The Fickle Lady Is Calling It Quits

Everybody is moving at warp speed and it’s getting tough for anybody to hang on.

Kev and V quickly sell their house for more than it’s worth to a developer that slipped a flyer in their mail. This puts The Alibi on the fast track to be sold, shocking Kermit, Tommy, and Deb. Cleaning up The Alibi makes Kev nostalgic and any second thoughts from V end when the money (minus paying off the house) shows up in their account. When Lip finds out about the sale he’s taken back by losing his lifelong neighbors and the shock that their house was sold with no effort.

Lip jumps at the chance to talk to the developer, who is looking to buy 3 houses on the block for a new development. Lip can stop putting time and money into the house and end most of his stress. With the Ball house and the Milkovich house sold, Lip is in prime position to make the last sale to the developer and asks for $275k. While he waits for a response, he’s over the moon and decides to sell the new stuff he put into the house to get more of his money back. Tami is shocked to hear their fortune has turned but she’s skeptical that Lip should be so happy until the paper work is done. In Shameless fashion, it doesn’t work. The developer goes the other way down the block and buys the house to the left of the Ball’s for $200k. Lip accidentally priced himself out. It was a good idea but he rushed into it, not considering any competition. Frustrated, he goes to the Ball house to talk to Kevin after he blew him off earlier when he found out about the developer from V.

Deb’s feelings of abandonment spiral further down as she goes to Tami for relationship advice. She gives her some real talk, saying it’s not her fault she hasn’t had a healthy relationship, her parents were so dysfunctional she had no chance. This turns Deb on Frank and she jumps him at the Alibi and he gives her some parting Frank advice: find a bigger loser than you and they won’t leave you. Later in the day, Deb runs into (accosted is the better word) a woman named Heidi. There’s a good chance this woman won’t leave Deb for anything, but there’s a good chance Heidi will get her killed. Deb’s level of desperation will be tested.

Carl continues to rage against the machine and gets himself demoted to meter maid. Turns out he likes cruising the streets but getting disrespected for being a meter maid left and right isn’t a perk. He turns his job into a moral positive though, giving tickets only to wealthy people. He runs into Tish and they have a good talk. Impressive considering how things were left between them. She’s also super pregnant and Carl asks her if he’s the father and she doesn’t answer him. With his career in question, what can we make of a possible surprise…would Carl be a good father?

Mickey is having a hard time fitting in at the West Side apartment. Ian bops about looking to make friends and settle in and Mickey is like a dog after a cross-country move. The changes are so great he can’t handle anything. Everything feels foreign to him, he hates everyone he meets and it bubbles over into a hilarious fight at the pool. Ian, champion of being an understanding adult, is able to eventually talk his husband down from his anxieties. Mickey is a lucky guy, it’s hard to believe he could find another person who would be able to care for him so deeply.

Frank’s day starts on a rough brown note and once again Liam is there for him. They go out and do fun Frank stuff; scamming people out of money and then spending it. After his rough encounter with Deb at The Alibi, Frank can’t handle any booze and it tilts him. The time we’ve seen Liam and Frank together has been meaningful. Liam represents a lot to Frank and the show at large. Liam accepts Frank as Frank and that’s probably the most Frank has ever wanted in life. The end of the episode sees Frank writing a note to his family and shoot a life-ending amount of heroin from a secret stash into his arm.

One episode left and I’m dreading it, I hope it’s as satisfying as I want it to be.