SHAMELESS Recap: Frank the Plumber

This week’s installment of Shameless has yet again, successfully provided fans with the unexpected. Chocked full of jaw dropping moments, new characters begin to stir the pot while the return of old ones becomes highly unlikely.

In this episode, Debbie Gallagher (Emma Kenny) does incredible work as she gets a chance showcase her budding talents with more screen time from week to week.  Though Kenny is paired alongside the more experienced Joan Cusack, the young star is hardly overshadowed. The duo work wonders together as we see a much needed a mother-daughter bond begin to develop.

Cusack’s character, Sheila Jackson, is caught struggling to cope with the absence of Baby Hymie. After realizing the Sheila is ill-equipped to babysit her younger brother, Liam, Debbie skips school and spends the majority of her time tending to Sheila in an attempt to lift her spirits.

There is no doubt that Steve is head over heels for Fiona, but he begins to re-examine his priorities after a recent night out with his former med school buddies. Steve finds himself hanging onto sanity by a thread working as a barista, and after losing his car and getting mugged, it comes to no surprise why he begins to seriously consider leaving his life and Fiona in Chicago for a better future.

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While Steve is experiencing a midlife crisis, Fiona recovers from her unpleasant grocery store job by picking up a temp position at a sales agency. She has a natural talent for making sales, because after years of getting second class treatment, Fiona knows exactly what the customers want to hear. Unfortunately, Fiona’s effortless assimilation into her sales representative position is counterbalanced by her foreign knowledge of office propriety. Fiona finds herself in trouble after getting caught with raunchy pictures on her computer monitor, but ultimately comes out unscathed.

In the meantime, Lip finds himself emotionally caught between the affections of both Karen and Mandy. It’s a battle between good and evil. Love vs. lust. Mandy sees the good in Lip and sends applications in on his behalf to several Ivy League schools. Karen has a different agenda and leads Lip down a destructive path as they continue to hook up any and every opportunity they get. Fed up with Lip’s attraction to Karen, Mandy throws a curveball when she sends Karen a text from Lip’s phone to “meet him in the park.” True to Milkovich nature, you would think that Mandy is just going to rough Karen up and be done with it. However, Mandy goes in for the kill by running Karen over on her walk to the park to meet “Lip.” By the looks of it, there is no possible way that Karen could have survived the impact of Mandy’s hit and run.

In the midst of all the Gallagher drama, William H. Macy brings a wild burst of comedy to the screen as he flawlessly delivers another blown-out-of-proportion circumstance.  After failing to exploit the system for insurance checks, Frank becomes the face of the gay community when he makes a public outcry about the lack of gay rights.

On a related note, Ian Gallagher is devastated to find out that his boyfriend (Micky Milkovich), who continually has an identity crisis, has knocked up another girl and now plans to marry her. Ian struggles to find balance as a boy who is desperately seeking a relationship with a rough and tumble man.

With only three episodes left, it will be interesting to see whether Micky goes through with the marriage, Karen survives Mandy’s psycho attack, and if Steve will buck up and go back to med school.

Find out what happens for yourself when Shameless airs this Sunday on SHO at 9et/pt!