Saturday, October 22, 2016

What I’m Watching: Shameless


Shameless: Season 7, Episode 3 “Home Sweet Homeless Shelter” (B+)

The opening of this episode had Lip and Fiona returning home smiling from separate one-night stands, and it’s such an interesting juxtaposition with the end of the hour, in which both of them declared a new determination to make something of themselves. Lip’s internship is beyond humiliating, with the removal of the “piss bag” as his main responsibility, but, at least for now, he’s going to do what it takes to get to the top. Fiona, on the other hand, was already making strides running her business properly in order to achieve the best possible success, and now she wants her home to run the same way, with each person paying their share. It’s a formidable system, though I can’t imagine any of them will be thrilled at the idea of her requesting to be last on their emergency contact lists. Deb is going to have the most trouble adjusting to this new way of thinking, if her reaction to being caught trying to shoplift over $2,000 worth of baby clothes is any indication. It’s great that Ian recorded a video to talk himself down when he’s becoming imbalanced, and it was quite a sight to see him spring into action and talk someone down only to make a crucial mistake moments later. The arrival of Pavel Lychnikoff, who appeared in this same timeslot as Ivan Belikov on “Ray Donovan” earlier this season, as Svetlana’s father should make things interesting, and I love that Kev’s business plan has already shifted to guilt money rather than actual cleaning. It’s a shame that Carl’s relationship with Dominique ended this way, but kudos to him for showing up at her father’s house with an STD test in one hand and a damning photo in the other. Frank recreating his family with lookalikes and stand-ins and forcibly taking over a house to be a homeless shelter is a stunt even larger and crazier than what he’s done before, and his uncrushable cockroach spirit is truly driving him to new low heights.

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