Brothers and Boyfriends is the seventh episode in the fifth series of Shameless.
Synopsis[]
A gas leak at the Gallaghers' brings sexy fireman Sean to Ian and Mandy's attention. The two soon get competitive as to who'll get to sleep with him and a wager is made. Ian wins, and gets more than he bargained for: a relationship. It's not long before Ian's introducing him to the family but, just as everything's looking rosy, he discovers a secret about Sean's past that has explosive consequences.
Plot[]
When returning home from a late night party, Lillian walks by the Gallagher house and smells gas. She wakes Norma in the minivan, who contacts the fire brigade. Firemen arrive and realize the gas coming from the still turned on cooker that Frank had attempted to use to light a cigarette. Frank is taken to hospital but one of the firemen, Sean, is accidentally left behind and has time to meet Ian and Mandy before he is picked up.
Ian and Mandy both vie for his attention, with Ian claiming Sean is gay and Mandy that he is straight they agree to find out his sexuality by flirting with him. He returns the next day to install a fire-alarm and Mandy discovers that he is gay when her advances fail. She leaves Sean to Ian and they embark on a whirl wind romance that is cut short when they discover they share a common past.
Elsewhere, Carl gets into a relationship with a girl from his year in high school, but upon meeting her parents, starts a secret affair with the girl's mother.
Frank, getting cuts on his feet from where the firemen had to force their way into the house, uses a wheelchair to get around the estate as well as an excuse to opt-out of attending Antenatal classes with Monica.
Lillian introduces everyone to her new boyfriend Jeff, who she met at "Slow Dating", i.e. Speed Daring for pensioners. She enjoys announcing that he works in finance as a security guard but when she stops him during his work delivering money to give him a hug, a group of masked men rob and beat him leaving him convinced Lillian set him up.
Post Credit Scene
Carl is seen riding a bike through the streets, he almost hits a girl and a boy who jump out of the way as Carl angrily tells them to look out. He quickly realizes the girl is his girlfriend from earlier in the episode, she gives him a dirty look then enters a house with a tall black boy, assumably her new boyfriend. As they enter the house Theresa, the girl's mother that Carl had an affair with pinches the rear of the boy and winks at a shocked Carl who then laughs and rides away.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- David Threlfall- Frank Gallagher
- Annabelle Aspion - Monica Gallagher
- Gerard Kearns - Ian Gallagher
- Elliott Tittensor - Carl Gallagher
- Rebecca Ryan - Debbie Gallagher
- Johnny Bennett - Liam Gallagher
- Samantha Siddall - Mandy Maguire
- Aaron McCusker - Jamie Maguire
- Rebecca Atkinson - Karen Maguire
- Ciaran Griffiths - Micky Maguire
- Nicky Evans - Shane Maguire
- Alice Barry - Lillian Tyler
- Dystin Johnson - Norma Starkey
- Warren Donnelly - Stan Waterman
- Michael Legge - Tom O'Leary
Guest Stars[]
- Matt Cross - Sean Bennett
- Phil Corbitt - Head Fireman
- Alex Slater - Hayden Simpson
- Angela Holmes - Stacy-Ann
- Michelle Holmes - Theresa
- Martin Walsh - Dave
- John Wilson - Jeff
Notes[]
- Narrator: Lillian Tyler. This is the first episode narrated by her.
- First mention of Gary Bennett, Ian's biological father, since Episode 7 of Series 2.
- Frank eludes to being aware that Ian is gay when he comments that when kids get to a certain age you'd rather not know what they're up to when he sees Ian go upstairs with Sean.
Quotes[]
- Norma: "Number of kid's you've had you could pop 'em without touching the sides, why bother?"
Monica: "Because this little baba is gonna be done proper and I want his daddy there."
Norma: "Uh, he'll only nick all the drugs or start a ruck or something." - Frank: [in a wheelchair] "I need a piss."
Jamie: "Uh beer pourer, barman, toucher of old men's cocks? Rentboy. Do you see the difference?"
Frank: "You seem to know a lot about it." - Debbie: "Do you go to the funeral of everyone you've slept with?"
Monica: "Debbie, that would be absurd. No, I gave him a clock and I want it back. It were me gran's, always liked it, probably worth enough to put up with the names from his wife."