Shameless - Season 3 Episode 7 - Recap and Review - A Long Way From Home
Shameless finally served up the battle we’d anticipated since the series premiere; Fiona (Emmy Rossum) challenged Frank (William H. Macy) to a court battle for custody of the Gallagher kids. As we’d come to learn, the best of intentions often come coupled with the steepest of prices. Would Fiona sacrifice her own life, figuratively speaking, out of love for her siblings? Would she even have the option to?
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Normally, I recap the episode by character blocks. I don’t think a segmented review works in this case, though, because such a trial would require the coming together of the whole damn crew. The episode opened with Fiona, fire in eye, fixing a disheveled “D” in “Debbie,” plastered on her little sister’s long-empty bedroom wall. Having just learned that Frank had been responsible for calling Child Services on his own family, the decision seemed so easy. Plus, with Frank’s mile-long record list, how could she possibly fail in her quest to secure custody? Jimmy (Justin Chatwin) was predominantly hesitant, realizing that raising five children is a big task for a twenty-something girl living on the South Side with no steady income. Jimmy's also incredibly selfish, as we've come to learn and would continue to be reminded of shortly.
Lip (Jeremy Allen White) and Ian (Cameron Monaghan), Fiona’s rocks, were up for the task of playing her allies in the War on Frank. Most likely reluctantly, Jimmy would introduce Fiona to one of his brother’s lawyer buddies, a somewhat pompous tool-ish guy who seemed like he could definitely get the job done. The man took on one charity case a year, and Fiona’s custody battle seemed easy enough.
Because the Gallagher’s had been living unconventionally for several years, Fiona would have to backtrack and re-write several shortcuts taken. For example, she’d need to prove that she owns her home, Aunt Ginger’s house. Ginger had been dead and illegally buried for fourteen years with Frank stealing her government paid social security checks. Fiona turned a blind eye, but now she’d have to stage a death, file it, and notarize a will. She’d need an actual body! In addition, she’d need signatures from both Frank and Monica, who’d gone missing for months, and proof that she’d been working a steady fulltime job.
Luckily, Lip is a boy genius. He suggested signing Fiona’s name onto Kev’s (Steve Howey) w-2 form. If they were to ever question Kev, they’d realize pretty quickly that the man would have trouble spelling “w-2,” let alone understanding what it stood for. For the corpse, Fiona called in V (Shanola Hampton), who works at a senior living facility. Old white people drop like flies at those places, and Veronica would take on the task of finding just the right old lady. Lip and Ian took it upon themselves to notarize a fake will, listing Fiona as the heir to Ginger’s house.
Everything seemed to be falling into place, as crooked as the scheme was. Next to Frank’s set of escapades, the kids' seemed tame. Frank was still busy attempting to prove himself as a fit father. After an afternoon of binge drinking, he attended an A.A. meeting just to collect a sobriety chip. He wasn’t able to procure one, though, considering the fact that the entire room called his bluff. It wasn’t difficult considering that he reeked of booze. For a letter of character, he went to his local priest, who’d grown accustomed to his relentless harassment. In the end, he just reprinted the last letter he wrote up for Frank.
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Meanwhile, Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) and Debbie (Emma Kenney) were still dealing with their increasingly frustrating living situations. The gay couple attempting to force Carl to brush his teeth and bathe frequently continued to get on his nerves, almost to the point of rendering Carl defeated. Debbie, who most likely would have loved Carl’s living situation, uncovered the secret nature of her caretaker’s home. Washing dishes and doing laundry was one thing, but forcing a labor force of foster children to bead jewelry made in “Africa” was a completely different story. Debbie had managed to suck it up prior, but now that she was working for pieces to her own meals in a makeshift sweatshop, things would change. Four earrings barely earned Debbie a fry from White Castle. Starved, she borrowed her friend’s Benadryl pills, laced her foster parent's soda, and waited till she passed out. Just before flying the coop, she looked back and realized she hadn’t done enough. She is Carl’s sister, after all! After crazy gluing the woman’s eyes closed (!), the escape mission was accomplished. Go, Debbie, go!
Jimmy had been running in and out of helping Fiona throughout the episode. Immigration was onto Estefania’s illegal status. Eventually, though, things got more personal. Estefania phoned in a fake emergency, and Jimmy ended up hauling ass over to her apartment only to be asked of the arduous task of “finishing” her off after a bum night of sex with another dude. Not one to be, I don’t know, faithful in any sense, Jimmy went for it. I love this show, but I don’t think I’ll ever get behind the central romance between Fiona and Jimmy. I’m not sure if we were supposed to sympathize because Fiona wasn’t taking her relationship into consideration during her custody battle, but I didn’t in the slightest bit. I probably never will.
Veronica managed to acquire a fresh corpse that fit the description of Aunt Ginger. Apparently, there are enough Jane Doe’s in the morgue to handle situations like this one. The set-up scene back at the house was one of my favorites of the season. The Gallagher’s have gone through plenty, but unzipping the body bag and placing an old corpse into bed was pretty hilarious to watch. The best part was, most definitely, watching them struggle to cut off a toe in order to complete Ginger’s description. Downstairs, Fiona came to find Debbie ravaging the fridge due to utter starvation. The whole gang seemed up for raiding Debbie’s former foster home and delivering some food, but first, Fiona would cut off that toe, having had her fire stoked by Debbie’s timely return.
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Sheila (Joan Cusack) and Jody (Zach McGowan) continued to struggle through his sexual addiction. Once a noose comes into play, you know it's time for an intervention. In the meantime, they'd have to deal with Jaime's father and grandmother showing up to claim him. Apparently, Mrs. Wong thought she could cure Downs Syndrome with Chinese herbs. Something else is afoot here, considering what happened by the episode's close. Sheila relinquished Jaime, knowing Jody's addiction jeopardized his wellbeing.
Looking for a means to an end, Frank decided to help Sheila with her intervention following Jody's suggestion of a gang bang. Frank wanted to keep his bed in the house and Jody's sex addict accomplishment chips as payment. They'd serve well enough in court, I guess. After some convincing following a massive orgy, Jody decided to listen to Sheila, and agreed to handcuff himself to the bed. That would serve to keep Jody out of the picture long enough for Sheila to witness solo the return of… Karen (Laura Slade Wiggins)! Where did she go? Where did she come from? Karen appeared to have returned in a state of utter remorse for her heinous words and actions. I'm not sure I bought any of it yet, considering just how dark she'd gotten upon her leaving.
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Fiona attempted to get Frank to sign over custody willingly, but Frank would never admit to being an unfit parent. He needs the money from the government! Let's not forget, he was too drunk to remember even calling Child Protective Services to begin with, as if that wasn't enough of a red flag.
With the paperwork in place, Fiona vs. Frank would commence! Frank tapped into his usual form of ridiculous pleasantries and utter lies, even going as far as to tear up. I remember reading that Emmy Rossum wasn't sure if Macy was tearing up to show true emotion or if he was just having Frank pour crocodile tears, but he was great! Fiona recounted a tale for the judge surrounding a time when, at age six, Frank left her on the curb to watch Lip and Ian, who was suffering from a one-hundred-and-four degree fever. Fiona walked them, both boys underarm, a long distance to a clinic just in time. There was no telling what would have happened if she'd waited any long. The next time she saw Frank, he asked her for money. Ian went to bat for Fiona in court, but Debbie and Carl were still not privy to Frank's selfish nature, considering their age. Everything was so up in the air. Afterwards, the judge called Fiona into his office alone to discuss her future. Although Frank is a pathological liar, and he wasn't buying his sob story, there was no clear history of actual abuse. Therefore, he couldn't be declared unfit. Still, she could be declared an additional guardian. I appreciated the judge's talk with Fiona most of all. If she did this, she would be giving up her own life. Liam is two, and in sixteen years Fiona will be in her forties. She'd have little opportunity for any dreams, even one for her own family.
In the end, Fiona signed on as guardian. Let's face it, any man who comes into her life will be a part of an unconventional family whether she signed the paper or not. I'm not sure Fiona dreams of normalcy, but I am sure that she loves her siblings, and they'd be included in whatever life she decided to build for herself regardless. Still, putting a signature to all of that responsibility felt so much heavier than I'd imagined it would!
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After attempting to file the will, Lip was caught off guard to hear that someone had filed just shortly prior. Their cousin Patrick had been tipped off by one of the men handling "Ginger's" body, and he is listed as the heir to their home!
What did you all think of Shameless, Season 3 Episode 7, "A Long Way From Home"? Did Fiona make the right call? What will come of their house? Were you happy to see Karen return? What does this mean for Lip and Mandy? After that short rooftop scene, where does this leave Mickey (Noel Fisher) and Ian?
