Shameless- Just Like the Pilgrims Intended

What happened- Marco arrives and finds out that Steve slept with Estefania. Steve convinces Marco not to kill him in exchange for Steve’s identity and apartment. This means that Steve can now throw Lip out of his place without ticking Lip off. Steve goes to Fiona and tells her the news, and he gets a thank you kiss (a long, passionate one that almost leads to sex). Steve must now fall back on his real identity: Jimmy. Fiona lets Jimmy sleep on her couch.

Lip goes to Mandy’s for a place to sleep and is forced to assume a bigger relationship with Mandy than he would have liked. There, he makes a video for his baby. This video contains “useful” life information. Lip also tells the baby that if he ever wants to meet Lip, he is welcome to come find him. Lip has convinced Karen to give her baby to the couple that offered her the second-most amount of money, because he thought they would be better parents. Later, Mandy and her brothers try to involve him in a robbery, so Lip ditches them all.

Karen knows about Jody and Sheila sleeping together. Karen gives them her blessing. Frank stops by to get some medication for Monica, and Karen’s water breaks. Sheila and Jody jump up and down, excited to be grandparents. Lip gets a call that Karen is in labor and runs to the hospital. He meets the adoptive parents and gives them his tape. Then he enters the delivery room, where Karen is angrily cursing.

Ian goes to a gay club and spends the night with a grown man. He seems to enjoy it very much. Meanwhile, little Hank puts two ducks in the Gallagher’s pool and then shoots them with his rifle to take home for Thanksgiving. …Hunting? Carl wants a go, but Little Hank doesn’t let him shoot. Fiona has no turkey since her parents stole all her money. Fortunately (?), Carl gets his hands on a gun and shoots a bald eagle. The family prepares to cook and eat it, but Jimmy brings over a turkey. Fiona is grateful. Kevin freezes the bald eagle for later. Debbie invites a homeless friend to dinner.

Monica sinks into a depression and Frank does not give Monica her bipolar medication. Frank tries to get her up and out (with the help of drugs) so that she can seduce his brother into sharing some of Peggy’s money. Frank’s brother refuses Monica, so Monica decides she is undesirable and gets even more depressed. At Thanksgiving, Monica goes to the kitchen and slits her wrists. The family runs into the kitchen and finds a bloody scene. Frank leaves the family to call 9/11 and go to the hospital. Jimmy takes charge; Frank goes to the bar. Monica pulls through, but is put under psychiatric evaluation until her medications even her out. She’s sure to leave the family when she is released.

The family gets the news that Lip and Karen are upstairs, and everyone bolts to the next floor to see the birth. Shameless showed so much. The baby comes out and the nurses go silent. The baby has Down’s syndrome and he’s Asian. Lip goes out to tell the adoptive parents and they leaves, giving Lip his tape back. Lip is upset with Karen for leading him to believe he was the father. He storms out and destroys the tape. Karen intends to give the baby to social services, but Shelia and Jody sneak into the hospital and steal him.

Comments- What an eventful penultimate episode. How exciting is the finale going to be? This episode was crazy and wrong, even compared to other episodes of Shameless. This might have been the saddest episode of Shameless to date. Between Monica’s suicide attempt in front of her kids and Lip’s sadness over the baby, we were pretty bummed by this one. That’s not to say we didn’t like the Thanksgiving special. We did. It was highly entertaining. We just felt way too bad for these people. We love the way Fiona didn’t take Steve back right away. He still has work to do.

Lip’s video to his baby was heartbreakingly sweet. Lip is one of our favorite characters because of that heart and his brilliant mind. It’s too bad that this season has seen him spiral in a toilet of bad decisions, crazy young women, and self-destructive, overemotional behavior. The only good thing about Karen, the biggest psychopath on TV, was her reaction to Jody and her mother getting together. They are so clearly made for each other. They are such fun doofuses when paired. Was anyone else surprised to see Sheila leave the house to go to the hospital? Jody and the baby are good for her and make her happy.

The beginning of the Thanksgiving dinner was adorable. The bald eagle thing was a nice touch. We liked seeing the big, raucous family bonding and trying to get Monica’s spirits up. As for the birthing scene: Ugh. We are never having children after that. If you think Knocked Up showed too much crowning, wait until you see Shameless. Our hairy, stretched vagina quotient is filled for the year, entertainment-wise. Oh, Showtime. Just because you CAN show it doesn’t mean you should.

After Lip’s yearlong devastation via Karen, he is either going to go even crazier or give up the craziness and go back to school. We are hoping for the latter. We want Lip to be ok. We think it’s a great idea for Jody and Sheila to raise that baby. Because he has Down’s, their lack of intelligence can’t even hurt him by making him dumb. They need something to take care of that isn’t a drug addict or dying criminal. They are both nice and nurturing. Now they have a family. Let’s hope the cops don’t come take him away. It was hilarious to see them riding away with the child on their motorcycle. Like messed-up Hagrids.

Episode grade: A