“Get hard drugs, make Daddy proud.”
What makes this week’s episode truly shameless is Frank and how far he’ll stoop to save his own hide.
Requesting drugs from his kids is par for the course, it’s his creepy manipulation of his (surprise) oldest daughter, Sammie, that make Frank’s actions this week more unpalatable than usual. With a show that’s always crossing lines, the idea of incest isn’t that farfetched.
Sammie seems to be the spitting image of her trailer trash father, though with all they have in common all she sees is a potential mate in “daddy” Frank. It’s all falling into place for conman Frank, every orchestrated step put Sammie right where he wants her. She’s smitten. Love makes people do crazy things, Sammie hardly knows this guy and she’s already offering him her liver! Frank’s a dying desperate man, willing to do just about anything for a new liver. The question is, how low will Frank go? If he admits who he is, she may take back her offer and fault him for being an absentee father. But, if he continues to keep it a secret, he’ll find himself in sexually awkward situations with his own daughter. So far he’s avoided having sex with her, but he can’t keep that up for long. He’s already taken an unexpected liking to Sammie and her chubby little cub. He seems to admire the way his grandson can take a beating, it’s that good ol’ Gallagher spirit.
For the first time in her life, Fiona feels useless at home. The kids aren’t toddlers anymore, Debs and Carl have grown up and in doing so have displaced Fiona. As Debs said to her, “I didn’t even notice you were gone” (ouch!). Fiona’s struggling to fit into this new pencil skirt-wearing version of her life. Of course she’s already rocking the boat because normalcy is a foreign concept in her world. Fiona’s middle class boyfriend/boss is lame in the bed, but great everywhere else. His brother on the other hand is just Fiona’s type, a very bad boy with heavy baggage. With an urgent lust Fiona rips her fishnets apart giving her boyfriend’s brother easy access to her right there on the kitchen counter. It was like the beginning of a porno scene. It’s that grimy, raw frenetic energy that Fiona is attracted to, she’s a pleasure seeking chaos addict. This is the beginning of the end. Once this cat’s out of the bag, Fiona will be out of a job. I doubt the boss is the cuckolding type.
Eager to be like her air headed friends, Debs thinks she’s ready to pop her cherry. To my surprise, there was no sex during the sleep over, they held hands and cuddled which was almost cute. Her much older boyfriend wisely avoids sex with a child. I admire that instead of a perverted creep, the show has made Debs’ new boyfriend just a lonely guy looking for companionship. Sensitive guys like that really do exist, but are rarely given much screen time.
Ethan Cutkosky is old enough to handle more complicated material, and as a result this season his character develops into more than just a mischievous boy up to no good. Focused on easing his dad’s pain, Carl sets off on several mini missions determined to earn money anyway he can even if that means stealing people’s pets.
Frank’s interesting dilemma will have to resolve itself next week. Will he or won’t he admit to being Sammie’s daddy? How far Frank will go to protect himself is unpredictable and almost always shameless. With the third installment of the fourth season Shameless has set the framework for what I hope will be an unforgettably explosive year. What goes up must come down and the Gallagher’s are just far enough up the ladder to fall.
Aurora Snow Says
Episode Rating:
[Rating:4/5]