I’ve been watching Shameless for the past two months now and it’s kept me entertained. I’ve enjoyed the weekly adventures just fine, but tonight was a GAME CHANGER. This show has officially taken it up a notch and I’m feeling it big time. In particular, Emmy Rossum’s performance blew me away.

Frank’s weekly moneymaking scheme ends up bringing a lot more drama to the table than it usually does. And we’re talking about a guy who has woken up in a different country and faked his own death. So what’s the only thing that could top the Gallagher father?  The absent-until-now Gallagher mother, Monica.

In "But at Last Came a Knock," Frank is waiting for one of his many pending settlements to go through. He gets a call that the settlement, for the time the train doors closed on his ankle, is ready to be signed. The hitch is that it has to be signed by Frank and his ex-wife. Finally we get to meet the elusive mother. We should be excited right? Wrong.

Frank has been portrayed as a colossal a-hole for weeks now, but as Lip says, he’s really not even the worst one. Monica is a damn piece of work. Who the hell shows up after abandoning their children and expects to be greeted by happy smiling faces? I don’t know how Debbie wasn’t completely hysterical when she burst through the door, but it didn’t take long for the waterworks to start.

I expected there to be a great reason that Monica left the family. I mean, sure, Frank is an absurd, alcoholic, degenerate, but what about her children? Including one that isn’t even Frank’s? Monica’s as big a piece of trash as Frank, probably even bigger. Boo-hoo that you had your heart set on a teddy bear, Monica, your kids had their hearts set on having a mother! As much as the Gallaghers struggle, those kids are better off without this petulant child as a caregiver.

Fiona was so passionate in her monologue that even “Ghetto Godzilla” knew not to step in. Sitting there in jaw-dropping shock, tears brewing in my eyes, I hoped that Fiona would clock her mother in the face. But, as we all know, especially with females, words can often pack the hardest punches of all.

It turns out it was perfect timing for Steve to drop the bomb that he bought a house. Last week, I was ready to hate on him, but that smooth talking fool worked his magic once again. Honestly, I can understand Steve’s hesitation in telling Fiona the truth. After all, she’s a tough cookie. Remember their first date when she gave him a lot of crap for being born with a silver spoon in his mouth? Turns out she was dead on. All of that aside, he seems to love her. I’m sad to say, I don’t think Fiona would’ve been nearly as receptive about the house if she hadn’t had a family meltdown a few minutes earlier. Either way, it’d be nice to see these two kids experience a little bliss for a while.

Before I sign off for the week, let’s just hit pause and touch on the fact that Kash is bonkers. He shot Mickey in the leg for all the wrong reasons. Not that violence is ever the answer of course, but he didn’t shoot Mickey for being a thief. Kash popped him in the leg because he and Ian are having sex.

Did anyone ever stop for a second here and notice the fact that Kash is a total pedophile? Not only is Kash married with kids, but he is sleeping with a guy who is still clearly a minor. Granted Mickey was baiting him, but this whole twisted Lolita love story had to come to an end. On a side note, does Mickey ever wash his face? Just wondering.

After weeks of suspense, I was glad we finally got to find out some backstory on these Shameless characters. I have a feeling it can only continue to get more intense and entertaining from here.