Thank God that Showtime wasn’t intimidated by Super Bowl Sunday to continue airing this season’s “Shameless.” Having my “Shameless” was like one of those free desserts from the restaurant manager to make up for their crappy service aka the Super Bowl and craptastic commercials. Props to Bruno Mars and Red Hot Chili Peppers, though, for a damn good halftime show to an otherwise snoozefest.
Back to Shameless…
“Shameless” Season 4, Episode 4 “Strangers on a Train” was all about pimps, whores, illegals, and deceit. See how it all went down in my episode recap as well as favorite quotes.
Episode 4: Credits & Info
Series: “Shameless”
Season: 4
Episode: 4
Episode Title: “Strangers on a Train”
Written By: John Wells (Developer), Paul Abbott, Etan Frankel
Edited by: Tim Tommasino
Directed By: Peter Segal
Network: Showtime
Favorite Quotes
Frank Gallagher seemed to dominate my favorite quotes this week, but here are the ones that caught my ear during the episode.
Whatever you’re going through, guess what? I did, too. You’ve got plenty of time to grow up. It’s OK to just be a kid. -Fiona Gallagher
My daughter and I are very close. -Frank Gallagher
Giving me a look like I’m a f*cking degenerate. The Egyptian royals, the Incas. Hell! King Arthur. They all kept it in the family. We probably still would if Oedipus hadn’t ruined it for all of us. So fine! Cast the first stone, but let me ask you, if we all came from just Adam and Eve in the beginning, well, you do the math. -Frank Gallagher
Jewish lightning. Most inspired of our Hebrew bretheren’s contribution to society. -Frank Gallagher
Sasha needs to find out that my wife’s a hooker not a slave. -Milky Milkovich
You want me to hurt you?…Can I put it on YouTube? -Carl Gallagher
F*ckin’ Obamacare! What kind of a system we live in where you have to cripple yourself to stay alive? -Frank Gallagher
Did you clean our your cabbage patch with Purell afterwards?…It keeps you from getting knocked up. Gets the little swimmers so drunk they can’t find the egg. -Holly Herckimer
They grew up in Chernobyl so I got a discount. -Sasha
Look, don’t worry. We’ll get a d*ck in you as soon as we can. -Mickey Milkovich
Statutory rape. Some old school sh*t left over from when women wore corsets and didn’t carry mace. -Mandy Milkovich
I’m not on Facebook. -Fiona Gallagher
It’s just what I need. Raising your bastard kid in the hood while you bang coeds in the back of the robotics lab. -Mandy Milkovich
It takes 50 grand a year for four years of frat parties, intellectual circle jerks, speed reading 300 year old novels that will be forgotten the second the test is over all because we’re told we can’t succeed in the world without a piece of paper. -Lip Gallagher
What do you want me to say? That I’m self destructive? That liars and thieves and addicts turn me on? That I don’t know how to do a normal relationship? – Fiona Gallagher
Thank you, God. Thank you for the cosmic f*ck that even my own daughter isn’t a match! -Frank Gallagher
You’re my dad? I almost put you in my mouth. -Sammi
Dry humping is not incest. -Frank Gallagher
I just wish I could skip the part where I don’t know the right thing to do and get to the part where I do. -Debbie Gallagher
Recap
Read all of my “Shameless” episode recaps — CLICK HERE.
“Game recognizes game,” said Robbie Pratt (guest star Nick Gehlfuss), a demi-recovering addict and brother of Mike Pratt (guest star Jack McDorman), to Fiona Gallagher (Emmy Rossum, Twitter @EmmyRossum) as their affair progresses quickly from a one night stand to a full on sex fling. Fiona is trying to fight her addiction to bad boys and self destructive relationships. It’s not working. This episode begins as sexually charged as Episode 3 left off with a “strangers on a train” encounter where Robbie makes his way over to Fiona’s seat on the L for a little finger action. When Mike is discussing plans at work with Fiona for her upcoming 30th birthday, Robbie pops in unannounced to speak with his father. While there, Robbie starts naughty texting Fiona leaving her unfocused. Fiona explains away the distraction to still totally oblivious Mike who naively believes her. Wanting to make sure that Robbie gets the message that Fiona isn’t interested, she goes over his apartment to tell him face-to-face. It predictably turns into another sex bout. The close calls keep coming when Mike shows up at his brother Robbie’s apartment unexpectedly while Fiona and Robbie are in the midst of one of their f*ck sessions. Robbie answers the door while Fiona panics and is forced to hide while Robbie and Mike talk.
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SIDE NOTE: The song “Bodies” by The Duke Spirit was the soundtrack to the opening scene with Fiona and Robbie on the L. Never heard of the group or the song before, but the intensity and vocals caught my attention that I had to look it up. For my fellow music aficionados, check out The Duke Spirit’s official website. I’ll probably at least be downloading this track. Check out “Bodies” and some of their other music below from their SoundCloud page:
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Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy) learns the nuances of getting a liver transplant with no health insurance, continues to blur the father/girlfriend lines with his daughter Sammi (guest star Emily Bergl, Twitter: @EmilyBergl), and encounters an unforeseen road block. With no health insurance, the doctor (guest star Rosalind Chao, Twitter: @RosalindChao) tells Frank that he either has to place himself on a years long waitlist for a liver transplant to be performed by a doctor who will do it pro bono or find $150,000 to pay for it on his own. While hanging out at the Alibi Room, he comes up with a scam, inspired by bar patron Kermit (guest star Jim Hoffmaster, Twitter: @Jim515), that will get him a payout from Sheila Jackson’s (special guest star Joan Cusack) homeowner’s insurance policy. After some trial and error fails on his own, Frank enlists the help of his son Carl Gallagher (Ethan Cutkosky, Twitter: @EthanCutkosky) who literally leaps at the opportunity to help his dying dad. Carl steals some of Veronica Fisher’s (Shanola Hampton, Twitter: @ShanolaHampton) prescription pill stash, secretly drugs his dad Frank, duck tapes some weights to his body and breaks his leg. He then drags Frank over to Sheila’s house where they stage a fall down the front steps which has a board previously loosened by Frank. The crooked financial/lawyer lady, Lou Deckner (guest star Alex Borstein, Twitter: @AlexBorstein), that the Gallaghers’ consult from time to time, confirms to Frank that the “accident” at Sheila’s house will get him the $150,000 in insurance money that he needs for the liver transplant. Frank wins again! However, it’s never that simple. Sammi finds out she is not a match for Frank’s liver and tells him. This sends Frank into a self pitying anger rant, and in the midst of it, he slips up and refers to Sammi as his daughter. Sammi catches slip up, calls Frank out on it, and vows never to see Frank again. Later, Sammi feels guilty, seems to be happy to at least know her father, and makes amends.
Lip Gallagher (Jeremy Allen White) is hitting the books harder than ever in college, but when Professor Moss (guest star Gideon Emery, Twitter: @GideonEmery) denies him entry because Lip arrives late, he loses it and threatens to drop out of college. After studying hard for one of his midterm exams, a few unforeseen hiccups that have to do with laundry and an accidental room lockout cause him to arrive a six minutes late. When he gets to class, the door is locked. Professor Moss comes to the door and refuses Lip because of his tardiness. Lip pleads, but Professor Moss shows no mercy. Then, he visits the campus advisor responsible for his scholarship. The advisor shows no mercy either which sends Lip on an angry rampage smashing up car windows around campus. The campus police are alerted and pursue Lip who narrowly escapes. This prompts a trip back to Lip’s familiar…home. Still smitten with Mandy Milkovich (Emma Greenwell, Twitter: @violettegreen), he shows up at her doorstep. After a cold welcome from Mandy who just had sex with her boyfriend Kenyatta (guest star Sheldon Bailey), she ends up having unprotected sex with Lip. Mandy asks Lip for money to get the morning after pill, and Lip starts to sound like he wouldn’t mind if Mandy got pregnant and that he wants to drop out of college. Mandy is pissed about both notions and punches Lip in the face. Lip leaves and goes to the Alibi Room where he tells Kev Ball (Steve Howey, Twitter: @ReelSteveHowey) that he’s dropping out of college. Kev, who is soon to be father of four, has a rare fatherly moment and convinces Lip not to give up on college. Inspired, Lip goes back to the same professor who didn’t let him take the midterm, and in a moment of well worded sincerity, the professor relents and gives Lip a second chance.
Mickey Milkovich (Noel Fisher, Twitter: @Noel_Fisher) is done with the low cash yield his wife is making as a prostitute and stages a revolt with the madam named Sasha (Svetlana Efremova) who he presumes is a guy. He seizes all of the prostitutes in the whore house convinced that it will get Sasha’s attention. The plan ultimately backfires when Sasha, who turns out to be a woman, uses her human trafficking skills to bring in a new group of girls from Chernobyl to be her prostitutes. Now, Mickey has a house full of unemployed and angry prostitutes. After learning that Stan’s (Jack Carter), deceased/former Alibi Room owner, upstairs apartment is vacant, he pitches a deal to Kev to let him use the apartment as a whore house. This would get Kev the extra cash he needs and puts Mickey in business as a full fledged pimp.
Things stay confusing between Debbie Gallagher (Emma Kenney, Twitter @EmmaRoseKenney) and her much older love interest Matty (guest star James Allen McCune, Twitter: @JAllenMc). Frustrated that Matty doesn’t want to have sex with her, Debbie pays Mandy Milkovich a visit for some more expert sex advice. Mandy informs Debbie that it’s probably about the fact that she’s a minor but his fear of her pressing charges for statutory rape. Armed with some additional advice from Mandy, Debbie is ready to give it another shot. She tries to seduce Matty by messaging a selfie that ended up being some girl from a magazine as opposed to her own body. Matty replies by asking her to come over. Debbie tries again to have sex with Matty making it clear that she won’t press charges for it being statutory rape. Matty puts the kibosh on the sex scene again offering a little more insight as to why. Now, it’s not clear if Matty is gay or just a respectful 20-year old attracted to a 13-year old. Anyway, Debbie storms out and heads to the bowling alley where she meets up a kid named Seth (guest star Kai Caster), who was had been desperate for Holly, and offers him sex. They agree to go to the bathroom and get it on, but Debbie finally comes face to face with her reality- she’s just not ready…and neither is Seth, quite frankly. Debbie races home and straight to the bedroom where she bursts into tears. Fiona comes to her side and they have a sisterly bonding moment over parallel feelings from different circumstances.
Kev finds out the building for the Alibi Room is not up to code and behind on utility payments so he needs a way to make the repairs and get caught up on bills on the cheap. Inspired by Mickey’s conversation about illegal immigrants as prostitutes, Kev makes a run to Home Depot and hires some illegal immigrants for a low wage presumably paid under the table. He puts them to work removing the asbestos from Stan’s old apartment above the Alibi Room with no protective gear.
PREVIEW for Episode 5 “There’s the Rub”
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Follow me on Twitter @Ifelicious for more on “Shameless” and other entertainment happenings. Showtime’s Shameless can be found online via the series website, Facebook, Twitter: @SHO_Shameless, YouTube, and using the Twitter hashtag #Shameless.
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