Shameless (US) Series Review

Shameless (2011-2021)

Season 1 - 12 episodes (2011)
Season 2 - 12 episodes (2012)
Season 3 - 12 episodes (2013)
Season 4 - 12 episodes (2014)
Season 5 - 12 episodes (2015)
Season 6 - 12 episodes (2016)
Season 7 - 12 episodes (2016)
Season 8 - 12 episodes (2017-18)
Season 9 - 14 episodes (2018-19)
Season 10 - 12 episodes (2019-20)
Season 11 - 12 episodes (2020-21)
Rent Shameless on Amazon Video (paid link)
Created by: Paul Abbott, John Wells
Starring: Emmy Rossum, William H. Macy, Jeremy Allen White, Cameron Monaghan, Ethan Cutkosky, Emma Kenney, Shanola Hampton, Steve Howey, Noel Fisher, Joan Cusack
Rated: TV-MA
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Plot
The Gallaghers, a scrappy, feisty, fiercely loyal Chicago family makes no apologies.

Verdict
We watch an ongoing train wreck. This family is self destructive, causing chaos in the lives of anyone close by. It's disheartening, but you also can't look away. Just when you think one of the characters couldn't be more depraved, they'll do something that will surprise. Like a car crash, you don't want to look, but you also can't help it. They have no shame. Their stunts are outrageous, and their selfishness unbounded. With so many seasons, this show has huge character arcs that can be surprising, disgusting, and even emotional. Over the course of the series, you will get attached. The triumphs mean even more when we see how far these characters have come after following them for years. This has a really good seven season run, even after that it was never outright bad.
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Review
The Gallagher family, understandably, has no shame. This is frequently depraved, but it does keep your attention. The patriarch Frank (William H. Macy) is the worst, willing to lie, cheat, and steal at will. While he fathered the kids, he's not much of a father. This scrappy family isn't much more than Lord of the Flies with kids running the house. It's darkly comedic. While it's easy to watch this on a paid streaming service and see the humor, there are plenty of people scraping by just to survive and stay warm for a night. However funny this is, it's underscored by the terrible situation in which this family lives. The kids don't get to be children. They have to act like grown ups, resorting to cheating and stealing to survive. Whenever they seem to be okay, self destructive behavior kicks in and ruins things.

Fiona (Emmy Rossum) is the oldest and saddled with raising the family Frank constantly leaves behind. She's always in a relationship, afraid to be alone and desperate for attention. Lip (Jeremy Allen White) is second oldest and incredibly smart. He uses that to cheat and scheme for cash. Ian (Cameron Monaghan) is in the ROTC and intends to join the military, eventually coming out of the closet. Debbie (Emma Kenney) is the youngest daughter, and initially the most kind. Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) is a terror, violent and destructive; he grows out of that. Liam is the youngest, a baby for most of the series. All of the children are self destructive, Fiona and Lip the worst. This is a family where you can't have nice things. Either one of them will break it, pawn it, or owe it to someone else.

The first episode covers a lot of ground and establishes the difficulties this family faces. Frank isn't malicious directly, he's just completely selfish and absent. He's apathetic to a fault and a no good drunk. It's easy to see why this show is named as such. Frank has no qualms living in another man's house with his wife, seizing the opportunity. Frank has an ongoing relationship with Sheila (Joan Cusack), who is completely submissive which suits Frank. When the water heater goes out, Lip scouts the obituary's for an empty house. Ian has a secret relationship with his boss, later revealing to Lip he's gay.

Later in season one, Frank talks about taxes and immigrants stealing his jobs. He purposely doesn't work and thus doesn't pay taxes, but that's the joke. Towards the end Frank is looking for a job where he can get injured to get back on disability. This show is such a roller coaster of despair. Whenever the characters are poised to climb out of a hole they self destruct. It feels bad to laugh at this family when they're struggling and doing what they know, hustling.

Season 1

Season two's third episode encapsulates the show. Frank schemes to marry a woman with a terminal sickness to get her pension. He preaches in the bar about how people just want handouts and don't want to work for anything. Frank is able to preach on these subjects so well as he's an expert at seeking the easy way out. Also, Fiona finds a purse, deciding to take the money and then return it. She's made when the owner accuses her of stealing.
One thing this family does well is look out for each other. We see that in episode four when they all make sure to be at Debbie's party. The problem is that they're all self-destructive, maybe none more than Lip. He may be father of a kid, but it turns out it isn't his. Lip is almost always the one to take care of others. I liked the first season more than the second. As dark as the season one is, season two gets darker.

In season three Frank ruins things. It's a common occurrence. He calls CPS on himself to get back at the kids. He also ruins another man's life that had overcome his sexual addictions. Episode six might be the funniest episode of the season, if not the series. Carl ends up in foster care while Frank and Sheila find themselves in a parenting class. It's hilarious and horrific. Rarely do we see the Gallaghers in the real world. When we do that makes their shamelessness all the more apparent. We've gotten used to how they live, and this snaps us out of it. Debbie has a tough arc this season. She's the most caring of the bunch, and thus she has the most to lose. She ends up in a foster home working a sweatshop basement. Proving there is no depth low enough, Frank finds the perfect partner in Christopher. This is someone that will indulge anything Frank wants just so he had a friend.  Of course Frank destroys that. The end of the season is a big upheaval. Frank is really sick, Lip actually graduates high school, and Ian joins the military.

Season 3

In season four, Frank is actually dying. Lip struggles at MIT, and Fiona has a decent job. Lip was the smartest kid in the projects, but he can't shortcut anymore. Lip and Fiona both have great opportunities, but they can't help but self destruct. It's an argument for nature and nurture. Their nature is scrapping on the streets. They have trouble changing that attitude.  Fiona manages to start a chain of events that ruins her career, relationships, family, and future. She realizes later in the season, this event will follow her forever. Lip has to take her place as head of the family. I felt bad for Fiona. She finally seemed to have it together with a stable life and she blew it up. She's destructive like Frank. All the kids are. It's what they've been taught.
Frank's arc is something else. He's dying and needs a liver. The depths he trolls for a transplant are a new low. He ends up using a back alley doctor with disastrous results. I really wondered how he would survive this season.
This season isn't quite as depraved. I don't know if I've gotten used to it or that we saw less of Frank. It was certainly a tragic season for Fiona.

With season five Fiona seems to be in a better place but she still targets any man that shows her attention. Carl appears to be a future Frank, starting to deal drugs. Debbie, who has always been the nicest in the family, is being really selfish with her desire to get a boyfriend. In episode four, Frank gets his long awaited insurance check but blacks out and goes on an amazing bender, unable to remember what he did with the money.
Frank gets into the craziest situations. He tries to bilk his liver donor's parents out of whatever they're willing to give. This is a heavy season. Ian discovers he's bi-polar. Sammi has a crazy arc. Frank first finds her so he can get a liver. She doesn't care he wanted to take advantage, desperate for a father. Her son ends up going to juvi because Frank is terrible and she exacts revenge on the family. It's amazing yet terrible to see Frank at work. He ruins everything, but that does make for a notable season.

Season 5

In season six Lip has found his place in college, a relationship with a professor not withstanding, Fiona has ruined another relationship, and Debbie is pregnant. Fiona married a guy, cheated on him, cheated again, and then is somehow mad he wrote a disparaging song about her. Carl emerges from juvi and starts selling guns at school. You think he'll get caught, but he ends up supplying most of the teachers with weapons.
Fiona starts a new relationship with Sean (Dermot Mulroney) which seems like a bad idea as he has a past. This season is a point where the most Gallaghers have it together at one time. Fiona is planning a wedding. Debbie is finding her way while raising a child. Ian is an EMT. Carl has a surprising turn when he decides he wants to be a cop. That's soon followed with Lip slipping. He starts failing classes and also loses his girlfriend and housing. To conclude the season, Frank blows up everything to little surprise.

It can be difficult for shows to keep my attention through seven seasons. This show manages to always find a new way to be ridiculous. Some of these character arcs are absolutely wild. I appreciate this show lets the kids grow up and never tries to stay in the past.
In season seven, Fiona decides to focus on herself and stop raising everyone else. That works as they're mostly adults now. That's a problem for Debbie who was hoping Fiona would raise her kid. Frank's found a new fake family since he doesn't like his actual family. Lip has an internship that he doesn't like since he's the intern. Midway through the season Fiona, Lip, and Carl all have prospects. I didn't expect for Carl to get it together. Frank starts a halfway house, but of course that's for selfish reasons. He's never been altruistic. Towards the end of the season everyone seems to be on track. You figure it can't last, but this season's end is hopeful.

In season eight, Liam is going to private school as he's their token black kid with the school making sure every visiting parent sees him while touring. Fiona gets into real estate and becomes a landlord. Lip is in meetings and getting back on track. Carl starts a detox program.
This is one of the less depraved seasons, but it's also the silliest. This introduces a lot of wild plots. Frank becomes Francis and wants to give back. That's before he begins targeting women at Liam's school. Kevin goes country, and that episode feels like filler. Ian starts a cult. I appreciate that his story is social commentary, but it's not grounded. Frank also starts a Canadian smuggling ring. All of that, plus Svetlana was never an interesting story. Fiona deals with squatters that are acting like Gallaghers. They're also suing her and there's no way they'd win. This season creates so much unreasonable drama, even for this show. I'm not saying I like the depraved train wreck of the first six seasons, but it kept your attention. This season is wild even for this show. In episode eleven, the way Frank walks into the kitchen while everyone is passed on and knows exactly what to do without asking is odd, scary, and so Frank.

Season nine seems like a course correction after season eight. It concludes some wild plot lines. Ian is in jail and leading a prison faction. Frank is a gigolo for moms at Liam's prep school. This season is fun with Liam getting older and getting into trouble. For a stretch he was the lone Gallagher that had it together. In episode four Frank campaigns for Mo White. Of course Frank is skimming and his candidate has probation issues. Fiona, Frank, and Ian have a showdown at the polls. Fiona is expanding her real estate portfolio, but she might be in over her head. In episode eight we see her stumble and throw it all away. She had come so far and now she's spiraling and destroying everything. I think her plot arc this season is rushed as this was her last season. Rumors for why she left are a combination of a pay dispute and wanting to pursue other projects. It's not speculation that she created difficult working conditions. Stories are that she would yell at cast and crew, everyone except for William H. Macy. Rumor is she drove other actors to consider leaving the show. That's why her apartment plot line this season kept her separated from everyone else. She doesn't share the screen with the main cast.
Season nine is out there. It's either the show or me binging this many seasons. It's disappointing to see how far Fiona falls. This show has shown that Gallaghers can always come up with money, but it's an influence from outside the show. Frank's Hobo Loco episode is ridiculous, it's like the show is making fun of itself.

In season ten, Lip has a kid. He's been heading in that direction for a while. Frank develops a friendship with Mikey (Luis Guzman), another homeless scamp that's nearly as bad as Frank. Ian is out of prison and adjusting to probation. Carl might be a cop, which you never would have expected from the first few seasons. Frank's past misdeeds come back to get him, but this is a bit extreme. It seems so certain that Frank will go to jail that you assume he'll get out of it somehow. That defies belief and reality. Lip considers moving away, but Fiona is the guardian of the kids. What happened when she left? In later seasons the show just doesn't care about details like paying bills and custody. Towards the end of this season it feels like the show has run out of ideas. Characters are imitations of themselves. It's especially worse after Frank's ordeal and subsequent escape. At the end of the season, many characters are starting on their next phase. Season eight feels like the start of the decline. It's not just Fiona's departure, but the characters also aren't together as much. The first few seasons showed how this family survived, using whatever scams and shortcuts were possible. Later seasons stray from that, focusing on some of the sillier plot lines.

Season eleven is the final season. It's amazing this show has spanned three different presidents and in this season deals with the pandemic. In an arc that starts early with Frank forgetting things, you now that's going to become a big part of the narrative. Your assumptions about that are probably right. Carl's experience as a cop leads him to discover that corruption is rampant. He finally finds his place as a traffic cop, ticketing the rich and giving a break to the poor. Ian and Mickey might be the funniest and most unlikely couple, but that humor is also why later seasons feel less grounded.
Frank steals a multi-million dollar painting but can't remember the act. That feels like a farce. Many of the characters leaving is telegraphed from nearly the beginning of the season.
This is my least favorite season. From the start it's clear it's on the way out. It opts for an overly emotional final episode, and that's never been this show. It should have gone out the way they came in, scrapping to make ends meet.

If I had to rank my favorite seasons, which is difficult with so many seasons, I'd have to rank the seasons as three, one, five, four, two, seven, six, nine, eight, ten, eleven. I tend to lean toward the light and funnier seasons, but season eight is a wild season and not in a good way. Season eleven telegraphs the final episode from nearly the beginning.

In the first few seasons, laughing at this destitute family felt callous. More than just getting used to this show, it slowly became less about surviving America while being poor and more about crazy schemes. It's an enjoyable show. You root for the Gallaghers, at least some of them, to get a win and get ahead in life. Not many shows can stay good for so long. Seven seasons is a good run, and even after that this still wasn't a bad show. While my interest wavered in season eight, I never thought about quitting. The final episode seems like a victory lap on the way out. You don't want to skip it, but it's also the worst example of the show.