'Shameless' Season 1, Episode 7 Recap

['Shameless' - '"Frank Gallagher: Loving Husband, Devoted Father"']

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to honor the life of Frank Gallagher, an admirable human being if ever there was one.

Psych!

On the list of shockingly 'Shameless' things to do for kicks, we think that faking your own death probably ranks below stealing a baby, but above having sex with your married Muslim boss.

But when you're being pursued by a crotchety Irish debt collector and that seriously psychotic guy from 'Prison Break' for six grand that you don't technically have, such drastic measures are somewhat understandable, if inadvisable.

Luckily for Frank, his kids are not only used to acting like he's dead, they've probably actively wished it on him a time or two, so they were more than willing to assist in his ruse. I think the Gallagher clan probably would've been better off if they'd let the hired heavies settle Frank's debts with a pound of flesh or two, but say what you want about the troubled family, they seem to value loyalty above all else, even when they get none in return from their father.

Certainly, the various ways the gang joined forces to create the illusion were inspired -- from Lip and Kev stealing a hearse (while discussing the importance of children needing good role models, no less) to V and her doctor friend trying to figure out the right cocktail of drugs to knock Frank out cold, to Debbie's make-over effort and Carl's packets of ice; nothing brings a family together like faking a death.



Elsewhere, kooky Sheila was misguidedly entrusted with Liam for a night, so that poor Fiona could finally take some time off from wrangling her family for a romantic rendezvous with Steve in a predictably stolen hotel room.

It seemed like a foolproof plan, right up until Liam decided to take a stroll out of the front door. Watching Sheila suffer with her suffocating agoraphobia is a painful affair, but I was impressed that she finally found the courage to at least venture to her front gate, even if it required her making a rope out of bedsheets to tie to the banister in case she ... got swept away by the noise and the hoodlums walking past the house, I guess?

I was also shocked that the show actually went full throttle on Kash's wife Linda discovering his affair with Ian so soon.

What was even more surprising was the matter-of-fact way Linda handled the news; instead of trying to start over as a thirty-something (or older?) white Muslim woman with two kids, she leveraged the situation, telling Kash that he could carry on the affair with Ian after she got pregnant again. It seemed like a mercenary arrangement, but one that made a lot of sense and would be mutually beneficial to all parties, if Ian decides to stick it out with Kash for the long run, at least.

Like Linda, I kind of think that Ian could do better (although not with the brutish Mickey -- and who saw that hook-up coming?) since Kash really does need to grow a pair; a grown man getting brutalized by a teenage boy is fairly pathetic, even if Kash is obviously used to getting emasculated by Linda in their married life.

Relatedly, I was surprised but admittedly reassured when it was revealed that Ian does the pitching in their relationship (at least sometimes, from what we've seen on screen) -- it's obvious that the Gallaghers aren't the type to allow themselves to be used, but the evidence of that between Ian and Kash makes the relationship seem a little less like an older man is taking advantage of a teenager, and more like a partnership of equals.

Somehow, I feel like Mandy would be less encouraging than Linda if she discovered that Ian had fooled around with her bully of a brother -- that's probably a confrontation for another episode.

With all the other compelling storylines going on around them, I'm starting to find Steve and Fiona's relationship a little bland; certainly, they're the calm center in the middle of a storm of wackiness, and Fiona obviously deserves a little TLC, but in comparison to the other character arcs, I usually find their storylines the least engaging. Although since Steve let the L word slip at the end of the episode, perhaps a little more drama is headed their way.

We also discovered that V and Kev were planning to foster a kid (ostensibly for the money, in V's eyes, although Kev apparently really wants kids). The "rent before we buy" mentality probably makes sense for the two of them, and after witnessing Frank's terrible parenting skills over the years, they probably can't do any worse. I'm interested to see how their quest to become parents progresses.

'Shameless' airs Sundays, 10PM ET on Showtime.

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