"The (Mis)Education of Liam Fergus Beircheart Gallagher" is the fifth episode of Season 8 of Shameless.
Synopsis
As Fiona tries to raise the profile of the neighborhood, Ian helps Trevor to raise money for a new youth shelter. Meanwhile, Carl loses his scholarship and gets creative with securing the tuition, Lip stands up to a friend and gets hurt and Frank teaches the parents at Liam's school all about the working class.
Plot
Frank is rewarded with beautiful mothers from Liam's school who are aroused by his rugged appearance. He ages himself to his forties and opens a bank account and buys a new car for his commute, which he and Liam go riding in. Frank also makes sure Liam gets his education after seeing falling behind in school because of them using him as a token child, which allows him to excel. Because of this display, the older Gallagher children are surprised to see how fatherly Frank can be.
Carl loses his diversity scholarship to another student who has a larger percentage of Native American heritage. As a result, Carl must pay half of his tuition by the time school starts in three weeks. He works odd jobs including grunt work at Patsy's Pies and undercutting Uber in attempt to raise the $12,000 he needs. Carl later traps a man who has been stealing from the neighborhood because he stole military items from a veteran. The man turns out to be an addict, and Carl locks him in the basement and essentially tortures him into sobriety. The man is extremely grateful to Carl because his previous trips to rehab were ineffective, but Carl got him sober in five days. As a result, he brings his addict girlfriend to Carl and asks him to put her through the same thing and offers him $5,000 in cash with the promise of another $2,500 from the girl's parents.
The stress of a new baby causes Brad to relapse. Eddie tells Lip that Brad is at the bar around the corner. When Lip confronts him and tries to stop him from driving while drunk, Brad punches Lip and drives off. Lip goes to Professor Youens, his other mentor who also has a drinking problem, for help.
Ian and Trevor need to find shelter for the kids. They find an abandoned church owned by Fiona's boss that they initially intend to lease. Ian and Trevor meet with a benefactor of Trevor's shelter, whom Ian later recognizes as a man he regularly gave oral sex at the Fairy Tail, quickly agrees to donate the money to lease the church. When a potential buyer turns up, Trevor tells Ian that they would have to buy the building, which the shelter cannot afford. Though Trevor does not want to ask the benefactor for more money, Ian goes to the benefactor's house at night to ask for it without telling Trevor. When the man turns Ian down, Ian tries to blackmail him for more money. Ian's plan backfires, though, as the man's wife knows about his trips to the Fairy Tail. She invites Ian inside and demands oral sex from him in exchange for money for the down payment. Ian, who performed oral sex on a woman for the first time in Season 7, agrees to do so for the sake of the kids. The next day, he finds Fiona and the owner of the building at Patsy's Pies meeting with two men. He hands the check to the building owner saying, "We're buying it." Fiona takes Ian outside and tells him that the men inside are buying the building. Ian tells her to sell it to the shelter instead, but Fiona tells him no because "the neighborhood needs safety." Ian replies, "My kids need safety." Fiona claims the kids at the shelter are the ones creating the insecurity and the episode ends there.
Post-Credit Scene
Veronica makes a deal with Svetlana, with the profits from the bar being split 50/50, meaning that Svetlana gets 50% of the profits, because of the effort she puts in and the revenue she generates, while Kev and Veronica get the other 50%.
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
