Shameless: Frank the Plumber Recap

In “Frank the Plumber”, the 9th episode of Season 3 of Shameless, some of the characters are faced with screwed up events not of their own making, while others are just screwing up events, and of course, Frank is at the head of the class in the latter category.

He’s got it made in the shade living with the childlike Christopher, who has a Bloody Mary ready for him in the morning, and they playfully sword fight with toothbrushes. But a bout of gout sets Frank to thinking of a way to get a share of Christopher’s state benefits, so he pretends that they are gay,

While Jimmy’s day start off with a cockroach on his toothbrush, Fiona has gotten a temp job and needs something decent to wear. Veronica hooks her up with some wardrobe from her sexy librarian webcam shtick. But the ins and out of circumcising Kev and V’s yet to be born child play a part in Fiona winding up in a supervisor’s office. Mike Pratt is quite intrigued with Fiona’s explanation of the images on her computer but he is more impressed with her saving a huge account with her unorthodox method of handling the call, despite the office manager warning her not to stray from the script.

Jimmy’s day just goes from bad to worse, as he gets heat from a snotty rich kid. Then he gets docked half his pay for giving free refills to Beto. The real owners of the stolen car he’s been driving find it parked on the street and take it back. Then he gets robbed while cashing his paycheck at the ATM — by a little girl with a gun! Beto offers him some free drinks and advice. He’s a rich kid born with a silver spoon in his mouth who does not fit in on the Southside of Chicago.

After being turned down for his phony bid for domestic partnership benefits, Frank harangues a mayoral candidate on a corner while waiting for the bus to the clinic. Video of his rant gets on social media and the news and Frank becomes a celebrity to the gay rights movement, but the butt of a million jokes to his compadres at the Alibi. At least Frank can take it and even made some new gay friends out of the fallout. Sensitive Christopher was ridiculed so badly at work, he had to leave work, and he still had his controlling mother to deal with.

Mandy returned to pick up some stuff from the Gallaghers. Lip found out that she had applied to various colleges on his behalf and a guy from M.I.T. was coming by to interview him. Ian learned that Mickey was going to marry some pregnant skank (the Russian, no doubt). Devastated and hurt, Ian paid Mickey a visit, shouting that Mickey knew he was gay and that he loved Ian. Then he goaded Mickey into beating him up, and Mickey really did a number on him.

Lip tried to blow off the M.I.T. alumni rep, Scott Walker, but ended up engaging in a conversation with him that led to his possibly getting a full scholarship. That and Karen’s urging to dump Mandy, as well as Mandy’s plaintive hope that he would get out of the ghetto, whether he took her with him or not, apparently opened Lip’s eyes up to the fact that Mandy held the key to a better future for him. But Karen wasn’t going down easy, and pushed Mandy to the brink by calling and taunting her with a possible pregnancy.

The heartbreaker of the show for us is always little Debbie. After bringing her little brother Liam over for Sheila to watch, Debbie realizes that she can’t leave Liam with a depressed Sheila who can’t even get up off her plastic covered sofa. She skips school and ministers to Sheila who slowly responds to this child with so much common sense and grown-up wisdom.

Sheila tried to take responsibility with Karen, apologizing for all her mistakes, which probably was sounding like “power” to Karen, but a text came that said it was from Lip, asking Karen to meet in the park. Power over Sheila wasn’t as earth-shaking at the moment as breaking up Mandy and Lip, so Karen gave Sheila the brush off and ran off to the park. Mandy drove to the park and ran her over.

Jimmy ended up at the hospital to talk to Andy, the med school friend from last week, and as they discussed the possibility of Jimmy resuming his education, Karen was wheeled into the emergency room.

After being unceremoniously tossed out on his rump by Christopher’s mother, Frank was approached by two serious gay rights activists who plan to make him the face of the gay rights movement. As a blue collar, Irish Catholic, they believe Frank has the ear of a whole bunch of people that they ordinarily can’t reach and even though he is a derelict with dog poop on his face, they can clean him up and turn him into the “Joe the Plumber” of the gay rights movement. Well, if we know anything about Frank, we know that he can screw up a free lunch, so it should be interesting to see how he screws this up.

Related:

Who was Joe the Plumber anyway?
Quotes from Frank the Plumber