Frank Stoops to New Lows. Retrospective: Shameless - "The American Dream"

Air Date: Sunday, January 20, 2013, 10 pm ET/PT on Showtime

Rating: [rating: 5]

Frank (William H. Macy) is back to everyone’s dismay except Debbie (Emma Kenney). Fiona (Emmy Rossum) has a panic attack when she realizes what she’s done with the money meant to pay the property tax, and Steve (Justin Chatwin), who I shall hereafter call by his real name, Jimmy, is in deep shit with Estafania’s (Stephanie Fantauzzi) father, Nando (Pépé Rapazote). Lip (Jeremy Allen White) runs a scam on some rich kids, while Ian (Cameron Monaghan) deals with the return of Mickey (Noel Fisher). On top of that, Kev’s wife Cheryl (Cameron Richardson), with son Kyle (C.J. Berdahl) in tow, comes knocking on the door! Wait—Kev is married?! It’s just another day in the Gallagher household, right?

Observations:

Veronica struts her booty at Fiona’s club night.

Fiona freaks out over the $1000 she gave Meg (Diora Baird) to be the club promoter for a night instead of using it to pay the property tax. Lip is right to call her out on this; what was she thinking? Fiona’s never been irresponsible about money; in fact, she’s the only Gallagher who keeps things running smoothly. But, she does a lot of things in “The American Dream” that are out of character for her, which makes me wonder where the writers are going with her. I mean, who gives a phony check to the mob? I know she has confidence in her ability to pull off the club night but that’s going a step too far. I wonder if she has given any thought to what the consequences will be if she doesn’t cover the check.

Nando’s right-hand man Beto (Bernardo de Paula) declares himself Jimmy’s “partner” in order to ensure Jimmy doesn’t get in trouble. Talk about cramping one’s style! I don’t know about you but I just can’t picture Jimmy in a regular, 9-5 job, can you? I can’t wait to see how he’s going to keep an eye on Estafania while playing Mr. Mom to the Gallagher kids. And may I ask, what the hell is Jimmy thinking, keeping everything from Fiona? You know she’s going to find out; I’d hate to be on the receiving end of that conversation!

Mickey is back from juvie and kicking ass, literally. I guess this is the “boyfriend” Ian referred to in last week’s season premiere when telling Lloyd (Harry Hamlin) his boyfriend would be returning home soon. Ian certainly could do a lot better than Mickey so I wonder why he would choose him over Lloyd. OK, I get that Mickey is Ian’s age but Ian could benefit greatly from a relationship with someone as rich and powerful as Lloyd. Or how about finding someone who loves him as much as Ian appears to love Mickey? I don’t see this relationship lasting, do you? Outside of the sex, I just don’t understand what Ian sees in Mickey. He’s nothing more than a bully who’s terrified of what people will do or say if they find out he’s gay. Kudos to Fisher for making me dislike Mickey so much.

Poor Sheila (Joan Cusack) and Jody (Zach McGowan). They are exhausted from Baby Hymie’s constant crying—so much so, the baby almost gets thrown out with the trash because Sheila is too tired to realize what she’s doing! I hope someone gets this baby to stop crying because it’s highly annoying. Jody may be doing his best to help, but it’s not enough. Their last resort is to have Debbie babysit so they can get a few hours of some much-needed sleep. Can you believe Frank gives the baby Valium to quiet him down so Debbie can finish her school project while babysitting? I think my mouth dropped to the floor as I was watching that scene. Frank has done some pretty low things but this takes the cake.

Debbie takes out her anger with a sack full of soap bars. Ouch!

Frank thinks he can just waltz into the family home and take over everything after being away for so long. Boy, is he in for a surprise! Doesn’t he realize none of the Gallaghers, other than Debbie, wants him there? And the audacity of him to bring home two so-called friends to sleep for the night! Sadly, Debbie has to face the truth about Frank, and takes her frustration out with a pillowcase full of soap bars. I admit I was cheering when Ian and Lip carry Frank out like yesterday’s trash! It’s what he deserves. I’ve never seen a worse father in my life. To top it off, I can’t even begin to believe how Frank retaliates! All I will say is this is the most despicable thing he’s ever done in his entire life. How much lower can the writers take Frank?

Lip and Ian carry Frank out and dump him in the trash.

Lip is one jaded character and is always looking for a way to make the almighty buck. While performing his court-mandated community service, he meets a well-to-do kid who belongs to “City Youth,” a group that is “beautifying Chicago one block at a time.” Lip immediately sees the chance to make some money by underbidding a Mexican foreman (Burton Perez) and his crew for a clean-up job in South Side Chicago and making this kid and his rich friends do all the work. Lip’s explanation to the foreman really cracks me up: “White is the new brown. Just livin’ the American dream, amigo!” I don’t understand Lip. He’s the only one who has a chance to make something of himself but to do that, he has to go to college. So why doesn’t he want to despite everyone’s best efforts to point him in the right direction?

Additional thoughts:

Isn’t Frank cute in Fiona’s cut-off jeans? LOL!

I can’t tell you how ridiculous Frank looks in Fiona’s jeans after cutting them way too short! With the absurd length and dazzling rhinestones on the back pockets, I was laughing every time I saw him in that getup. At least Macy has nice legs!

I got such a kick out of Fiona and Veronica (Shanola Hampton) imitating Kev’s (Steve Howey) limp. It’s really funny to watch them hobbling along in back of him. And how or when did Kev break his leg? If I’m not mistaken, this hasn’t been addressed and I’m very curious to know how it happened.

With nowhere to go, Frank shows up at Sheila’s where he astounds her and Jody with how quickly he gets the baby to go to sleep. Frank has been called a lot of things but “baby whisperer” is one I never thought I’d hear!

Memorable lines:

Mandy (Emma Greenwell): “I came to talk to you about Lip.”

Dick Healy, guidance counselor (Ed Lauter): “I’m not at liberty to discuss another student but I’d be more than happy to help you with your future options.”

Mandy: “Please. You and I both know my only options are getting pregnant or getting arrested, so cut the crap.”

Beto, after breaking Jimmy’s finger: “I take you to hospital and then we get American Whoppers, ok?”

Lip: “It doesn’t work like that because when you’re poor, the only way to make money is to to steal it or scam it, like Don King or Joe Kennedy.”

While I found “El Gran Canon,” the season three premiere a bit slow, “The American Dream” certainly picks up the pace. So much happens in this one hour, I was absolutely glued to the screen. All of the characters had interesting storylines, and I’m anxious to see where they will go. I mean, how long can Jimmy put up with Beto following him everywhere he goes? And now that Fiona didn’t make any money from the club deal, what will she do next to contribute to the family piggybank? Will Debbie bounce back from the sad realization that her father is a complete dick?

Tune in to Shameless Sundays at 10 pm ET/PT, only on Showtime.

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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!