The Defenestration of Frank
All good scams must come to an end. All bad ones too.
Let’s talk about Frank first. We’ve seen him skimming off the top for some time now and it’s been paying off (for only Frank). He’s got his own premium pantry and a stack of cash. There’s been some suspicion about Frank from some of his new family and this episode we see Frank catch wind of it and make a move to better hide his con. When Deb comes to ask for his help he steps all over her (again) and she gives him an ear full before she storms out. One of his new sons overhears what Deb says and that’s the beginning of the end. “OK, hold on. Come on We’re family. Will you tell them, New Monica?” “My name’s Deloris!” Frank gets his ass thrown out of a second story window and he’s back to square one. At the bottom and all by himself again.
Ian is more or less in the gray zone with Trevor. He’s not too sure if he is or can be in a relationship with him. Oddly enough, when Ian is unable to save a life at work, he turns to Trevor first for support and it brings them closer together.
Lip feels good about stealing from his internship. They start slow and get a few hundred dollars from the first day. The software he put on the company’s server is undetected by the cyber security guy (could Lip have made it any more obvious talking to that guy? Really weird dialog, Lip is way smarter than that). Unfortunately, the company is busted by the feds again. Total shut down. Lip does get a dog out of it, though. His relationship with Sierra is…a wet and wild one. They have a fight, make up…it’s complicated for Lip as he’s had some rather traumatic relationships and he’s not sure what to make of Sierra.
Deb is getting along well with Sierra’s brother, Neil. She’s comfortable with the arrangement and stands up for herself and Neil when others doubt them. Gotta say she makes some good points. In order to make DYFS go away quickly after getting into the street fight, she wants to get married to Neil. When Frank shuts her down, she’s forced to go to Fiona who surprisingly agrees. Really nice scene and hopefully it’s the start of their relationship turning around.
Fiona keeps her boss hat on. She goes to the bank to secure a loan to buy Etta’s laundromat but she comes up 20k short. Etta agrees to the lower money but it’s clear that Etta is losing her faculties. She doesn’t remember the conversation she had with Fiona the day before and is eager to sign things over because she trusts Fiona. Fiona is really concerned but I think (and rightfully so) that she’ll be able to keep Etta safe and it’s the best deal for all of them. Etta will still have a place to live, the yuppies won’t get another lot and Fiona will be able to get her future kickstarted with even less up front costs. She gets the loan by putting the house up for collateral, which Lip is none too pleased about. Fiona keeps catching shit from her siblings and Fiona drops her own disappointment bomb on him in retaliation when he gets nasty with her. She soldiers on confident she can turn the laundromat around (which Lip was originally all aboard for) quickly since she did it with Patty’s. If she doesn’t…
Carl is waffling back and forth about going to military school. Dom leads him on and her father quickly crushes that. He brings Carl to see that she’s got another guy already and Carl is incensed that she almost duped him again. With some added encouragement from the family, he goes for it. The closing scene with him knocking that bully out was fantastic. If he can get into the structure and discipline, he’ll do fine.
Kevin and V see a crisis between Svet and her father. It’s not as messed up as they think, but being told that her father is actually her husband is a shock. Kevin seems more or less relieved, but V looks legit offended that Svet is married to someone else.
My favorite scene this week is with Ian and Lip catching up with Fiona in her room. They’re rarely together so it’s awesome to see them talk as a family and plan things. Those calm and reassuring bonds don’t come often on Shameless.