Shameless: Tell Me You Fucking Need Me Review

On tonight’s Shameless, Fiona continues what amounts to a classic predicament for the real Gallagher den mother (sorry, Sammi), and then she…throws a curveball to the right? Yep, if her final scene in “Tell Me You Fucking Need Me” is to be believed, Fiona just ended it with Jimmy for good. Given her recent decisions—such as sleeping with “Jack” less than a full week into her marriage—that seems like a dubious tie-severing at best. Nonetheless, it amounts to a major moment for the character of Fiona Gallagher, who like much of her family seems to be turning a corner tonight.

The most interesting (or permanent) shift that I watched this week seemed to be Lip taking one more step away from the South Side—or at least the family homestead. In this Shameless, it briefly appeared like Lip was going through the bureaucratic hell of performing undergraduate hot potato all over campus. However, it quickly became clear that unlike season four, Lip’s latest collegiate woes were not of his own doing: he needed to pay over $12,000 to the University of Chicago if he wanted to attend his classes this semester, and even though he is on scholarship, he still needed to process the paperwork again. This said paperwork has, for probably most of the summer, been left to sit under a window curtain by an unthinking sibling or FINO (Father in Name Only).

It really is amazing that the only reason Lip has a ticket out of this world is because a scholarship avoided decades worth of debt, and then due to the old Gallagher charm, his financial life still collapsed. Now, the legal loan sharks have Lip in their clutches for the rest of his life since he maxed out $5,000 work of credit cards to make sure he can go to class. Lip could be making six figures out of graduation and he’ll still be living in an apartment on the South Side at this rate.

But somewhere between realizing how screwed he was and seeing Sammi pull a gun on Frank, he made the apt decision to get his own mailbox this week. It’s a baby step out of not living in the same home as the rest of them, but it’s also an important one. He has a new oblivious hall to watch over instead of a single roomate that was probably assigned via potluck, but I suspect that come next season, Lip will be more open to sharing an apartment with his girlfriend than living at home again. That also makes me wonder how they’ll keep him on the show for too many more seasons.

Another storyline that does seem to have an imminent expiration date is that of Sammi. Sure, the Gallaghers need the help since Fi at least mildly considered escaping her legal obligations for her siblings to jet off to Dubai this week, yet none of them seem any warmer about the Sammi/Chucky inclusion to the family than Sheila Jackson did. And after pulling a gun on Frank in front of the family, I cannot imagine that Lip or Debbs will stand for keeping this gal around. What happens when Carl talks back one too many times or if Ian leaves a manic mess in the kitchen?

I’m genuinely half-surprised the front door wasn’t locked on her and Frank in the post-credits tag.

This is not to criticize Sammi and Chucky as characters, so much as to note the strangeness with which they’ve been able to latch onto the Gallaghers. Chucky himself set up some of the best jokes of the evening (as detailed below) where Carl makes him his slave on the first day of school. Debbie meanwhile is also having some hilariously warped version of puppy love this week since she now gets her dating advice by threatening to shatter the teeth of the mean girls in class. I’m really happy not-Matty decided to be her boyfriend—she won’t have to use Milk of the Gods as her next aphrodisiac.

Of course, Shameless is never a straight comedy, and many turns went in the sour direction. I have perpetually continued to downplay the eroding marriage of Kev and V as nothing more than a sitcom styled conflict, but I admit that I’m starting to have my doubts. V has moved in to the recently vacated rub and tug apartment above the Alibi, and Kev now has a live-in nanny who previously vacated that exact same spot.

Kev and V remain the Shameless power couple in my mind. The Gallaghers have their endless gaffes and screw-ups, but Kev and V are the rock that proves that living in poverty does not mean you live in dysfunction (grandmother baby-making notwithstanding). In other words, as nice as it is to have these characters have a meatier storyline beyond desiring children, I cannot stop being apprehensive to the imploding marriage storyline.It’s just not emotional fear of seeing an almost inevitable real break; I dread what it would mean for the series.

These characters are a nice counterbalance to the Gallaghers, and while that does not mean their personal issues shouldn’t be explored—their values to the show shouldn’t either be jettisoned. This is a season long arc, so my final judgment will of course remain open, but I’m starting to feel pretty uneasy standing in knee-deep water while on the deck of the V-Kev ship.

Yet somehow, Fiona stopped herself from going under, at least with Jimmy. After her heartbreaking lack of closure with the man who would be Steve in the season three finale, she got to end things right on her own terms by giving him the boot. He claimed he canceled Dubai just to be with her, but as we soon learned that was a lie like so much else out of his mouth. Granted, this also means he can stick around Chicago for whenever John Wells decides we need a little smarm, but Fi insists she is done with being attracted to danger.

I’m happy to hear it, Fiona! It might be somewhat premature since you also banged Jimmy two nights before this, but I’ll still take the progress. Somehow, I do not expect Gus to be around by the end of the season. It is unclear whether her marriage to him is even over or not, but his esteem in many viewers’ mind certainly went up when he decked Jimmy across the face. How Fiona didn’t suspect that this would be the result of their meeting is anybody’s guess, but even as a writer that appreciates the energy Jimmy brings to the series, it was a welcome moment.

At this point, I no longer think Jimmy will be Shameless’ endgame for Fiona. No, he’s the shark lying just off Amity Beach, waiting to pull the community into chaos again. If it makes for episodes as good as the last three, he’s always welcome back no matter what Fiona says.

Most Shameless Quotes of the Week:

“Watch out sixth grade; third time’s the charm” – Carl

“You owe me; you’re my slave now; I text, you run.” – Carl