A Superb Ending. Review: Shameless Season 3 Finale – “Survival of the Fittest”

Season 3, Episode 12

Air Date: Sunday, April 7, 2013, 10 pm ET/PT on Showtime

Rating: ★★★★★

“Be the fabulous narcissist you are and do it for yourself.” – Fiona

Where, exactly, is Frank going?

As season finales go, “Survival of the Fittest” does an excellent job of wrapping up story lines, and leaving us to wonder what’s next for Shameless. With no cliffhangers, though, the episode feels more like a series finale than a season finale. Ian (Cameron Monaghan) enlists in the Army for four years; Lip (Jeremy Allen White) is off to MIT; Karen (Laura Slade Wiggins) leaves with Jody (Zach McGowan) for parts unknown; Frank (William H. Macy) is given a do or die sentence; and Jimmy (Justin Chatwin) apparently is dead. We already know Shameless will be back for a fourth season, most likely next winter, so the question is whether these characters will return or be written out for good? With so much in flux, let’s do an in-depth analysis of the characters and where they stand.

Veronica and Kev

Carole’s (Vanessa Bell Calloway) admission to Vee (Shanola Hampton) and Kev (Steve Howey) that she was pregnant with someone else’s baby the whole time she and Kev were doing the nasty is quite a mind blow. While my first reaction was to yell at my TV screen, “Ugh, how disgusting!” I had to reconsider given Carole’s explanation for the reason she lied the entire time. Do you believe her, or do you think she was in it for the pure enjoyment of having sex with a younger man, even though it was her daughter’s live-in boyfriend? I’m not sure I buy the whole walking-off-arm-in-arm scenario, although I most certainly enjoyed Kev’s imitation of the fetus.

Sheila, Jody, and Karen

While it looks like Karen (Laura Slade Wiggins) is gone for good when she and Jody (Zach McGown) pile into his van, what is the likelihood that the writers will bring her back next season as a newer, nicer version of herself? Is that even imaginable—is it possible the therapy camp she’s headed to could reverse the brain damage she suffered in the car accident? Or does Karen’s eye roll, when Sheila bids her goodbye, signal what I’ve been thinking all along—she’s faking? And what will become of Sheila (Joan Cusack) now that her “baby” is gone? Will her sex toy parties be enough to keep her occupied?

Ian and Lip

Lip is a bona fide high school graduate and Fiona (Emmy Rossum) couldn’t be happier. It’s been a long haul for him and as much as he doesn’t want to show it, he’s proud of his accomplishment. You can see that in the smirk on Lip’s face after folding up his diploma and shoving it in his back pocket, and the way he and the rest of the Gallaghers party to celebrate his graduation despite his earlier protestation of a party.

After Mickey (Noel Fisher) refuses to tell Ian to stay, Ian joins the Armed Forces using Lip’s identification as proof of age. The scene with Ian and Mickey is probably one of Fisher’s best. His being unable to admit his feelings for Ian, other than his choked up, whispered “Don’t…”—or his homosexuality, for that matter—is not only sad, but tremendously hurtful to Ian. Running away from your problems, however, never solves anything. And once Lip registers at MIT, the jig will be up for Ian. You can’t be in two places at the same time—in the Army and away at college. This presents some interesting scenarios: Will the Army kick Ian out once they know he’s falsified his identity? Will Ian’s actions cost Lip his “full boat” scholarship? Will Lip even go to college, or will he decide to stay with Mandy (Emma Greenwell)? While it appears Lip and Ian have left for good, I doubt TPTB (the powers that be) at Shameless will let them ride off into the sunset. After all, we still have the unfinished story lines between Ian and Mickey, and Lip and Mandy.

Fiona and Jimmy

Beto (Bernardo de Paula) hands Fiona a wad of cash and tells her Jimmy is gone forever.

Season three has been filled with raw emotion for many characters, but particularly so for Fiona and Jimmy. Now that she knows Jimmy isn’t coming back, she finagles a full-time job at World Wide Cup. I don’t blame her; after all, who wouldn’t want all the benefits associated with the job? But who else thinks something will happen that will cost her that job next season? Courtesy of Mark Mylod’s impressive directing, I get the distinct impression working at World Wide Cup is going to end up with Fiona feeling like a caged animal, particularly when Connie (Maile Flanagan) tells her, “Congratulations, Fiona. You remind me of me; 22 years ago I started here, at that very desk,” and the way the camera pans over Fiona’s and her co-worker’s cubicles, making them all look like mice in a little maze. Rossum is fantastic as Fiona, but especially so in “Survival of the Fittest.” She does an excellent job portraying Fiona as she handles Jimmy’s disappearance, going from denial to angry, to bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance, much like people do with death. And that’s what the writers would have us believe—that Jimmy is dead. But are we certain he won’t be back? Isn’t it possible Nando (Pêpê Rapazote) has forced Estefania (Stephanie Fantauzzi) and Jimmy to move to Michigan so Jimmy can go to med school without any interference from Fiona?

Frank and his kids

One of the most touching scenes of “Survival of the Fittest.”

As usual, I’ve saved Frank for last. As I said in last week’s review of “Order Room Service,” and as is evident in “Survival of the Fittest,” Frank finally becomes a real parent. What joy he takes in Lip graduating high school! Of course, that leads to Frank becoming deathly ill after the drunken celebratory dinner and fun skating trip he and Lip share. Lip is a lot like Frank—after all, it’s his suggestion to “dine and dash”—and I’m afraid he is unable to attend college and become the middle class person Fiona and Mandy have been championing all season. But it’s Carl’s (Ethan Cutkosky) scene at Frank’s hospital bedside that was the real emotional kicker for me. The honesty of the love between father and son, when Carl says, “shaving your head…so the sun rays can heal you like they did with my cancer,” shines brightly through the mere utterance of those words, to say nothing of how the scene closes with silent smiles between the two, and a kiss on Frank’s cheek before Carl leaves. This scene alone warrants my five-star rating of “Survival of the Fittest.”

Let’s hope Frank takes Fiona’s words to heart.

And then there’s Fiona’s visit to the hospital where she lists for Frank all the reasons he should stop drinking. Not only is the scene comical, it’s sad. Again Rossum does an excellent job with the way she makes you experience what Fiona is feeling, right down to the tears. And let’s not forget Macy, not only in “Survival of the Fittest,” but throughout the entire season. He’s gone from his usual raucous, shameless self, to a caring parent, and then finally, as a man facing death unless he changes his habits. It almost seems like he’s considering what Fiona tells him—until he says, “But what if I don’t want to change?”

And therein lies the crux of the show for next season. Can Frank change? Does he want to change? Can he really become the kind of loving, nurturing parent all the Gallaghers need? What exactly does the final scene of the episode mean—with Frank stumbling down the snowy streets of Chicago, wearing only his hospital gown with his ass naked for all the world to see?

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All photos © 2013 Showtime/CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Linda

Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!

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