TV Show Review

TV Review: SHAMELESS: Season 4, Episode 9: The Legend of Bonnie and Carl

William H Macy Shameless The Legend of Bonnie and Carl

Showtime’s Shameless The Legend of Bonnie and Carl TV Show Review. Shameless: Season 4, Episode 9: The Legend of Bonnie and Carl gave more attention to Mickey Milkovich (Noel Fisher) and his situation with his wife and his father than in most episodes this season. The Legend of Bonnie and Carl showed the dilemma Mickey is dealing with: live in the closet, make his father happy (sparing himself from a terrible beating [possibly being killed] and subjugate himself to Svetlana (Isidora Goreshter)’s maternal whims, or b.) come out of the closet to everyone, move out of his house and as far away from his father as possible before he gets out of prison. From everything on-screen, Mickey is not ready to be a known quantity in the gay community.

I do not know what the writers have in store for Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy) but by all indications, he is on his way out. Since the UK version of this show lasted eleven seasons, I’m not sure if a major player is narratively ready to depart the series yet. Can the show suffer another Steve loss? Probably but do fans of the show want the show to?

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Though sad, the most touching moment of the episode happened because of Frank’s illness. Once again, Frank was made human because of death’s hand on his shoulder and once again, Sammi (Emily Bergl) was the instigating and creative factor. If these are truly Frank’s last days, he certainly has somebody by his side that cares about him.

Fiona Gallagher (Emmy Rossum)’s strip search in Iron City was humiliating but what happened to her in The Legend of Bonnie and Carl took the cake as it happened in front of numerous people. It took a lot of Cold Mountain G.U.M.P.T.I.O.N. to walk back into the place where she was unceremoniously canned. When a former sideline female character let loose on Fiona, her sense of self-worth was the size of a pin-drop by the time she slithered away and slowly re-donned her cold weather cap.

Fiona is an addict.

That was no spacious jest in a former episode.

Why else do what she did later in the episode instead of calling “this person” on the phone and telling them off from a platonic, safe distance? She wanted comforting and reassurance. She wanted to be made to feel good after the terrible day she had. That is why she went over to this person’s apartment. Not to complain, not to vent (her facade for being there) but to feel joy and have someone tell her it would be okay. This irresponsible person will do that for Fiona and then some, especially since other people do that for him all the time.

Fiona was looking for someone to blame for her life free-fall yet never looked at herself for the culprit. She caused everything to happen, she even told on herself to the police. How were her free will and her actions someone else’s fault?

What happened to Mandy Milkovich (Emma Greenwell) at the end of the episode was completely unexpected until the viewer thinks about it within the context of the world she lives in (e.g. she lives with her Dad/rapist), briefly examines rage, and irrational anger. When the viewer performs these tasks, then not only does it make sense, it was bound to happen.

The question is, what will Mickey do about it? He had his bag packed, ready to go then he saw…that. The way Mandy acted frightened then blasé about it (“The F**k are you looking at?”) and Mickey’s wordless response showed how desensitized the both of them are. They are children only numerically. Their mental childhoods ended a long time ago.

The fact that Mickey had a facial reaction after the door slammed shut showed that: a.) he couldn’t leave, that he had someone to protect (i.e. responsibilities) or b.) that he had a score to settle before he did exit his paterfamilias‘ abode. With Mickey’s feelings coming more and more to the forefront of his personality, my guess is the former, in more ways than one.

Leave your thoughts on this review and this episode of Shameless below in the comments section. For more Shameless reviews, photos, videos, and information, visit our Shameless Page, subscribe to us by Email, “follow” us on Twitter, Tumblr, or “like” us on Facebook.

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Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
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