“Hope Springs Paternal”
**Spoiler Alert**
As if the felonious charges weren’t enough Fiona’s lost her footing in the family. No one needs her, Lip doesn’t trust her, plus she can no longer provide for her family now that she’s on house arrest. She’s practically useless, or at least that’s how it feels. Fiona has finally met her breaking point in Hope Springs Paternal, alone with no one to blame but herself. She no longer knows how to define herself without her role in the family, she doesn’t who she is anymore.
With Fiona in the doghouse Lip steps up to the plate and finds that with responsibility comes sex appeal. Lip’s trouble with the ladies is over. With his new role as a caring older brother toting his baby brother around campus, women are practically throwing themselves at him. And with no strings attached, it’s every college boy’s dream come true. Being responsible does have a few downsides, like missing out on the ABC (anything but clothes) party to study. It’s okay, Carl had enough fun for the both of them. Seeing what dorm life is really like might be the motivation Carl needs to stay in school and aim for college one day. Then again he really enjoys being a bully, he might even be able to make a full time career out of it one day.
Wow, this is the worst look for Frank yet. He’s fading fast, thin and pale. It even looks like Frank has lost weight, though it didn’t seem possible as he was already a rather thin man. (William H. Macy truly is dedicated to his character; I hope he’s nominated for an Emmy this season). Frank doesn’t have much energy these days, he can hardly sit up for long periods of time, but he does manage a hilarious spiel about the benefits of being bullied. His new daughter Sammi is taking good care of him, making his final days as comfortable as possible.
Sammi isn’t all saint, she’s not without her own corrupt Gallagher streak as is evident in the lengths she’ll go to to raise money for her dying daddy. Selling Sheila’s house was a stroke of brilliance, so long as they keep collecting the cash and don’t get caught. Sammi truly is a chip off the ol’ block. She’s even usurped Fiona’s place, becoming the new responsible older sister to Debbie. Fiona’s too much of a mess to help anyone, thankfully Debbie has Sammi to turn to for advice about her new initiation into womanhood and boys. She’s a far superior role model than those sex crazed girls Debbie calls friends. Debs seems to be bonding with Sammi in a way she and Fiona never did. Maybe Fiona never made herself emotionally available, too busy being the brood’s caretaker. Look out Fiona! There may be some new emotional lows ahead.
Speaking of new lows, Ian is either heavily caffeinated or high. I’d be willing to wager he’s high, but why? Ian’s new stripper lifestyle might be fun, but it isn’t making him happy if he has to be high to enjoy it. Mickey doesn’t fit into Ian’s swanky crowd, but he doesn’t want to since he’s still resisting his own self-acceptance. Mickey’s about to be a daddy and even though he chose Ian over his pregnant Russian wife, that may change when baby enters the picture. Babies change people, with children comes a certain responsibility. So unless Mickey takes a page from the Frank Gallagher book his world is about to change in ways he can’t even imagine.
As we trek deeper into the show it becomes clear that the voices of reason belong to Kevin and Veronica this season. Veronica does her best to nudge Fiona in the right direction, though the vodka shots were probably a bad idea. Together Veronica and Kev made a tough decision, and let her mom keep the baby that was to be theirs. Not sure Kevin is really okay, I think it broke his heart a little to give the baby to Grandma (even though she birthed it). I don’t blame V’s mom one bit, for not giving that baby up. Of course Kev is now worried about losing his babies, each loss hit him so hard. And as a new papa, Kevin is beginning to see the world as one big danger zone for his family. I think we’re about to see a new side of Kevin: the survivalist. This could be very interesting! Curious to see how far he takes it and how far Veronica will let him.
This was a strong episode with story threads that can only get better next week. This is the highest rated season of Shameless yet!
Aurora Snow Says
Episode Rating:
[Rating:4/5]