Sammi Shoots Frank: Shameless Recap S5 E7

The seventh episode of Season 5 of Shameless was called “Tell Me You F–king Need Me.” If there was a compelling reason to put the f-bomb right in the title, it had to be to underscore just how needy Sammi is. Frank’s mistreatment of her didn’t exactly reach an all-time high — it was the same as it always has been and probably always will be but, unlike the other Gallagher progeny, Sammi is incapable of understanding that. It’s a little funny that Ian is in the psych ward for being bipolar, while Sammi goes from begging Frank for an apology to actually shooting him. Of course, Sammi is not Monica’s daughter but her mother must have had some kind of personality disorder to take up with Frank in the first place. After she shot him, she poured salt on his wound — literally!! And wouldn’t stop unless he said he needed her and as soon as he did, she took him to the hospital.

The bigger Fiona and Jimmy storyline must have left some viewers happy and others sad. Oddly enough, Fiona chose to confess her roll in the hay with Jimmy to her husband Gus. He quickly put together that she banged her ex and then came home and banged him and was so stunned that he went off and cooked breakfast. When he brought it to Fiona, he was shocked to find her cleaning up wearing one of his shirts. She looked like she thought he was going to kick her out on her arse right then and there. But instead he decided that he wanted to meet Jimmy. That didn’t go very well when Jimmy gave Fiona a hug and a kiss right in front of Gus and then smirked at Gus: “This must be the hubby! How’s it going, man? How you doing?” Gus decked him and sent him flying across the table. Then he told Fiona that Jimmy was a dick, she deserved better than him and went off to ice his hand because he had an upcoming gig.

Fiona sat on the curb and Jimmy came out after the other waitresses attended to his bloody nose. He claimed that he cancelled his trip to Dubai because he wanted a life with her. Fiona said she loved him and part of her wanted that, but she knows it’s not enough anymore. She’s not sure if she’ll find what she needs with Gus, but she knows she won’t with Jimmy. “You have to let me go”, Fiona wept, “You have to let me let you go.” Jimmy rode off on his motorcycle with a “take care of yourself, Fiona Gallagher.” Angela pulled up as Fiona walked down the street and told Fiona that she was sorry for spying on her. Fiona said she was sorry they cancelled the Dubai trip for her. Angela said the client cancelled the trip, exposing that lie. “Jack’s a good thief,” Angela said, “but a shitty person,” and drove off. “Jack,” Fiona marveled and shook her head in an “I should have known” kinda way.

Veronica left Kev to get some space. She moved in over the Alibi with the milk making mamas who were only there during the day. Mickey told Svetlana that she could get out when he found her packing Ian’s stuff. (Danny Bonaduce is her latest name for Crazy Carrot Boy). When Svetlana found out that Vee was staying at the Alibi, she took Yevgeny over to Kev’s and moved in, agreeing to stay only a couple of days and to clean and provide “wifely duties” for the privilege. Kev may very well be a good man, as Vee’s mother told her, but he’s not the brightest bulb in the pack. When Vee finds out that Svetlana has been staying at her house, let’s hope she doesn’t have a gun handy too.

Ian woke up in the psych ward with no apparent memory of how he got there. The patients told him the drugs would wear off. He just wanted to go home. His attempt to just walk out a guarded door went predictably bad for him. His interview with the doctor didn’t go too well either and his visit with Mickey and Fiona was even worse. Mickey went off and got drunk and must have forgotten that he told Svetlana she could get out. He called for her and the baby when he got home, then stumbled and fell, cutting himself. On the floor, he found Ian’s army jacket and curled up and went to sleep with it.

School Days

“Uncle Carl” took Chuckie under his wing at school, warning a big kid that he would suffer painful disfigurement if he ever bullied Chuckie again. “Pass the word,” Carl told the other kids and then made Chuckie his slave.

Derek drove Debbie to school while they listened to Maroon 5’s “Maps.” Derek said they could listen to the rest of the song on the way home and punched Debbie in the arm before running off to class — upsetting for little Debs since Carl told her earlier that means you’re just friends. So upsetting that Debbie cornered Holly in the girl’s bathroom and threatened her with a new beatdown if she didn’t spill how to get out of the friend zone. Later when Derek drove her home, she touched his leg per Holly’s advice but didn’t get the reaction she was looking for. She exploded with a rant about not wanting him for a friend. “I like you and I’d be a great girlfriend,” she raved, “and if you can’t see that, screw you!” Derek reached over and kissed her.

Things weren’t going as well for Lip who found out that he was $12 grand short on tuition because he didn’t turn in his yearly paperwork for his grant. We thought that would send him to Amanda’s dad who had offered to give him some kind of help before, but Lip went around campus taking out a bunch of credit cards and getting $1,000 cash advances on them.

Supporting Cast of Tell Me You Need Me