God Bless Her Rotting Soul
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Episode 3
| "God Bless Her Rotting Soul" | |
|---|---|
| Shameless episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 8 Episode 3 |
| Directed by | Michael Morris |
| Written by | Krista Vernoff |
| Cinematography by | Kevin McKnight |
| Editing by | Mark Strand |
| Original release date | November 19, 2017 |
| Running time | 53 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"God Bless Her Rotting Soul" is the third episode of the eighth season of the American television comedy drama Shameless, an adaptation of the British series of the same name. It is the 87th overall episode of the series and was written by executive producer Krista Vernoff and directed by Michael Morris. It originally aired on Showtime on November 19, 2017.
The series is set on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, and depicts the poor, dysfunctional family of Frank Gallagher, a neglectful single father of six: Fiona, Phillip, Ian, Debbie, Carl, and Liam. He spends his days drunk, high, or in search of money, while his children need to learn to take care of themselves. In the episode, the Gallaghers are threatened by Monica's past, while Fiona tries to sell an apartment in the building.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 1.34 million household viewers and gained a 0.47 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The episode received highly positive reviews from critics, who praised the focus on the family working together.
The Gallaghers debate on what to do in the situation with Eric (Jamie Harris), who wants Monica's meth back. Frank (William H. Macy), who now prefers to be called Francis, simply suggests staying outside the storage unit, and to not contact Eric ever again. The family decides to keep Fiona (Emmy Rossum) out of the situation.
As the evicted occupant destroyed her apartment, Fiona is forced to renovate it in an attempt to sell it. A man, Bahir (Raffi Barsoumian), agrees to buy it despite the state of the room. On his way out, he runs into Mel (Perry Mattfeld), who scares him into pulling out of the offer by claiming there are bed bugs in the building. She does this so that her friends can rent the apartment, but they are unwilling to pay Fiona's quota. Youens (Alan Rosenberg) uses the money that Lip (Jeremy Allen White) gave him to buy more alcohol. He falls back into abusing it, and ends up crashing his car into a house. Lip is forced to bail him out, and is shocked to discover that this was his fifth DUI incident.
Veronica (Shanola Hampton) begins to regret sending Svetlana (Isidora Goreshter) to prison after realizing that the debts at the Alibi are increasing. When a Russian realtor shows up to acquire the bar, Veronica decides to visit Svetlana in prison. They agree to share custody on the children and the bar, if Veronica can secure her release. During this, Kevin (Steve Howey) decides to take a genetic test as he fears his diagnosis could be passed to his children. The doctor tells Kevin that there is nothing wrong with him, but they have discovered something; he comes from a rare Huntsville subgroup, a community in Kentucky known for inbreeding. He initially refuses to call his family, but ends up contacting them, realizing that his birth name is actually Bart.
Debbie (Emma Kenney) returns home and discovers that Neil (Zack Pearlman) has fallen in love with his nurse Lakisha (Kelli Dawn Hancock). Realizing that Debbie is a bad person, he kicks her out. Eric appears at the Gallagher household and almost drowns Carl (Ethan Cutkosky). Ian (Cameron Monaghan) tries to stop him but is tackled by his henchmen. Eric warns them that he wants his seven pounds of meth or the $70,000 by tomorrow, or he will kill them. The family only has $9,000, so they are finally forced to ask Fiona for her help. Fiona takes pleasure in her family asking for her help, and agrees to help after forcing them to admit that she was right and they were wrong. Using Frank's employee discount, they get shovels and exhume Monica's gravestone to retrieve the meth bags.
The family meets with Eric in the storage unit. While they give him the bags and their money, Eric is still unsatisfied as they are $37,000 short. Frank interrupts him by saying that half the drugs belonged to Monica, and swiftly threatens him into letting his family walk away. Eric agrees, and this earns him Fiona's respect. Fiona later confronts Mel over trying to sabotage the sale; she threatens with planting real bed bugs and then evicting her unless she calls Bahir to confess her lie, and she agrees. Svetlana is officially released from prison. Lip, along with Brad (Scott Michael Campbell) and other co-workers, stages an intervention for Youens at his house.
Production
Development
The episode was written by executive producer Krista Vernoff and directed by Michael Morris. It was Vernoff's eighth writing credit, and Morris' first directing credit.[1]