Shameless – Hurricane Monica
Shameless made last week’s terrific installment look like an episode of Jersey Shore with this week’s wonderfully dosed recipe of broken people with all the best intentions. Every character got a signature moment in which everything was explored and yet only so much progress was made. It’s incredible how the writers keep juggling this many characters—they even added the mother to the mix. Bringing back a pivotal player, like the mother of a character, is an old trick in the storytelling book. And so, Monica’s return felt predictable, but needed.
Last week, Frank randomly went to Monica to deal with the loss of his mother. Initially, it seemed like an easy ploy to get laid but as the episode continued, Frank showed genuine pain and sorrow over his departed mother. A beautiful moment occurred when Lupe Fiasco’s “The Show Goes On” blasted out of the stereo and, for a brief moment, the entire family danced it out as Frank sat down and cried. Maybe it’s because, for the entire episode, he had seemingly done all the wrong things but that moment defined his true nature. He has no control over his emotions and, though he acts out all of the time, his true feelings won’t go away. That’s why his relationship with Monica was so extremely well done. They danced their feelings away and she gave him his mom’s ashes to smoke. In every way imaginable, Monica was all that Frank needed. Within the span of the hour, their bond felt grounded and even a bit recognizable. There was the outside world and there was Monica and Frank.
