Shameless - Premiere Recap: Dirty Little Cup Boy
Shameless returned tonight with a Season 4 premiere that set the stage for another great, albeit darker, set of episodes of the Showtime hit series.
Showtime "Shameless"
To start the recap and review, here’s a little background on what’s been transpiring on the South Side since we left off last season. Both Ian and Steve have completely vanished, and while Fiona has continued to hold out hope that Ian is working out some sort of issue, it seems nobody really misses ol’ Jimmy at all. Lip spent his days during the premiere meandering the campus of the University of Chicago, proving occasion after occasion that he simply can’t find his place. V and Kev have been barely scarping by to cover medical costs for Veronica’s pregnant mother, the mom who’s pregnant with V’s future stepdaughter and half-sister. As all of this was going down, Fiona continued to succeed at maintaining a “normal” life, and the fact that she’d yet to experience the process of, say, handling a 401k or dating a man who treats her with total respect was a pleasure to watch. Meanwhile, Tony (Tyler Jacob Moore) found Frank completely obliterated and holed up in an abandoned building.
Debbie: Debbie began Season 4 with a desperate desire to grow up as quickly as possible. From fighting Fiona for mirror time to battling Carl over the bathroom, this year’s Debbie has a significantly new put-on attitude. It’s funny to watch Debbie attempt to develop into an adult as quickly as possible because we’re familiar with who she actually is. She’s not one to disrespect Fiona or act so rudely to Carl, even if Carl wouldn’t think twice about treating her in such a way. Not once did Fiona truly snap at Debbie for acting out, but that’s probably because Fiona sees things the way that we do. Yes, it’s silly that Debbie wears Fiona’s heels to hang out down the block, but that’s the Debbie we know and love. If you ask me, a little lip-gloss is harmless. Then again, the Milkovich clan lives in this neighborhood.
Still, Episode 1’s most awkward arc, aside from what would happen to Veronica and Kev, had to be thirteen-year-old Debbie’s quest to lose her virginity. Every once in a while, Shameless creates a storyline that makes me actually uncomfortable as someone who has to retype each and every arc. Little Debbie attempting to sell her virginity for a million dollars on the Internet was that for me this week. Thankfully, nobody bid, but I had some equally unsettling feelings when that skanky Holly chick dragged Debbie to the bowling alley to pick up horny high school boys. Luckily, the kid Debbie ended up paired with turned out to be a nice and normal dude; however, if he can drive, he’s just too old, Debbie. Here’s to hoping that Kevin wises up and intervenes considering the fact that Ian is nowhere in sight, Lip is at school, and Frank is incompetent.
Showtime "Shameless"
Frank and Carl: Amidst a raid, Tony the good cop managed to haul Frank’s sickly butt home to the Gallagher house. While Fiona refused to deal with her drunken father any longer, especially considering his obvious lack of sobriety, Carl refused to let his dad waste away on a park bench. Tony had found Frank nested with a bunch of drug paraphernalia, and before long, the Gallagher patriarch was busy enlisting Carl’s help in injecting as much alcoholic inebriation into his system as possible.
You see, Frank’s throat is covered in painful and bloody blisters, so he can’t simply pop a cold one, even if he does lace his throat with cooking spray first. Instead, he took his box of wine anally this week thanks to a makeshift contraption thrown together by Carl. While the scenes in which Frank so shamelessly manipulated Carl into helping him continue to kill himself were continuously heartbreaking to witness, as they always are, I still enjoy this relationship. There are moments when Frank and Carl genuinely bond. During this premiere, Frank shared the secrets of masturbation with the “late bloomer” (Carl’s twelve). By the close of the hour, Carl was investing in a Costco-sized tub of Vaseline.
Mickey and Mandy: The Milkovich clan wasn’t doing so hot this week, folks. With both of their loves long gone, all that Mandy (Emma Greenwell) and Mickey (Noel Fisher) could do was attempt to move on, even if their attempts seemed futile at best. Debbie paid Mandy a visit briefly, if only to see if she was interested in hearing about Lip. I still found myself feeling for Mandy, even if I very vividly recall her smashing Karen’s skull open with her car. There’s just something about her being trapped in that house and having the mere thought of Lip succeeding as her only ray of joy. Mickey, meanwhile, spent the episode doing all that he could to dig up some sort of information on Ian to no avail. One of the saddest scenes this week had to be the one in which Mickey locked himself in the bathroom and attempted to pleasure himself to a hidden picture of Ian, only to inevitably smash the mirror into a thousand shards. Mickey was awful to Ian, but we’ll never know what it’s like to grow up in an environment like that. Mickey was put through hell on Earth, and it seems he’s still living in it.
Showtime "Shameless"
Kevin and Veronica: The two opened their arc for Season 4 by shelling out the last of their savings to Veronica’s mother. Whatever Kev had managed to scrounge up and stash in his Bible would have to be enough to cover the costs of this pregnancy. Perhaps more importantly, the most solid couple on the South Side was rocked with two explosive pieces of news. First, Kevin’s old buddy Stan passed away. If you remember, Stan was the owner of the bar and a sort-of-mentor figure to Kev. Kevin was close to Stan, acting as a son to the man in his tough older years. Kev was infuriated to find the bar owner’s body cold in his bed at the home, as though he’d been lying there for days. With a baby one the way, how will Kevin cover the funeral costs? What will happen to the bar?
As if that wouldn’t be difficult enough, Veronica got some equally as shocking positive (?) news this week. After the entire absolutely unbearable ordeal of helping to get her mother pregnant with her husband’s child (I can’t believe I just had to write that sentence out), V found herself miraculously pregnant this week. Against all odds, nature has granted Kev and Veronica another child. This issue is that, of course, money was already tight, and now Kev is stepping in to handle Stan’s funeral costs. Veronica already started blabbing to Fiona that she doesn’t want to be dealing with the twisted baby her mother is carrying if she has her own child with Kevin growing inside of her. She’s assuming she’s going to play favorites, which had me wondering if it’s a good idea that these two have children to begin with. Of course, this is Shameless, and considering the circumstances and the other characters surrounding them, I’m going to predict that Kev and V will be great parents to both of these kids. I was happy to see the two closing out their plot this week with a positive moment of celebration on the Gallagher couch. All of these people fly by the seat of their pants, and it works!
Showtime "Shameless"
Lip: Perhaps the reason why Lip is struggling so terribly at school is because he’s used to doing things as he pleases when he pleases as well. Lip has always been brilliant, but he’s not necessarily an academic. He’s not the type to attend a study group, whether his dorky roomie and her girlfriend invite him or not. I loved that Shameless threw a House Stark shirt on his roommate, who was pleasant and friendly enough, if not Lip’s cup of tea when it comes to companionship. The guy’s girlfriend, on the other hand…
Lip is also involved with a work-study program that involves clearing trays and dishing out food to bratty and entitled college students. Even his fellow employee, a young man who’s working his way through school to presumably make a better life for his family, couldn’t make time to hang with Lip outside of the school kitchen. Lip is utterly alone at the University of Chicago. Even his intelligence doesn’t seem to stack up academically, as his first paper handed back came coupled with a giant grade of “D.” It’s not like Lip to struggle in school. If anything, his intelligence has always been a shield to ward off the boneheaded and the ignorant. It’s what got him out of the South Side to begin with and a huge chunk of why that was had to do with the faith of his community pressuring him to make a name for himself. It’s what defined him.
All things considered, I think my favorite scene during the Season 4 premiere was probably the moment Lip decided to crash the flash mob. While the entire student body seemed to freeze for exactly one minute in the school courtyard, Lip simply walked through the entirely still crowd with that same sense of coolness we’ve come to associate with him. Obviously, nobody makes Lip look like a chump.
Showtime "Shameless"
Sheila: While there isn’t much to say at this point, Sheila has been working as a free maid for the Gallaghers. While Carl might be annoyed by her constant presence, she was the one to help him bathe an out-cold Frank several times before finally giving up. She does the laundry, makes some of her signature dips, and carves out a semi-welcome place in the Gallagher home. Sadly, Sheila ended her story this week by returning to her own house, empty dinner table and all. She remembered to say grace before eating her own dinner in silence.
Showtime "Shameless"
Fiona: While all of the loose ends of the Season 3 finale hadn’t been tied up, Fiona has learned to live a little bit more for herself. While everybody seems to be acting or lashing out one way or another, Fiona has become a sense of steadiness among the group. She’s thriving at the office, even reaching the ninety-day mark and kicking her benefits into full force. Plus, her relationship with Mike seems to be going quite well.
The thing is, there’s always this entertaining sense of “fish out of water” when we watch Fiona existing anywhere other than the South Side. We see her among her coworkers or at a football game with Mike’s family, and people seem to adore her, but she always seems just a hair out of place. The thing is, Mike isn’t boring. Shameless worked pretty hard to paint Tony has dull and un-stimulating when he attempted to court Fiona back in the show’s early days. Mike is just very much the opposite of Jimmy/ Steve. He’s just not the kind of guy who steals a car and burns his blood-soaked clothes out back, as Carl pointed out.Dirty little cup boy...It was interesting to watch Fiona go through the motions of not sleeping with a man as soon as the two got a moment alone. Fiona has never come off as slutty, at least not to me, but the woman has a lot on her plate and she oftentimes finds sex to be a very welcome release. Jimmy and Fiona were basically all about the sexual chemistry. It didn’t seem like Fiona’s first time with Mike was bad by any means, but it was most certainly not banging on the kitchen counter or over the bathroom sink. It was simply… normal? I think Emmy Rossum did a pretty fantastic job this week. It was like we could almost read Fiona’s mind as she began to allow herself the pleasures of simply living her own life. She is actually learning how to process the normality of a life as her brood grows older and more stable. Here’s to hoping that Frank’s return doesn’t end up crushing any of Fiona’s deserved new happiness, though I doubt that there’s any hope for that!
What did you think of the Shameless premiere, Season 4 Episode 1, “Simple Pleasures”? Can you stomach the whole ordeal going on with Veronica and Kevin? Will Lip stick it out? How long with Ian be absent? Did you feel for Mickey and Mandy? Are you happy to see Fiona slightly happy? What does Frank’s return to the Gallagher home mean?
Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of the Shameless premiere, Season 4 Episode 1, “Simple Pleasures”! You can re-watch the entire Season 4 Premiere below!