Shameless throws Mickey a bone here and not only provides an update on what he’s up to in prison, but busts him out of the place. Ian’s lot is rough, but matters aren’t any less complicated for his significant other, either. Hopefully this unhealthy situation won’t trigger any reckless behavior in him or erase any of the progress he’s made in terms of mental health. There’s not much closure to this dilemma, only that Ian is in even deeper than he was before. It’s actually crushing when he overlooks an accident because he has no other choice. It’s still unclear where this is all going, but it hardly seems fair that Ian should have to fear rabid dog attacks just because he saves a life and tries to actually do his job. Shameless at least has the guts to call out how ridiculous all of this is and the unusual journey that Ian’s been on through this show (“Gay Jesus,” was somehow a simpler time than this). Ian’s not particularly interested in money, but his crooked parole officer’s greed continues to rope him deeper into her scam.
It’d be pretty hilarious if after all of this child swapping nonsense she had a voicemail full of messages telling her that the welding strike has been over for days now. It’d honestly be less work if Debbie just really looked for another job.
She winds up negotiating and bargaining with children as this all becomes more obtuse. This seems like a passing joke at first, but it’s the strategy that Debbie goes with, which is kind of insane. When this doesn’t pan out, she contemplates temporarily kidnapping some random child that could pass off as Franny, which is an even worse plan. Meanwhile, in other adventures in child abuse: The latest development in Debbie’s complicated scheme to cheat herself into some money that she doesn’t deserve involves her teaching her daughter to be as wicked as possible so Pepa won’t want to take her in as her own. What is distressing is that while they have all of this fun, there’s a neglected baby being overlooked in the corner. It’s all a step back from the previous material that Liam was involved in, but now that he knows that he’s a Gallagher, this level of grifting isn’t out of his league. However, at the same time he also instills in him a number of terrible lessons. These exploits involve plenty of Frank goofing around with Liam while he treats him to the finer things in life. It’s deeply upsetting to see how Frank fleeces innocent prospective parents, but it’s technically no worse than the usual shenanigans that he’s up to. In case you might have thought that better judgment grabbed ahold of Frank Gallagher, think again, because he’s still fully committed to sell someone else’s baby to make an easy buck. Lip and Tami may finally be in a stable place now and even though she’s not initially over the moon about it, Lip’s RV gesture seems like a healthy step for them. It may be tired material, but it at least results in something genuinely sweet between the two of them. Thankfully she doesn’t go through with it, but it still feels like she and Lip are past these levels of games. This is clearly very reactionary on her part. Sarah is mostly in the background for all of this, but Tami’s paranoia does lead to her trying to have sex with someone else. Their bond is put to the test one last time as Tami unfortunately goes into the deep end with her jealousy over Sarah’s relationship with Lip. The other piece of plotting in this episode that’s on the more normal side involves Lip and Tami, who seem to finally find a comfortable rhythm with their co-parenting.