Shameless (US): But at Last Came a Knock   Rewatch 
July 26, 2014 3:55 PM - Season 1, Episode 9 - Subscribe

Monica!

The Gallagher kids’ mother returns to the family when Frank lures her with a fake contest in order to get her signature for some legal documents. Monica and her girlfriend, Bob (short for Roberta), want to take Liam. Bob declares that “Liam is black” and “he needs a black parent” — her.

Monica’s reappearance leads to several emotional showdowns. Debbie’s reaction upon first seeing her mom is to shove her and walk away. Frank and Monica recount their physical and emotional abuse of each other. Fiona proudly tells Monica about the kids’ achievements — “and they did it all, no thanks to you, because you weren’t here.”

Debbie spies on Steve and tracks him down at his family’s house. “Nice to meet you … Jimmy.” Steve gets her a gift as a “peace offering,” but Debbie calls it a “shut-up gift.” “‘Peace offering’ implies a one-time thing. This could take a while … until I’m sure that you’re not still lying.” But she does appreciate the gifts: “The sifter sifts, and the rolling pan rolls. It’s nice when things do what they say they will.”

Eddie wants his daughter, Karen, to take a vow of celibacy, and Karen tells Lip about this while they’re having sex in the car. She finally agrees to go to a “Purity Ball” when Eddie offers to give her a car.

Lots of drama at the Kash & Grab: Kash announces that Linda is pregnant, he catches Ian & Mickey having sex in the store, and he shoots Mickey for stealing a candy bar.

The episode ends when Fiona walks out on the family — “They’re all yours now, Mom” — and moves into a new house next door, which Steve has bought for her.
posted by John Cohen (2 comments total)
 
They seem to be creating a world that's sort of like a big hamster habitat. This episode attached the Steve & Fiona house, extending the rambling, semi-connected spaces, crammed with creatures who are able to scurry from one place to another. Who can we throw in with them and what will happen?

I usually am bored with Fiona, but I enjoyed her yelling at Monica. At one point the 2 women had exactly the same big clowny frown. It's good that they got Fiona out of the mother character that was stunting her. She needs to get stunted by something new.

I've always liked Debbie, but I'm a little skeptical of turning her into some little genius detective.
posted by Alizaria at 9:15 AM on February 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


At one point the 2 women had exactly the same big clowny frown.

I instantly knew the exact moment you were talking about!

I've always liked Debbie, but I'm a little skeptical of turning her into some little genius detective.

Debbie is my favorite character on the show. And yet I often think it's implausible how brilliant she is for a 10-year-old. I've decided to just not let that bother me — kids on TV comedies are always going to be ridiculously precocious — that's just how it is.
posted by John Cohen at 5:27 PM on February 5, 2015


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