too intelligently written to leave many loose ends. Re-reading the quoted portion of the post - cheated on Fiona with his wife. Sounds just about absurd enough to belong in the world of the Gallaghers. - Walter.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Good grief, this show pushes a lot of boundaries, doesn't it? I'm wondering if I want to stick with it, though.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Some heartbreaking stuff in the latest episode. Fiona's just signed away her future for the sake of the kids. Frank remains Frank. And Karen comes home, maybe having bottomed out and ready to cleanup her messes or maybe just scamming her mother because she's got nowhere else to go.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Part of me thinks Fiona feeds off needing to be wanted when it comes to her younger siblings anyway. But it's definitely a legal life-changer.

 

[mattCR]

"Keep your mouth shut, and by that I mean don't let anything splash into your mouth" "It's ridiculous what passes for alcoholism around here..." "I would have never called you that to your face, you know that right?" Some really funny stuff this week. We didn't go through hardly a single scene without a few good laughs.

 

[Nathan_F]

Interesting that the most successful efforts at keeping the house were made by Deb and Carl. Sure Carl's could have backfired a bit, but he's definitely a man of action.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Well, we got the answer about Karen. She's still as much of a soul-sucking vortex as ever. At least with Frank, we know his depravity is a consequence of his substance abuse. Karen doesn't have that excuse; she's as horrible as Frank when she's stone cold sober. Steve/Jimmy, incidentally, isn't looking a whole lot better. Things got too real for him and now he's looking for an escape hatch. My favorite line of the episode had to be Carl's, "I killed Patrick", delivered like he'd just smashed a window with a baseball.

 

[mattCR]

"I found the cure for Comas!"

Oh lord. Lots of funny tonight, this is one of the few episodes this season where the drama elements were at a low, and we spent most of it with straight up comedy. There were some of the drama from past shows carried over, but the resolution of a lot of them damn funny.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Good episode. The calm before the storm, so to speak. The Frank as gay icon story line may be my favorite of his storylines, because there isn't really anything malicious about it. It's Frank being Frank, and all of the political sides that want to use him as their poster boy getting taken for a ride. Loved Bradley Whitford's character's solution.

"I found the cure for Comas!"

Loved it.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The Jimmy storyline went in a really dark direction.

I'm still wondering if Karen's playing the long grift.

And Frank finally has a redemptive moment.

 

[mattCR]

The Jimmy storyline took a dark direction, but I liked that Fiona is really struggling to figure out what works for her.
I thought everything about the wedding was incredibly messed up.

Frank's little bit of mercy at the end was a real hell freezes over moment, and I get the feeling it might be part of what it takes for Lip to move on

 

[ScottH]

My thinking was Frank only did what he did because he thought prison might be better living conditions than what he had.

Can't see how Jimmy survives.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Bye bye, Jimmy.

Did Frank finally do something selfless, or did he confess to 'upgrade' his living conditions? I suspect the latter.

- Walter.

 

[Paul D G]

Did Frank finally do something selfless, or did he confess to 'upgrade' his living conditions? I suspect the latter.

Perhaps, but the alternative was sending Carl to 'juvie' and I doubt even Frank would want that to happen. Frank knew he could take the rap and be out in a couple of days.

 

[mattCR]

This show is so incredibly under-rated by critics. Emmy Rossum is unbelievable in her role, and her performance tonight was fantastic. This was a tragic ending for some characters, an exit for others, change for some favorites and a chance for us to see something new.

I found everything about Frank's storyline to be sad but in line with his character. So many characters who may move on.. or who already moved on. Real change for the cast next year, no matter which way they go, and I liked the fact that the characters have all grown.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Carl shearing Frank's head in the hospital to let in the sun rays. Wow, a great touching moment.

Loved Kevin's lines in the scene with him, Veronica, and Veronica's mom leaving the hospital. Funny stuff.

This show makes it look so effortless. Great performances, writing, plot lines. Just a great, great show that I'll miss again until next year.

- Walter.

 

[ScottH]

Will this definitely be back for another season? Seems like it could have served as a series finale, if need be.

I was sort of expecting a reveal on Steve/Jimmy at the very end (like maybe a quick pan to a body at the bottom of the ocean, or a live Jimmy with his wife somewhere), but I can understand why they would want to leave it open. I have to wonder if the writers even know whether Jimmy is alive or dead at this point.

Seems nothing will come of Mandy running Karen over with a car and turning her into a vegetable...

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

So many characters who may move on.. or who already moved on. Real change for the cast next year, no matter which way they go, and I liked the fact that the characters have all grown.

Yes, I'm wondering if they'll branch out more. I'm afraid that Ian's stunt with Lip's identity will end up screwing both of them, leading to Ian getting chucked out of the Army and MIT rescinding Lip's scholarship. On the other hand, I think it'd be interesting to follow them, one through basic training, the other through life in Boston.

Carl shearing Frank's head in the hospital to let in the sun rays. Wow, a great touching moment.

Absolutely. It was a beat that revealed so much about both of them, probably the two least likable characters on the show (now that Karen's the way she is), and it was just this moment of grace where they were nothing more than father and son. One thing this show has always done well is showcase the Frank that could have been during Frank's intermittent bouts of sobriety.

Will this definitely be back for another season? Seems like it could have served as a series finale, if need be.

It's definitely back next year, but I felt the same way. If there wasn't another episode, you could absolutely see where everyone was headed.

I was sort of expecting a reveal on Steve/Jimmy at the very end (like maybe a quick pan to a body at the bottom of the ocean, or a live Jimmy with his wife somewhere), but I can understand why they would want to leave it open. I have to wonder if the writers even know whether Jimmy is alive or dead at this point.

I was wondering the same thing. At this point, we pretty much have to assume he's dead, but they've definitely left open the possibility that he's still alive.

Seems nothing will come of Mandy running Karen over with a car and turning her into a vegetable...

It's "Shameless" rules. The laws of actions and consequences don't apply in the same they do in the real world. Mandy's consequence was losing Lip. I doubt they'll be any proper legal consequence.
Speaking of Mandy, I loved that scene on the Milkovich front stoop. Lip and Mandy are done, whatever they had is over, but he got into MIT because of her, and whatever else has happened, she deserved to know. And Mandy, for her part, is just so happy that Lip was going to escape. Not for herself, not out of any possessive sense. Just as someone, like the guidance counselor, who saw his potential like a flower blooming through a crack in the asphalt, and wanted to see that potential realized.

If William H. Macy doesn't get an Emmy nomination for tonight's episode, they might as well stop handing them out. He captured Frank in all of his complexity, all of the good things and most of the bad things. I wish we'd gotten a scene between Frank and Debbie, because the scenes with Lip, Fiona and Carl were all great. It was a study in the different ways children relate to their fathers, especially disappointing fathers. You could see their love for him, and just as importantly you could see his love for them. I understand why the show doesn't go to that well more often, why it can't under normal circumstances, but man did it work here.

And Frank wandering through the city in his hospital gown has to be among the more haunting things I've seen in a while. The final montage approached poetry.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

One thing this show has always done well is showcase the Frank that could have been during Frank's intermittent bouts of sobriety.

Especially when it comes to Carl and to Lip.