TV Review: SHAMELESS: Season 4, Episode 12: Lazarus [Showtime]

Showtime’s Shameless Lazarus TV Show Review. Shameless: Season 4, Episode 12: Lazarus brought out a fact that had been right in front of everyone’s face but which no one saw. As Bijaz from Dune Messiah would say: “It was so clear it was difficult to see.” I never expected the reason why Ian Gallagher (Cameron Monaghan) stayed in bed for days until it was revealed. When it was, his behavior throughout the season became clear for the first time. Like Lip, Ian was one of the Gallaghers I thought was on the road to escaping the ghetto. With his ‘condition’ out in the open and prevalent, I do not think that will be possible. He can still go to high school and college but certain careers paths are no longer available to him, especially the military (not that the armed forces were still an option anyway after his helicopter shenanigans).

Mickey Milkovich (Noel Fisher)’s reaction to Ian’s condition was out of love and heart-break. He would take Ian anyway he could get him but the thought of losing Ian again was more than he could bare. He had been through that before and would not go through that again, even if sending him to a booby hatch was in his immediate and long-term best interest.

When Mickey walked back into The Alibi Room after coming out, it was almost as awkward as when Hugh Grant appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno after he had been caught with a prostitute. Mickey felt as though he was an alien in a once familiar place and it showed in his eyes and up-tightness. How other prominent people coming out of the closest had affected the bar patrons’ reaction to Mickey’s new status was a brilliant piece of writing. It brought the outside world and the 21st century into the confines of The Alibi Room. Even after the gay litany, it still took Kevin Ball (Steve Howey) and what he had to say to finally put Mickey’s anxiety to rest. Will gay jokes start coming Mickey’s way now? Yes. That is “par for the course” in the environment he lives in. Do people hate, dislike, or despise him (his harbored, great fear) because of his sexual proclivity? No. Not everyone is like Mickey’s father. The Alibi Room patrons proved that as they raised their glasses.

The Bonnie (Morgan Lily) situation (past molestation at the hands of multiple perpetrators) was handled like many devastating realizations on Shameless: with a quick line, a knowing look, and then everyone moved on. The Gallaghers not only have been to war, they live on the battlefield, and nothing depraved surprises them.

Mandy Milkovich (Emma Greenwell) and Lip Gallagher (Jeremy Allen White)’s meeting at the restaurant was tragic. Seeing Lip in his brand new suit with his college friends illustrated the gulf that had grown between Lip and Mandy. Unlike Lip, stoic Mandy carried on during the ordeal unflustered. She made her own bed by hitting Karen Jackson with a car. Now she was in Lip’s wake, not his future. She was on a shore, watching Lip sail away as he lethargically waved “Thank you.”

The surprise at the end of the episode was a real surprise. Before this season of Shameless began, I heard that this character would not appear at all. Like Marvel Studios’ after-credit moments, this scene heralded something almost better than what proceeded it. Did he finish medical school? Is he now a resident at an area hospital? We will have to wait for next season to find out.

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