Frank Becomes Famous. Review: Shameless - "Frank the Plumber"

Season 3, Episode 9

Air Date: Sunday, March 17, 2013, 10 pm ET/PT on Showtime

Rating: ★★★★★

“No, Carl, it’s a scam. It’s always some kind of a scam.” – Fiona

Gay rights and relationships are at the forefront of this week’s installment of Shameless. “Frank the Plumber” gives us a mixed bag of good and bad feelings, and at the end, fear. Fear that Lip (Jeremy Allen White) will return to Karen’s (Laura Slade Wiggins) side to nurse her back to health after initially telling her they’re over. But I’m getting ahead of myself… Frank (William H. Macy), the face of the gay rights movement? Say it ain’t so!

Observations:

You can tell by the look on Christopher’s face that he doesn’t believe in what Frank is telling the clerk behind the counter.

I love the picture of domesticity we are treated to between Frank and Christopher (Christian Clemenson). They are actually cute together—playing with their toothbrushes like swords and sitting down to breakfast like it’s an everyday occurrence. As usual, though, Frank comes up with a scam—it wouldn’t be an episode of Shameless without one—to pursue domestic partnership rights with Christopher. Too bad their nice relationship isn’t going to last because of Frank’s free-wheeling ways. He inadvertently finds himself at the forefront of the gay rights movement, causing all kinds of personal problems for Christopher.

Debbie uses pink nail polish as a means of cheering up Sheila.

Now that Sheila (Joan Cusack) knows Karen was responsible for the Hungs taking Hymie away, she is devastated. Caring for Hymie, while exhausting and aggravating at times, gave Sheila a purpose in life; it let her give, and feel, the unconditional love between a mother and child that she has so sorely missed since Karen fled her motherly duties. I’m glad Debbie (Emma Kenney) is there to comfort Sheila and give her some sage advice, although my heart broke when Sheila comes to the realization, “My daughter is a mean girl.” Debbie is so much wiser than her tender years belie. Karen doesn’t deserve the apology Sheila gives her; she’s a ruthless, wanton liar who can be as shameless as Frank on any given day—especially when it comes to Mandy (Emma Greenwell). But, I also don’t think Karen deserves what happens to her. Admittedly, I have wished harm would befall her on numerous occasions, but I never wished for her death. While we initially don’t see who’s responsible, it’s no surprise when the culprit is revealed. Note to writers: It would have been nicer had you not told us so soon who was behind the wheel. Now, I suppose we’ll have to endure Lip sitting at Karen’s bedside when he should be concentrating on getting into college.

There isn’t a whole lot of Fiona (Emmy Rossum) in “Frank the Plumber,” much to my chagrin. I simply adore her. The little we do see revolves around Fiona’s new temp job in an office-like atmosphere where, despite being good at her job, she is chastised—and I use that term very lightly—for the personal calls she takes and the “porn” on her computer screen. The banter between Fiona and Mike Pratt (Jake McDorman), her supervisor, really made me laugh. It’s a sweet and flirtatious scene that gives the viewer a good feeling, something that is usually lacking with Shameless. I hope Fiona gets to enjoy this job, and maybe her supervisor (wink, wink), for a while; she deserves it.

Additional thoughts:

I hate it when medical facts in the dialogue that are simple to check aren’t. Connie (Maile Flanagan), Fiona’s low level boss at her new job, tells Fiona she’s filling in for a girl who had pain on her left side that ended up causing her to have emergency surgery on her appendix. Hello? Cramps on the left side do not indicate a problem with your appendix; cramps on the right side do.

I’m glad Lip finds a way to connect with the recruiter from MIT.

Lip should be a little more grateful to Mandy for submitting all those college applications on his behalf. You can say a lot of things about Mandy but one thing’s for sure—she always has Lip’s best interests at heart. Of course, his way of showing gratitude is slightly different from the way you or I would express our thanks, isn’t it? I’m sure he’s never bought flowers or a box of chocolate for anyone. I definitely got a kick out of his conversation with the MIT recruiter (Matthew Glave), though. Lip so easily one-ups him.

There is a wonderful scene at a city office Frank and Christopher go to in order to apply for domestic partnership rights. While entertaining, it’s quite a statement on what people have to go through when dealing with any branch of city government. Having done that myself, the scene brought back the many feelings of frustration I endured each time I had to go there.

Despite Frank’s usual crazy antics, this performance gave me quite a chuckle.

Frank singing Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” at a gay club is just too damn funny! But the transsexual scene in the bathroom? Eww!

Memorable lines:

Frank about Christopher’s Korean doctor: “No thank you. Doctors are crooks. Especially the Korean ones. Never trust a culture that makes sausages from dogs.”

Christopher: “Frank, I’m pretty sure that’s racist.”

Frank: “Accurate is not racist.”

Christopher: “Are you gay, Frank?”

Frank: “I am whatever I need to be at the time I need to be it.”

Debbie to Sheila: “I’ve seen crazy, and I’ve seen bad for kids. And you’re not either of those things. You’re nice.”

Ian (Cameron Monaghan) is devastated by the news of Mickey’s (Noel Fisher) impending new marital status. Did you see the look on Ian’s face? But what is worse is how Mickey acts when Ian confronts him about it. I wonder how much satisfaction, if any, Mickey got from that brutal beating. Perhaps the most heart-wrenching scene of the entire episode is Ian, upstairs in bed, crying while the remainder of the Gallaghers are in the kitchen partying. I can’t even begin to imagine how Ian is going to carry on now that the love of his life is no longer available to him. Or, perhaps Mickey will grow a set and stand up to his abusive father. Anyone see that happening?

I am excited to see next week’s episode, especially since Bradley Whitford will hopefully have a larger guest starring role than he had this week. You know Frank is going to feed off all the attention he’s going to get with Abraham Paige (Whitford) at the helm. But what I really want to see is what Lip does once he discovers who ran over Karen, and how Fiona reacts to Jimmy’s news that he’s going back to medical school—in Michigan, of all places!

Tune in to Shameless Sundays at 10 pm ET/PT, only on Showtime.

LIKE Shameless on Facebook and follow the show on Twitter. Plus, check out all the fun things to do on the Shameless series site.

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Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!