Home Sweet Homeless Shelter Recap: Shameless

Frank got himself a whole new family in “Home Sweet Homeless Shelter” (Shameless, S7 E3, 10-16-16). Fiona learned something about the owner of Patsy’s Pies that gave her a new direction, while Liam, Ian and Debbie all got into situations that required her assistance.

I know you are but what am I ~ Fiona Gallagher

When Fiona and Lip came home late from their hookups (Lip and Fiona’s new waitress, Sierra. Fiona and some no-strings guy from Tinder), Ian was up making a big breakfast. They joked around but things took a serious turn when Fiona said she can direct her energies to more serious things now, like her job. Lip scoffed at her job at Patsy’s Pies. Fiona pointed out that Lip isn’t even getting paid at his intern position, but Lip said one day his job will turn into something worthwhile. Fiona was offended.

My spirit is like a cockroach. It can’t be crushed ~ Frank Gallagher

Frank was at the local homeless shelter with Dollface and her kids. After Frank’s restless night complete with a nightmare about pain and betrayal, they learned that the shelter was shutting down by the end of the week because the Container Store was taking over. Frank decided that his dream and the notice are signs that he needs to recreate his family. Two other boys wanted in and to Frank, that was a third sign. He now has a new Monica, Lip, Ian, Carl and Debbie (although this Debbie is a boy). He quickly found a new Fiona and voila!– the new Gallaghers were born.

Frank took his new family to the Alibi where Svetlana’s father is now tending bar. Svetlana, Veronica and Kevin were trying to figure out who would watch the bar while they were off running their new topless maid service, Nooks and Fannies. Her father showed up and he and Svetlana got into a big fight but after they got that out their systems, Svetlana put him to work. Even though he doesn’t speak much English, he knows how to deal with con artists so when Frank showed up looking for free drinks and room and board, he threw Frank out on his keester.

Then Frank went to Patsy’s Pies for free food. Fiona was already having a bad day. Johnny the short order cook was doing such a horrible job that people were returning orders without paying. Liam was kicked out of day care for violent behavior and she had to go pick him up. Fiona told Frank that was his fault for his bad influence on Liam. She said they weren’t getting any food unless they had money. All Frank had was $6.00 and that wasn’t enough for coffee. Liam offered to pay for their food with the money he stole off the day-care teacher. Fiona threatened to call the cops if they didn’t leave. Then she got her second emergency call of the day. She had to go pick up Ian.

Home Sweet Homeless Shelter Guest Stars and Co-Stars

Sue noticed that Ian was acting weird, spending all morning cleaning an already clean ambulance, when they got called to pick up a mentally ill woman named Kaylee whom the cops did not want to lock up. After scaring Sue out of her wits by speeding to the scene, Ian talked Kaylee into the ambulance. Once in there, Kaylee talked him into loosening her restraints. Sue frantically warned him not to, but Ian thought he had made some kind of trust connection with the girl. Freed from her restraints, Kaylee jumped out the backdoor of the ambulance and got hit by a car. Ian’s supervisor, Rita, said she would cover for him this one time but he had to take a week off and get himself together.

Kevin, V and Svetlana had 7 jobs on their very first day. While on the first one, a man approached Kev and asked him to please move the “Nooks and Fannies” because it was obscene and he was about to bring his kids outside to play. Kevin refused and the guy paid him a tidy sum to move it. In fact, it was more than the ladies were making on the job so Kev went in and whisked his topless maids away, telling the customer that the incomplete service was free. Looks like that old lady who was going to do the cleaning is out of a job now.

If she has no place to stay, she can park it at The Gallagher Home for the Homeless though. Frank took his new family to an open house for free cookies when he got the idea that he could take over the place since the legal owner was off on a cruise and couldn’t be contacted. Sylvia, the poor real estate agent, couldn’t do anything about it. She called the police but by the time she got there, Frank had moved everyone else from the shelter in and the cops didn’t want to arrest all those squatters without being able to speak to the owner. Frank also enlisted the help of a local church to make sure everyone got a square meal.

When Fiona got back from picking up Ian, Patsy’s Pies was in panic mode. Johnny quit and an accidental fire broke out in the kitchen while Melinda gloated about it outside, instead of helping. Fiona set about regaining control when Chad showed up demanding to know why he was called. Chad was mad. (What? People don’t say that in real life?) His life was bad enough, having to take orders from a high school drop out so Fiona can’t just walk out in the middle of rush hour no matter what. Right after that, Fiona got her third emergency call. That little criminal Debbie was detained for shoplifting.

Debbie owed Jolayemi some money or the night nurse said she would to cut off her hair and sell it to a wigmaker (Jolayemi said that in her native tongue). Apparently, Debbie’s staying out of the park since her close call when the double stroller she was stealing had a child in it. She went to a trendy boutique and loaded up on over 2 grand worth of stuff that she could sell. The store clerk was on to her though and called security. When Fiona got there, the clerk threatened to call the police unless Fiona paid for the items Debbie attempted to boost. Fiona claimed that Debbie was “a little slow” and her mental issues made her forget to pay sometimes. This confused the clerk and security guard sufficiently to allow Fiona to simply walk out of the store with Debbie and baby Harry.

Back at work, Fiona looked up Chad’s boss, Margo. She was floored to discover that Margo is worth over $300 million despite her lack of a high school diploma. Margo, she told Lip, worked hard, paid her dues, saved her money and leveraged it. She never had kids or got married.

We thought that Fiona got her G.E.D. when she went to work at the cup place. Anyhow, newly inspired that a lack of higher education is no obstacle to success, Fiona laid down the law at a family meeting. Anyone who wants to stay at Chez Gallagher is going to have to pay from now on. Carl objects because he bought the house with his drug money but Fiona points out that the utilties and property taxes must still be divvied up. If anyone is out of work they can file for disability or welfare but there are no more free rides. She also told them to put her name at the bottom of their emergency contact lists, like at No. 4 so she doesn’t have to interrupt her life plans every time one of them gets in a jam. She told Lip that she was “just as likely as anyone else in this family to make something of myself, and it’s about time you got that, you arrogant s—t.”

Lip did get the message that he had to buckle down and do the disgusting grunt work at his internship, even though he found it repulsive and beneath him. We’re not sure if he decided that because Tito told him that he only got the position over others who were higher on the food chain because Prof. Youens let Tito take a test over that he had slept through; or because of his talk with Ian, who didn’t want to take his meds; or because he realized he had to pay his dues like Margo did. Maybe it was a combination of all three. Whatever, Lip approached his task of changing video game boy’s catheter bag with a newfound zeal.

After Dominique’s father blamed Carl for giving his precious baby girl gonorrhea (and tried to give him a beatdown), Carl learned that he did not even have it. Carl thought that perhaps Dom got it from a toilet seat, but Ian and Lip set him straight. She got it from another guy. So Carl followed his lying little sweetheart and got a cell phone shot of her entering a local frat house with a college dude. Carl took his phone and his test results and knocked on Sergeant Winslow’s door. They were last seen arriving at the frat house with a SWAT team.