The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From The Alibi

I hope Shameless never takes a break like this again, it’s annoying to get taken out of the flow of the season. We’re all back together at least so let’s get to it.

I hate seeing Fiona down in the dumps. I want to see her happy and making progress and when she spirals it’s a horror show. Finding out about Ford and his marriage put all sorts of weight on her and she’s alone again. No one deals with a breakup well but her career got turned inside out the same time. In this episode, we find out that the deal she made to save herself from her apartment building foreclosure (and the massive loans she had to finance it) was a lie (something Ford warned her about when he found out who she’d be working with). The apartment building is getting leveled and the condos going up are going to be $400k+ per unit. The guy is going to make a fortune and she’s left with nothing. And Ford was right. So she’s angry and turns to alcohol. She’s thrown off all her responsibilities and it’s up to Deb to turn water into wine to pay all the outstanding bills on the house. It’s a small fortune as she stopped paying utilities 2 months ago. Fiona is lashing out at everyone and is an absolute monster at Paty’s. Her staff notices she’s acting weird but hasn’t put everything together yet (she looks terrible so that’s hard to get around). Fiona needs this business as it’s her only income now She’s letting restocking slide and chasing customers away. While her staff is holding the fort so far, belligerent Fiona is a problem.

With Deb taking over as the matriarch (Liam is nowhere to be seen btw) both Lip and Carl in the throws of their new relationships. Carl and Kelly are running around thick as (literal) thieves goofing off, scamming people and more or less have a grand old time. When Deb calls for the troops to rally to pay the bills, Carl is quick to answer. Lip and Ingrid are in the ‘sex is great but what are we doing’ phase. She hates staying at the house and her roommates are a pain so she wants them to get their own place. That’s a big step for Lip and he doesn’t take kindly to her throwing her weight around in a relationship this is little more than friends with benefits. While she does have valid points, Gallagher’s don’t take well to others telling them how to live.

And you better believe Frank is still head over heals for Ingrid. She loves him so much that she tells him she’s always wanted a kid, when she brings him to the office where her frozen eggs are. Her husband said no to kids (for obvious mental health reasons) but Frank is more than happy to make that happen. Except he’s sterile. And the most shameless moment of the episode goes to Frank. He tricks Carl into giving him a sperm sample and those swimmers are more than healthy enough to be used in the fertalization process.

Kevin and V are close to adopting a child (a son per Kevin’s request) and they give up on getting an infant because the weight is so long. With all the paperwork and wellness checks past, they meet 12 year old Santiago and Kev is stoked. They soon find out he isn’t an orphan, he came to the US with his father and sister for asylum and were separated. He doesn’t know where they are and this throws their entire family plan off track.