Shameless - "Frank Gallagher: Loving Husband, Devoted Father” Review

“You know when a plane starts going down and they tell you to put your mask on before helping anyone else? Put your mask on Fiona!” -Steve

Shameless’s success is made possible by the way it’s relationships are built. We have a stake in every one of them and yet we don’t know why. Is it because most of us can commiserate with the Gallagher’s way of life? Or is it that in some way we’re jealous of complicated simplicity of their life. Many people are obsessed with getting the next promotion, looking for the perfect person, or trying to find purpose in our day to lives. The Gallagher’s have but one thing to worry about, survival. As simple sounding as the task is, Shameless proves that in the pursuit survival there are speed bumps. These obstacles cause heartache, laughter, and tension, but yet, the drive remains the same. Survive at all costs.

I’m starting to care more about the day to day living of the Gallagher’s. Their survival is incredibly interesting. I’m in no rush to see them better themselves if it means less of the scrambling to treat themselves to illegal delicacies that literally fall off the back of a truck. One of the best touches was when Fiona came home from her night out and seamlessly jumped right in with the faking of Frank’s death. No questions asked. Perhaps rather than wanting the Gallagher’s to improve their situation, we should be rooting for them to find happiness. Tell me you weren’t rooting for Fiona to take the night off with Steve. Tell me you didn’t laugh when all the kids raised their hands to the question if they at one pointed wanted to see Frank dead and seeing Frank be so happy that they answered yes. Frank singing “Family Tradition” at his own wake just perfectly encapsulates the show. We may not understand everything the Gallagher’s are going through, but we wish them well.

There is, however, one grievance I have. Why do all the kids care so much about Frank? Frank tried to sell a vet’s gold watch, rob a blind man, and stick up an old lady to try and get the money. What is something Frank won’t do? I need him to do something redeeming or else the show will become predictable. It can’t just be Fiona cleaning up after Frank episode after episode can it? The Gallagher’s don’t hold many societal norms with high regard, except for family. It’d be extremely hard for me to forgive everything Frank has done and yet continue to risk everything to protect him. Is there something he has done in the past to make himself this beloved by his family? Or is it just the fact that he is family?


Other Thoughts:

- In the ugly world they create for Emmy Rossum, they find a way to make Fiona unbelievably sexy. Her skinny dipping scene was perhaps one of the sexiest scenes on any show this season, period.

- The Kash/Liam/Linda love triangle is starting to get interesting. I wonder how long Liam will keep it up now that its not secret anymore. Kash helped him be ok with his homosexuality and now Liam is starting to be ok finding love in other places.

- Joan Cusack’s character is wonderful. We don’t spend a ton of time with her, but she has so many levels and we care about her. It takes a combination of great acting, writing and directing to pull that off. The sounds and sights they exaggerate when showing the world of Chicago come across as menacing and it makes us understand why the way she is.

- I think the relationship between Steve and Kev could be an interesting one. Two opposite guys both going after the same type of girl. I’m interested to see how much advice Kev is going to give to Steve and if it works. Though I do watching Steve bumble around trying to get to Fiona almost as much as I like the Gallagher’s scrambling to get fed.