Ever since Season 8 of Showtime's hit show Shameless was announced to be starting to film later in 2017, the anticipation for new storylines has begun. Fresh off the loss of Monica, that part of the Gallagher's lives seems to be in the past. As seen in the last few minutes of the finale, it is foreshadowed that all the kids seem to progressing in life. But, as we know by now, life on Shameless is rarely ever good for long. So here is a plea to the writer: Leave Lip Gallagher alone, if not forever then maybe just this season. He deserves it, and here is why.
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So, it can be argued that every character on the show has had their share of empathy-evoking moments. Debbie getting pregnant, Ian's bipolar disorder, Liam overdosing on cocaine only to cause the worst jail storyline for Fiona, these kids have got it bad and that's basically the whole plotline for the show. But, what Lip has that the other Gallaghers don't is the potential and skill of actual making something unique out of himself. Throughout the series he has always had obstacles plaguing him. First, he thought Karen was pregnant with his baby but it turned out to be not his, then he fell in love with Mandy who tried to kill Karen, ruining her life forever. In college Fiona's stint with Liam made it so that he had to be Liam's primary caretaker while also managing school, only to get kicked out after having sex with his teacher and drunkenly damaging school property. He has slipped in and out of alcoholism in the past few seasons and here he is at AA at the end of Season Seven. So what now for Lip Gallagher?
We can hope that in season eight there is a little bit of growth for Lip towards the goal of him ruling the world one day, or something like that at least. You can't just build up a character like Lip, and then have him fall to the bottom to be a Frank. Well you could, and that's what makes each setback so heartbreaking to watch. You want him to succeed and get out of Southside, so with every rejection of his goals you can't help but feel terrible for him because he puts himself out there. He has the brain that Frank used to have, but has yet to mess it up, and you just keep pulling for him not to. We see him dealing with his own personal consequences of the life he lived in college, and how every time he gets one step closer to success it is snatched away from him. All the Gallagher's seem to take failure fairly easy, to grow and adapt to do something else. But, Lip just has a harder time because of the constant reminder that he is second in command to Fiona. When Fiona went to jail, Lip had to put his success on hold, something he never planned to do the way Fiona did when she promised to be a guardian to the children. Lip also seems to have had the hardest time with Liam's overdose, and constantly held it over Fiona's head. Now he has the potential to get better, get the girl, get the future he well deserves. So, Shameless Writers, please, for the love of this show and all it contains, don't mess it up.
Let us root for Lip Gallagher.
