Shameless - Season 3 Episode 9 - Recap and Review - Frank the Plumber

In my opinion, “Frank the Plumber” was the best episode Shameless has put up yet during its season 3 run. Every single moment of triumph on this show comes coupled with some booming catastrophe. There is a real sense of community somewhere in that mix, though, and that’s what keeps us so willingly intertwined with the lives of the Gallagher’s and their crew. Winding down the season, the relationships we’ve invested our own hearts in are dangerously left on the brink of destruction. Still, there’s always hope. Just ask Debbie (Emma Kenney)!

Fiona: Fiona (Emmy Rossum) accepted an office job working as a temp. Basically, her duties required her to act as a middleman between distraught and angry customers and the business’s sales department. I enjoyed the scrambling to find an appropriate outfit that saw Fiona moving from “coke orgy” dress to “webcam sex show librarian” business casual.

As it turned out, Fiona’s frankness with customers landed her in a bit of hot water with some of her other employees, but impressed her boss.  The fact that she’d been researching the drawbacks of circumcision for Veronica (Shanola Hampton) on her company computer didn’t work in her favor either. "Porn," a mouth like a sailor, and straying from the script landed her the boss’s office by the end of her first day. Ah, finally a man other than Jimmy (Justin Chatwin) who had some legitimate budding chemistry with Fiona. Her boss was young and charming. Plus, he bought Fiona’s legitimate excuses. She’d managed to land a lucrative deal they’d previously figured they’d lost. Maybe Fiona’s finally found her calling!

From her desk, Fiona heard the voice of Frank (William H. Macy) blaring ominously through the cubicles. On a gay employee's computer, Fiona came across the viral video heard around the South Side. Frank had become the face of… the gay rights movement!

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Frank: In the flip of a page of his newspaper, Frank went from slamming the gays for "whining" about equal rights, to conjuring up a plan to file for domestic partnership benefits with his brand new roommate Christopher. Christopher, socially inept and totally off, had been caring for Frank like a child. To Frank, that equated to being in a loving consensual relationship with another man.

After failing to simply apply for a domestic partnership, having not lived with Christopher for at least a year and showing no proof of emotional investment, Frank did what he does best; he ran his mouth in front of a politician's soapbox speech. Calling out the candidate for not supporting his right to marry, having been duped into marrying Monica after a few weeks only to be left stranded with six kids, he made great points! He gave a great speech in support of equal rights, but had absolutely no foundation on which to do so. At home, Christopher found himself in a state of utter panic. Frank “outed” him to everyone from his co-workers to his mother.

Unable to deal with the torment down at the Alibi, Frank meandered into a gay bar where he was welcomed, and kind of worshipped, with open arms. Free drinks, sexual favors from drag queens, and unrequited attention. Being the face of the gay rights movement was Frank’s dream come true! "Frank the Plumber," a blue collar, Irish Catholic straight gay man.

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Ian: In an episode laden with some pretty heavy, heart-wrenching moments, I think the altercation between Mickey (Noel Fisher) and Ian (Cameron Monaghan) took the cake. Mandy (Emma Greenwell) had let it slip that Mickey got a hooker, probably “the Russian,” pregnant and was determined to marry her. Ian spent the school day reeling.

Afterwards, he ventured over to the abandoned building Mickey frequents to drink and shoot. Having to smash a bottle to get Mickey’s attention, Ian finally found himself calling Mickey out. Mickey is in love with Ian. Mickey is gay. In a last ditch effort to get Mickey to give in to him, Ian pushed Mickey to hit him, if he dared. Unfortunately, he did. He left Ian bleeding in the gravel outside the building. That evening, Ian laid in bed devastated.

I thought it was interesting to see the juxtaposition of the Frank's cultivation of a faux-gay persona and his legitimately struggling gay son, Ian.

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Lip: Lip (Jeremy Allen White) was caught off guard after being alerted to an upcoming interview with MIT. Mandy had been secretly struggling to send out applications to top colleges, and a few backups, for Lip. Infuriated, Lip nearly rescinded his apology for cruelly criticizing their relationship.

Still, when the MIT alum showed up at his doorstep, Lip was enticed. The man noted that Lip’s odds of getting accepted were slim, especially considering his need for a full ride. The threat of not being good enough was all Lip needed to re-write the Nelson Mandela essay Mandy had plagiarized in the application. I liked Lip’s explanation that he was interested in making big advancements in science as opposed to manipulating what we already know. He could very well build the first C-3PO!

Having witnessed another bang session with Karen (Laura Slade Wiggins) in the school bathroom, I’d become increasingly worried about Lip’s relationship with Mandy. The “thank you” sex totally trumped his tryst with Karen. I thought we were in for smooth sailing, but…

Sheila: Sheila (Joan Cusack), still devastated from the bombshell that was dropped last episode regarding Karen’s ploy to get rid of Jaime, found herself consoled by none other than Debbie! Debbie had brought Liam over for Sheila to babysit, but finding Sheila in such a shattered state pressured Debbie to skip school and help. Debbie knew exactly what to say to uplift Sheila’s spirits. The thing was, everything Debbie said was absolutely true. Debbie has seen crazy. Debbie has seen awful parenting. None of what Sheila went through surrounding her OCD compares to some of the truly shameless acts Frank and Monica have committed. In the end, Debbie advised Sheila to simply apologize for making Karen’s childhood so difficult. In turn, Sheila said what we’ve been waiting for someone to say to these kids since the show started. She told Debbie that her mother leaving wasn’t her fault. Hey, I want a hug.

Assuming something she’d done had molded Karen into the kind of “mean girl” that tortures Debbie at school, Sheila put aside her hurt and apologized for being so “crazy” during Karen’s childhood. Karen looked pretty accepting, but a text from “Lip” asking her to meet in the park caught her eye. To rewind a bit, Lip had decided to cut Karen loose, seemingly for good, having had an epiphany regarding his relationship with Mandy. In a fit of insane rage, Karen had called Mandy to ruin everything by revealing she’d been sleeping with Lip. Mandy is good for Lip, and she believes in his right to escape the pitfalls of life on the South Side. Karen was, of course, the polar opposite. Still, what would come to occur next changed everything.

Karen wiped one of Sheila’s tears before leaving, but never got to speak her own truth. Distracted in the street, Karen was taken out in a hit-and-run. The next day, we’d get to watch Mandy scrub all of that “Karen” off of her car’s hood.

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Jimmy: Jimmy (Justin Chatwin) had finally had it when it came to his job as a barista. Bad pay, obnoxious customers, and the discovery that his stolen car had been re-stolen by its previous douchey owner were enough to piss him off. Getting held up at gunpoint by a little girl pushed him completely over the edge.

After some sage advice from his “babysitter,” things became clear. Jimmy was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and he finds himself today living on the South Side. That just doesn't work. After a walk alone, Jimmy wandered all the way to his friend’s hospital. This was the same med school friend we me on the previous episode. Jimmy decided to get back into the wonderful world of medicine. Excited, Jimmy watched obliviously as Karen’s body was taken into the emergency room. A cracked skull, but she’s still kicking for now!

What did you all think of Shameless Season 3 Episode 9, “Frank the Plumber”? Are you ready to see Fiona move on from Jimmy? Is there any salvation for Mandy and Lip now that she might be responsible for Karen’s impending death? Can Ian and Mickey ever bounce back from that?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Shameless Season 3 Episode 9, “Frank the Plumber”?