Review: Shameless - "Summer Loving" (Relationships Aren’t Always What They Appear to Be) @Sho_Kareem

Review, Shameless, S2, E2 – “Summer Loving”

Air Date: Sunday, January 15, 2012, 9:00 pm ET/PT on Showtime

Rating: ★★★★★

“Summer Loving” is all about relationships, both new and old, but not all work out as planned. Frank (William H. Macy) pursues Dottie (Molly Price), a woman awaiting a heart transplant who doesn’t have anyone to inherit her home and pension should she die; Ian (Cameron Monaghan) resumes his relationship with Mickey (Noel Fisher) now that Mickey’s out of jail; and Lip (Jeremy Allen White) comes to a realization about his relationship with Karen (Laura Wiggins) now that she’s seeing Jody (Zach McGowan).

Highlights and observations:

Review: Shameless - "Summer Loving" (Relationships Aren’t Always What They Appear to Be) @Sho_Kareem 1

Check out the size of that zucchini Sheila's holding!

“Today, the grocery truck; tomorrow, the world,” Sheila (Joan Cusack) tells Frank, who’s really worried when she makes it all the way to Manny’s produce truck. I love the way Cusack covets the organic vegetables like she’s contemplating some wild sexual encounter. And how funny is Frank when he sees the humungous zucchini Sheila has! “No, no, no. Not with all the King’s Vaseline™!” I don’t blame him – I wouldn’t want to get anywhere near that zucchini either!

Review: Shameless - "Summer Loving" (Relationships Aren’t Always What They Appear to Be) @Sho_Kareem 2

Frank keeps trying to get close to Dottie but she's having no parts of him.

Frank is always scheming for a way to get money that doesn’t involve real work. First, he’s doing his level best to seduce Dottie, aka “Butterface,” despite her protestations. Then, unbeknownst to Fiona (Emily Rossum)—who’s pretty pissed when she finds out—Frank rents a room in the Gallagher home to a pregnant Asian woman (Alexandra Bokyun Chun) who needs a place to stay until her baby is born. I love the way Fiona puts the woman to work in the daycare despite her supposed lack of knowledge of the English language. Fiona is one tough cookie.

Shameless is known for its sharp and witty dialogue and “Summer Loving” doesn’t disappoint. The explanation of how Dottie previously earned her nickname, “Butterface,” is both cruel and funny.

Kev (Steve Howey) to Antwone (Jernard Burks), the Meals on Wheels driver: “What’s wrong with Butterface?”

Kate (Kerry O’Malley), the bartender: “Don’t call her that.”

Kev: “I haven’t seen her in a while. Why is she pretending to be sick?”

Frank: “She’s hiding her face from children until Halloween.”

Tommy (Michael Patrick McGill): “God gave her one helluva rack and legs to die for though.”

Frank and the others, laughing in unison: “But-her-face!”

Mickey (Noel Fisher) is released from jail and his sister Mandy (Emma Greenwell) and Ian (Cameron Monaghan) go to pick him up. I feel sorry for Ian, who obviously has real feelings for Mickey, but Mickey wants nothing more than a physical relationship. Gotta protect that rep, man! Really, Mickey? It’s 2012 after all. I don’t trust Mickey—he doesn’t have Ian’s best interests at heart and I have a sneaking suspicion he’ll do anything to keep Ian from getting into West Point.

Debbie (Emma Kenney), who is still campaigning for a room of her own, has more ammunition now that she sees baby Liam (Blake Alexander/Brennan Kane Johnson) touching his “package” all the time. I don’t blame Debbie for not wanting to sleep in the same room with him “masturbating” all the time. As she declares to Fiona, she’s “going to be a woman soon!” Kenney is a wonderful young actress, who is brilliant at playing both comedic and dramatic scenes, even being precocious when the scene warrants it. Having Liam’s hand down his diaper is just the kind of raunchiness that sets Shameless apart from other dark comedies. Liam’s, umm, activity is both funny and demented and with a father like Frank, well, let’s say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Review: Shameless - "Summer Loving" (Relationships Aren’t Always What They Appear to Be) @Sho_Kareem 3

Veronica and Fiona hard at work. LOL! Anyone want to do a body shot!?

Veronica (Shanola Hampton) holds down a day job at a senior citizen home in addition to her nighttime bartending gig at the ritzy nightclub where Fiona is waitressing. The scenes surrounding the bus trip Fiona takes the senior citizens on points out how boring their existence can be, what little it takes to make them happy and unfortunately how serious things can get when the unexpected happens. Shameless, in its unpredictable and humorous way, often brings true-life situations to light, reminding us not all in life is funny even though Shameless is expert at portraying it that way.

Speaking of funny, here are some memorable and funny lines. There are so many, I had a hard time not listing them all.

Dotti: “Get off my property…eat shit, Frank.”

Frank: “Well, I would, but I recently went vegan.”

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Mickey to Ian: “You ready to go again or you need some time, fire crotch?”

***

Karen to Lip: “Stop talking about my boyfriend and fuck me.”

***

Frank to Fiona discussing “kung-fu panda,” the new tenant: “People are in and out of here like a Guatemalan whorehouse. I didn’t think you’d notice.”

***

Frank to Dottie: “I like everything about AA — except for the no alcohol part.”

***

Perhaps the saddest part of “Summer Loving” occurs at the end of the episode when Lip realizes Karen’s sex-free relationship with Jody is becoming serious. All along, Lip has only been interested in sex, but after discussing Jody with her and seeing her kiss him outside her house, he begins to understand there’s more to a good relationship than just sex. With “Freak Your Loneliness” by Bumblebeez playing in the background, Lip ends the episode by yelling a resounding, “Fuck!” Do you think he’ll change his strategy now?

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Linda

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!