Shameless Season 7 Episode 6 Review: The Defenestration of Frank
Paul Dailly
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Hold the front door!
Did Shameless Season 7 Episode 6 serve as Carl Gallagher's swan song? When you leave the city on a Greyhound bus, it kind of begs the question about whether your character is off the show.
Throughout Shameless Season 7, Carl has matured a lot and that's part of why Dom's dad helped him get the place in military school. Working on a show for seven years is a huge commitment, especially for a young actor.
Going to military school was the best way for Carl's storyline to actually progress. It would have felt like a wrong move to stay in the South Side with Dom.
Dom is not worth the trouble at this stage. She abused Carl's trust several times during their relationship. She's really not a nice girl and Carl can do a lot better.
It must have been difficult for Luther to let Carl witness Dom with another dude, but it was the kick in the right direction Carl needed.
There's absolutely no way Dom had any intention of being exclusive with Carl -- never mind anyone else. It's sad, but Carl had to move on from her and the best way to do that was to leave town and start a new life.
It's crazy to think about how much Carl has changed over the course of the series. He has done so many questionable things that he was poised to fail and turn into his father, Frank.
Morning, chief, would my apache brother like toast, or does he only eat maize?
Fiona
If the show does come to a close soon, it would be great to have a callback to Shameless Season 1 with the school principal.
If you recall, he told Fiona, Steve and Lip that there was no way Carl would ever succeed in life. He said something about a lobotomy being the best course of action for him.
Before Carl's journey is really over, I want to see him go back to that darn principal and show that he's developed into a great young man who can succeed just as well as anyone else.
There's going to be a severe change on the show if Carl just disappears. I'm all about embracing change, but I just can't fathom what will become of the Gallagher family without him.
There's been a lot of change for every single character this year, but I just don't give a damn about Frank anymore. He's always going to be looking for some sort of scheme in order to get ahead.
When he refused to let Debbie get married to Neil, I almost choked on my coffee because I thought he actually had a paternal bone in his body.
This is the guy who ditched his kids and happily became a father to Karen Jackson. He's the master at playing happy families, but it's just a shame he can't actually do good things for his own flesh and blood.
He does not deserve any more chances with his kids. They despise him and it's clear just how unhappy he makes all of them. Without Fiona, they would have been split up and put in foster homes. Yes, they did get split up a few years ago, but Fiona fought tooth and nail to get them back.
Now, Fiona's main concern is herself and how well she does in life. However, I don't agree with her using the Gallagher home as collateral. She needs to think about the bigger picture of taking on the laundromat.
It's an investment, but investments can go wrong pretty easily. If it did actually go south, what would happen to her family members? Legally, the house is hers, but she didn't pay all the money for it.
Lip has historically been very critical of Fiona's choices. It has been tiring witnessing him bringing her down every time she does something, but I think he had every right to on this occasion.
An opportunity came up and Fiona leapt into it like there was no tomorrow. The way Fiona went about it was also pretty unethical.
Etta clearly did not remember the previous conversation, and that should have been a big red flag. You could tell she was wondering whether to proceed with getting Etta to sign the place over to her.
This will probably come back to bite her in the ass when the place inevitably becomes a success and some random family member of Etta's emerges from the woodwork.
I really hope I'm wrong and it goes smoothly for her, but it probably won't.
Lip is not getting off the hook, either. He seems to think he's above everyone on the South Side because he went to college. It's almost like he's forgotten all about his meltdown that got him kicked out of school.
Fiona bringing that up when he was trashing her idea was one of the most perfect moments in TV history. That entitled look was instantly wiped from his face and it was great.
Maybe he'll think about how other people feel before opening his mouth in future. It's time for him to grow up and stop acting like he can achieve anything.
If his idea of making some money is scamming people out of money, then he's more like his father than he would like us to believe.
The company was making a lot of money from the transactions, but there's absolutely no way they wouldn't have noticed some of the money disappearing.
Now that the storyline has concluded, I sincerely hope Lip thinks about what he wants out of life, because there's a good chance he's going end up in jail, or become and old drunk like Frank.
"The Defenestration of Frank" was a decent episode of this Showtime drama. All of the characters are making some big decisions about their lives and it's making for good TV.
Stray thoughts:
- Frank being thrown from the window of the homeless shelter was one of the better moments of the hour. There's only so long people can put up with him. He has a very short shelf life. His fake family never had a brain cell between them. They seemed to think Frank was some sort of messiah that could do anything.
- Debbie getting engaged and Fiona approving of the union was quite the shock. Debbie went to her as a last resort because she knew if Frank was out of the equation, there was no other way. Hopefully this paves the way for these sisters to get back on good terms. It's getting pretty tiring witnessing them sparring constantly.
- Sierra's apprehension about Debbie being with Neil was completely right. Debbie was open about only being with Neil so that she could keep Frannie. Yes, she helps Neil, but she's not with him for the right reasons.
- It was obvious Mariana was going to die, but it completely destroyed Ian. Running to Trevor was pretty predictable, but this relationship won't last long. Trevor is just a placeholder until Noel Fisher returns as Mickey. Then, Gallovich will be back and stronger than ever.
- It did not surprise me in the slightest that Svetlana was sleeping with Yvon. It did, however, floor me when I found out that Yvon wasn't even her father. Svetlana is an opportunist, and I love learning more about her. She's definitely one of the best characters on television.
Remember you can watch Shameless online right here on TV Fanatic! Get caught up with the latest developments for the characters now!
Over to you, Shameless fanatics! What did you think of the episode?
Note: Shameless Season 7 Episode 7 airs November 13 on Showtime!
Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
