If you have been anywhere on social media, Showtime's "Shameless" has been just about everywhere. With season seven coming out in just a few weeks, many are watching to catch up and simply cannot get enough. (SPOILER ALERT) But rather than just a story about a poor, dysfunctional family in Chicago, "Shameless" is about fighting, never giving up, struggles with poverty and mental illness, teenage pregnancy and growing as a family.
So, at first sightviewers will expect to see alcoholism, a dysfunctional family, sex and poverty when they watch the first episode. For some this might be a turn off, but as you continue to watch we learn so much more about the struggles the Gallagher family has to deal with. An emotional bond is formed with each of the characters as we reach further into the show and it is all the more reason to why I am going to shame you into watching "Shameless."
Frank Gallagher
Where does one begin in explaining Frank Gallagher. He is a raging alcoholic that will do anything and be anyone just to get a little money from someone. Screwing people over and poor, drunk choices are his signature. Regardless of what he does or how long he disappears at one time, his family will always be there searching for him-- until he really messes up during the middle of the series. Whether he is drunk, high, stealing money, or using people, there is one thing he does right; live every day like it is his last. Although being belligerent is not necessarily what I would suggest, learning to accept who you are and live the life you want is a good key point in what he continuously tries to get across during his drunken speeches. He drives his viewers insane and make us angry, but it is beyond entertaining.
Fiona Gallagher
Phillip "Lip" Gallagher
It is almost impossible to not fall for Lip Gallagher. He starts off as the bad boy who does not care about anything, but is secretly an absolute genius. After getting caught taking student's SATs for money, his college mentor pushes him to further his education. When his first love, Karen, becomes pregnant, he drops everything to be there for her and even when he finds out baby is not his, he goes back to her and tries to protect her. After being accepted to the University of Chicago and consistently resisting college for months, he realizes his true calling and his love for school. When trouble is back at home, his home/school/work balance becomes chaotic. He is then forced to take care of his kid brother, Liam, after almost overdosing on cocaine that Fiona irresponsibly left out. Unfortunately, his life turns into a giant mess after getting caught with a professor and he turns to alcohol causing him to lose everything-- including his job, his full ride, and his student status at University of Chicago.
Ian Gallagher
Ian's character development is probably the most important and obvious in the entire series. In the first episode, Lip finds one of Ian's nudey magazines, but when he opens it, he see's gay men inside. Ian struggles with his homosexuality and coming out, until Mickey Milkovich comes along. We fall deeply in love with these two as they continue to grow in love throughout the show, even though Mickey resists to be public because his father would never approve. When Mickey is forced to get married to a woman to under his father's orders, Ian runs off to the army, stealing Lip's personal information because he is not old enough. After months of his disappearance, he is found working at a gay bar in the city, while running from the army because the military is after him for trying to steal a helicopter. Unfortunately, we find out that Ian is suffering from bipolar disorder, in which he received from Monica (their mother). As his illness progresses, Ian suffers in denial, steals a baby and resists his medication, even though his family and Mickey are trying to help him. Depressingly, he leaves Mickey and learns to be alone. His near death experience introduces him to a group of gay firemen and he falls for Caleb. With the help of Caleb, Ian strives to fight his illness and becomes an EMT.
Debbie Gallagher
Debbie is probably one of the most mature characters on the show, until she becomes pregnant. At eleven, she runs her own day care in the Gallagher house and helps take care of Liam. In her neighborhood, teenage pregnancy was nothing new and to her is was necessary. Debbie constantly fights with Fiona about how she is not a little girl anymore and wants to keep the baby. She is naïve and is convinced her boyfriend and her are in love. She even lies to him about being on the pill so they can have a child together. But contrary to what she thought would happen, her boyfriend ran off to Florida, causing her to become single teenage mother. She deals with the neglect of her father and absence of her mother in a positive way and becomes a young, independent woman.
Carl Gallagher
Carl is definitely the troublemaking, sociopath of the group. His love for knives and dangerous weapons grow into money, drugs and guns. After spending time in a juvenile delinquent center for trying to transport pounds of heroin across states, he comes out and a completely changed young man, although not technically for the better. When he witnesses the murder of a child, his entire mindset changes and realizes he needs to get out of this lifestyle. When he falls for Dominique, he changes his entire mentality to become the boy she deserves. Her father is a Chicago police officer, and Carl take interest in that future career path.
Liam Gallagher:
Liam is the youngest of the Gallagher's the keeps the family as one. Since he is so young, all six of his youngest brothers and sisters continue to keep him safe and try to give him a life they never had. If there is anyone holding the Gallagher family together, it would be baby Liam.
Kev and Veronica:
Kev and V are the extremely supportive couple that lives next door to the Gallagher's. While Kev is at work as a bartender, V is as home making homemade sex tapes to post online for money. After taking in the foster child, Ethel, they discover that they want more. After months of being told their chances of getting pregnant were extremely low and a few very weird encounters with V's mother, both V and her mother are pregnant. Once the children are born, we can see the strain in raising a new family, but luckily they can work it out. There relationship is full of surprises and when Svetlana gets in trouble with immigration, things get very weird.
Mickey Milkovich:
Mickey grew up in a very white trash family full of felonies, weapons and alcohol. After trying to beat Ian up under his sister orders, Ian and Mickey find themselves interested in one another. At first, Mickey is very resistant in anyone knowing because he fears people will treat him differently, but as the show goes on he accepts it more. When Mickey's father, Terry, walks in on Ian and Mickey, his father beats them both up. He forces Mickey to marry a Russian prostitute, Svetlana (who we eventually learn to love), which causes Ian to run off to the military. He realizes that he loves Ian when he tells him he's leaving and Mickey quite whimpers "don't..." When he returns, he fights and supports Ian through his diagnosed mental illness, until Ian breaks his heart in ending it. There is only hope that we will see more of Mickey once he gets out of prison for trying to kill Sammie, Frank's eldest daughter.
We can see a physical, mental and emotional growth with each member of the family. Character maturation and growth, struggling with mental illness, teenage pregnancy, race, neglect and substance abuse are all important issues we hear in the news daily. So if you have not taken the time to binge watch one of the greatest shows around recently, get on the ball. Season 7 comes out on Sunday, October 2!
