This week’s episode of Shameless finally focused more on Lip, Kev, and, unfortunately, Frank. For an episode entitled as “Carl’s First Sentencing,” we didn’t see much of Carl.
We get glimpses of Ian and Fiona’s situations, but the show generally took a break from the brother and sister after two weeks of centering only on them.
We learn that Chucky will also face time in a juvenile detention facility despite his extremely low IQ. The lawyer explains that this is because Chucky was literally covered in evidence. Sammy, of course, blames Chucky’s arrest on Carl and attempts to get back at Carl in every way possible, including physically attacking him.
When Sammy finds out that Chucky will definitely go into a facilit, she begins to give Chucky a talk about protecting himself from other inmates. In this scene, the audience is reminded why Shameless is on Showtime.
Carl’s lawyer wants him to give up his boss, but Carl will not snitch because he will face more danger in juvie if his boss’ employees find out he snitched. Fiona hopes that Carl will get off easy because it’s his first offense, but their lawyer reminds them it is his first criminal offense. Carl refuses to show remorse for anything he did.
Lip becomes extremely involved with his professor, and at the end of the episode, we learn that she is in a not-so-monogamous relationship with her husband.
Frank finally has a plotline I don’t hate on this show! Although I could see where this was going immediately, I became fond of Bianca, the doctor diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Frank convinces her to seize the day and live out her last days doing everything she never did. He does this mostly for his own gain, but Bianca doesn’t seem to mind. They get drunk and go looking for marijuana, and Bianca almost messes everything up when she thinks it is funny to say “Hands in the air, I’m a cop!” directly to the drug dealer.
Bianca and Frank wake up after streaking, and most likely sleeping together (I just threw up in my mouth) to find the girl who stole Bianca’s date to prom in high school. When they find her, she punches her right in the nose and breaks it. Bianca falls asleep on the subway next to Frank, and I was almost certain that she died (Frank has a history of sick women dying next to him). Frank takes her home, and we will see the rest of their story next week.
The entire Gallagher family comes out for Chucky and Carl’s sentencing hearing. Both Gallagher boys receive time, and Sammy tattoos a swastika on Chucky’s forehead for protection. Carl’s crew accepts him because he didn’t snitch, and Carl figures going to juvie will be a better education in things he’s interested in.
Lastly, Kev. His plot during this episode had me nervous. There was a lot of cheating in this episode, but none as explicit and intentional as Kev. He stays at the university and begins to walk undergraduate girls back from parties to their dorm rooms. It soon becomes a form of prostitution with Kev as the prostitute. He sleeps with multiple girls in a day. Lip lets him do his thing until a certain point, and he asks “What about V?” to which Kev is nonchalant about it; he thinks they are both doing their own thing.
It isn’t until a bunch of undergraduate boys corner Kev about the services he is providing to their classmates. One says, “If you’re gonna treat a girl right, do it to your wife.” Wake up call! Kev shows the boys V, and they are all impressed. “Why would you leave that?” they ask, and Kev has to deal with that question head on. He says, “That’s what happens when you marry the best. No matter how many girls there are, they’re still not V.”
Hopefully, we’ll see more progress with Kev and V in a positive way. This episode was not the best episode, but it also wasn’t the worst. Let’s hope next week’s will knock it out of the park.
[Photo via Showtime]
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