“I’m the Liver” Recap – Shameless

“I’m the Liver”, the second episode of Season 5 of Shameless (1/18/15) apparently got its title from Frank’s status at a Father’s Day party for his liver donor’s dad where he shocked the donor’s parents out of their wits by drinking wine. Was it funny? Oh, it was very funny, especially after Frank explained how his research shows that the new liver can last him at least 10 years, then “the Lungs” said “anyone got a cigarette?”

The episode opened with Frank trading some Milk of the Gods to a kid who gave him pot brownies, as they welcomed the day with a few cock-a-doodle-doos.

Fiona was officially off probation but it was Sunday so she had to use the old Gallagher ingenuity to get her ankle bracelet off. Lip prepared for his first day of work and Veronica wanted to get away from the “spawns of Satan” who were both calmer with Kevin than her.

At a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, Fiona sat beside her boss, Sean, and tried to get him to notice her newly freed ankle. He construed that as flirting but when he realized the ankle monitor was gone and some rules were broken in the process, he was unimpressed.

At the work site, Tommy informed Lip that it “ain’t the Alibi.” Lip has to do what Tommy says at work, picking up concrete like everyone else and no cells phones. Lip was determined to show he can handle the hard work, almost as determined as Tommy was to bust the college boy’s chops.

While Carl and Debbie argued over losing their virginity, a man named Wade knocked on the door looking for Frank. This was the liver donor’s father.

At the diner, Sammi begged Fiona for the use of the Gallagher kitchen to make Frank a Father’s Day dinner. Fiona refused while dealing with a difficult table. First the slob wanted ketchup, then tabasco, then syrup, then creamer, then butter — deliberately causing Fiona to make a separate trip for each item, but she handled both him and Sammi without losing her cool — until, that is, the guy didn’t even leave her a decent tip. She confronted the man outside. He claimed she was slow. Fiona asked if she was really slow or he just couldn’t handle a 5-minute wait for the 10 pounds of bacon he shoved down his fat throat. The man’s wife hauled off, slapping Fiona so hard it split her lip. Sean ran out to break it up and identified himself as the manager. Sean said if the guy can’t afford to tip, he can’t afford to eat at Patsy’s. The customer demanded to know if he was taking “this little slut’s side”. Sean slammed him against the wall, forcing him to apologize to Fiona.

At the pool, Holly Hertimer flirted with Carl to mess with Debbie, who saw a girl throw a drink all over another guy and break up with him. Debbie decided to take a crack at him but he thought she was with the special needs kids group. Mortified, she jumped in the pool.

Kevin ran into Svetlana, breast-feeding Evgeny at the park. He told her how and why V quit breast-feeding and she offered to help and even went home with Kevin. Another thing they have in common is that Svetlana is carrying as a surrogate, only she is not keeping the baby the way Kevin’s mother-in-law Carol did.

Kevin and Svetlana are pleased to discover these new dimensions in each other when Debbie arrives. She knows Svetlana, her brother’s lover’s baby mama. After sending Kevin to fish a rat out of the pool, Debbie enlisted Svetlana’s “professional” help on the art seduction. Debbie got a make-over and Svetlana also convinced Kevin to cut off his hair.

Sheila had exciting news for Frank. Two women and a realtor stopped by, offering double the market value of the house. She wants to jump on the offer and hit the road with Frank, far from Sammi and Chuckie. Convinced it’s a scam, Frank consulted Sammi, much to Sheila’s dismay. Sammi confirms that it’s on the up and up and Frank balked at selling. Sheila told Frank how badly she wants to see the Burning Man, and how she hates Sammi so much, she is willing to sell the home she loves.

Back at the diner, Davis doesn’t need a nudge to notice that Fiona’s ankle monitor is gone. Now she has no excuse and has to come to his show. She can even bring her man, he said, meaning Sean. Fiona says he’s just her boss, then invited V to the show.

Getting ready back at home, she comes downstairs to find Sean in the kitchen. He painfully revealed how badly he is attracted to her but she’s a chaos junkie. As a junkie junkie, chaos is bad for him and as a father, he needs structure. Bottom line: he wants her to sit somewhere else at meetings.

V could not believe her eyes when she arrived home to find Svetlana breast-feeding one of her babies. Then Kevin showed up with his shaved head. Fiona was just as horrified by Debbie’s new look. Now V isn’t going to the show. Fiona took Debbie home, questioning why a smart girl like her would be taking advice from someone like Svetlana. Debbie’s retort (that Fiona is a smart girl, so why is she on probation for drugs) causes Fiona to back down. She says Debbie’s hair looks cute but the makeup has to be toned down. Then she very inappropriately invited Debbie to the show.

Lip, in the meantime, finally showed up at the Alibi to prove the work day didn’t cripple him, even though it did. Frank was there lecturing about gentrification at length, warning that it all starts with a Starbucks.

At the bar, Debbie and Fiona danced while Davis sang. Then he beckoned Fiona onstage. An older guy took the moment to resume grinding up against Debbie, despite having already been told she’s a minor. Fiona jumped down and punched the man. He punched back and knocked Fiona on her arse. Davis jumped in to punch the guy out. Fiona grabbed Debbie and ran out laughing. On the street. Fiona said Debbie needs to learn to run faster if she wants to dress like that and hang out in bars, and we guess that statement made Fiona realize that she had just personally introduced her little sister to the wild side.

Sheila returned home to find the mess Sammi put her son up to leaving. Sammi told Chuckie to defecate in Sheila’s living room. When Sammi returned to her trailer, Sheila was waiting. She informed Sammi that she realized as her step-mother, it was her duty to tell Sammi why people don’t like her. It’s because she is just too needy, annoying, slutty and a bad mother. Then she handed Sammi Chuckie’s mess in a plastic baggie. Not exactly what Sammi was expecting to hear.

The next day, at Lip’s job, the construction guys stared in shock at a sign announcing that a Zen Beanery Organic Coffee place is coming soon to this location, and wondering how Frank knew. Frank shows up, shouts “told ya,” and crows at the rising sun.