Summertime (Shameless)

In its original American broadcast, "Summertime" was seen by an estimated 1.58 million household viewers with a 0.8 in the 18–49 demographics. This means that 0.8 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.^[2] This was a 36% increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was seen by an estimated 1.16 million household viewers with a 0.5/1 in the 18–49 demographics.^[3]

"Summertime" received positive reviews by critics. Eric Goldman of IGN gave the episode a "great" 8 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "Shameless can sometimes go too far in terms of how goofy it gets – it's sometimes a bit exhausting, especially where Frank's concerned. But the Gallagher kids, especially the older ones, have enough heart to keep me invested and I was glad to have them back."^[4]

Joshua Alston of The A.V. Club gave a mixed assessment of the episode: "For the second year in a row, it seems I'll spend my season of Shameless deciding how I feel about Shameless. [...] I don't mind the show being a slice-of-life, and I don't need it to be heavily plot-driven, but I do need Shameless not to feel too leisurely, because that's a poor tonal fit for a show about a perpetually desperate family." Alston was critical of Frank's storyline, writing "I wasn't crazy about any bit of this plot, really. [...] I like the wackiness of Shameless, but it has to feel moored to something, and Frank owing money for losing a goofy bet is neither tethered to anything larger, nor a well-executed episodic plot."^[5]

Alan Sepinwall's review for HitFix was largely positive, praising the comedic and relaxed tone of the episode: "The Gallaghers are still under constant threat of financial ruin – or, worse, being split up by social services – but overall the show seems to be enjoying their hustles more, and finding more ways to have comedy spin out of the kids [...] rather than just leaning on Frank to make things funny."^[6] James Queally of NJ.com praised the new developments of the characters, and concluded "Season 2 of Shameless appears to be on track with the first 12 episodes of the series. It's going to be messy, it's going to have some scenes that are hard to swallow and it's also going to make you laugh your ass off."^[7]

Tim Basham of Paste gave the episode an 8.1 out of 10 and wrote, "There is nothing quite like Shameless on television today. Its humorous take on a motherless (and essentially fatherless) family's struggle to survive on the poor side of Chicago mixes bizarrely well with a bit of pathos and an astonishing amount of typically avoided, heavy-duty adult sexuality and drug references, especially for a show starring several adolescents and grade-schoolers. And, as numerous groundbreaking series have proven since the dawn of television, it's going to take a while for the Showtime series to gather the attention it deserves."^[8] Kevin Fitzpatrick of TV Overmind wrote, "I won't say that everything about Shameless return clicks together so perfectly, but when the perverse hilarity of the Gallagher clan reaches its most lightheartedly entertaining, few could bemoan the return of TV's most shamelessly depraved family."^[9]

Leigh Raines of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "All in all, I thought this was a tremendous welcome back episode for the Shameless crew."^[10] Kelsea Stahler of Hollywood.com wrote, "This episode didn't set up anything too hairy or leave us with a cliffhanger, but if Season Two is anything like Season One, we're setting in on a journey that's sure to snowball into insanity. Either that, or someone has replaced the Gallaghers with a more stable family."^[11]

• "Summertime" at IMDb