Requiem for a Slut

It’s been awhile since the whole family was together (Kev and V included) so this season finale felt like a major culmination.

This episode balanced the black comedy with the drama and traumatic dysfunction of Shameless exceptionally well. If I didn’t know any better going into it, I’d say it felt like I was watching a series finale.

Let’s check in with everyone for the last time until next year:

Kevin and V’s battle with Svet was put firmly on the backburner for next year. Kevin is working at the Fairytale (tail?) and are weighing their options on going after Svetlana to get The Alibi back (something Fiona is all for).

Carl is doing well and comes home for a short time to everyone’s delight. Frank looking at him funny in his uniform and asking what it was for was a brilliant and effective bit of writing. It’s complex dysfunction and series history boiled down to two lines of dialog that says so much about Frank.

Ian takes a bus back from the border and only tells Trevor the truth that he was “with Mickey” during the few days no one could find him. He spiked Trevor’s trust into the dirt and they’re on the outs. Trevor does attend Monica’s funeral, so all might not be lost.

Lip is putting his best foot forward. He’s sober, going to meetings and keeping busy in positive ways. It looks like his relationship with Sierra has some light left in it.

Deb is moving forward too. Having lost her job at the laundromat, she’s taking welding classes and catches the eye of her instructor.

Fiona keeps it together, balancing her workload and the family crisis with Monica. In the end, she moves forward in obtaining the apartment complex.

Monica brings everyone together (her father shows up!) and gives Frank one last adventure to chase. Distraught and in mourning, he perks up when he realizes a key she left behind is for a self-storage facility. There, he finds Monica’s final dangerous move to secure the kids a parting gift. Her “legacy.” Of course, that brings up some dangerous possibilities, one Fiona fights and Frank champions.

Tons of great moments. Kevin is really funny through the whole episode. Lip talking to Sierra about the future. Ian facing the mistake he had to make for closure and continuing to help others at work. Deb being proactive to make a life for her daughter. Grandpa whupping Frank’s ass. The crazy fight with Frank and the whole family and Fiona going off on Frank in the backyard. His absolute heartbreak as his damaged muse’s memory is crushed by the truth Fiona forces him to listen to.

Fiona had a hell of an episode. Burning the candle at both ends, she went through the ringer until the very end. You could taste the built up rage and resentment she had for Monica with each passing scene. Talking about funeral arrangements with the funeral director, then the scene with Monica in the casket. The all-out brawl with Frank and the admonishment of how awful Monica was to them all. Her solution to Monica’s “legacy” was pretty brilliant and I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone hit a body in a casket before. Shameless to the letter. It all came around at the memorial service which was a terrific send off followed by a party at the Gallagher home. A classic staple of Shameless.

Seven seasons in and it was one of the best of the series. We don’t get that kind of goodness a lot. A whole lot of closure came this year and Season 8 is set up to take off from a new starting point. Can’t wait for my favorite show to come back.

Happily Ever After

This was a hell of an episode.

I’ll start outside of the circle with Kev and V. Svet is in exile (I assume she’s living at the bar) as Kev and V work to excise her from their lives. With her owning the bar, they need a new source of income for their family so Kevin hits the payment to find work. After seeing that his lack of education is going to be a major problem, V sends him out to a bartending job. He arrives to find that it’s a gay bar and when he makes a case for himself, he gets a shot to work that night to see if he can pull it off. He’s a hit! But he could do some side activities for extra money that he passes by V. We’ll see how that goes.

Deb takes a back seat this episode as her drama has more or less evened out. Fiona

Fiona gets her check for 160k for selling the laundromat. After expenses, she’s set to clear just under 80k. It’s a huge windfall for her, one she’s excited about but good ole Lip sneers at every bit of her progress: making a ton of money, buying a new car, and an eye on buying an apartment building nearby from a new contact (with benefits). With her new found experience of owning property, she’s more confident than ever that she can make this work again. The downside is Etta. With the building sold, Etta loses her home of 50 years. Fiona brings her in until she can secure a room at a nursing home for her. Etta settles in pretty quickly…

Ian is on the run with Mickey and it becomes clear in short order that life with Mickey is not going to be an easy one. Their love and lust is very real. As are Mickey’s issues. They have a dangerous hanger on that they have to ditch and then Mickey’s plan to get into Mexico collapses. In Texas with few options and no money, the two go to a bank to make a withdrawal. Mickey, ski mask, and gun in tow, goes for the only option he has gets stopped by Ian who calmly withdraws all the money he’s earned from working for the past year. They get to the border and it’s do or die time.

Lip is wallowing in his own self-pity. He’s lost just about everything and it seems like everyone is either yelling at him or telling him what to do. Deb wisely tells him that if he would get his shit together, no one would be telling him what to do. He goes to AA meetings but hates it. Outside of one, he talks to a fellow addict and they end up hanging out. They share war stories and generally talk about life. At the end of the day, the guy tells Lip that he has to decide for himself to make the changes. The time you’d turn to the bottle must be filled with something else. He actually knits. After shrugging off all the advice from everyone else, this guy who doesn’t seem to care much about Lip either way seems to have made an impression.

Frank and Monica wake up in a room with naked strangers after another night of partying. They steal everything that’s valuable and continue to have a blast together. At home, Frank proposes to her. Yes, they never got a divorce so it’s more like they’re going to renew their vows. Planning a quick ceremony of some sort, they go around to the kids to try and get them to show up for it. Deb is the only one who commits and it’s she and Liam who witness Frank and Monica get into a fist fight over some years ago transgressions. In typical dysfunctional fashion, they quickly make up. As Fiona says later that night as she toasts her awful parents, “You two deserve each other.” Watching the others dance in merriment (after spiking their drinks) Monica looks at her family (minus Ian and Carl) and remarks how proud she is of them. It’s one of the best family moments in awhile actually. She’s got one more plan,  a DEA dangerous plan to leave something for the kids. Frank is, of course, game for anything the love of his life wants to do.

I’ve glossed over a ton of details in this episode mostly because you need to see these long-time-coming scenes for yourself. For the fans (and if you are reading this, you are one of them) there’s some intense, beautiful, family changing  stuff. In the last 6 minutes, a lot of Shameless threads come to an end.

At the little party, Lip apologizes to Fiona. He’s doubted her for so long thinking she couldn’t do anything she said she could do. He was wrong. They bury the hatchet.

Fiona brings Etta to a assisted living facility and walks out with Etta in utter confusion and herself in tears. She bought the woman’s home and business, made a profit from selling it and essentially made her homeless. Not a family member and unable (and unwilling) to solely take care of Etta anymore, Fiona sets her up as best as she can. The girl who always put Southies first, the downtrodden over everyone else, has turned a major corner. The whole season we’ve watched her put her own needs first for once. With success, she has changed. Fiona is now a business woman.

Ian and Mickey’s relationship has been a favorite storyline for many Shameless fans. In this episode, they get the best scenes together. We watch as they reconnect, but we also watch as Ian comes to the final realization that their lives and their paths are different now. Ian needs stability and has started to do well for himself in Mikey’s absence. Mickey is a lifetime criminal. A fugitive that offers no stability. At the border, Ian confesses that he can’t continue any longer and while Mickey is hurt, he ultimately understands and lets go. Ian hangs around to see that Mickey makes it into Mexico.

Morning comes and the Gallagher home is a mess after the parental celebration. Etta is teaching Lip how to knit and Fiona then takes Etta to the nursing home. Frank wakes next to Monica on the floor and goes to wake her up to start another day of scheming, drugs, sex and laughter. Frank becomes frantic when Monica doesn’t wake up. The off again on again Gallagher matriarch is dead.

Next week, the season finale.

Ride or Die

With Monica back, Frank rolls with his long time partner in crime. They spend most of the show together trying various illegal ideas to score cash (and drugs if possible). Monica got the idea in her head that she wants to make amends to the kids by leaving them all $5,000. Despite flaming out every time, they neither get killed or arrested so that’s something. They had a good time together until they come home late with Neil and Deb kicks them out of the apartment for good.

Fiona debates selling the lease of the laundromat to her boss who intends to redo the entire street. She paid 80k and put another 8k into repairs and the laundromat starts to come back to life. Her boss low balls her at 80k and then goes to 90. Barely a profit so Fiona easily turns it down. She owns her own business, it’s great for the community, her sister works there (they are getting along great), and she’s able to keep Etta happy. When she runs the numbers, she figures it’ll be at least 3 years until the laundromat gets into the black. The final offer of 160k comes after some more talk. That’s an 80 grand profit in about a month. Fiona is tested.

V is furious at Svetlana. The adoption papers they signed was actually the paperwork for V and Kevin to sign The Alibi over to Svet. They’re betrayed and feel like fools for being so trusting and gullible. V wants Svet gone and Kevin goes to talk to her. Svet doesn’t see the problem. V and Kev didn’t know what they were doing, they would have gone bankrupt in 6 months without her and they all have a great deal with the thruple relationship. She loves V and has fun with Kevin. She calls him stupid, which is probably the worst thing she could have said to him. Kevin updates Fiona on what’s happening and she gives him her lawyer’s info. Svet can’t wave this one away, V and Kev are firm and getting back what’s theirs and want to send her packing.

The discussion sends Fiona to V and we finally get their reunion. They make up on V and Kevin’s stoop as they recount their stupid mistakes. It’s here that we find out Fiona made her decision. She’s selling out. The plan that I thought was going to ruin her, made her a small fortune.

Lip is a mess. Blackout drunk, he stumbles through the entire episode. Monica and Frank are always happy to see him but that’s about it. Once he breaks into an old flame’s home, he makes his way to an AA meeting.

Ian, who has been flying high for awhile now is put to the test. Mickey has broken out of prison and is on the lamb. Mickey reaches out to Ian almost immediately and when they meet, they have quite the reunion. Mickey can’t stick around the old stomping grounds and asks Ian to leave with him. With this maelstrom back in his lap, Ian is faced with up ending what is a good life. He tries to talk to Trevor but chickens out. In my favorite scene, he talks to Fiona about Mickey and she reassures him that he’s without a doubt better off without him. I think Fiona is in just about all my favorite scenes this year. Fantastic dialog in this scene with expert delivery from Emmy Rossum and Cameron Monaghan. Striking direction and lighting decisions too. It’s hard to describe how smart and meaningful this scene is.

We come to the last scene where Ian is waiting for Mickey in the middle of nowhere. A new Jeep rumbles up and stops in front of Ian. Mickey poses the question, “Is this goodbye?”

Ian gets in. “Let’s ride.” Mickey hits the gas and the take off together. Oh man.

Next week: !?