Shameless: Season 9, Episode 1 “Are You There Shim? It’s Me, Ian” (B+)
It’s a rare to find a show going into its ninth season that’s just as good as ever. Most of the buzz about this show recently has been related to star Emmy Rossum’s announcement that she’s leaving, but fortunately that’s not until the end of this year. We can see already that Fiona is thinking about moving on, working hard to clean her building so that she can get it appraised and bail her brother out. Dropping Ford’s second cell phone in the toilet in a panic is more of the old Fiona that we know, and thinking twice about whether she should help Ian when he’s going to be unreliable is a sign of her focusing on her self – or at least trying to – for once. In jail, Ian is doing his best to lead an entertaining revolution of the male prostitutes, and though he doesn’t appear to be on his meds, prison may not be the worst place for him if he’s not suffering. Lip getting chewed out for his sexual performance at the wedding by the overly eager bridesmaid was pretty brutal, and something tells me that he’s going to start pursuing her after not being able to get her out of his head. Debs’ solution to being paid less because she takes more bathroom breaks was disgusting and so classic for this show, and getting to relieve herself while still talking to her boss was a moment of twisted victory. Kev and Veronica trying desperately to control their children can’t head anywhere good, but I like that Kev is the one with the smart idea for once. Carl doing superbly in military school is no surprise, and of course Cassidy didn’t go away but is camping out right outside the walls waiting for him to be done. I’m not sure if not seeing her demise onscreen means she’s actually going to come back since not featuring her at all in this premiere would have been an easy enough way to do away with her, but maybe I’m reading too much into that. Frank having sex with every housewife and then turning out to be the carrier of a virulent strain of sexually transmitted diseases was hilarious, and the emergency PTA meeting was a great plotline, particularly with the two dads who revealed their affair and then started a thruple. Liam offering up the stolen silverware for his fellow young students to take back was an unexpected Gallagher development – maybe he’s going to turn out to be the first honest straight shooter of the family.
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