Shameless recap: Season 9, Episode 12

There it is, the moment we’ve been waiting what seems like a long time for, but has really only been a couple episodes: Fiona hitting rock bottom.

How do you know you’ve hit rock bottom? Well, bonding and teaming up with Frank has to be the clearest sign. And while that partnership proved to be just what Fiona needed to realize how far she’s fallen, it also provided a welcomed dynamic, especially considering this could be Frank and Fiona’s last significant storyline before Emmy Rossum departs.

So grab a beer, bail your sibling out of prison, and find out how shameless your favorite Gallagher was this week.

1. Fiona

Yikes, that was tough to watch. If you told me that we’ve spent a season-plus watching Fiona struggle with the setbacks in her life, then I would have believed it. And yet, it’s only been five to six episodes, an arc that inadvertently is setting up the character’s exit. While it was tough to watch the final few minutes of Fiona waking up next to Frank in her old abandoned building and throwing up multiple times before joining Lip at an AA meeting, it felt earned and needed. Now we see how much progress she can make in two episodes.

2. Frank

And as sad as those last few sentences sound, this episode was a lot of fun thanks to the pairing of Frank and Fiona. The Gallagher patriarch and default Gallagher matriarch haven’t shared too many significant scenes or storylines in the last few seasons (not since he outed Sean’s drug use), so it was nice to see them back together. The reunion was only further enhanced by the added element of Fiona on the verge of truly becoming her father’s daughter. Frank is still typical Frank in this episode, exploiting his neighbors to make enough money to buy alcohol, but he also kind of attempted to be a good dad? First, Frank tells Lip that he should stop yelling at his sister and start thanking her for raising all of the kids on her own. Then, he addresses her drinking. He stops short of telling her to quit because he “would never say that to my worst enemy,” but he does call her out for being a bad drunk, unlike the fun drunk that he apparently is. What’s next? Could he possibly go back to being there for Liam? Wait, where the hell has Liam been?

3. Debbie

Debbie, you’re doing a great job stepping up as the new Fiona of the house, making sure the bills get paid and that everyone contributes, and I’m glad to see you expanding your small friend group, but do you need to be competing with Carl over his girlfriend? Bringing a bigger Gatorade than Carl brought to her softball game is downright unforgivable.

4. Carl

That being said, Carl should have played it a tad cooler. Getting so jealous that you straight up ask your girlfriend if she’s sleeping with your sister seems like a hard place to come back from. But I do have to respect him giving up his girl-on-girl porn because it now makes him too sad.

5. Carl’s boss

I don’t know if that seafood restaurant has an HR department, but if they do, they probably should hear about the boss’ advising her underage employee to stick his finger in his girlfriend’s behind.

6. V

“What kind of friend do you want to be?” Lip asks V. “If you really love her and you really are her friend, you won’t let her stay with you.” And that’s exactly what kind of friend V ends up being to Fiona, going back on her initial invite and saying that there’s not enough room for her struggling BFF at the Ball residence. It’s a hard decision and a conflicted one, but as we see by episode’s end, maybe the necessary one. Now if only Lip had some advice on an aspiring steak business.

7. Lip

When was the last time that Lip just had a chill, fun day? Like I wonder what that would even look like for him anymore. In this episode alone, he’s dealing with saying goodbye to Xan, a distant pregnant girlfriend, and an out of control sister (and that doesn’t even include niece-desperate Debbie). But by the end, both his persistence with Tami and tough love with Fiona appear to have worked. Hopefully, he gets to celebrate by going to a White Sox game and having a nice big soda.

8. Kev

He finally went through with the vasectomy, but Kev’s really feeling the heat when the power goes out and he (and his junk) lose access to ice. His problems are only enhanced with the discovery of V’s steak entrepreneurship. But Kevin Ball is a problem solver, stacking a pile of winter jackets on top of the freezer, followed by the smarter plan of having a blackout cookout for the neighborhood. A true man of the people.