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Shameless Season 1 Episode 3

Aunt Ginger

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AIRED: Jan 23, 2011

9.0

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Episode Summary

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When the Department of Social Security starts asking who is cashing the social security checks of their ederly Aunt Ginger, the Gallaghers have to find her before the woman from the Department returns to interview Aunt Ginger. In the meantime, Ian gets into trouble with the brothers of a girl he rejected.moreless

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

Aunt Ginger

7.2

By thefanof, Jan 09, 2012

The craziest scam yet on Shameless, but it was funny, it was engaging, and this show is downright addicting. Incredibly pushing the boundaries week after week I am liking what I see from this show so far. Great performances across the board, even as nutty as some of the plotlines were for these characters.
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The Gallaghers try to figure out a way to keep their Social Security checks while Ian has to deal with an angry family

8.5

By JaCkKbAuEr2424, Apr 21, 2011

What a great turnaround. It's clear people didn't necessarily agree with what I thought about last week's episode, but I stand by what I said: the dysfunctional side of the show stuck out way too much and it felt really strange compared to the extremely well-written first episode. This episode brings us back to the character instead of the plot; we're given some great moments between Ian and Lip, Frank and just about everybody else and some legitimately touching moments.

For me, the story that stole the show was Ian. A girl named Mandy starts hitting on Ian and tries to have sex with him, but he pushes her away for obvious reasons.. however, things get more complicated after Mandy's brothers, a few psychopathic students, try to kick Ian to smithereens, assuming he assaulted Mandy. Lip and Karen try to hide him, along with the guy who runs that store, but Ian realizes things are spiraling out of control. In a random and completely awesome change of pace, Ian admits he's gay to Mandy and the two form some sort of strange bond, one where Mandy pretends to be Ian's girlfriend so he won't get beaten up at school... but based on that final scene with them, I'm really hoping it means they'll form a great relationship with each other. It could lead to some great scenes.

The rest of the episode was pretty good too, and it showed us a more vulnerable side to the family. We see Joan Cusack's character (still can't remember her name) trying to overcome her agoraphobia and we actually get some scenes that show Frank as a semi-respectable father figure. Of course, Fiona still seems to be the heart and soul of the family, but Frank being around made me actually feel like this family was once normal.. or maybe not. I really would love to see how these characters got like this. Nobody just IS this way; there must be an origin story as far as this dysfunction goes.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the Steve character, but I'm thinking he'll become better over time. Right now, he's this sketchy character who likes Fiona and seems forceful in the way he wants to get into their family. Let's hope his character gets fleshed out a little more.

I really liked this episode a lot, much more than last week. Next week seems a bit absurd, but who knows.. I thought this week was going to be ridiculous, but it turned out surprisingly nice. Also, that neighbor's comment on the Phillies hockey team made me burst out laughing.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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William H. Macy	Frank Gallagher
Emmy Rossum	Fiona Gallagher
Justin Chatwin	Jimmy Lishman / Steve
Ethan Cutkosky	Carl Gallagher
Shanola Hampton	Veronica Fisher
Steve Howey	Kevin "Kev" Ball

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Jillian Armenante	Abby Ruggiero	Guest Star
Gloria LeRoy	The Fake Aunt Ginger	Guest Star
Phil Abrams	Mr. Bancroft	Guest Star
Noel Fisher	Mickey Milkovich	Recurring Role
Jane Levy	Mandy Milkovich	Recurring Role
Tyler Jacob Moore	Tony Markovich	Recurring Role

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Episode Photos

William H. Macy as Frank Gallagher, Blak...

© 2011 CBS Corporation
William H. Macy as Frank on Shameless fr...

© 2011 CBS Corporation
Joan Cusack as Sheila on Shameless from ...

© 2011 CBS Corporation
Steve Howey as Kev on Shameless from the...

© 2011 CBS Corporation

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (7)
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- Lip: What's it like with my dad living at your house?
  Karen: Weird.
  Lip: It's only gonna get weirder.
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- Fiona: (to Carl) No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The bat is for killing, not for taking to school. I don't need any more notes from your teacher.
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- Kev: No! Yo, Destructo, that's my toaster!
  Carl: Trying to make Melted Man.
  Kev: Yeah, use a blowtorch like a normal kid.
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- Steve: And what exactly does "hooked up" mean?
  Kev: Last time I checked, penis goes into vagina.
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- Fiona: This is Aunt Ginger?
  Frank: In the flesh.
  Fiona: Ginger has a hard-on.
  Frank: She was born with a large clitoris. As kids, we were told to keep our hugs brief.
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- Fiona: Dad, you've been cashing her checks. That's a felony. We're living in her house. Was there even a will?
  Frank: You don't need a will, if she's not technically dead.
  Fiona: Yes, she is technically dead, Dad. Dead is dead. Just because you haven't told anybody that she is dead, doesn't make her not dead.
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- (at the nursing home)
  Frank: For the record, I do not want to be sent to a place like this.
  Fiona: Don't worry, you'll outlive us all.
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NOTES (3)
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- Featured Music:
  "The Lifestyle That Got Away" by The High Stung
  "The Luck You Got" by The High Strung
  "In Your Neighborhood" by High Planes Drifters
  "Fractured" by Swapmeet Shakedown
  "Vireos Eye" by Future Islands
  "Teenage Wishlist" by Soho3
  "What I Said" by Alien Crime Syndicate
  "If I Ask You Nicely" by Gomez
  "We Wish You An Indy Christmas" by Extreme
  "Life's A Party" by Tim Meyers
  "Whistling Joe" by Bosshouse
  "I Only Want To Be With You" by Me First and The Gimme Gimmes
  "Mix" by Gomez
  "Riding My Bike" by Soho3
  "Colored Flying Bird" by High Planes Drifters
  "Years" by Jesse B Marchant
  "November Was White, December Was Grey" by Say Hi
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- Original International Air Dates:
  United Kingdom: July 7, 2011 on More4
  Germany: February 6, 2012 on FOX
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- Joan Cusack (Sheila) is credited as special guest star.
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