Shameless - Recap: Mickey Getting Married

They always do this to us… always! Shameless, why do you have to get me all emotionally vulnerable after midnight? Here I am, sitting on my couch after a pretty damn solid holiday, and I’m a bit of a wreck after “Order Room Service.” Where do broken hearts go, Shameless fans? Obviously, to the South Side of Chicago.

Showtime "Shameless"

Fiona and Jimmy: Jimmy (Justin Chatwin), what the hell is going on? Is this actually happening? Eh, I guess it makes sense! That’s what happens when you perpetually lie to everyone you know and live life to selfish extremities. Jimmy got fed up with Estefania’s constant misuse of the emergency cell service he provided. She’d call him bitching over a broken heel or a bad lay, so why would he think ignoring just one call would make a difference? Indeed it did. Estefania’s father rolled into Chicago for a surprise visit. Jimmy was appropriately terrified after an absolutely delicious looking brunch. What prompted her dad to roll back into town? Estefania was on the brink of deportation because Jimmy had declined to take her emergency call. He picked the wrong one to ignore, apparently. Crappy luck or karma’s a bitch? You decide, reader! You decide.

Meanwhile, Fiona (Emmy Rossum) had discovered that Jimmy had no intention at all of taking their relationship to Michigan during his stint in med school. A real estate agent called with information regarding his interest in a studio apartment. Fiona, feeling like an absolute fool after doing a ton of her own research, was crushed. She was willing to bend over backwards to make things work, even going as far as to offer to uproot the kids for a year. After a massive blowout with Jimmy surrounding his lies, she realized the truth. Jimmy would never truly be a part of her world. The “slum” that is her world was nothing more than a temporary situation for him, a hurdle in the race to winning Fiona’s heart for good. He wanted to steal her from her family. Jimmy used his care for the Gallagher kids as his excuse, but his reasoning actually backfired, in my opinion. It revealed his true lack of connection to the lot of them.

In an attempt to get her mind off of things, Fiona decided to take her boss, Mike (Jake McDorman), up on his offer to attend a big camping trip. The extravaganza would involve boozin’ and potato sack races. Seriously, think about it… would anything make Debbie Gallagher (Emma Kenney) happier than a potato sack race? Even losing a potato sack race? See, I’m really liking the chemistry between Fiona and Mike, so much so that I can’t root for any sort of a fix with Jimmy. I wish that they could find closure (and a legitimate way of keeping Justin Chatwin employed on Shameless), but this isn’t the common love triangle in the making. We remember Tony the cop very much so, and he never really stood a chance against Jimmy. This a legitimate threat, as we came to learn for sure this episode.

After plenty of Budweiser and lots of conversations genuinely displaying their compatibility, the two started a romp in Mike’s tent. Fiona’s guilt hit her like a ton of bricks. She put the brakes on the revenge sex, and Mike was totally cool with it, even offering his sense of understanding. Just finishing up a divorce with his ex, Eve, he revealed his tattoo of her name on his thigh. When they started joking about changing “Eve” into another word containing the name, I was sure he was going to suggest “Steve” as a poorly timed joke! What a missed opportunity, writers!

Showtime "Shameless"

Push came to shove, and Fiona left Jimmy a voicemail professing her love and once again reaffirming her belief in their relationship, whether she were to join him in Michigan or not. Sadly, Jimmy might never hear that voice mail.

On a dark dock, Jimmy appeared to walk the plank. Step by step, he headed towards Estefania’s father’s yacht. It all spelled doom for Jimmy. Is this it? Is this how we say goodbye to Jimmy/ Steve? They cut Justin Chatwin from the finale trailer, obviously, but are you anticipating a Jimmy surprise pop-up, or do you think he’s actually swimming with the fishes? (By the way, it’s “fish,” right? Not “fishes”?)

Showtime "Shameless"

Ian and Mickey: Ian (Cameron Monaghan) snapped, guys. I anticipated Ian’s wedding meltdown from the moment he mentioned his mental unraveling at the episode’s start. Ian spent the front of the episode drinking hard and sleeping, before heading to Mickey’s (Noel Fisher) wedding ceremony in an attempt to stop the massive mistake.

Behind the scenes, Ian confronted Mickey. Wow, Mickey Milkovich in a tuxedo. Now I’ve seen it all. Wait, I haven’t seen Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy) behaving selflessly. That would come later. I can’t tell if I’m incredibly happy or if I need to throw up. Ian, in one last desperate attempt, fearlessly admitted his deep loving feelings for Mickey. Mickey, refusing to understand the symbolic death marriage brought upon his real relationship, suggested screwing on the side. In the end, the two ended up doing the nasty just before Mickey’s nuptials, leaving Ian to feel used. I’m assuming he thought sex would convince Mickey to become a runaway. Needless to say, the wedding was atrocious. I figured Ian would get wasted and object, outing Mickey in front of an audience after Mickey had admitted to fearing the sharing of his true feelings. Instead, Ian got wasted and outed Mickey in a drunken rage to Mandy (Emma Greenwell).

Showtime "Shameless"

Lip: I’m not sure if there was anything more devastating than seeing Karen’s (Laura Slade Wiggins) return from the hospital. Karen suffered a severe amount of frontal lobe damage from the accident, causing her to lose any and all capacity for short term, current memory. She remembers the past, but thinks like a goldfish. She can recognize what’s being said, just before forgetting it. Sheila (Joan Cusack) and Jody (Zach McGowan) did their best to think positive thoughts, but the outcome looked bleak. There was no telling whether Karen would truly recover or not, but we know Lip (Jeremy Allen White). He’s a pessimist when it comes to this sort of thing. Sheila, in the end, decided to allow Jody to take Karen and Jaime to the healing vortexes out in Sedona.

In a final attempt to save Karen, Lip desperately tried to have a heart-to-heart in her bedroom, recalling their old love stories, only to have her recognize them without any true emotional reaction. Karen coldly admitted to losing her ability to feel anything, without ever really being able to explain what that meant to Lip. She wouldn't have to. That was that; Lip made his way to Mickey’s wedding in an attempt to humiliate Mandy, who admitted to already cheating out of frustration. Wow, just like that, the show took Mandy from tragic anti-hero to unsympathetic bitch. I used to love Mandy!

Frank and Carl: Tired of living life as a homeless man, Frank enlisted Carl’s (Ethan Cutkosky) help in earning his way back to a bed, or at least, a decent couch. I think Frank would settle for a pillow on the floor and half a slice of pizza, at this point. Carl, still naïve to Frank’s ways, concocted a plan to rob his former gay foster parents. The super rich couple worked weekends, and the two could easily rob them blind considering that Carl still remembered their security code. After drawing up a floor plan, the two did the deed. I appreciated Frank’s decision to nab the fez.

Later on at home, Lip was disturbed to find the cops arresting Carl outside. They treated him like an adult, handling him aggressively, sending Lip into a tizzy. Apparently, Carl had a unique security code to his foster fathers' place. It spelled out “C-A-R-L”! After hearing the commotion from out back, having been crashing in the old backyard van a.k.a. Carl’s clubhouse, a drunken Frank stumbled into the scene. I… can’t… believe… it. Should I just stop writing? Well, call me Carrie Underwood… Frank took the fall for Carl.

Frank to Carl: “Order Room Service.”

Why can’t Frank be my dad? I bet you never thought you’d think that, huh?

What did you think of Shameless Season 3 Episode 11, “Order Room Service”? Is this it for Jimmy? What will become of Mickey and Ian? Did Frank redeem himself in your eyes? Who would you like to see Fiona end up with? Am I an awful person for thinking Karen could be faking?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Shameless Season 3 Episode 11, “Order Room Service”!