Father of the Year

Shameless.  The season finale of what I think was the best new show of 2011 was this week.  Shameless knocked this episode out of the park. 

I don't know what I was thinking about while watching last week's episode - but I had totally forgotten about the implications of Frank's sleeping with Karen as it relates to Lip.  Duh.  Karen is (was) Lip's girlfriend...and this came in to play in a big way this week.

To start things off, I'm glad that Steve was able to get Lip and Ian out of jail by giving up the house. It was his fault that they were in there, and although I didn't really expect him to, he stepped up here. This made his plea to Fiona a bit more weighty. But would she ever really have left her family to go with him? Isn't that what we all dream of? No responsibility. The chance to just run away and start over if we needed to. To run away with the loves of our lives and never look back. But it's rarely the case. That's not anyone's reality that I know.

Karen had her problems this week as I mentioned before. Between having to deal with Frank who is both ashamed and seemingly gloating about his poor choices, to her issues with Lip, she really got herself in a tangle. Also, sending an email to her father with the video of the two of them was the icing on the cake. I feel bad for Eddie, I really do. But he himself is also a nutcase. That whole family has problems and it has really taken its toll on Karen. I was a bit surprised of Eddie at the end; I guess I just didn't expect that he would commit suicide, and am still not sure that there won't be a twist next season.

The episode ended, as so many do, with Steve coming to get Fiona and take her away to paradise. But instead of the happy ending that some may have wanted, we find him alone and Fiona taking a job with her friend. Does Steve actually leave? Probably. Will he be back? Almost definitely. I can tell you one thing for sure...I'll be back watching again next season. So until then...

Until the next episode...
Chris