Shameless Recap: Where’s My Meth?

Frank began his quest to become an upstanding citizen, seemingly in earnest, while Fiona began to learn the ups and downs of being a landlord in the second episode of “Shameless,” Season 8 (11-12-17). Lip made a reprehensible move aimed at getting Sierra back that he later regretted. Ian’s grief over Monica’s death led him down unexpected paths, while Neil began to balk over Debbie’s callous treatment.

Welcome to Lumber, Lawn & Lighting, Mr. Gallagher ~ Mr. Adeeb

Frank went off in search of a job with a pretty ridiculous resume in hand. Mr. Adeeb, the owner of Lumber Lawn & Lighting, wondered why someone who quite obviously never wanted to work for several decades past should suddenly turn up in front of his desk. Frank delivered a diatribe about how Monica changed him into a degenerate who thumbed his nose at society’s rules and worse, but now that she’s dead, he’s ready to be what he was meant to be. If you thought Mr. Adeeb was going to laugh and toss Frank out of his office, you (and we) were wrong. The story brought the guy to tears because he dropped out of medical school after falling in love with a Jewish girl and even converted to her religion. Now that they are divorced, he is also trying to reclaim his true identity. Frank got the job and it was so funny to watch him be the most diligent member of the new hires, rather than the screw-up playing the angles. Frank’s industriousness did not go unnoticed by Mr. Adeeb who made him the supervisor of the Garden Dept. Will power go to Frank’s head? Probably.

Buy a plant, worry about that” ~ Brad

Lip continued to babysit Lucas so Sierra could go out with Charlie, while trying to figure out a way to get rid of her ex. Lip told Brad that Charlie was in Patsy’s “marking his territory.” Brad said it wasn’t his business and if he wanted something to worry about, he should buy a plant. When Lucas told Lip that Charlie promised him a trip to Disney World for his good math grade, Lip was sure Charlie was blowing smoke, in a manner of speaking. Lip brought this up at home within earshot of Frank who, for all his respectable ambitions, had some dastardly advice: “Dangle a carrot in front of ol’ Charlie. If he’s an addict, he’ll take a bite.” Lip arranged for a pizza delivery, extra Hawaiian with a gram of cocaine in the center. That certainly rocked Charlie’s boat, but he didn’t use. He called his sponsor and landed at the same 12-step meeting Lip was at.

Lip was aghast when he realized the enormity of what he’d done: putting temptation directly in the path of someone struggling as hard as he was to stay clean. He left the meeting and broke into Charlie’s place and flushed the cocaine down the sink. As he went to climb out the same window he came in, Charlie’s dog attacked him and nearly bit his leg off. He later limped into Patsy’s Pie and confessed his misdeed to Brad. While Brad tried to digest that startling revelation, Charlie showed up with Lip’s fidget-spinner. He figured out that Lip busted in his place and flushed the drugs, but failed to realize that Lip sent the drugs to begin with. He gave Lip a big thanks and hug. Lip bought a plant and took it home.

You got 24 hours to pay up or I call the Marshall. ~ Fiona Gallagher

When several tenants were late with their rent, Nessa tried to give Fiona some good advice: evict the deadbeats and start fresh. She pointed out that Ryan, the prior owner, only used the place for hookups with HIV ho’s. Fiona said she better get herself tested in that case and she chose to take the compassionate approach to the deadbeats, having been in the rent-dodging boat more than she cared to recall. She got a promise from the blonde woman with at least a dozen rowdy kids to pay the next day, Rocky the druggie also agreed to have it by then. Mrs. Cardinal refused to open her door, pretending she would call the FBI and impersonating a dog. Only Rocky paid the next day. The blonde took off when she heard Fiona coming and Mrs. Cardinal continued to bark and growl. On the third try, the blonde gave Fiona a check for a penny made out to “the sell-out bitch,” and other insulting language. Fiona enlisted the help of Debbie to remove the iron grate from the front door and she posted an eviction notice.

Uh, I’m your boyfriend, not your babysitter. ~ Neil

Neil got the major brush-off from Debbie when he wanted to know why he sees so little of her these days. As she waltzed out the door all dolled up, he asked her what would happen if he fell out of his chair and she wasn’t there to pick him up. “That’s funny,” she replied, “Bye, Neil.” When she came home, Neil was on the floor and he noticed a hickey on her neck, as she breezed right by and got in the shower. The next day, Debbie changed babysitters. She showed up at the home of Derek’s mother, Franny’s abuela. Celia gave her several sidelong looks but, of course, she wanted to see Franny badly. Neil called Debbie while she was hanging out with her friends at the Alibi and wanted her to come home and give him a sponge bath. When Duran and Lakisha learned Neil is a paraplegic, nursing student Lakisha offered to do the sponge baths so she could get in her practicum hours. Debbie went to the beauty salon with Duran for a very sensuous shampoo session.

Happy Lumpectomy Day to you ~ The Gallaghers

Kevin and Veronica were stressed out about the surgery Kevin was about to undergo. Kevin was the only male in a group of ladies sharing their stories and although they were a little taken aback by his fear of not being able to get tips anymore from customers feeling him up, they all gave him a group hug. Another fear he had was not being able to raise his kids. Besides their twins, he and V have Svetlana’s kid, Yevgeny. Kev told little Yevgeny that he would have to be the man of house. The Gallagher fam came over to offer support and two round cakes with Hershey kiss nipples. Kev’s results came back benign so it was a false alarm. It was the first time some Alibi customers ever heard that a man could get breast cancer and also the first time Kevin found out the meaning of the word “benign.”

I would come here to find a chub to worship me. ~ Trevor

When Ian told Trevor that he was still feeling bad over Monica’s death, Trevor suggested that they go to Bear Back, where the men are kind, tender and chubby. That’s where Trevor went when Ian deserted him for 3 days to chase after Mickey. At Bear Back, Ian cried his eyes out in the arms of a man about 4x his size. Carl moved Ian’s meth and he used some of the money to get a tattoo on his back to honor Monica, only he forgot to tell the guy that Monica was his mother and ended up with the torso of a bare-breasted woman on his back. Was that even believable– that someone who was cold sober would just get a tattoo without seeing an image of it first? Whatever, Ian made Carl promise to take him to Monica’s storage unit to see what was left that he could keep to remember her by. The man Monica stole the meth from was there and chased after the two of them, but they managed to outrun him for now.

He’s a great kid. He can really hold his liquor. ~ Ian Gallagher

Liam had a sleepover at the home of a very rich kid from school named Dylan. Liam was just a wee toddler when he and Carl were sent to live with a gay couple who wanted to adopt them, so it’s very plausible that he doesn’t remember the ritzy surroundings he was in at that time. He was very impressed with Dylan’s bathroom and sneaker collection. Dylan’s nanny, Alma, was not impressed with Liam’s neighborhood when she drove him home. In fact, she was scared half to death. So it really wasn’t plausible that Dylan was allowed to spend the night at Chez Gallagher. Dylan’s mother came to pick him up and Ian and Carl razzed her about Southside life. She took all Dylan’s clothes off and threw them in the garbage before letting him get in her Range Rover.