Shameless - "Three Boys" Review

“The devil’s in my balls Billy and he’s coming for the rest of me.” -Frank

In a very good episode of Shameless we learn a lot about the characters when they are faced with confrontation. Frank is faced with the possibility of having testicular cancer. His diatribe on why testicular cancer makes sense was classic. “Which is why I don’t believe in intelligence design.” A really great moment for Frank. I’m warming up to Frank as a character. It was nice to see some real moments from him in this episode, specifically when he realizes he might die of sickness. I wonder if Frank had ever really contemplated death before. Not so much death by itself, but death in a way that he was not responsible for himself. Frank is a selfish man, and he proved it when he drunkenly stated that he would rather take his own life rather than let the sickness get him.

Liam was confronted with his secret boyfriend ,Cash’s, real life. It’s all fun and games for a teenage boy to have an affair with a married man until he goes to his place and sees pictures of his wife and kids. It became too real, and Liam ran. I’m happy that he did. Liam is a Gallagher and it doesn’t seem like many of them want to be tied down to too many things, well expect for maybe Liam, who’s tied down to both a boyfriend and a girlfriend.

Veronica and Kev, who by the way are an awesome on screen couple, were confronted with the idea of marriage. Kev justified calling the wedding off originally because he’s still married. I wonder if he wasn’t tied if he would actually take the leap, rather than put on a fake wedding. Veronica just might be the most easy going woman alive. She took Kev being married in stride and decided to get high and devise a way to fake the wedding. Further, I never thought a couple calling off a marriage could be so romantic. Kev and Veronica’s fake marriage, is ironically, the strongest relationship in the show.

And once again, Fiona is confronted with the choice between Steve and Tony. As a side note, I’m actually really interested in Steve’s car stealing business. I think it adds nice spice to the show. I go back and forth on who I want Fiona to end up with. The real chemistry is with Steve, but Tony is solid and can support them. My feelings toward which guy I want her to end up with is directly correlated to if I want the Gallagher’s to better themselves or not. It’s strange to watch a family be so content with so little. I’m on the fence if I’m mad that they’re not trying to move up socially, or glad that they’re just finding a way to live happy. This is the main conflict of the show. Where do the Gallagher’s go? What’s going to happen that makes them change? And if they don’t change, how does the show keep us interested?

Other thoughts:

-I love seeing new ways the Gallagher’s get free stuff. Today it was stealing toilet paper and seat covers from the public restrooms and peeing drug free in a cup for a meal.
-Anthony Andersen with Tourettes is a nice surprise.
-Good to see Mac’s mom from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia make an appearance. Her spitting on her hand to put out her cigarette was clever. Never seen that before.
-I hope the show doesn’t flip Liam from being gay to wanting to be with his pretend girlfriend. That would seem like a cop out.

What are thoughts on the Gallagher’s improving their situation? How do you view the role of Frank?