What To Do With Cousin Patrick? Review: Shameless – “When There’s a Will”

Season 3, Episode 8

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

Rating: ★★★★★

With both Fiona (Emmy Rossum) and cousin Patrick (Brent Sexton) filing false wills, the Gallaghers have a fight on their hands over who’s going to inherit Aunt Ginger’s house. Lip (Jeremy Allen White) finds out Karen’s (Laura Slade Wiggins) back in town, and Karen finds out Baby Hymie was born with Down syndrome. And Vee’s (Shanola Hampton) mother, Carole (Vanessa Bell Calloway), is ovulating so it’s time for Kevin (Steve Howey) to step up to the plate again, so to speak.

Observations:

“Patrick out-Gallaghered us and there’s no point in fighting it.” – Frank Gallagher

The Gallaghers have their hands full with cousin Patrick .

Hello!? Does Frank (William H. Macy) have any idea who he’s dealing with? There’s no way the other Gallaghers are going to let themselves be thrown out of the very house they all grew up in. But even though Aunt Ginger has been dead for the past 15 years, how do they go about getting Patrick to back off without being caught themselves? After all, not only did they file a false will, they buried Aunt Ginger in the back yard, paid for a stranger’s body in order to have her declared dead, and let’s not forget all of her Social Security checks Frank’s been cashing. With Jimmy (Justin Chatwin), Fiona (Emmy Rossum), Lip, Ian (Cameron Monaghan), and Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) gathered around the kitchen table, discussing what to do, Debbie (Emma Kenney) is adorable as she writes down their suggestions/options:

Debbie: “Option 1: Prove will is a forgery…. Option 2: Say Ginger was crazy.”

Jimmy: “Or convince Patrick to back off somehow.”

Debbie: “Yeah, that’s 3…. Option 4: Kill Patrick.”

I’m so happy Debbie “out-Gallaghered” cousin Patrick.

It’s no surprise none of the options work, including killing Patrick, which Carl attempts when he puts rat poison in Patrick’s sandwich. Good job, Carl! Oops, did I say that out loud? It seems nothing can stop that s.o.b. – except Debbie, who comes up with a brilliant solution. I hope it’s the last we see of him.

Last week, in order to retain his parental rights, Frank agreed to attend three months of AA meetings. I’m surprised he doesn’t find a way to get around this; could it be we’ll be seeing a new side of Frank soon—the sober one? Nah! That will never happen. Frank loves his alcohol way too much for that. Besides, he’s made a new friend at the AA meetings; Christopher (Christian Clemenson) is a bit of an odd fellow but he wants Frank to not only be his sponsor, but to move in with him as well. Given that Sheila (Joan Cusack) tells him his services with Baby Hymie are no longer required, Frank accepts Christopher’s offer. Problem is, Christopher doesn’t drink, and his hobby is taxidermy, using the animals he puts down as a means of “animal control” at the shelter where he’s employed.

Don’t Christopher and Frank look nice and comfy in bed?

I hope Clemenson sticks around for a while as I love watching him perfect his craft. From his roles as Jerry on Boston Legal and Dr. Tom Loman on CSI: Miami, to his most recent turn as Sam on Harry’s Law, no one plays eccentric and quirky characters as well as Clemenson. And that’s just how I would describe Christopher. I know he’s “clingy,” but he pushes it a little too far for my liking. Frank? He’s just thrilled to have someone wait on him hand and foot. I wonder how long this will last.

Could you believe that false look on Karen’s face when Sheila asks her if she’s glad she came to the Down syndrome support group, and she responds, “Sure!”? Karen couldn’t care less about Baby Hymie, or Lip’s relationship with Mandy (Emma Greenwell), for that matter. Why else does Karen talk to Mandy at school, or later, to Baby Hymie’s grandmother (Elizabeth Sung)?

Memorable lines:

Frank, about getting Patrick to back off: “Good luck with that. His nickname used to be ‘Pitbull.’ It was partly an odor thing but also, once he gets ahold of you, he doesn’t let go. You gotta kill him first.”

Frank to Christopher: “It’s ridiculous what passes for alcoholism with this group. Her two-hour blackout, I mean, come on! I blacked out a year; am I whining about it? Or the guy that lost his job and banged his sister-in-law? Where I come from, that’s Friday night.”

Additional thoughts:

Kudos to Jeremy (uncredited), a young man with Down syndrome, for leading the fight with the group to take back the word “retard,” by chanting, “Me tard, you tard, retard nation; me tard, you tard, retard nation.” As another person with Down syndrome states, “That’s right, the queers took back their word.”

Jimmy looks a lot more comfortable with his new job as a barista than he did on the job with Fiona.

Was anyone surprised that Jimmy steps up and helps Fiona with one of the most disgusting jobs she’s ever had (and she’s had some pretty bad ones)? Or were you more surprised when Jimmy quits? I knew there was no way he’d be able to hand the “rats, cockroaches, blood and shit.”

It looks like Carol is beginning to enjoy having sex with Kevin way too much. Now she wants orgasms too? And what’s with the sexy “low cut dress, fuck me pumps” and “musk perfume” she dons, and why does she text Kevin so late at night? More important, why doesn’t Kevin tell Vee about the text? Please don’t tell me there’s trouble brewing in their relationship!

I am so disappointed that Lip goes to Karen’s house after turning her away initially. Of course, Karen was his first love so that must count for something. While Mandy and Lip’s relationship is more fun to watch, his relationship with Karen has afforded White some of his best and most intense acting scenes to date. Mandy is definitely the better of the two for Lip; she wants only what’s best for him. But, because he tends to be a very self-destructive person, he may likely choose Karen. Who knows? The one thing I do know is this should make for some very interesting episodes to come during the remainder of the season.

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!