Shameless Review: “The Two Lisas” (5×03)

I don't know about you guys, but I'm still waiting for this season of Shameless to get a move on already. It's by no means bad, but the sum of the parts is not quite adding up to a cohesive whole, at least not yet. That in itself isn't a sin, but there's also not enough sense of forward momentum, not enough promise that, eventually, this is going to all add up to something.

So, what to make of this? “The Two Lisas” is perfectly alright, but it continues a trend of stagnation, like the show can't shake this malaise that seems to have settled in over the hiatus. Is it because things got so heavy at the end of last season? Maybe. I can't quite put my finger on it yet to be honest, but the pulse of this season is not as strong by a long shot, and it's hampering my enjoyment a little more each week.

A lot of the issue is that several of the stories feel trivial. Frank conquered death itself last season; now he's brewing some truly potent beer and ambling around the South Side like some demented soothsayer, warning of the perils of gentrification. Now, gentrification in itself is a really smart thread to weave throughout the season, especially given how very important a sense of place is to Shameless. But until the show starts grappling with the concept directly, rather than paying it lip service and easy jokes, it won't be able to reap the full benefit.

Even Fiona's storyline this week is meh-inducing, as she more or less by accident falls into the arms of a good guy, who is the band mate of the bad guy that she will almost certainly fuck instead in two episodes' time. Not only does this feel an awful lot like going through the motions, it's also going through motions that we've been through before. Again, I think a big part of the problem, insofar as there is a problem here, is that we're coming down from a super-dramatic, high stakes season, and so far Shameless is not interested in building up to that fever pitch again. That's fine, but nothing equally worthwhile, regardless of its tone, has sprung up instead.

The other main thread of the week follows Kev and Veronica, as the Rub and Tug is permanently shut down, leading V to employ what appears to be every hooker in town as part of her new breast milk farm business venture. It's an outsized plot to be sure, but one rooted in the central conflict of her and Kev's marriage, and his outburst to her at the end of the episode carries real weight as a result. For the third week running, these two are the best part of the show, which is not something I ever thought I'd say about either character. They're so often used for comic relief that it's actually a nice change of pace to see them and their relationship given equal time, especially as the more prominent characters take some time on the back burner.

That said, I don't necessarily want the more prominent Gallaghers to take time on the back burner. As Carl and especially Debbie get older, it's natural to want to give them more to do. But given a choice between Debbie and Lip's stories this week, I would much rather have spent more time with Lip. His lone major scene is with Mandy, and it is gorgeous and heartbreaking. He tells her every good thing about herself that no one has had the decency to say to her before, and she tells him she loves him, and he can't even say it back. The next day she skips town. In a few scenes, Shameless lands one doozy of a emotional sucker punch. Debbie's story is similarly heartbreaking, but in a more twisted and, I think, less effective way. It's almost impossible to sell Matt in this situation. I am vaguely interested in the almost role-reversal approach the episode takes with Debbie's (unintentional?) rape of him, but Matt is too problematic of a character, and the situation still too icky (for lack of a better or more effective term) for the turn of events to really hit home.

Now, given that by episode's end Frank blows up Sheila's home and she takes off in an RV, it stands to reason that the pace picks up after this. It's certainly a surprising turn of events, one that jump starts Frank's story in an interesting way, and one that comments on the note of gentrification in typically Shameless fashion. (If the show has any sense, Sheila is gone for good, if not at least for a good long while.) But the season is way too uneven, and at times perilously boring, and “The Two Lisas” doesn't do anything to change that.

Stray Observations:

• Frank whores Sammie out in exchange for brewery equipment, which leads to his falling out with her as well. Sammie has become a total cartoon this season, but now that we've reached the breaking point, one hopes the dynamic here will improve.
• That said, “I don't wanna make the same mistakes I have with the last thirty or forty guys I've been with” is a pretty funny line.
• Frank's Dangers of Gentrification: This week it's gastro pubs and stores for dog clothes
• Chuckles, staring at Frank as he works. Chuckles, effortlessly hilarious.
• “We call him Carl-lingus. I'm going back for seconds.”