“You’re a teenager; all teenagers are sex addicts.” – Lip
Ah, summer in Chicago. “Summertime Chi,” as Mr. Kayne West so eloquently dubbed it, is a glorious thing indeed. A restless city shakes off the winter frost that persists long into the spring and warms its pale, broad shoulders along the peaceful shores of Lake Michigan. I myself had the pleasure of spending this past May and June in the Windy City, and I can attest to the fact that there is something special about that place during that time.
The second season of Showtime’s Shameless picks up after the frigid Chicago winter has given way to the easy-breezy warm weather months. But our heroes, the Gallaghers, aren’t out tanning on Oak Street Beach or pigging out at Rib Fest. Oh no, our heroes — much like small woodland creatures — are hoarding sustenance (namely cold hard cash) for the cold, hard winter that will inevitably return.
We find Fiona (Emmy Rossum), the matriarch of the Gallagher clan and Shameless’ moral and emotional center, working as a cocktail waitress at a hip lounge. She’s juggling several gentleman callers while quietly grieving the departure of her car-thief ex-lover Steve (Justin Chatwin).
Lip (Jeremy Allen White), the oldest of the Gallagher boys, is scraping together some summertime cash by organizing an underground fight club and operating an illegal ice cream truck (think Cheech and Chong’s Nice Dreams).
Lip’s former girlfriend, Karen (Laura Wiggins), is attending Sex Addicts Anonymous meetings and casually dating a biker in his late thirties who introduces her to music she’s never heard of — namely Guns N’ Roses.
Ian Gallagher (Cameron Monaghan) is working on his application to West Point while holding down his job at Kash and Grab, the local corner store. Kash (Pej Vahdat), the owner of the store and Ian’s former lover, has taken up with another man and decides he’s had enough of his wife and kids.
Debbie (Emma Kenney), the youngest Gallagher daughter, is single-handedly running a neighborhood day care center out of the family’s home.
Kev (Steve Howey), the lovable neighbor, has gotten in a tad over his head with his annual pot harvest and enlists Lip to assist with sales — thus the aforementioned ice cream truck.
And last but not least there’s Frank (William H. Macy). Unlike his entrepreneurial offspring, Frank isn’t doing much of anything productive. Actually, it’s quite the opposite. After losing a $10,000 bet to a local tough guy, Frank puts young Liam (Blake Alexander Johnson) up as collateral. The rest of the brood is forced to use the summertime money they’ve earned to pay off the hoodlum and retrieve their baby brother.
And there you have it, that’s where everyone is at the start of Season Two. “Summertime” is very much a place-setter – showing the audience where the characters are and setting up the season’s various plots – so I hesitate to offer much in the way of criticism of the episode itself.
However, I will say two things: First, Shameless was one of my favorite new shows of last year and it’s nice to have it back. An hour hanging out with the Gallaghers is always time well spent in my book. That said, much like the first season, I found Macy’s Frank character to be the show’s weakest link. I continue to believe that Macy, despite being an excellent actor, was woefully miscast in the role. We’ll have to see how this plays out, and whether or not my hatred of Frank detracts from my overall enjoyment of the show. Thankfully, so far it has not.
Some stats and info about Shameless, “Summer Love”
TV SHOW – Shameles
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – Showtime
GENRE – Drama, Relationship Shows
CREATED BY – Paul Abbott, John Wells
CAST – William H. Macy, Ethan Cutosky, Jeremy Allen White, Shanola Hampton, Steve Howey, Emma Kenney, Cameron Monaghan, Emmy Rossum, Michael Patrick McGill
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.