Shameless - Season 3 Episode 1 - Premiere - Recap and Review - El Gran Canon
The Showtime hit Shameless returned tonight with "El Gran Canon"! The Shameless season 3 premiere was very interesting, in that it drudged up many familiar conflicts for the Gallaghers and those entranced by their special brand of "charm,"only to intensify the drama and up the hilarity! In this recap and review, I'll delve into the lives of the South Side elite piece by piece. I'll cover everything from rumble robots to drug muling and more! Shameless really is a terrific show, and I'm hoping that the added action of what seems to be coming up during season 3 elevates things to a whole new level of lack of shame.
Showtime "Shameless"
Frank (William H. Macy): Poor Debbie (Emma Kenney) spent the entirety of the premiere mourning the loss of Frank. Of course, Frank wasn't dead. Frank's like a roach. He'll outlive them all. In actuality, Frank woke up hungover in Mexico after a bender that lasted several months. Did Frank miss Christmas? He almost missed Easter after having been missing over one hundred and thirty days! After a failed attempt of convincing the boarder patrol of his citizenship, Frank did what he always does; he took things way past "legal." First, he found himself enticed to join a train of illegal immigrants marching through the Mexican desert. That is, until the boarder cops wrangled the group in and snuffed out Frank's hopes of hopping the fence. With his hopes of illegally immigrating dashed on the spot, Frank unknowingly agreed to act as a drug mule.
Frank: "Guys, I'm really getting kind of skeeved out."
Thanks to Sheila's "expertise" in the bedroom, Frank managed to fit eighteen packages of cocaine inside of him; earning himself the title of "El Gran Canon"! The episode's close saw Frank stumbling into the kitchen of the Gallagher residence, out of exhaustion for once. The whole tribe turned for a split second of silent acknowledgment before returning to their spaghetti dinner. Well, at least Debbie hugged him!
Fiona (Emmy Rossum): Things seemed to be going well between Steve and Fiona. At least, they seemed to be going well from Steve's perspective. Fiona was fed up with her beau going all "Mister Mom" and doing such awful things as mopping, cooking breakfast, paying for braces, and even, *gasp*, lovin' him some Rachael Ray. Fiona finds herself in a strange position, in that Steve contributes immensely to the houshold. Yet, that puts power over her in the palm of his hand. Still, Fiona had bigger fish to fry during the premiere. After losing her horrendous yet well-paying gig as a biohazardous waste (a.k.a. sh*t) clean-up crew member, she set her sights back on a higher position at the nightclub where she used to work. Her old boss Meg seemed a lot more like a thorn in her side than I remember her being. I actually kind remember her championing Fiona. I guess Fiona's one screw-up last season (the issue with her mother) cost her all the respect she'd earned? Isn't it a bummer when pregnant ladies get all entitled on us non-pregnant people? In the end, Fiona managed the thousand dollar buy-in Meg came up with for a chance to test Fiona's promotional skills.
Showtime "Shameless"
Showtime "Shameless"
Steve/ Jimmy (Justin Chatwin): As previously stated, things seemed to be going well from Steve's point of view during season 2's episode 1. That is, until his old "boss" rolled into town unexpectedly. Remember, Steve cut a deal with a cartel kingpin. Somehow, that deal involved Steve marrying his daughter to gain her citizenship. Last season, it was revealed that this daughter loved another, just as Steve loved Fiona, and the two managed to smuggle her boo into the States. Yikes, daddy was back in town, and he was pissed. The man wasted no time hacking up the daughter's boyfriend and feeding the pieces to the fish. The yacht was nice, though! I'd say he's a keeper Steve. Truthfully, Steve doesn't have a way out. The head-honcho wants his daughter to earn a college degree, so Steve has to stay married.
Lip (Jeremy Allen White): Lip maintained his crusade against his own potential during "El Gran Canon." Hasn't he ever seen Good Will Hunting? I don't really understand his rationale, considering the fact that he is a genius in his own right. He's dead-set on sabotaging himself to maintain a level of respect for the poor folks of his community. Whatever, South Side represent! I guess? Lip and Ian (Cameron Monaghan) managed to steal a high-power laser from the college. Why? To enter a rumble robots match! Surrounded by pretentious geeks eager to embarrass the high school kid who's actually dared to use food stamps, Lip's simple robot (equipped with a mega-weapon) literally blew up the competition. He won a cash prize to use towards a property bill. At least he's using his intelligence, right? Unfortunately, another brush with the law could end up ruining everything.
Showtime "Shameless"
Side notes: Veronica (Shanola Hampton) and Kev (Steve Howey) have moved on to couple's live cam shows! The catch; they work the racist perverts of American by reenacting Thomas Jefferson's "relations" with slaves. Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) is a fan. I love Carl! Sheila (Joan Cusack) and Jody (Zach McGowan) continued to raise Karen's baby. Sheila is starting to see what drove Karen to the edge with Jody, and the results are adequately hilarious. The more Sheila, the better. That's what I always say! Lastly, Ian continued his casual sex with Steve's father. Ian kind of has a boyfriend, and Steve's dad kind of has a wife.
What did you all think of episode 1 of season 3? Did the season premiere get you even more excited for the rest of season 3? What did you think will become of Fiona and Steve now that he's trapped with Estefania? Are you excited to see things come to a head between Ian/ Mickey/ Steve/ Steve's Dad? When will Karen rear her ugly head to wreak more Shamless havoc?
