‘Shameless’ Episode 8 Sad Recap: Frank Worsens and [Spoiler] Killed By a Nun
At the close of episode 7 of Shameless, Debbie stormed off in tears after Lip threw a fit with a sledgehammer. As she walked off, detectives approached looking for Lip, and she pointed them in the right direction.
Lip’s motorcycle caper was the most pressing issue in the episode, but Frank’s dementia continued to worsen. Episode 8 picks up where things left off and it gets serious for the Gallaghers and Milkoviches. Here’s a recap.
[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Shameless Season 11, Episode 8, “Cancelled”]
Debbie
Debs wakes up at Calista the bar owner’s place. She tags along with her for the day, leaving Franny home under anyone’s care. While at the bar, a group of revelers come in for some day-drinking and to celebrate a friend’s birthday. She joins in, and annoyingly offers them free shots which Calista quickly shuts down.
Debbie then proceeds to do coke with one of the men and tries to get frisky. He says he’s gay, she says she is too, but they have sex in a back room anyway. When caught by Calista and the guy’s husband, she runs out.
She wallows against a dumpster until someone from Franny’s school calls to say no one picked her up. Debbie grabs Franny and goes home.
Sandy is there calling her names and wanting to make up. Debbie tells Sandy off about being a bad person and neglectful parent, then breaks up with her.
Carl
Knowing Lip was dragged in for questioning about the motorcycles, Carl goes to work and asks an officer to look up the case. He learns there’s a search warrant out for Lip and texts him the details.
Carl’s also been deemed a curse since both of his training officers were injured while working with him. Two shady detectives are assigned to let him shadow, and he hits the streets with them in exotic sports cars like they’re in an episode of Miami Vice.
Carl learns they’re corrupt and lazy. They buy laced weed from street dealers then head to legit cannabis shops to mix the products. The pair’s scheme involves busting the legit business for tainted marijuana to force them to close. Why? They receive kickbacks from street dealers.
Carl finds out they have a list of dispensaries to hit, and the Alibi is on the list — the last hit of the day. He tries to warn Kev but Tommy answers the phone and refuses to touch the products.
Carl then sabotages his co-workers by asking to drive the Ferrari and purposely crashing it into another vehicle. They realize they never should have let “Billie Eilish” drive. Little do Kev and V know Carl saved their day and their business.
Kev and V
“Carpet denim.” Kev pushes V to seize the day but she’s down about her mom moving away. She reluctantly gets dressed to help her mother pack for Kentucky, and Carol tells her to get over it. Mama is excited about moving.
Kev does his best to cheer V up, and he’s plotting something. All day, he tries to convince her to spend family time, and she finally agrees. He leaves the bar in Tommy and Kermit’s hands. Why?
Kev had them decorate the bar for a Zoom wedding. Carol surprises V with her old wedding gown and Kev surprises her with a virtual wedding. Even Dominic (Kev and Carol’s son) is there. Congratulations are in order.
Lip
Lip opens up the episode in an interrogation room with the detectives. He talks his way out of it but they threaten to uncover the truth. When he leaves precinct, he sees the text from Carl warning him about the search warrant. Lip tries to call Tami while rushing home to hide the parts.
Shortly after arriving home, the cops bang on the door and Lip panics. They search the house and find nothing, and Tami walks in. Apparently, she saved him by hiding the goods. She feels a rush of excitement in that moment.
That changes after they learn Brad is on his way to confess. The cops called and asked him to come in for questioning, but Lip and Tami intercept him and toss him in the car before he can go inside the police station.
Brad is scared and wants to come clean. He promises not to rat anyone out. Nothing Lip says is convincing and Tami is worried that Brad will blow everything. She suggests they off him. Now what?
Liam
Liam starts the episode by reminding his family to come to his school that evening. He entered a contest to rename his middle school as its current name honors a pedophile. Frank rants about cancel culture and at first, wants to defend the name.
He marches to the school and embarrasses Liam about the school’s name and realizes he can vote since he’s an alumnus. He later shows up at the meeting but it goes left. Liam does win the contest with “The Middle School” as his entry and the prize is a new iPad.
Ian and Mickey
Mickey is pressed about checking on Terry and who’s caring for him. His cousin Joey is neglectful, and he curses him out. After Joey deserts the job and flees to Michigan, Mickey wants to hire a nurse. He convinces a disagreeable Ian to do it and they try out a few hires.
Terry’s racism scares off the first two but a nun who likes to slap ornery patients seems like a good fit. Mickey and Ian leave Terry under her care. Like a dutiful son, he wants to stop by and check on him but Ian pushes him to keep working.
They get to Terry’s at the end of their shift and Nurse Nun is waiting on the porch. “You’re father is an evil man,” she says. They assumed she handled him by smacking him upside the head. Wrong.
She reveals that she returned him to their lord and savior — in death. Mickey and Ian rush inside and find Terry dead with a plastic bag wrapped around his head. Terry Milkovich is dead! Mickey looks shocked and a little hurt.
Frank
Frank fusses and kicks off the morning with confusion. He puzzles himself and everyone the kitchen by trying the start the microwave with the TV’s remote control.
He inserts himself in Liam’s school name change contest and later has the same conversation with him twice. Liam is thrown off and tells Frank he already told him that.
Later in the day, Frank shows up at the middle school to give a speech about the school name, but his mind veers off somewhere else. It’s a sad scene.
Frank then turns around and believes he sees an old acquaintance from the neighborhood, and challenges the stranger to compare their private parts. He pulls down his pants but luckily Carl is there to handle Frank and the crowd.
He takes him to the E.R. where the entire Gallagher sibling clan is waiting. They catch up on Liam winning the contest and Terry’s death. And the family finally learns about Frank’s alcoholic dementia diagnosis.
The doctor gives the family some advice and Frank asks why they’re at the hospital. Lip explains, “You’ve got dementia, Frank. From being a drunk.”
Tune in on March 21 to see how Tami and Lip handle Brad and to find out what the Gallaghers will do to care for Frank.
