Shameless - "Uncle Carl" Retrospective. Everyone Has an Opinion.

Season 5, Episode 8

Air Date: Sunday, March 8, 2015 at 9:00 pm ET/PT on Showtime

Rating: ★★★★★

“Son, it’s important to know the difference between a skank bitch and a deranged psychopath. Your sister Sammi is the latter. So, when you have a skank bitch in your house, you stand up to her; you push back and eventually, she leaves. But with a psychopath, you have to take a different approach. In the end, she will crawl back to the syphilis gutter from which she came and I will reclaim my bedroom and my life. She started the war but I’ll win it.” – Frank

War it is in “Uncle Carl.” With Frank (William H. Macy) lying to Sammi (Emily Bergl) about her trailer in “Rite of Passage,” Sammi withholding Frank’s anti-rejection medications in “Crazy Love,” and then shooting him in “Tell Me You Fucking Need Me,” let me tell you, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Their incessant need to win leads Frank and Sammi into an all-out War of the Roses.

How to Outsmart Your Foe

Sammi may act like a loving daughter; she’s anything but.

Frank has it out for Sammi but honestly, who can blame him? I know he’s just biding his time but I can’t stand Frank’s sugary tone when speaking to her. “Yes, it is, dear, and I really appreciate your taking such good care of me.” Ugh, gag me now! Frank and Sammi thwart each other at every turn, but Frank takes it a little too far when he sets up Sammi’s son Chuckie (Kellen Michael). You know Sammi is going to find out Frank is involved and when she does, there will be hell to pay.

Making Money the Gallagher Way

Quick! What’s the best way you know to make lots of money as fast as you can—especially if you’re a Gallagher? Lip (Jeremy Allen White) still needs to come up with a way to pay his college tuition so he falls back on the one sure way he knows to make money. With Kev’s (Steve Howey) help, Lip sets up the “ice cream truck” in an empty room in the dorm. You remember the ice cream truck from the season two premiere, “Summertime,” right? Well, it’s still profitable but Kev does the one thing he shouldn’t. Sampling the product takes him down a road he would never travel if he weren’t high. Want to make a bet he tells Vee (Shanola Hampton) what happened?

In the most heartbreaking scene of “Uncle Carl,” Lip bares his soul to Lorenzo (guest star Michael B. Silver), the college financial aid officer about why he can’t take a semester off. I felt so sorry for Lip; I actually shed a few tears. I must take a minute and give props to White for this scene. He knows how to bring the drama to a disheartening and pitiful situation.

Carl’s Promotion

I wouldn’t be smiling if I were Carl!

With G-dog (guest star Steven Rider) one man down, Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) gets a promotion, so to speak. He’s responsible for delivering a hefty amount of heroin to Michigan. Wrapping the “horse” around Chuckie’s stomach in the train station bathroom seems like a good idea at the time, but guess what happens when two large, drug-sniffing German Shepherd Dogs come in? G-Dog isn’t going to take the loss of his drugs well. Frank should have kept his nose out of this. This is a bad situation that gets worse with Carl’s asinine behavior.

Extra-Curricular Activities

Poor Vee; the longer she stays at The Alibi the hornier she’s getting. Even Svetlana (Isadora Goreshter) notices it and decides to take things into her own hands by extending her “wifely duties” to Vee. Even though Vee is all woman, who can blame her when she gives in, commenting, “Oh what the hell. I’m halfway home already!”

Go back to your man, Vee!

I guess Svetlana isn’t enough to satisfy Vee because she reaches out on Facebook to Eddie Murphy (guest star Demetrius Grosse), a former boyfriend. Cheers to Fiona (Emmy Rossum) for letting loose on Vee—“Do not fuck up your life. I’m serious, Vee, don’t do that. You guys are happy and you can be happy again but not if you go fuck someone else. And the two of you? I can’t handle it if you don’t figure this shit out. OK? And maybe that’s not fucking fair but you guys, you’re Kev and Vee, so figure it out!” Well said, Fiona! I couldn’t agree more!

I am not happy at all with the direction of Hampton’s character this season. At this point, the writers have taken Vee past postpartum and into the realm of a hypersexual person. Stop it! Vee and Kev need to be together, loving each other and the babies they both so desperately wanted.

Ian’s Homecoming

It’s so sad to see Fiona and Lip at the hospital waiting for Ian (Cameron Monaghan) to be discharged. I know Mickey (Noel Fisher) is having a hard time with Ian being mentally ill but I thought he’d be there too. Isn’t that what your partner is supposed to do—support you in times of trouble? Mickey’s not the only one having a problem, though. Ian won’t accept his diagnosis and now he has to be watched like a hawk. The minute Fiona puts Debbie (Emma Kenney) in charge of Ian’s meds, I figured something bad would happen. Debbie may be responsible for her age but watching someone who’s as sick as Ian requires round-the-clock care…not sitting there playing video games or watching TV. Now, she and Fiona have to figure out what to do next. It’s easy to sense the frustration Fiona feels when talking to the pharmacist (guest star Shanna Malcolm) although I certainly understand the pharmacist’s POV.

Funny Stuff

A rat whose tail is stuck in a trap scurries across the bedroom floor at The Alibi while Vee is trying to get herself off. If Vee’s reaction isn’t funny enough, wait until you hear the girly scream Kev lets out when he sees the rat!

The funniest scene of all takes place in the hospital where Sammi takes Frank because his arm looks infected. The doctor (Bojana Novakovic) doesn’t believe the story Sammi tells her about how Frank got injured but Frank backs her up, using some of the best and funniest fast talking I’ve ever heard.

Other Observations

Amanda (Nichole Bloom) has more trouble than she bargained for with her new roommate Muff (Shelby Steel), who professes to love her. I can’t wait to see how Amanda handles this.

Let’s hope Fiona’s plea doesn’t fall on deaf ears.

Fiona still doesn’t know where she stands with her husband Gus (guest star Steve Kazee). He’s getting ready to leave for a tour, which Fiona thinks is a good idea—better to give him some space rather than beg him not to go. But is that really the right way to handle things? Finally, Fiona’s boss Sean (Dermot Mulroney) talks some sense into her, commenting, “It’s your divorce.” Let’s hope it’s not too late.

Overall

I thoroughly enjoyed “Uncle Carl.” With the superb dialogue and acting, and range of emotions the episode elicited from me, “Uncle Carl” is top-notch. A lot of people offer advice in “Uncle Carl,” mostly unsolicited, some funny and some serious. From Svetlana offering her opinion about Kev and the babies to Vee, Debbie giving Mickey a piece of her mind, Derek (guest star Luca Oriel) comforting Debbie in the gym, and Sean talking some sense into Fiona, everyone seems to pay attention. Normally, that doesn’t happen but this is the Gallaghers and their friends, after all.

“Uncle Carl” also furthers Shameless’ excellent depiction of someone with bi-polar disorder by delving into Ian’s feelings about what’s happening to him. Too often, we hear and see patients like this complain about how the drugs make them feel. With the parallel Ian draws between him running off with Mickey and Svetlana’s baby, and what Fiona did when Liam (Brandon/Brendan Sims) nearly died last season, could Ian be right about his comparison to their mother Monica (Chloe Webb)? “No one tried to permanently medicate you…I’m not Monica any more than you are.”

What did you think of “Uncle Carl?” Hit me up on Twitter @SeasideTV, or leave me a comment below. Do you relate to Vee or Kev? If you were Gus, would you stay with Fiona or throw her cheating ass out?

Tune in to Shameless Sundays at 9:00 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!