Shameless - "Daddyz Girl' Review

“I’m happy with who we are. Even if you’re not.” -Ian

As we approach the season finale of Shameless, I find myself loving the show more and more every week. I liked the show from the beginning but I feel it’s really come into it’s own. Nothing has really dramatically changed structure wise since the pilot, but yet it continues to get better. The reason is so simple, yet many shows choose to ignore it: character development. Shameless has a host of characters and yet we know each and everyone of them. We may not like some, *cough* Frank *cough*, and others we have deep empathy for, like Fiona. Too often we can get caught up in the debate about serialized drama versus episodic or one camera shows or multi, but ultimately it all comes down to characters. People spent many years trying to find out what going to happen on Lost and lost the ability to enjoy the characters. Shameless has let us enjoy and grow with their characters, while still keeping us very much engaged in the story.

This week was all about raising the stakes. Characters and plot fall short if there are no obstacles to overcome and there is no danger involved with the decisions they make to overcome that obstacle. I’m not talking about Fiona deciding whether or not to jump off a cliff or not, but each decision she makes has consequences and thus has risk. It’s clear that she likes Steve, but up to this point, it’s also seemed like she needed him too. Steve was Fiona’s ticket to luxury and normal life. I wondered last week if the show took all the money away from Steve, if they would stay together. What happened instead was, Shameless introduced Jasmine who started showering Fiona with many gifts, but none more important than a job. Now Fiona doesn’t need Steve for stability monetarily, but rather emotionally. And with Steve in a lot of trouble with Tony, it looks like we could be back to independent Fiona. I don’t want Steve to leave, but I do think the honeymoon is over and he is going to have to do some serious work to get Fiona back, assuming he loses her.

In Philip and Ian’s quest to find Ian’s real dad, we learn a lot about their ideas for what they think of the Gallagher family and their life as a whole. It seems as though Lip is the one destined to make it out of the hood. He’s starting to have feelings for Karen, who we’ll get to in a second, and he keeps thinking about going to school. Ian is content, he doesn’t have the brain that Lip has. So just as we’re starting to root for a Gallagher to make it out, the show raises the stakes once again and gets Lip and Ian arrested. Lip will no doubt take responsibility and we are left wondering just what could have been. Through this obstacle, Shameless has now given us a rooting interest. Due to great character development over the course of the season we care very much what happens to Lip. Just another example of how the show is succeeding.

Perhaps the character that took me by surprise the most this season is Karen Jackson. She just started out as Lip’s friend with benefits, but has recently really come into her own as a force on the show. Shameless focuses a lot on “daddy issues” whether is be Frank, Steve’s perfect father, or in this case Eddie. Eddie got it into Karen’s head that he cared about her, but after learning of her many sexual encounters, he screamed at her and called he a whore, which she now has tattooed on her arm. When she was first upset, I thought it was more superficial. I thought she was just mad because he wouldn’t get her the car he promised to get her. It turns out, there’s only so much a kid can take. Karen embarked on a rage induced depression crusade where it appears her only goal is to make her father miserable. She spray paints his room, breaks his car window, cuts her hair, pierces her body, and starts a cam website. At first it was a type of diary, but she took it to the next level when she filmed her and Frank having sex in his room. Shameless really kicked it up a notch here and this splash will surely have rippling effects on all members of the Gallagher family.

All that being said, I can’t wait for the season finale next week. I’m curious whether we’ll get some form of closure on this season or if it will be left open ended. Either way, I don’t anticipate being let down in any way.

Other thoughts:

Hearing Emmy Rossum singing badly reminds me just how great of a singer she actually is. She at a young age of 18, played Christine in the movie remake of Phantom of the Opera. I half expected her to belt out some great notes and Steve try and market her voice. But that’s a different show altogether.

As someone who uses a pneumatic staple very often, one staple through the hand wouldn’t cause that much damage. You’d be out for a week tops. I’m not mad or anything, because I realize that injury needed to be one that still allowed for him to come home and sleep with Karen.

I found it particularly amusing when Carl made the impression of his middle finger in the needle toy. They’ve done a good job keeping him consistent. It was also great when he tried to hit on the 12 year old in the truck. Subtle, but good.

Just how many show is Brad William Henke on right now? He’s Coover Bennet in Justified, Ernie Moosekian in The Chicago Code and now Hal in Shameless! Good for him. Good work if you can get it.