How Lip's Intellect Should've Been Used in the Show
I'm watching for the first time and currently on season 9. No spoilers in the comments please.
Lip is my favorite character but one major problem I have with his character is that his intellect is forgotten in later seasons.
In the earlier seasons Lip was capable of getting a perfect score on the SAT multiple times without even trying. He even knew how to get exact scores rather than perfect ones to avoid suspicion. He knew how to build robots and entered a robot fight competition. He knew how to rob ATMs. He even knew how to do maintenance on the house in season 1.
I'm (somewhat) fine with him not staying in college. But Lip's intellect was a defining character trait for him (similar to Ian wanting to serve or Carl being a delinquent). It still could've been used later on. I'm just not the biggest fan of how his character progressed.
Here are two ideas I think could've worked:
- Make Lip the next Jimmy
What I mean by this is to have Lip use his intellect to commit crimes or at the very least run schemes to make money similar to Jimmy being a car thief. I know this sounds crazy but I think this idea works because of Lip and Jimmy's interactions. When Lip was helping Jimmy back in season 2 it was interesting to Lip apply his intelligence to something more unconventional and he actually seemed to enjoy it. Jimmy actually recognized how useful Lip could be. Then there's Lip and Kevin selling drugs and alcohol out of the ice cream truck. Lip built a device to detect police radios to stay one step ahead of them. I think this angle makes sense for Lip's character and stays in line with the tone of the show.
- Make Lip an unconventional success.
Some of the world's most successful people didn't go to college. I'm aware that not going to college can make success harder and some people are in better financial conditions to say the least. But I think having Lip bet on himself and use his intellect to start his own business or something without having a college degree works for his character because he was never fond of being in an academic environment. He even said himself back in the earlier seasons (I forgot the episode) that he wants to think for himself and be innovative and not fall in line. This was a huge part of the reason why he didn't want to go to college in the first place.
That's all I have to say. I'd like to hear your thoughts if you don't mind.