"Sleepwalking" is the twelfth and last episode in the eighth season of the US version of Shameless. It originally aired on January 28, 2018 on Showtime.
Synopsis[]
Fiona taps deep into her Gallagher roots to get the homeless family out of her apartment and dismiss their lawsuit. An explosive incident sends Ian and some of his followers into hiding from the authorities. Meanwhile, Lip makes a difficult decision in order to have the life he really wants, Carl looks for a way to go back to school without upsetting Kassidi, Debbie considers letting Derek back into Franny's life and Frank makes plans to take advantage of Liam's rich friend. Kev and V help out Svetlana with her plan. Season finale.
Plot[]
Both Lip and Carl are trying to make early exits without their ladies knowing. Lip’s unsuccessful as Sierra wakes up as he’s leaving for work. “I’m proud of you,” she shares. “This last year… you’re strong. I didn’t know that before.” She says she loves him, which Lip reciprocates, but not before a noticeable pause. Lip’s struggle to quickly get out of the house continues when he comes upon Carl attempting to climb out the window. The newly married teenager needs to run some errands and asks Lip to tell Kassidi that he’s in the shower.
Even when Lip gets outside, he can’t leave yet. Liam is passed out in the yard, since apparently he’s a big sleepwalker. Lip brings his youngest brother inside, where Kassidi is whipping up breakfast and Frank’s planning “one more big score.” As predicted, Frank wants to rob Dylan’s house when they take Liam on vacation to the Caribbean. “We have a moral duty to rip this a–hole off,” argues Frank, who likens himself to Robin Hood, although he’s the only poor person he’ll be giving the wealth to. He says Liam can go on the trip, but first, the boy needs to take pictures of the valuables and get the security code. Meanwhile, Kassidi is tired of waiting on Carl and goes to check on him in the bathroom, leading to her shrieking. When Liam asks what’s going on, Frank replies, “Marital bliss.”
Kev, V, and Svetlana are standing over a tied and gagged Frelania. Also as predicted, Svetlana’s plan is to take Frelania’s place in marrying her rich, old, senile fiancé. One problem: Frelania’s mom is en route and she’s a cannibal. And in hopes of neutralizing the mom, Kev and V go to pick her up at the airport. Kev is armed with a driver’s outfit and a sign that has the cannibal’s first name, with the last name misspelled and scratched out, replaced by “super long last name." Upon arriving back at the Alibi, they take care of their problems by knocking out Frelania’s mom with a glass of valium-infused vodka.
After reacting to Debbie’s burned off toes, Fiona gets a similar suggestion from Frank in terms of dealing with her unwanted tenants. Frank says she should “burn them out” and even recommends a guy named Pyro Paulie for the job. Trevor shows up looking for Ian, for whom there’s an arrest warrant out. Fiona can’t get ahold of her brother and worries he’s once again gone off his meds.
She then goes to meet with her lawyer, who reveals that the homeless people are willing to settle the lawsuit in exchange for $3 million, the title to the building, and the dog. Instead of taking the deal, Janice suggests Fiona sell the building, spend the money, and then file for bankruptcy. Heeding that counsel, Fiona negotiates a sale with Margo, who’s lowballing her. Fiona passes on the deal and, in turn, passes Margo’s test. Fiona’s entrepreneur role model says the neighborhood is on the rise and she should make the squatters one final offer.
Carl hides a duffle bag in the back office of Patsy's, which Sierra assumes is full of either drugs or cash. But it is revealed that it’s just school supplies that he’s hiding from Kassidi. Despite what he told her last week, Carl still plans on returning to school, telling Sierra that he loves Kassidi and his military brothers. “You can love two things at once if you’re not f—ing them both, right?” he asks. When Carl returns home, she tricks him into believing they’re going to have sex, but she actually seduces him to handcuff his hands and feet to the bed.
Conflicted, but also determined to go to the Caribbean, Liam follows his father’s orders, takes pics of the valuables at Dylan’s house, and tricks the maid into revealing the alarm code. Frank is impressed with the recon work done by his youngest. But Liam is hoping they could rob someone else, maybe someone who isn’t their friend. Frank insists that they aren’t robbing a friend, they’re robbing the rich dad. “He’s a robber baron,” argues Frank. “Stealing food from the mouths of working class children.” This rightfully leads Liam to ask if they’ll give the stuff they steal to the less fortunate, to which Frank responds, “It’s a metaphor.” That’s a no. The father-son scheming is put on hold as the police knock on the door looking for Ian. “Who?” says Frank upon the mention of his son. “Never heard of him.”.
Trevor has tracked his boyfriend to the basement of a church. The fugitive is sitting quietly, refusing to eat, and unsure what to do next. “I’m making a difference here,” he says. “I feel good. Alive.” Trevor’s not happy, because the police are threatening to round up the kids at the youth center. “These kids believe in you, but this isn’t about you helping them anymore,” opines Trevor. “This is about you loving all of the attention and their hero worship.” He wants Ian to turn himself in, declaring, “That’s what a real leader would have the courage to do.”. Instead, he wakes up the kids who are hiding out with him and tells them he needs a lot of sheets. “I know what I have to do now — and it’s big,” he reveals.
Debbie brings Franny to a party for one of Derek’s family members. Now in the military and engaged, Derek takes the opportunity to request joint custody of his daughter, since he’s able to afford to pay child support. “Go f— yourself” is what Debbie thinks of that. Despite her initial reaction, she’s unsure if she should take her baby daddy up on his offer, so she seeks Carl’s guidance. But considering that Kassidi’s in the shower, Carl would much rather Debbie cut him loose than chit-chat. He has no such luck.
Kev is watching Frelania and her unconscious mother. Frelania is trying to seduce him with her daddy underwear. He’s snapped out of it by V calling him upstairs, which is only slightly delayed by him adjusting himself. As if Kevin weren’t already speechless enough at the sight of Svetlana in her wedding dress, he’s even more so when told that he’ll walk her down the aisle. Later at the wedding, while preparing to fulfill his duties, Kev meets the old man (still as senile as ever) and his son, who casually mentions that there’s a prenup. This is a surprise to them, but the wedding goes off without a hitch — but when Svetlana takes off her vail, the groom’s son clearly looks confused.
Not long after breaking up a fight between Sierra and Charlie, Lip goes to Sierra’s place and finds her drinking her problems away. She apologizes for many things: the argument with Charlie; being tipsy; kissing him with liquor on her breath. The duo spend the night together, but the next morning brings shocking news. Lip tells Sierra that she should give Charlie one last chance. Admitting he’s “been drunk or high almost every day since I was 12 years old,” Lip says he doesn’t know if he loves Sierra. “I want to,” he insists. “I really do, but I’ve been sleepwalking through my life for years and I’ve been so loaded that I haven’t known what I want or who I want to be or be with… I don’t know how to be with myself, let alone someone else.” She wants him to leave.
Lip isn’t the only one seeking clarity. While she stakes out her building and considers taking Janice’s advice, Fiona confronts Ford about their relationship status. After answering questions with a question, he does admit that he’s happy, while adding that he’ll never be “madly in love” with her or anyone. Somehow, this conversation helps Fiona come to the realization that “it’s time to go Gallagher.”.
In this instance, going Gallagher means visiting Pyro Paulie to acquire a smoke bomb. Fiona throws it in the apartment, causing the large group of squatters to rush out. The “s—heads” are greeted by Fiona, who offers them $4,000 to head west and another $500 per month for the next year. Trina says no, but after Fiona begins burning some of the money, the husband relents and signs paperwork to end the lawsuit.
Carl’s struggles continue as he and Kassidi go to bed for the night. As Kassidi pictures their life together, which will include six kids, getting fat, and an apartment in the hood, Carl silently stares off, while Liam sadly watches what’s happened to his brother. And apparently, he subconsciously decided to do something about it, because Liam wakes up in the yard with keys in his hand and Carl wakes up unchained. Not even bothering to put on pants, Carl makes a run for it. He boards a bus for military school, which, as it leaves, is chased by a screaming Kassidi.
It’s Caribbean time for Liam, so he shares the alarm code to Dylan’s house with Frank — or does he? When Frank breaks in, the code doesn’t work and his calls to Liam go ignored. With the alarm going off, Frank grabs as much stuff as he can before being chased by the cops. He hops a fence and hides behind a Porta Potty. The police check there, but no sign of him. Once they leave, as evidenced below, Frank emerges from the blue chemical- and feces-filled toilet. Not evidenced: the sly smile he cracks knowing he’s pulled it off.
Ian and his crew roll into the downtown area, unveiling a “God is gay and he loves you” banner. News crews and the police quickly show up. But when the cops announce they’re here to arrest Ian, the Gay Jesus supporters go full Spartacus. “I’m Ian Gallagher,” they declare one by one. They end up arresting everyone. As he’s being cuffed, Ian has a big, cocky smile on his face, but upon being loaded into the squad car, the look switches to one of fear.
Lip heads to the shop work on his bike, which is finally done and has been given a name — Keith - the recommendation of Xan, who happens to have been abandoned again. Eddie quit, ran off to Cabo with a dude, and called social services to come get her niece. But Lip suggests Xan stay with him for a little while.
The season ends with the Gallagher kids (except for Ian and Carl) watching the news coverage of Ian’s big protest. Their attention shifts elsewhere when Frank, now fresh from the Porta Potty and covered in blue, walks in, declaring, “Not a f—ing word.”
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- William H. Macy - Frank Gallagher
- Emmy Rossum - Fiona Gallagher
- Cameron Monaghan - Ian Gallagher
- Jeremy Allen White - Phillip Gallagher
- Ethan Cutkosky - Carl Gallagher
- Emma Kenney - Debbie Gallagher
- Shanola Hampton - Veronica Fisher
- Steve Howey - Kevin Ball
- Isidora Goreshter - Svetlana Yevgenivna
Special Guest[]
- Richard Flood as Ford Kellogg
Recurring[]
- Christian Isaiah as Liam Gallagher
- Sammi Hanratty as Kassidi Gallagher
- Ruby Modine as Sierra Morton
- Elliot Fletcher as Trevor
- Juliette Angelo as Geneva
- Scott Michael Campbell as Brad
- Levy Tran as Eddie
- Sharon Lawrence as Margo Mierzejewski
- Chet Hanks as Charlie
- Tina Ivlev as Freelania Alexeyevich
- Scarlet Spencer as Xan
- Lyudmila Velikaya as Zlata
- Jason Singer as Clark
- Jack Wallace as Rupert Sr.
- Damien Diaz as Derek
- Michael Gambino as Rodney
- Gloria Sandoval as Consuela
- Robert Henline as Pyro Paulie
- Stacy Oristano as Trina
- James Shanklin as Rupert Jr.
- Sid Augustyn as Hank
Notes[]
- Previously on Shameless - Fiona Gallagher
- This episode mark the last appearance of Svetlana Yevgenivna, one of the main character since season 7.
- It also mark the last appearances of Trevor, Sierra Morton, Charlie, Derek Delgado, and Eddie.