Episode Title: “Strangers on a Train”
Writer: Etan Frankel
Director: Peter Segal
Previously on “Shameless:”
Episode 4.03 “Like Father, Like Daughter”
The bad news this week on “Shameless” is that Frank’s daughter, Samantha is not a match for the liver transplant he desperately needs. The good news? “Dry-humping is not incest.”
Frank (William H. Macy) may not get a new liver, but he does get a new daughter, sort of, as Samantha later comes around after learning that Frank is her father. It appears the issue isn’t so much that he abandoned her as a child and than kept the truth from Samantha after they reconnected, but rather that their relationship almost became sexual. Though at first she’s pretty upset, Samantha gets over the fact that she briefly had a thing for her father and shows up at the Alibi to see Frank, proving she’s definitely a Gallagher.
When Frank is the one Gallagher who is able to make a troubled relationship work, you know things are bad. And indeed they are for Fiona (Emmy Rossum), who can’t seem to give up her addiction to Mike’s brother, Robby. Fiona is willing to admit that “liars, thieves and addicts” turn her on, but as Vee (Shanola Hampton) points out, she’s got a good thing going with Mike, both personally and professionally. After Mike (Jake McDorman) shows up unannounced at Robby’s place while Fiona is there, she realizes the severity of the situation. But self-destructive behavior is ingrained in the Gallaghers and Fiona is no exception. This probably won’t end well, but it might get Fiona to give up acting like a “smack head” around bad boys.
Fiona wants to help Debbie (Emma Kenney) sort out her boy troubles, but admits to her little sister that she has no idea what she’s doing either. Deb doesn’t know why Matt won’t sleep with her and all the advice about “selfies,” hand sanitizer and statutory rape she’s getting from Holly and Mandy aren’t helping. The truth is Deb isn’t even sure she’s ready to have sex. And watching her cry to Fiona about wanting to skip the part where she doesn’t know the right thing to do and get to the part where she does, you can hear the heart of this show beating loudly. “Shameless” has always been true to its name, but it’s these moments that make it more than just a show about a drunk who’ll do anything to avoid working for a living.
“Strangers on a Train” also touches on Lip’s (Jeremy Allen White) ongoing struggle to find his place at college. When his professor won’t let him take a midterm exam he shows up late for, Lip returns home, but finds his old friends not willing to let him go back to his old life. “It’s not your home, it’s where you grew up” Kevin (Steve Howey) tells him. Lip realizes no one feels as sorry for him as he does for himself and returns to school. He convinces his professor to give him a break and let him take the exam. It comes as a relief, as Lip’s character is much more interesting, using his “resourcefulness” to get through college rather then break into cars, back home.
The episode’s other minor development focuses on a new partnership between Kevin and the “Abe Lincoln of mouth whores,” Mickey Milkovich (Noel Fisher). Kev needs money and Mickey needs a place to run his wife’s prostitution operation after her old boss, Sasha, refuses to meet his demands. It’s a risky venture but one-stop shopping for the Alibi’s faithful patrons could be the answer to Kev’s problems… or the just the beginning.
