Shameless – Black-Haired Ginger

By: Ariba Bhuvad

“Shameless” is undergoing some major changes in Season 9 with the latest being that Cameron Monaghan’s final episode will be episode ten. Yes, it is true. We will be bidding farewell to Ian very soon, too soon, and given that Emmy Rossum’s Fiona will leave after this season, this is all too much to handle.

This week’s episode was very heavy on the politics and tackling relevant issues ailing our world today including #MeToo, the justice system and even throwing in some Planned Parenthood in there. After Mo White (Dan Lauria) shockingly won the election, Frank (William H. Macy) was the first person he left behind before heading off to Congress. It’s not all that surprising considering Frank spent all of the campaign money on his own luxuries – a/k/a getting ridiculously drunk.

Even more so, Frank’s kidney is rejecting his body, which we discover while he’s peeing out dark brown right before falling to the ground. Again, not a surprise considering he has continued to drink despite getting a new kidney. When V (Shanola Hampton) and Kev (Steve Howey) take Frank to the hospital they find out that he needs to be put on meds in order to get better. Unfortunately, the medication he would have to take would cost too much without insurance so he has to opt for taking the generic brand. There is one tiny problem with this – the side effects will cause erectile dysfunction.

Frank struggles with this throughout the episode and even attempts to get a hooker to arouse him, which fails miserably and results with him breaking out in tears. When all else fails, he asks Liam (Christian Isaiah) to electroshock his penis into becoming erect. Not only does he burn his junk, but he goes back to the hospital to make sure everything is still actually going to function. During this visit to the hospital Frank tries to score some Vicodin by acting as a psych patient’s husband. Oh, the things Frank will do to get drugs.

The bulk of the episode focused on Ian (Cameron Monaghan), understandably so considering his story has to wrap up by the next episode. Faced with the decision to attend his hearing or go on the run, Ian struggles to figure out what to do. To make matters worse, Fiona (Emmy Rossum) is on his back to provide an insanity plea which would give him his best shot at minimal time. But if he does this, it would erase all the work his supporters have put in for the “Gay Jesus” movement. After getting advice from an unexpected character, Ian decides to run away but not before dying his hair completely black.

Fiona realizes Ian has gone on the run and while she tries to go look for him, he ultimately decides to return home because he can’t just leave. Ian eventually decides to go to the hearing with the support of the entire Gallagher family behind him. Even Fiona has decided to support him in whatever decision he decides to make because ultimately it’s up to him. In perhaps what was the best Ian scene we’ve ever seen, he decides to take the insanity plea (much to the disapproval of his supporters) after giving a heartfelt speech.

Liam had a bit of an odd experience in this episode after being lured into a closet at school by his bully. He returns home to “wash his junk” because he’s pretty sure they had sex. Uh oh, did Liam really lose his virginity?!  Well, he is a Gallagher. The girl shows up at the house claiming Liam got her pregnant and him being so innocent he actually thinks this is true. Together, the family tranquilizes the girl and drops her off in front of a Planned Parenthood.

Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) attends a West Point event to get in with the crowd, but ends up way over his head when he meets the daughter of one of the officials. When she tries to have sex with him he refuses to do it because he promised Kevin he wouldn’t sleep with anyone who was too drunk to say yes or no. To prove that he didn’t actually sleep with her, he records her sleeping but she kicks him out of the house anyway.

Fiona spends most of the episode running after Ian and even ditches a date with Ford (Richard Flood) in the process. Realizing that most of the kids don’t need her anymore, it seems like “Shameless” is prepping fans for Fiona’s eventual exit. Sigh, we are so not ready for this.

Debbie (Emma Kenney) struggles with her sexuality and is confused over whether or not she is a lesbian. She listens to Alex (Ashley Romans) complain for eight hours about her exes and how hurt she was from them. Out of desperation, Debbie visits Fiona’s lesbian friends to get some clarity over her confusion and when she is flashed by one of them, it seems like she might have finally figured it out.

It was a tough episode for Lip (Jeremy Allen White) who has a lot of free time on his hands with the shop closed temporarily. He decides to start jogging, partakes in some illegal motorcycle races and buys every brand of cigarettes in the process. But it seems like he will be taking on a more suitable, appropriate hobby in the next episode which will also introduce Courtney Cox’s character! What is this you ask? To be a sober companion.

Kevin is making some moves with his Vagina Safe movement and is asked to come in and speak to a women’s organization. After attending a rehearsal and hearing all the women’s heartbreaking stories of rape and abuse, he is disgusted with his sex and wants to make some serious change. He decides not to give the speech because anything he has to say will mean nothing in comparison to what all the other women will say. He wishes that he could give every woman a hug and while that won’t fix all the problems in the world, it’s nice of Kevin to offer–don’t you think?