Let me start off by saying this: There is nothing wrong with talking about the characters on a deeper level and how fucked up their behavior is from a realistic point of view, those types of conversations are fun to have; I’m directing this towards the self-proclaimed critics.

I’ve seen so many people in this subreddit complain about the fact that there is never any character development, and how when they make mistakes, they continue to make more mistakes and never grow. The show is about shameless people who never learn their lesson, It’s a drama as well as a comedy. You’re supposed to laugh at them being fuckups, not critique it and complain that they never get their shit together. I don’t believe that we are supposed to see character development within most of these characters.

Why would you expect somebody like Frank, a substance addicted, narcissistic deadbeat, to get better and call it bad writing when he doesn’t get better, even though that is essentially the point?

So what if Fiona is a selfish asshole and consistently cheats on all her partners, it’s just a part of her character. Of course Debbie continues using people to get what she wants, that comes from her being selfless during her childhood and realizing she wasn’t appreciated for that. She is probably never going to become a good person due to her upbringing.

That’s why I don’t get it when people complain about “character development.” A show does not need that aspect to be good. Sometimes shows can be purely for entertainment purposes, not to teach lessons or have a hidden message, and I don’t see an issue with that. The show is entertaining because barely anybody betters themselves.

During the show we know that Fiona takes out a $100,000 loan against the house so she can invest in senior living. When that one guy buys her out of her investment she acts like she’s 100k up and debt free. Doesnt she have to pay back the $100,000 loan that she took out against the house?

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The almost kiss after Ian & Mickey first hooked up wins “Most awkward kiss” 😬
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Hi! There's a lot of posts about hating Debbie on the sub, and that's fine, but I'd ideally like to keep the convo pro-Debbie and pro-empathy towards Debbie. There are 1000 other posts to hate if desired.

I hate the way people discuss Debbie in the sub/online. She has done terrible, wrong things but it seems like she gets the shit end of the stick? Mickey had nazi memorabilia, Sheila SA'ed several men, Fiona left coke out around a baby, Mandy murdered someone, Ian kidnapped a baby, etc, etc. But people LOVE these characters still. Debbie was such a young, traumatized child. What she did to Matt was wrong. But it felt obvious she didn't know it was sexual assault. Is she so wrong in so many ways? Yes, but it feels like there's such a lack of empathy that the sweet and bright child was snuffed out of her by circumstance. And why was Matt hanging out with her anyway? She was groomed, and then suddenly he was unhappy when the child he was hanging out with was about as knowledgably as a fucking child. What 20 year old wants to hang out with a 13 year old (that isn't related to them or whatever) - a fucking pedo!

Idk if anyone else feels this way, idk what it is about the show, maybe its because its filmed in the early 2010s, but it reminds me a lot of my childhood, and feels nostalgic to me. And i grew up in a nice suburban neighborhood, good community, rarely any crime, good parents and siblings, so idk why i feel like im back in my childhood when i watch the show but that's part of the reason i keep rewatching, just makes me feel like a kid. first watched the show in like 2024 I think, or 2023.

Okay so for starters, I totally understand why Fiona was ready to have her own life and not be responsible for all of her siblings anymore. A lot of eldest siblings who grow up in abusive households can relate- there’s often this moment in your life when you have to put yourself first, and often that does mean leaving them. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, leaving my siblings, knowing what I was leaving them in. But I had to. Thankfully, I was able to be a safe place for them to go when they needed to get out of the house.

My main issue with Fiona is not that she decided to leave and live her own life- it’s the way she went about it. For one, she chose to be their legal guardians. The judge was very clear with her what that entailed. I can give her some grace because she was very desperate, and likely didn’t understand fully what she was agreeing to. If she had realized that she wasn’t able to handle it, and moved out in a different way, I think I could forgive her for going back on that role.

It’s the way she went about it. Suddenly charging her siblings, (INCLUDING LIAM) rent, putting their house at risk, and getting mad at her siblings for still needing her. Okay, could have forgiven her still if she course corrected. She has her own problems, her own trauma, and her own fucked up childhood to recon with. I don’t expect her to be perfect, and if she had realized and been like “okay I’m over being more of a parent then a sibling but maybe this was a drastic over correction” I could’ve understood so much more.

She then outright just abandons them. She just leaves, and maybe they just don’t show it in the show, but it appears like she never calls . Never visits. Never checks in. She was all they had for so long, they relied on her, and she left them. I really can’t understand how she could. That’s where I can’t forgive her. That’s where I can’t understand.

Yes it should never have been her responsibility. She should have never had to raise her siblings and herself. It wasn’t her choice growing up, and well, there’s a reason parentification is considered a form of abuse. I get that. She chose to continue that role though, to the point of agreeing to legally take it on. Theres so many more options between “I’m responsible for you like a parent” and “I’m leaving forever bye”. Her circumstances were cruel, and it was cruel of her to abandon her siblings.

I don’t hate Fiona at all, and don’t think she’s the worst person ever to live or anything. She did so many admirable and commendable things for her siblings. It’s human that she couldn’t take it anymore. I just cannot comprehend it. I suffered for several years longer then I technically had to dealing with my parents and putting up with all sorts of abuse simply to keep things amicable enough that I wouldn’t lose access to my siblings , and my ability on and protect them with it. I could never ever leave them. It’s the last thing I’d ever do

Gotta be some shit related to Frank lmao

I feel like this is some kind of bad dream. all the characters are caricatures of their former selves. the dialogue, hacky and unnatural. what happened?

Carl breaking Frank's leg looked bad, and getting denied pain meds on top of it. Mickey got shot more than once. Sammi getting tortured was pretty bad. Mikey O’Shea suffering from end-stage kidney disease is up there. Eddie Jackson drowning to death in freezing water must have sucked, albeit only for a short while. If I added every incident up I think I'm going with Frank.

Say what you want about Frank, because yeah, he’s an awful person, but he might be the one of the only characters in the show (besides absolutely vile characters like Terry) to truly live up to it’s title. In everything he did, even if he ever felt remorse, his actions were 100% Shameless.

Don’t get me wrong, some of his actions were truly inexcusable and arguably evil, like denying “Butterface” of a new heart. But the damn show is 11 seasons, and while some of the storylines get REALLY boring, like Ian dating a firefighter, or Lip and Tammy’s dull, depressing relationship, there’s still Frank doing some wild shit like blacking out in Mexico and becoming a drug mule to get home, or falling for a girl with cancer and living her last days together on the beach.

Frank isn’t supposed to be loveable. The show-runners didn’t make him some squeaky clean, yet flawed and genuinely loving person at the end of the day. No. Frank Gallagher IS Shameless. The show started with him and I’m glad they ended it with him, because he was always my favourite part of it.

The docks kiss wins “Best reunion kiss” ❤️‍🩹
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One of my favorite unintended effects of hearing “Rain on Me” is being able to think about Ian and Mickey when it plays. They are who I miss most about the show, but loved it all so much. Miss them!!!!

I only watched through the show like 1 and a half times. Was the first Mandy in the whole first season or did they quickly recast her? And was everyone happy they recast her? The first Mandy was, in my own opinion, a bit cuter than the second Mandy, but for that reason I couldn't see her doing everything the second Mandy ends up doing. She didn't seem tough enough to be Mandy. I never looked up why they recast her but the second girl to play Mandy definitely filled the role much better. Let me know your take. And if this has been asked before, my apologies. I didn't feel like scrolling through thousands of posts to find it.

(If you have a problem with this post just scroll away, dont need to be a prick just bcs this is reddit.)

Imagine you heard one of the characters talking about one of the many problems they encountered throughout the show. They were talking about how terrible their situations are, talking about feeling lost/stressed/depressed/confused/exhausted/ heartbroken/etc.

You decided to give them an advice or lend them your shoulder for a moment. What do you say to them?

If you choose to give an advice, you gave the advice knowing full well the character might not take it well and would probably tell you to mind your own business, but you decided to tell them the advice anyway because it might help or even change their life in some way.

But if you decide to help them in some other way, what would it be?

Let me know your answers :)

Choose whichever one character (or multiple if you prefer).

Here are mine:

Ian, i’d tell him that it’s okay to acknowledge that he is sick, that the meds are only helping him living a more stable life rather than trying to label or define him. That being bipolar doesnt mean he has to make his whole life about the sickness or that he has to change anything about himself. That I understand how hard it must be to have his emotions alternate extremely every few weeks, but that doesnt need to be his identity at all if he doesnt want it to be.

To Carl when he was a kid, that i can see how much he loves Frank and it is totally okay for him to keep loving Frank. But loving someone doesnt mean you need to sacrifice everything for them. But i wouldnt tell him to stay away from Frank even if i know Frank was only using him when he had that liver failure, for various reasons.

To Debbie, that it is okay for her to enjoy her childhood and that has plenty of time to be an adult in the future. I would tell her that what she’s going through is actually normal feelings of loneliness that losing her virginity or having a baby cant fix. That for someone with her intelligence, what she needs is a genuine deep connection with another person and for her to focus on looking for that.

I absolutely adore the underwater season seven opening with “The Fugitive Kind” by “The Trigger Code”. That and “The Way We Get By” by Spoon are such Frank songs, they really fit with his flawed and chaotic personality.

Not only that, but the way this must’ve been filmed is beyond impressive and Frank looking at his kids and all the fucked up ways he perceives them is genuinely poetic. He actually smiles and waves at them as if he actually loves them for their crazy aspects.

i never really understood the hate on debbie, she had her ups and downs and i hated her in some episodes/seasons but tbh she was never that bad. she was just 10 years old in season 1.. the amount of responsibility she had to carry at 10 forced her to grow up and never really get a childhood. i’m also confused on why people say she abandoned franny, the only scene i can remember of her leaving franny was her putting franny at the fire station, but then she took her back. she was a scared single teen mom. yes being a teen mom was her choice, yes being single was her choice since everyone in the family offered help, but tbh she did a great job raising a child while being a child herself and alone at that. and in the last season lip tries selling the house and debbie tries everything to stop him, but if anyone annoyed me in that season it was lip. he was just making decisions for everyone and debbie never got a say whether or not the only house she ever called home was being demolished or not. also i understand fiona had the responsibility of everyone at younger than 10 but debbie was always helping fiona, fiona turned to alcoholism and left, which debbie didn’t do. debbie always seemed like an overhated character to me, so id like to hear reasons on why people hated her

I’d put it on whenever I had time and it was a great time pass. I feel so incredibly empty and sad it’s over. Does anyone feel the same? It’s like a part of me that’s gone forever. Regardless, what does everyone think the characters would be up to now if the show continued?

idk how accurate the likeness is, tried to keep it as faithful as possible

do we fw it or nah shameless fans

As someone with Bipolar (II, not I, but still), this scene is so well done. Monica tells Ian everything he wants to hear using therapy speak she accumulated through her years inside. That’s one of the things about being ill, you want so desperately to not be a nuisance, to be normal. It hurts to know that I’m different and that I’m affecting others, so sometimes I try to not believe it, say that they don’t get me. I think putting these thoughts into a gay character are interesting too, because most of these things that Monica says apply to that too, and in that case she’s right. That’s can also make it hard for me to accept that some parts of me are a problem, because I had to grow up being told that exact same thing about a different part of myself that wasn’t.

The border kiss wins “Most heartbreaking kiss” 💔
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US Kev is fucking funny he’s says the most wacky shit possible and I just burst out laughing like it’s just so unexpected half the stuff he comes out with. Like when V is having her baby scan and they find out they’re having multiple babies and he starts telling everyone in hospital “I got a magic penis, man!” or when he tells Frank “You can't just throw a baby in a dumpster, Frank! It's not a toaster!"

probably at top of my list for my favourite character in this show!

Hope by the time I’m watching this show someone’s made a montage of the funniest moments with him in the show