‘Shameless’ Spoilers: Doctors Compare Frank To Cockroaches

Fiona (Emmy Rossum) knew she hit rock bottom in last week’s episode of Shameless when she woke up from a drunken stupor squatting in the same place as Frank (William H. Macy). At the very end of the episode, Fiona was spotted attending an AA meeting as she appeared ready to pick up the pieces. As those who have been loyal to the Showtime hit series from the beginning know, Frank isn’t one to learn from his mistakes the same way his children tend to.

Warning: Spoilers from tonight’s episode ahead.

In tonight’s episode of Shameless – which is currently available via the Showtime streaming app – we see Frank overstaying his welcome at the apartments that once belonged to Fiona. Awoken by the demolition crew tearing into the building, Frank manages to make it outside only to stumble and fall on material on the other side of the street.

While the construction crew offers to call 911 for Frank, he insists that he is fine and uses a piece of wood to hobble home. Nearly making it home, several members of his family discover Frank on the sidewalk with a bloody leg, as he’s no longer able to stand up.

After much hesitation, Debbie, Carl, and Kelly assist Frank in getting inside where he quickly starts pulling bags of pills from his pockets. This is when his children realize the reason he didn’t want 911 called is because he didn’t want anyone to take the stash of pills from him or to call the cops.

Frank ends up using Fiona’s phone to call his “associates” to come and get the pills just moments before an ambulance arrives to take him to the hospital.

Frank has seemingly hit the jackpot – as one of the doctor’s put it – with a piece of bone sticking out of his leg. Anyone else in Frank’s position would have already been given a treat deal of painkiller. Everyone in the hospital, however, knew who Frank was and there are clear markers on his files not to give him any form of pain medication.

Moreover, Frank is also notorious for coming into the hospital and accumulating a lot of debt only to never pay the hospital any money. So, the hospital wasn’t inclined to offer Macy’s character the best treatment.

In fact, he ended up having a resident doctor who had never performed the surgery before practice on him as he was the only surgeon willing to do so knowing they would never see any money for it.

After the surgery concluded, the hospital staff wanted to boot Frank to the street as quickly as possible. While the resident who performed the surgery hesitated, he was reassured by his co-worker that there are two things that would survive an apocalypse – Frank Gallagher and cockroaches.

At the very end of the episode, Frank was driven back home in an ambulance where they dropped him in the middle of the street and drove away. Frank, seemingly unaware of where he was, appeared to just go back to sleep in the middle of the street in his wheel chair.

The Season 9 finale of Shameless airs next Sunday on Showtime.