‘Shameless’: Frank Tries to Preserve His Family’s Memory in ‘Cancelled’ (RECAP)
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 11, Episode 8 of Shameless, “Cancelled.”]
Things are coming to a head for the Gallaghers in the latest episode of Shameless.
In “Cancelled,” many of the family members have to grapple with things they’ve long been ignoring. But some do find a silver lining. Below, we breaking down all of the South Side drama, but beware of spoilers ahead.
Lip’s Legal Troubles
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The episode opens with Lip (Jeremy Allen White) brought into the police station for questioning about the missing bikes and parts from his former employer’s garage. The guilty Lip makes a case for his innocence, claiming they have the wrong guy. Once he realizes he isn’t being forced to stay, he heads out to find multiple calls and texts on his phone. Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) checked in at the police station and learns that they’ve gotten a warrant for Lip’s house.
Panicking, Lip tries to call Tami (Kate Miner) to warn her that the police are coming. At home, he calls out to her, but isn’t fast enough; the cops knock at the door. But when they go to inspect his garage, the incriminating boxes are somehow no longer there.
Tami then enters the scene and laughs off the possibility that Lip could have stolen the bikes or parts the police are accusing him of. Once Lip and Tami are alone, she reveals that Carl got a hold of her and she managed to get the boxes out and to her father’s house. Their criminal activities turn into a little afternoon delight that is ruined once they learn Brad (Scott Michael Campbell) is heading into the station for questioning.
Speeding over there themselves, Lip tackles Brad to the ground outside and manages to get him inside Tami’s car. Knowing Brad, he’d confess in a second, and Lip’s not going to let that happen. Back at home they tie him up and Tami floats the idea of “taking care” of Brad, but Lip makes her see reason and they regroup on another plan. What that will be remains unclear.
Ian & Mickey’s Care Plan
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Ian (Cameron Monaghan) and Mickey (Noel Fisher) have troubles of their own when the Milkoviches drop the ball on Terry’s (Dennis Cockrum) care, leaving Mickey to pick up the pieces. While the boys go about their duties, Mickey feels a constant need to check in on his dad in his paraplegic state.
Ultimately, they decide hiring a nurse is the best option, and Mickey shares a surprisingly sweet moment with his dad. Unfortunately, once the nurses begin arriving for the day, the bigoted Terry purposely scares the first two off because they’re not white. Finally, Mickey and Ian introduce Terry to a third nurse who begins implementing corporal punishment through slaps on the back of the head when he swears.
Thinking things will go well with a tough nurse like this, Ian and Mickey leave Terry alone, but once they return home, the woman, a former nun no less, reveals she killed Terry by putting a plastic bag over his head. And that’s one way to get rid of the Milkovich problem next door to the Gallaghers, albeit a little over the top.
Kev Cure’s V’s Depression
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After learning about her mother Carol’s (Vanessa Bell Calloway) unexpected move to Louisville, V (Shanola Hampton) becomes depressed. Kev (Steve Howey) wants to do what he can to cure her blues, and when he gets a message from the city clerk’s office, he thinks he’s found it.
While V decides to visit her mom and help pack, Kev get the Alibi regulars to decorate the bar for a mysterious plan. V becomes more depressed when her mom isn’t sentimental about old items, and although she indulges Kev by going out for frozen yogurt with their daughters, she wants to go home right after. Thankfully Kevin doesn’t let her, revealing that the message he received earlier was approval for a Zoom wedding as the couple had planned to marry at city hall before the pandemic.
Entering the Alibi, she finds her mom with a wedding dress and lights all over the place. And so Kev and V make their union official as a family with their twin daughters and V’s mother by their side.
Carl’s Dilemma
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At work, Carl waits to be assigned a new training officer, but his boss reveals there’s a concern about the “Carl curse,” as each of his training officer’s have wound up injured. So, Carl’s sent along with the vice police for what he believes is some drug busts. Speeding around in fancy cars, Carl does what he’s told, purchasing pot laced with angel dust on a street corner. At first he thinks he’s supposed to arrest the seller, but his fellow officers tell him otherwise and they walk away with the drugs. Next, they begin purchasing product from legal dispensaries.
When Carl questions the motive, the men tell him it’s a way to bust the street dealers and dispensaries because they’re mixing the laced street drugs with the pure stuff as evidence. While Carl isn’t entirely cool with it, he begins to panic when the men say the Alibi is on their list of dispensaries. Ultimately Carl saves the day by getting behind the wheel of one of the cars, crashing it purposely before they get to the Alibi.
Debbie’s Downward Spiral
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After leaving the house in last week’s episode, Debbie (Emma Kenney) shacks up with bar owner Calista (Paula Andrea Placido) and follows her to work the next day. Avoiding Sandy’s calls, she proceeds to get drunk in the middle of the day, does coke, and hooks up with a gay married patron. When Calista and others find Debbie in a compromising position, she runs off.
When she receives a call that Franny hasn’t been picked up from school, she does what she can to get there. Needless to say it was a rough day, made rougher when she comes face to face with Sandy. While Sandy wants to talk things out, Debbie doesn’t and the toxic cycle continues.
Frank & Liam’s Naming Competition
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Liam (Christian Isaiah) reveals that he’s competing to win an iPad at his school by entering suggestions to rename the school. When he reveals it’s because the person his school is named after turned out to be a pedophile, Frank (William H. Macy) becomes offended and takes offense against cancel culture. When he accompanies Liam to school, the office reveals that alumni are welcome to make suggestions as well, so Frank sets out to find the perfect name.
Later on, he tries to get Liam to team up with him. The youngest Gallagher sibling is uninterested, but it doesn’t go unnoticed that Frank repeats his pitch right after Liam already said no. Frank’s idea is to name the school after himself and the family as a way to preserve their memory. Later on at the school, Carl shows up to support Liam, but when Frank gets up to share his idea, he loses his thought and begins to talk crazy. He can’t remember his idea and thinks one of the parents is a former school bully of his. Needless to say, authorities are forced to intervene.
All of the Gallagher kids conclude the episode by convening at the hospital where they learn about Frank’s dementia diagnosis for the first time. The heaviness of it all begins to sink in. But what will they do? It’s hard to picture a big move happening anytime soon.
Shameless, Season 11, Sundays, 9/8c, Showtime
