Summertime (Shameless)

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.

Sheila (Joan Cusack) continues to make progress in overcoming her agoraphobia, while Karen (Laura Slade Wiggins) now attends Sex Addicts Anonymous meetings and constantly hangs out with Jody (Zach McGowan), one of her group members.

Debbie (Emma Kenney) and Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) are running a summer babysitting service in the house to bring in extra funds.

At the Alibi Room, Frank (William H. Macy) overhears a bar patron, Baby (Marcus Brown), claim that he survived being tasered twice without falling or unirating.

Ian expresses interest in attending West Point, and Lip agrees to help him with his application and grades, despite fearing that his brother might be killed in combat.

Kevin (Steve Howey), with the help of Ethel (Madison Davenport), has begun growing marijuana in the Alibi's basement, causing the building's electric bill to increase, much to the dismay of the bar's elderly owner Stan (Jack Carter).

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.

[...] 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.

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.