Considering what Shameless put us through last week, I expected less intensity from “Iron City” and more focus on the aftermath of the big events. I didn’t expect this week’s installment to exceed last week’s “There’s the Rub,” but “Iron City”, despite being almost entirely an aftermath episode, did just that.
Once again, Fiona, Lip and Frank all played big roles here and their respective actors delivered outstanding performances.
We follow Fiona through the various stages of the prison system, watch Lip deal with the most pressure and responsibility he’s ever been faced with, and witness Frank hear the words, “You know you’re dying, right?” from his doctor. These are the main characters of Shameless, and this is the lowest they’ve been in a while.
Emmy Rossum, as Fiona, conveys so many emotions without speaking a word – disappointment, sadness, anger, desperation, fear … just to name a few. As much as Fiona has been played up to be a character to root for over the first few seasons, the show continues to taint that image this season and push Fiona in a direction we’ve never seen her before.
Same goes for Lip, who, with Fiona in jail and Frank hospitalized, instantly becomes the most competent, responsible Gallagher, even in the eyes of the law. Lip sees Liam strapped down to his hospital bed and receives the bad news from the doctor—despite Liam’s recovery, the cocaine overdose caused seizures which could lead to problems with brain function in the future. Seeing his brother like this for the first time made him even angrier with Fiona, and that was evident in their phone call. Lip hesitates to answer, and bleakly states the consequences of her thoughtless actions. Still, he spends the majority of the episode on-edge, hearing about his brother, listening to Kev’s persistent remarks about Fiona not being at fault, having Deb ask him why they won’t try to get $10,000 to bail Fiona out, and meeting Matt for the first time. His only moment of brief happiness before Liam’s release arrives when his college roommate shows up at the hospital with his marked essay. Jeremy Allen White sells the look of satisfaction here as well as he sells everything else in “Iron City,” truly sharing the spotlight with Emmy Rossum.
Even William H. Macy, who has less to do in this episode, still serves up something we’ve never seen from Frank before. Initially, it’s just the Frank we know, shrugging off the doctor’s bleak news by saying he’s got a good ten years left. Part of Frank’s problem has always been that he can’t see the consequences of his actions and feels he’s immune to the dangers of alcohol. When Sammi takes Frank to a hospice to scope out a place for him to spend his final hours, only then does Frank realize the gravity of the situation. He doesn’t want to die in a place like that, and a couple minutes in the hospice is more than enough to make him freak out and demand to leave.