Shameless - Recap: Strip Backgammon

Episode 2 of Season 4 of Shameless, “My Oldest Daughter,” kept the vibe set by the season premiere going. Without the Fiona-Jimmy relationship at the forefront of the show, things are certainly different. That isn’t to say that Shameless is any worse off. In fact, I feel it was time for such a change, and Season 4 is focusing a little less on this Gallagher group’s struggle as a working family unit and more so on each character ironing out the kinks in his or her own life. Season 4 is the year of growing pains. Here is the Recap and Review of Season 4 Episode 2 of Shameless, “My Oldest Daughter”!

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Lip (Jeremy Allen White): Lip continued to flounder terribly at the University of Chicago. Any sense of hope peppering his scenes here and there was inevitably trumped by the fact that his street smarts and "hood rat" wit go unappreciated among his peers. As his grades suffered due to his characteristic sense of apathy towards the education system, the concept of a budding college social life seemed to be the only thing keeping the eldest Gallagher lad going, yet time and time again, his attempts to make friends or get laid blew up in his face.

Much of Lip’s time this week centered on his infatuation with an older student on campus, Shelly. The girl who initially seemed to be right up his alley was eventually revealed to be his assigned group tutor. Pandering for extra credit doesn’t really work when your tutor is already privy to your game, apparently, though the chemistry was certainly there. Lip had to earn the bonus points by *sigh* cracking a book. By the time Lip headed out to the girl’s sorority party, it seemed like he might have finally found a bit of light in his life. I’ve been the known to note that I think it’s time for Lip to be single for a while, considering the nature of his last two relationships, but desperate times call for desperate measures. If you can’t even find a single person to light up a joint with on a college campus, there’s a problem.

In short, Shelly refused to give in to a common freshman, even one as persistent and quick-witted as Lip. In fact, he eventually helped her to land her actual crush right before his own eyes. It was funny to watch Shameless write in a character who seemed perfect for Lip, all things considered. They had a great mental chemistry to go along with the sense of physical attraction. We’re not used to watching Lip with a girl that serves as his mental equal, so I’m hoping they bring this love interest back. Of course, I also liked the second girl he bumped into, another student who managed to escape the South Side. Unlike Lip, however, when she worked her way into the University of Chicago, she did so to move on. It seems Lip’s problem is that his head and heart remain at home.

Lip closed out his arc during Episode 2 with a pathetic round of desperate sex with the only girl who seemed ready, willing, and able to throw him a bone. I’m sure you can imagine that this would not be Lip’s type, to say the least. He smoked up all alone outside the cafeteria kitchen in the cold.

Kev (Steve Howie) and Veronica (Shanola Hampton): The raging homophobe that is good ol’ Stan went out with quite a bang this week. As his ashes sat in an urn at the bar, Kev and the man’s son, Allen, listened through Stan’s will. His dying wishes were fairly simple. He left his gay son his gun collection along with a barrage of heinous slurs, and he left Kevin the bar. Initially, Kev and V were thrilled, needless to say. Even after cleaning up the dust storm of Stan’s ashes his son left in a pile on the Alibi floor (the part of the man’s DNA that wasn’t immediately inhaled by those in the general vicinity of the smoke cloud that was Stan), the couple was sure that their money woes were finally gone. Unfortunately, that wasn’t necessarily the case. The pluses in owning the Alibi are far outweighed by the debts left behind. Still, it’s something.

While things seemed somewhat strained to begin with, as they always are for the folks of Shameless who live life flying by the seat of their pants, things were taken to whole new heights this week. Veronica, having suffered from spotting, rushed to the hospital with some help from Carl. By the time Kev arrived to lend a hug, the truth behind the scary situation was finally revealed. Veronica’s pregnancy was in no danger whatsoever. In fact, the spotting is totally natural… when you take into account the fact that she’s having triplets! Triplets!The juxtaposition of Kevin’s elated reaction to Veronica’s horrified shock was, needless to say, hilarious, but this does create an interesting predicament. Kevin’s “magic penis” has essentially created four growing babies, and Veronica is dead set on having her mother abort hers.

Debbie (Emma Kenney): Debbie continued to force puberty upon herself this week. It all started when Fiona took Deb, Carl, and Liam for checkups now that her health insurance has been activated. While Carl has managed to sprout some underarm hair and has been persistent in his exploration of masturbation, Debbie was looking to hop on birth control before even getting her first period. Most of this is sort of characteristic of young teens. It’s natural to want to speed up the awkward processes of coming of age. This is Shameless, though, so we know that the volume has to be turned up on everything.

After some terrible advice from her ridiculous girlfriends, Debbie’s pursuit of the much older boy and the quest to lose her virginity carried on. Remember, Debbie is only thirteen. After taking a peek at her new love interest’s license at his own apartment (!), Debbie realized that the guy she’d assumed was an older high school boy is actually... twenty. True to form, though, Debbie immediately copped to the truth, admitting her age before the two sat down to dinner in front of a decent episode of Storage Wars. It doesn’t seem like the boy seemed to mind whatsoever, and the two ended their arc this week holding hands over chicken. Who doesn’t like chicken? In any case, Shameless has created yet another truly difficult situation for us to sit through. The man is certainly nice enough, but he’s twenty! Twenty! It’s only a matter of time before Fiona catches wind of this, and I cannot wait until she does.

Showtime "Shameless"

Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) and Frank (William H. Macy): Things are not looking good for Frank, everybody. I mean, things haven’t been looking too bright since the Season 3 finale, but Episode 2 of Season 4 truly brought about the beginning of the end. When spider veins broke across his skin, his ankles began to swell, and his eyes became bloodshot seemingly all at once, Frank realized that his liver is truly on its way out. As Carl put it, the man smells like a monkey cage as he rots from the inside out.

I personally love that Carl is getting more material now that Ethan Cutkosky is growing older and more capable as an actor. Carl always delivers, but his scenes snooping around the hospital organ transplant floor were awesome. Carl had great conversational chemistry with the woman working the front desk. I always find it interesting that the young cast of Shameless always somehow manages to command the attention of the adults. For example, a hospital employee goes from answering the boy’s questions due to his incessant nagging to actually appearing to invest in Carl’s quest to find his father a new liver.

With some help from his new pal, Carl acquired a few blood tests in order to find a match within his family. Lip, knowing his own blood type to be unusable, was immediately crossed off the list, but Fiona, on the other hand, seemed to be a viable match. Would you like to know how Carl managed to garner a blood sample from his older sister? It must have been Fiona’s time of the month this week on Shameless, because after a little digging in the trash…

Carl’s true storyline for Season 4 seems to be that he’s the only Gallagher child left who cares for his dying father. Fiona has no sympathy whatsoever, and we knew she’d never even consider donating part of her liver to Frank. Carl is unable to comprehend the animosity towards his dad. While he’s usually comical character for us to watch, it’s always nice to see Carl with a heartfelt plot to work with. It’s great to watch Ethan Cutkosky and William H. Macy working together.

Showtime "Shameless"

Fiona (Emmy Rossum): It seems the unenthusiastic sex has sucked the life out of Fiona and Mike’s (Jake McDorman) relationship altogether. Of course, this has gone completely unrecognized by Mike. This is interesting because the man who started as a viable replacement love interest for Fiona has all but entirely become nothing more than a problem for her. She’s thriving at Worldwide Cups, even beginning her career in the field during Episode 2 to much success. She has a company car, she gets a free meal a day, the health insurance is wonderful, etc. So what happens if she needs to break up with Mike, her boss?

See, I was always a fan of Mike. He’s not Jimmy, but I also quit subscribing to the idea of Jimmy and Fiona as a couple a long time before Justin Chatwin left the show during the Season 3 finale. Is it really so terrible to be the kind of a boyfriend who doesn’t appreciate being lied to? Granted, Fiona missing one promised phone call isn’t a huge deal, but the fact that she allowed his honest question as to why go from simple to obsessive was pretty much on her. This lie was, of course, topped off by an even bigger one later on in the episode, as Fiona’s road rage got the better of her. After flipping off a nasty driver, she watched in horror as her company car took a beating from the furious man’s wielded wooden bat. Fiona Gallagher… viral YouTube star!

The police had tipped Mike off to the truth long before Fiona could come up with a fake excuse, but Fiona’s a Gallagher, whether she likes it or not, and it’s in the Gallagher blood to survive at all costs. Outside of her home that evening, the two butted heads over the entire "honesty" ordeal. While it seemed for a moment that an end to their relationship was imminent, Fiona eventually caved and promised to try to speak the truth, even if her instincts tell her otherwise. Guys, this relationship is doomed. When a television show wants to make it clear as crystal to us that we are not to invest in a love interest, they write in bad sex. I personally didn’t want this relationship to go to this place, but I always trust Shameless.

To close the recap of Episode 2, Fiona’s adament decision not to help her father with a piece of her liver was received with a shocking revelation. Frank will go to his actual oldest daughter, Samantha, for assistance. That’s right. We have another Gallagher coming our way!

What did you think of Shameless Season 4 Episode 2, “My Oldest Daughter”? Did you like the surprise ending? Are Fiona and Mike dead on arrival? Do you like that we’re getting more Carl? Is Frank going to find himself a new liver? When is Ian making his return to the South Side?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Shameless Season 4 Episode 2, “My Oldest Daughter”!