stagmania

I get that-which is why I said I would understand if the show had Fiona just expressing regret for that decision or lamenting her past choice, but that's not what they're doing. They're having her behave as if not being their guardian anymore is a choice she can actually make with no repercussions, and it's not. She can't just leave Carl and Debbie to their own devices, she can't run away with whatever love interest is holding her attention at the moment and just be their sister. She's legally responsible for them, but the show is not being clear about that in the way they're presenting this story. Not to mention, given her past issues with CPS and her child endangerment conviction, that should be part of the ongoing story here.

There definitely seems to be an element of spite in the writing here. To claim that Mickey was an abuser is just unfair, and a complete contradiction to the way they wrote their relationship in seasons' past. In fact, in season 5, the narrative was that Ian was a terrible partner (due in large part to his struggle with accepting his bipolar diagnosis), while Mickey tried his best to help him deal with it and take care of him. Ian cheated numerous times and lied about it, Ian had increasingly bad manic episodes that affected the home and safety of the Milkovich family while denying his disorder, Ian made a porno with no protection, Ian kidnapped Yevgeny, Ian refused treatment again until he almost hurt Debbie, Ian hit Mickey and called him by homophobic slurs as a way of venting his frustrations, Ian ran away with Monica without a word to Mickey, Ian came back and harshly dumped Mickey because he didn't want to accept treatment or someone who thought he needed it, and then Ian shrugged and walked away while Sammi tried to kill Mickey. All of this is not to say that Mickey was flawless and perfect throughout these struggles-of course he wasn't, he absolutely was ill-equipped to deal with all of this and just trying to keep it together-but the idea that he was a bad partner that held Ian back just does not hold any water. Ian held Ian back. Not to mention that to go from a season in which Ian's disorder and his refusal to accept it played such a large part in his life and relationship struggles, to this season, where suddenly he's medicated and it's barely part of his story, makes absolutely no sense. They're just rewriting Ian to be someone completely different, and they're not interested in holding him accountable for his own past mistakes. Yes, exactly! They already did this story in season 3, and Fiona made a firm choice to take on guardianship. She was warned that it was forever and that she couldn't take it back, that these kids would always be her responsibility, even if she wanted her life back someday. So them acting as if her walking away from these kids is a choice she can make is just wrong. If it was framed more like her regretting committing to this but knowing she doesn't have a choice, that would make more sense, but that's not how it's being written. In both season 5 and now, she's considered moving away from the kids or just being their sister again, as if that's an option she actually has.

I agree with all of this, and I think the show's position, as evidenced by the "find the treasure in the trash" exchange, is that Caleb likes the challenge. He sees Ian as a fixer-upper, in other words, and he doesn't even know most of it. I'm pretty sure he knows nothing about Ian's illness (I'm not even sure if Ian is still taking his meds, since it hasn't been mentioned since ep 2 and they keep showing him drinking), and that will become a plot point later in the season. What I can't figure out is why the writers think this is a good thing. Caleb essentially wants to "fix" Ian, which is exactly what Ian accused Mickey of trying to do ("you can't fix me, I'm not broken") when he pushed him to be healthy and stick to his treatment, and the supposed reason Ian broke things off with him. But now he's all gung-ho to jump into a new relationship with a guy who basically told him straight out that he wants to change him. It's so inconsistent for Ian, and definitely plays into a kind of "savior" role for Caleb when they seem to want us to think he's super into Ian romantically. Essentially, none of this is hanging together for me and I don't understand how it connects to Ian's larger story or progresses logically from where he was at the start of the season. If the romance aspect was removed from this storyline and the focus was on him taking the steps to become an EMT (getting his GED, passing fitness requirements, studying for the test, etc) with Caleb helping out as a friend or mentor, it would make a lot more sense to me. But I guess that's not the kind of story Shameless is interested in telling.

The AV Club's review this week summarized so many of the issues I've been having with this season, down to the specifics of most of the storylines. The story is no longer character-driven at all (look at the way the house issue just got magically solved within one episode, without the involvement or even concern of most of the family), many of the characters are barely recognizable, and the widespread retconning to make everything fit the current needs of the plot has left me spinning and unsure who these people even are. For me, the only way to enjoy this season would be to forget everything I know from the previous five, and so far I haven't been able to manage that.

I'm struggling a lot with Fiona this season. Her characterization is just so tough for me to track from scene to scene-she goes from not wanting the "burden" of the kids anymore to fighting desperately to get the house back to keep them all together to saying she just wants to be their sister to crying because she can't take care of them anymore. And that was just in tonight's episode! Maybe the confusion is deliberate to show what a mess she is right now, but I'm finding it hard to follow and understand her feelings about her guardianship (which she legally cannot walk away from) at any given moment. I won't bother reiterating my comments from last week re: the retcon of Ian and Mickey's relationship, except to say that it got even worse tonight. And I agree with Joe Reid, Ian and Caleb have no chemistry and Caleb is not interesting to me at all. I really wish they had done this firefighter plot as a career and self-discovery storyline for Ian rather than a tepid romance. I really hope that was the end of Lip/Helene, but something tells me it wasn't. Here's hoping for at least a couple episodes away from it. And while I'm glad to see a more recognizable Carl return tonight, I hate the way Nick was used to get him there.

Well, that's a matter of opinion, and we'll just have to agree to disagree. I think the Gallagher siblings have done plenty of morally questionable things, and aside from criminal issues, have proven to be selfish in the extreme and generally terrible romantic partners. That doesn't make me hate them, but it certainly doesn't lead me to the conclusion that they are too good for any of their myriad love interests. Re: Mickey, I don't think anyone would deny that he is a violent criminal-he was raised to be one, after all. But I think he's a lot more than that, and was always treated as such by the show until this season, when they wrote him off and decided to rewrite history while they were at it. It's like the last several years of his character development never happened, and I don't appreciate the implication that the problems in Ian and Mickey's relationship were because of some defect in Mickey's character.

Because the show spent five seasons slowly building their story? Whether you liked them or not, Ian and Mickey and their relationship were a big part of the fabric of Shameless, as was the entire Milkovich family. For some of us, the show feels like it's missing something without them, and it's especially galling for the writing to basically pretend they were never there (Mandy) or never mattered (Mickey). As for Mickey being a "real bad person", I really don't understand that attitude at all. This entire show is about "bad" people who bend and break the law to survive. "When you're poor, the only way to make money is to scam it or steal it"-it's right there in the ethos of the show. The Gallaghers have all been criminals in one way or another (Fiona and Lip have both scammed people and stole, Ian has engaged in prostitution and kidnapping, Debbie is a rapist, Carl is a drug and arms dealer, Frank has killed and recklessly endangered countless people), and Kev and Vee were porn makers and pimps. But somehow the Milkoviches are terrible people while the rest are just poor with hearts of gold? If anything, I think it's remarkable how much Mickey was able to overcome his much more brutal home life to be in a relationship with Ian, and that's why so many were invested in their story-because we saw that character growth happen over five years. Just because the show is not interested in holding the Gallaghers accountable for most of their criminal behavior does not mean they are better than the side characters who get punished once the show is done with them.

Haha definitely not. I was nodding along with your whole post. You've summed up many of my issues with this season very well.

That whole exchange was odd in the extreme, for the reasons you point out. Ian knows what a relationship is, and he and Mickey spent plenty of time together where they weren't having sex (they worked together and lived together). Just because they didn't buy each other "flowers and chocolate" doesn't mean they never dated. I have to agree with the comment above that there seems to be a concerted effort this season to rewrite their dynamic and history and make Ian out to be something he never was. I really don't understand it, and as someone who really loved Mickey and what he brought to the show, I find it insulting. Advance previews for the next episode make it sound like it's only going to get worse on that front.

They really did start last season with so much potential for good character stories, but they squandered all of it by the end. I was hoping that season 6 would be a course correction, but instead they've doubled down on everything I hated most (Sean, Helene, Debbie's pregnancy, Ian dumping Mickey, useless new characters eating up screen time, increasingly desperate attempts at "shocking" "comedy", etc). Steve Howey gave an interview recently where he mentioned that the stories are now plot-driven instead of character-driven, and boy does that show. The characters are so inconsistent the last couple years, I barely recognize them from episode to episode (sometimes from scene to scene). The Gallaghers always had their flaws, but I used to find them rootable and was always able to understand why they made the self-destructive choices they did. I feel like I don't understand them at all anymore, and neither does anyone writing the show.

Amanda's reaction to Lip and Helene is frankly completely out of character for who she was right up until the end of season 5. But like all Gallagher love interests, she must be turned into the villain on her way out.

I know this show has truly lost me, because none of the stuff with Fiona and the house affected me at all. All of her blabbering about them being a family and needing to stay together just rings so hollow to me in light of her behavior over the last couple seasons. Last year she was ready to go on tour with Gus and leave them all with psycho Sammi as if it was nothing, but now I'm supposed to believe she's all torn up about them not living together anymore? Speaking of, the abortion is postponed yet again, and Gus is back next week. I smell baby daddy drama on the horizon. Everything with Lip this episode just made me want to rip my hair out. I don't buy him being this stupid or naive about his relationship with Helene. I also hate what they're doing with Ian, and find him to be nearly unrecognizable. This story isn't actually about him seeking out a new career or a sense of purpose-apparently he's nothing but a shallow slut now, and maybe as a side benefit his new boyfriend (who he has less than zero chemistry with btw) will help him get a job. Ian used to be responsible and loyal and had a great work ethic, but I see no trace of that kid anymore. He also used to be in a serious relationship, which the show is working overtime to make us all forget. Mickey who? I can't even talk about what's become of Carl and Debbie. I think the Gallaghers I used to love are gone for good.

I'm positive that at least one of them will have a baby this season. This show is obsessed with babies and pregnancy-there has been at least one every year since season 2. My money's on Debbie. And like others, I'm starting to get nervous about them stalling on Fiona's abortion.

I completely agree with this. Trying to force themselves into being a dark comedy (mostly for the sake of awards they'll never win) is what killed this show. Shameless has always been a family drama with comedic elements. The first few seasons were often funny, but the comedy came from a very natural, character-driven place. Now it's so forced it's painful. What, exactly, was the point of Yanis? I can't find one beyond the writers wanting a new mouthpiece for their particular brand of tasteless shock humor. Is anyone else getting the impression that Ian isn't actually on his meds? He looks like shit, always seems a bit out of it, and they've shown him drinking in every episode, which we know he can't do on his meds. I think that's going to be a reveal at some point this season, probably just in time to wreck his budding career and new relationship.

There is no answer that fits all the storylines. Shameless's timeline has been a total mess since around season 3, and they've given up even pretending to care. For instance, just with the start of this season, you've got Debbie still being early in her pregnancy (which was discovered in 5x12) and Fiona being less than 12 weeks pregnant (since she can still get an abortion) and thinking Jimmy could be one of the potential fathers (she slept with him in 5x06), while somehow Carl has already served 10 months (which he started in 5x09) and Mickey has been arrested, charged, tried, convicted and sentenced to 15 years, when last we saw him in 5x12 he was out and running from Sammi. That doesn't even get into the problems with the timeline of Lip's college story, which has always been all over the place.

Yep, it's hard to remember or track the story since the opening of season 6 basically completely rewrote what happened in the season 5 finale. Fiona chose to go to Sean despite Gus trying to reconcile, and Sean rejected her. That's how last season ended. And suddenly now she and Sean are in a relationship and we're left to fill in the blanks of how that came to be and what happened with Gus after that. I think the implication is that Sean changed his mind and she ditched Gus to be with him. Though I agree that calling it "ghosting" is a stretch and seems borne of an attempt to coin a new abortion phrase.

What I thought was interesting about that scene was that Lip didn't acknowledge that Ian feels that way in part because his siblings told him he's just like Monica. The moment he was diagnosed, all they did was compare him to Monica and shove her faults in his face and expect the worst from him. It was one of the most frustrating parts of season 5. I would have liked to see Lip own up to that and express some guilt. Also, knowing this show and its love of parallels and unwillingness to ever let Ian be happy for long, I have a strong feeling that the answer to this question is a foregone conclusion.

I wish I had any faith that this is actually where Ian and Lip's story was going, because I would want to watch that. But I don't. I'm fairly certain that last night's episode is the only real focus on Ian and Lip's sibling relationship we're getting all season, and they rushed through it. That could have been a multi-episode arc, but unfortunately the show in its current iteration prefers to focus on new characters and love interests instead of infinitely more interesting family dynamics. I think the final shot of Ian's story last night made it clear that it's headed towards a new love interest for him (something I have absolutely no interest in on the heels of his ice cold dismissal of Mickey), and Lip's story will be shifting back to focus on his doomed relationship with Helene. I hope that some of what you wrote here will make it into Ian's arc this season, but I think that aspect of his story will be more marginalized than I'd prefer. Fiona's unequivocal statement that she doesn't want this baby and doesn't feel any uncertainty about that was my favorite part of this episode. It's such a rare and refreshing thing to see on television, and feels very true to Fiona and where her life is right now. In my opinion, it's the thing that makes the fairly ludicrous double pregnancy story tolerable, so if they go back on that, or find a non-abortion way for Fiona to get out of this pregnancy, I'll feel cheated.

In the (admittedly dubious) timeline of this show, it's been roughly a year since Fiona actively fought for custody of these kids, and seemed to have a fierce pride and love for this family that she's held together. And yet now she's behaving as though it's a huge, terrible burden that she's always resented, to the point where she says those things to her little sister's face. I can understand her having those feelings of resentment, but I cannot understand the way she's choosing to express them. On top of that, Liam is four years old, and Fiona is the only parent he's ever known, but apparently she thinks she can just ditch that responsibility because she's decided she wants to do her own thing. I truly don't recognize her anymore, and no, having a couple Gallagher morning scenes isn't enough to convince me that the character I used to love and respect is really back. I think the show has completely lost sight of who she is.

Having already watched the Shameless premiere, I advise you to go with Sherlock. That was perhaps the most simultaneously tedious and offensive episode of television I have ever seen. The characters are near unrecognizable, and much of the plot and timeline makes no sense. This is a show that has absolutely no respect left for their audience.

As much as I respect that they're trying to balance the Jake/Amy stuff and not let it take over the show, the degree to which their story lines were separated in this one felt a bit unnatural to me. Jake had nothing to say about Amy's PR posters or the vandalism? I kept waiting for a reference or joke that never came, so it felt a little off to me. Still liked the episode overall, but I think they haven't hit on the right balance there yet.

The show has not made any sort of announcement, but they never do-they also didn't make an announcement when Joan Cusack left the show. But Noel Fisher has said he is not coming back.

Hello Shameless folk! Did you know that Mickey Milkovich just made it to the last round for the SpoilerTV Character Cup? They're about to post the final matchup-he's going up against Root from Person of Interest, and the competition is pretty fierce, so if you can spare a minute, go vote for him! Let this meaningless internet competition sooth the pain of the way Mickey's character was treated in the finale.

Thank you! That bothered me so much. I'm supposed to believe a woman who was just threatened with sexual violence is going to suddenly want sex a few minutes later?

New interview with Paul Wesley. He is so over Stelena, it's hysterical. He seems over the whole show, and bored with Stefan in general. Poor guy.