Are you there Shim? It’s Me, Ian.

The Gallaghers are back! Time to catch up with the fam.

Ian is in jail after the last stunt we watched him pull at the end of last season. He’s doing…well? He’s brought his crusade into the prison, standing up for the vulnerable against the predators. Ian has made himself the leader of those being abused and taken advantage of, causing a sex strike. Given the situation, Ian is making a positive difference and he seems to be enjoying the roll. So much so that he’s dismissive of  Fiona when she visits and tells him she’s close to getting the 50k for his bail. Ian is acting “off” leading to the obvious question of if he’s on his meds. He waves it away again and the rest of the family (and her boyfriend Ford) is wary of bailing Ian out. More than just bailing him out, they’re concern that Ian is going to flake on his obligations and leave Fiona out to dry. Fiona is pretty gung ho about it, with the mentallity that Gallaghers stick together. Ian is in trouble and he has no one else to rely on. It’s an interesting twist as the kids, who really aren’t kids anymore, aside from Liam, are throwing red flags up. They are all working for a living now and they are not behind what could very well be throwing 50k out the window on someone who currently can’t be relied upon. Fiona is in a bit of a moral quandry. Getting the hesitation from Ford  was one thing, getting it from all of her siblings makes her worry.

Frank has been busy using his manley capabilties on the female population of the PTA and his rather lengthy and unsafe sex practices come to roost in the community. Good on Frank for his ability to spin a situation in his favor. Mostly. Liam continues to buck what Frank tries to teach him and does his best to be honest.

Lip is keeping things going on his end. Still sober and with a new short hair cut, he’s watching over Xan while her mother is who knows where. Brad has put himself together and has asked Lip to be his best man at his wedding. There, Lip meets the maid of honor and it is now pretty obvious he has met his new hard to get obsession.

Deb is cracking along at work, welding everything she can get her hands on (with her new steel toe protectors firmly strapped to her boots) when she finds out that she’s getting paid $3 less than the men. Deb swings into action to make her point and lands herself equal pay.

Carl is flexing his stuff at bootcamp. He’s well into the positon of bossing his cadets around and one of them is…below par. A strike against Carl getting a major promotion. The other strike is his wife Kassidi, who has posted herself right outside the gate, professing her love for Carl to whomever walks near her. When the Disappointing Cadet hears Carl complain about Kassidi, he gets an idea. Just before the end of the episode the guy tells Carl “No one will find the body.” Cue panic.

Finally, Kev and V are on their own with Svet gone. Their twins are going buckwild and the bar is just managing to stay afloat. Struggling to wear out the kids and getting quality time for themselves it finally dawns on them: Pre-school!

It’s great to be back with the Gallaghers. Everyone is doing their own thing and the stages have been set for their own drama. Carl’s is the most serious and Lip’s is the most obvious of what will probably happen. I think the most interesting will be Fiona’s major decision about Ian as this signals a possible major change in the family ethos.