Shameless Recap: The Sean has Returned

Looks like they were out of fresh ideas for Episode 4 of “Shameless” in Season 8 so they brought back Sean Pierce, a character we hoped to never see again. They also continued the saga of Ian and Trevor, a character we just wish would go away at this point. The title, “F**k Paying It Forward” (11-26-2017), didn’t make a lot of sense to us either so we used Frank’s Sean line for our recap title.

Who’s the reason for this mid-day wine cooler? ~ Nessa

Fiona got a call early in the morning that her druggie tenant, Rocky, got his head stuck in the fence over at her building. She went downstairs to find Debbie, who went off about how she had a right to get back on her feet there now that Neil kicked her to the curb. She didn’t want to hear about paying her fair share because she was going to do it. Fiona just said “hi” and told her to grab her welding equipment to help get Rocky out of the jam he was in. On their way to the door, there was Sean right in their living room. He was hoping to talk to Fiona “for a sec.” After she picked her jaw up off the floor, Fiona said “let’s go, Deb” and they walked out, with Deb admonishing Liam for letting Sean in. After dealing with Rocky’s release, Fiona went to Patsy’s. On her way out to help Bahir move in, she ran into Sean again. He asked her to meet him for dinner next to the motel he was staying at. Nessa advised Fiona to accept the invitation and then stand Sean up. That sounded like a plan but Fiona obsessed about him all day and at last, showed up. (What was that goop Sean was eating? It looked like turnips. lol.)

Sean apologized for what he put her through and slid an envelope full of money across the table to pay for the wedding they didn’t have. Fiona completely misconstrued his intentions and launched into a blistering “you done me wrong” tirade on how he couldn’t buy his way back in. She admitted she probably still loved him but didn’t know how she could ever trust him again. To her utter shock, Sean told her he was married now, he was clean for a year and was only trying to make amends. The very thought that she was just a step in his rehab program sent her into a rage. She threw the money at him and stormed off. Later, she went to the motel and accosted a woman that she thought was Sean’s wife, to let her know that he would do her wrong, too. “He doesn’t just use drugs,” she screamed, “he uses people.” The woman’s husband came out and got attacked by his wife at the same time that Sean and his wife emerged from their room. Fiona burst out laughing and took off in her car.

We grow up fast in the Age of Enlightenment ~ Francis Gallagher

Frank was now in his symbolic 30s and felt that he still had the chance to make up for being a bad father by being a good one to Liam. He joined the PTA at Liam’s school and volunteered to work at the charity car wash. Cynthia, one of the mothers, found wet Frank irresistibly attractive and told him to look her up in the PTA directory and give her a call. She looks a little bit like the love of Frank’s life. No, not Monica. Bianca. Does Cynthia stand for catalyst?

Do not use these kids to try to weasel your way back into my life ~ Trevor

Geneva, one of the shelter girls Ian helped last week, showed up in his ambulance with an injury on her arm caused by a drug dealer slicing her with a razor blade. She also needed a place to spend the night so he took her home and put her to bed on the Gallagher couch. The next morning she was in his bed when he woke up. He was later accosted by a very angry Trevor who said that, thanks to Ian, Geneva didn’t make curfew and lost her group home placement. Trevor accused Ian of only trying to help Geneva to score points with him. Ugh, man. If they insist on getting these two back together, can we at least make Trevor a little less of a self-righteous butthole?

He’s been yapping about a$$ non-stop…. He’s gonna make me backslide. ~ Eddie

Remember when drunk Lip couldn’t beat the girls off with a baseball bat and we were always pondering what was so hot about him? Now, he’s having problems getting a girl because he’s clean and sober. One girl at Patsy’s was giving Lip the eye but she pleaded the Bra Code (thou shalt not date thy friend’s ex) when he approached her. Tinder turned out to be a bad option. The girl he hooked up with at a bar wanted to get drunk first. There’s not much worse than being around someone who’s drunk when you’re trying to stay sober. It turned out that mean Eddie, the girl who works at the motorcycle shop, has also been suffering through 10 months of sobriety and celibacy. She took care of both their problems. Brad was not there to parent them because he just became a parent for real.

You mean raccoon ~ Veronica Fisher

Kevin and Veronica headed to Kentucky to meet Kev’s birth family. V had her reservations about venturing into redneck country that were not allayed when Kev’s Aunt Ronnie told him Uncle Travis just got back from skinning a coon. Aunt Ronnie claimed that Kev was left at the gas station accidentally, when he was little Barty. Later, at the family reunion barbecue, one of his kinfolk let it slip that he was definitely dumped at the gas station. Kev was devastated until the clan told him he was the lucky one. He got out of the holler and was successful while they were all a bunch of losers. Despite assurances from Cousin Tilly that the clan was not racist, V continued to be freaked out, particularly when little kids were running around with KKK hoods meant for Halloween.

Suffer the little children to come unto me

Single working mom Debbie missed baby Franny’s first steps that were taken at her grandmother, Celia’s. Debbie felt pretty bad about it and tried to coax Franny to walk but the young’un wouldn’t take another step until the end of the episode when Frank came home. She got up and walked right to him. An impressed Ian said “he really is St. Francis.” Actually, “suffer the little children” were not the words of St. Francis — that was Jesus Christ.

As for Carl, he was thrown a little something to do in this episode by a Neighborhood Watch lady. A junkie was robbing the houses and even stole a veteran’s medals. Carl broke out a virtual arsenal of weapons and set a trap in the backyard and caught the junkie in it.