Shameless - "Father Frank, Full of Grace" Review

“Life’s messy. People have secrets.” -Fiona

Shameless wrapped up its first season yesterday with a wonderfully heartbreaking season finale. So much of the talk about Shameless was people being upset with the Gallagher’s and how they choose to live. If the Gallagher’s don’t care about their own lives, why should I? I think that some people had a hard time grasping the notion that not every person has a desire to “move up” in life. Remember that Shameless is a British show originally and across the pond the notion of the lower middle class sticking its nose at the upper class elite is a long standing tradition. The idea of the American Dream is still present in the United States however. People want to make enough money to be comfortable, to be rich. Not many are ok with the idea of not knowing how they’re going to play rent next month. This is why the Gallagher family is so polarizing in the public’s eyes. Here we have a family that is, at the center of it all, happy. Sure they have a myriad of problems and a lot of history to overcome, but they stick up for one another. They grasp the concept of love and who are we as an audience to hold that against them? The show needs to viewed through different lenses. I’m not suggesting detestable characters like Frank Gallagher get a pass. No far from it. What makes this show good is that we have humane and good natured characters doing the best with what they have. Frank does not fit that description. The show is about Fiona and her family.

Emmy Rossum turned in a brilliant performance as Fiona Gallagher over the course of the first season. Seeing her have to balance all the love she has for her family against the desire to be comfortable and selfish was a thing of beauty. The season finale was no exception. When Lip and Ian were released from prison it was nice to see her so relieved that they’re safe, but she still had the fire to smack them around and hold them accountable. Then as she was walking away, her knowing smile to Tony said so much. Fiona knows he’s a good person, maybe a great person, and she’s very grateful for what he’s done, but she is who she is and they couldn’t work right now. Another great Fiona moment happened when Ian told her he was gay for the first time. It wasn’t when she said, “I know,” because honestly I found that a little silly, but when she said, “You’re still on my shit list.” It’s a great moment for Ian’s character. He learns just how in tune his family is with him and that they care, but still won’t let him get away with whatever he wants. So it’s not surprising that Fiona chose to stay in Chicago rather than go to Costa Rica with Steve. She loves him, yes, but the deal has always been her plus her family and he knows that. Fiona’s idea of comfortability may rest in having a consistent job and bringing in a steady flow of cash. Steve will learn that he can’t take her away from her family.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Steve in season two. I was a little surprised when they didn’t bring up Steve’s duel lives to Fiona. It seemed like it was all but inevitable, however I’m glad they didn’t. Fiona needed to be faced with the decision to leave baggage free and choose to stay. If she would have known about Steve’s other life, it would have been Fiona sticking around because she had no other options. Now that she’s chosen to stay, the writers can fully expound on the Steve/Jimmy situation. Fiona has needed him for both emotional and financial stability, but now that Jasmine is in her life, Steve needs to be there as an emotional partner more than he has. That will be difficult with him in Costa Rica. I envision that the second season will pick up some time in the future where Fiona is stable and so are the rest of the Gallagher’s, but they’re not as happy. I think we need Steve in the show. He adds the element that money does not buy happiness.

Frank Gallagher is the show’s biggest concern going forward. He is such a detestable human being that it’s borderline cartoonish. Shameless tried their best by making him give a curbside apology to his son for sleeping with his girl. However, even that had him justifying his actions claiming that he was a victim in all of this as well. I will say, there was a glimmer of humanity when he jumped back into the urine stream. It was the most bizarre apology and acceptance perhaps ever captured on TV, but in Shameless it works. However, when I hear Frank claiming he’s the real victim, I think of Eddie Jackson. I never thought Eddie was a sympathetic character, but seeing what he went through was tough. Everyone abandoned him to the point where he took his own life at the one place where he felt happy. There wasn’t even that much hesitation when he decided to drop the cinder block in the water. The life that Frank lives is dangerous and wrong and it pains me to see him go unpunished. I’m not sure if he’ll ever change, or even if I want him to. Perhaps we need to hate him, but I’ll be damned if I ever feel any compassion for his character.

It’s for that reason that I don’t think he should be a focal point for the show. I think he is best served as a catalyst for other events. A great example of this is when he slept with Karen. The show didn’t go in a direction where it was all about Frank tying up all the loose the ends that that situation created. It instead let other characters discover the issue and then they handled everything on their own. Tell me you didn’t cheer a little inside when Lip started beating Frank in the snow. The south side of Chicago has a code. People look the other way on a lot of issues, but sleeping with a man’s young daughter is not tolerated. It’s good to see there’s some moral code in the world of Shameless.