What I’m Watching: Shameless (Series Finale)

Shameless: Season 11, Episode 12 “Father Frank, Full of Grace”

Series finales are tricky because they need to do their best to provide a fitting finish to so much that’s come before in just a short span of time. In this case, there were 133 hours of content leading up to this, and so I’d say this episode did just fine even if it couldn’t cover anything. I’m impressed that there wasn’t undue weight put on new characters, with Heidi there to serve as a distraction and potential draw to a new life for Debs and Arthur as Carl’s new police pal who might end up being his partner in a cop bar, should that idea actually lead to anything. There were no big cameos, much as I would have liked to see Fiona in some form other than as part of a hallucinated flashback of Frank’s. We didn’t actually get all that many answers, with Lip likely accepting less than half of what he had hoped for and turning down Ian’s generous offer of his share because, like always, he’ll figure it out. Mickey played dumb for the whole day while Ian got mad so that he could surprise him with an anniversary party at the Alibi, and all of a sudden they might be able to have a kid since Tami is probably pregnant again. Debs was attracted to the danger Heidi represented, and that relationship might be akin to Ian’s romance with Mickey in that there’s nothing she can do to control her criminal partner. Carl is still a cop and doing what he’s doing, with an unknown future ahead of him. And Liam was able to recognize how his siblings had all depended on Frank at some point, and now it was his turn. Frank’s narration and levitating into the air as he rose to the sky was a strange device, but the notion that he would die alone in a hospital when he could have been surrounded by his family is fitting and somewhat tragic at the same time. I’ve greatly enjoyed and appreciated this show, and while I would have loved to see it continue for years and years, I’m very happy with the eleven seasons we got that I’ll be sure to revisit and recommend in the future.

Series finale: B+
Series grade: A-
Season MVP: Christian Isaiah as Liam
Season grade: B+
Series MVP: Emmy Rossum as Fiona
Best Season: Do I have to pick?
Best Episode: This Is Chicago!

What I’m Watching: Shameless (Penultimate Episode)

Shameless: Season 11, Episode 11 “The Fickle Lady is Calling it Quits” (B+)

It’s hard to believe we’re almost at the end, and even wilder to think that Frank might not make it to the finale. After everything he’s been through and the medical assessments that he’ll survive the apocalypse along with the cockroaches, him going out on his own terms in his own house would be pretty crazy. It’s very sweet that Liam wanted to spend the day with him doing “Frank things” and that he was serving as the kind of parent he never had for his own father. No one else had terribly positive news aside from Kev and Veronica, who managed to get a great offer on their house so that the only thing stopping them from saying goodbye to Chicago was their concern about the other’s feelings of longing, which were certainly stronger in Kev than in Veronica. It’s hard to watch Lip get torn down again and again, since he did do a masterful job negotiating with the woman who came and offered him $200,000, and now he’s sold all of the furniture and appliances with no offer to show for it. Mickey didn’t give his new digs much of an effort, but it’s nice to see that he and Ian have found some common ground in Mickey getting permission to pee in the pool in exchange for coming with Ian to a yoga class, something I’m sure won’t go well. I was worried that Mickey was going to go ballistic when he found out that the furniture they saw wasn’t actually included, but maybe he’ll make a minimal effort to adjust to his new surroundings. Debs was ready to give up hope and then she got held up by exactly the right person for her, someone even more volatile than Mickey, but I have a feeling it’s all going to work out. Carl getting demoted to meter maid after he went off on the rich landlord has given him a new sense of purpose, which is entertaining, though now he’s going to be obsessing over whether Tish is pregnant with his baby. I know that there’s not much hope, but I’m still holding out for Emmy Rossum to appear again in the finale since this show just isn’t the same without her. Either way, I’m eager for whatever bittersweet conclusion is to come!

What I’m Watching: Shameless

Shameless: Season 11, Episode 10 “DNR” (B)

This show is starting to feel a bit different as it’s nearing the end of its run. “All By Myself” playing as Deb contemplates what her life with Frannie looks like not sharing the same house as all of her family members is one such example, but at least it means the characters are getting a chance to decide what’s important to them. Ian made that decision for him and Mickey somewhat unilaterally, though I’m not sure there’s really any other way to do something when Mickey is involved. Moving to an area where one beer costs more than a six-pack on the South Side and runners are constantly shouting very clear instructions to those standing around on the sidewalk feels like a strange move, but it’s a new step. The same is true for Kev and Veronica, whose Kentucky relocation makes a lot of sense and will enable them to afford considerably more and actually do something they both want to do. Caring for Frank, who can’t remember committing any of the robberies he’s been doing lately, has fallen on Liam, who does seem well-suited for the task if not the one who should have to do it consider how very little Frank did for him. Carl taking a stand against police injustice by arresting the Mercedes-driving landlord played by Patrick Sabongui, who plays the chief of police on “The Flash,” was an interesting move, one that serves to support this show’s less than enthusiastic attempt to cover police brutality and racism in its own way.

What I’m Watching: Shameless

Shameless: Season 11, Episode 9 “Survivors” (B+)

It’s starting to feel like things are winding down, with a few shenanigans left to go before this show signs off for good. I was worried when Debs hatched her latest plan that she and Lip were going to head into unforgivable territory, but that calmed down very quickly when he understood the gravity of what Liam was experiencing, trying to get put either in a foster home or in juvy to avoid becoming homeless. That closing moment was extremely sweet, with Liam so happy to learn that Lip and Tami wanted him to come live with them. He really is the purest and least problematic Gallagher, and I think he’ll contribute more to that household than any of the other siblings would. Ian wasn’t exactly comforting to Mickey in his time of mourning, and it was a bit of a stretch to learn that Terry had fallen in love with a Jewish girl from a religious family, and that his conversion and studying didn’t impress her father so he just decided to kill him. On the note of religion, Carl got put back with Officer Tipping, whose newly serene attitude was worse than his previous do-nothing obsession, but at least he’s back to being bored and not being complicit in criminal activity. On that note, Lip and Brad seem to be off the hook now that a mob boss only wanted to use their talents, not torture them to get them to admit what they did. Kev is going to have some serious explaining to do to Veronica when he does find his two daughters who ate a bunch of pot brownies, and maybe that’s how she’ll be able to convince her mother to move back to Chicago.

What I’m Watching: Shameless

Shameless: Season 11, Episode 8 “Cancelled” (B+)

It felt a bit strange to see the entire family gathered in a hospital room at the end of the episode waiting to hear news of how Frank is doing since he’s never exhibited the same care for the wellbeing of any of them, but I suppose he hit a new low when he stripped down in front of the man he thought was a bully from his childhood. Lip telling him that they were there because of his alcoholic dementia sounded angry since he was clearly blaming Frank for his fate but also acknowledging that they would have to, in some way, take care of him now that he’s actually not capable of taking care of himself. Things could turn out like they did for Terry, when he scared off his first two non-white nurses and then found himself asphyxiated by a no-nonsense nun who believed he was evil. Mickey appeared to be very sentimental towards his father, something Ian couldn’t quite understand. After Lip held up well under questioning at the police station, Tami saved the day by moving the bikes, but she did seem to get a bit too into the criminal lifestyle and express eagerness to “get rid of” Brad. Kev planning a surprise wedding for Veronica was sweet if somewhat random – I guess I forgot about that storyline, whenever it was. Debs went all-out in self-destructive behavior, and her unwillingness to even talk to Sandy when she was there waiting on her doorstep was rather harsh. Carl just can’t seem to find an honest cop who actually does policework, and he was clever enough to use his connections to help Lip and to crash a fancy car into a parked car right outside the Alibi to save his friends from getting shut down. Frank may not be a role model for anyone, but the idea that no one’s name was good enough for the school does border on absurd.

What I’m Watching: Shameless

Shameless: Season 11, Episode 7 “Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake” (B)

This episode felt a bit more cringeworthy than usual because it wasn’t just our favorite characters making depraved decisions but instead doing things that were absolutely stupid and sure to have very problematic consequences. Kev wins that prize for this hour, looking at the bike with the full knowledge that he shouldn’t take it for a spin and then getting pulled over, which might have been problematic enough without the cop being intent on buying the stolen bike. I’m not sure why cell reception seems to be so bad that Kev and Lip couldn’t get through to each other at any point, but this last-ditch effort to cobble together enough money to avoid living with Tami’s family falling through was enough to push Lip to the edge. Debs was already riled up by Sandy’s lack of desire to be a mother to her son, and Lip showing up with a sledgehammer seemed to really scare her. The police couldn’t have come to question Lip at a worse time, and I hope that his family, both the Gallaghers and Tami, will be there for him. It was good to see Liam taking a stand for himself after some guidance from Veronica, while Carl managed to mess his situation up in a major way by accusing the latex-averse Tish of plenty of things that she hadn’t actually done. Watching Frank wander around Chicago so impossibly lost produces complicated feelings, because he was using his newly-diagnosed dementia as a way to con others until he lost sight of where he was, deserving of compassion but also unlikely to give it to anyone else under similar circumstances.

What I’m Watching: Shameless: Hall of Shame

Shameless: Hall of Shame: Episode 6 “Frank: Ghosts of Gallagher Past” (B-)

I’d say this was the weakest of the hall of shame episodes, which I’m still glad we got since it was an entertaining reminder of just how much material this show has covered in its eleven seasons. I think that I just wasn’t all that impressed by the framing device that found Frank encountering three different people from his past, present, and future who were supposed to remind just how terrible a person he is. There also wasn’t any mention of the alcoholic dementia diagnosis that he’s just received and the fact that he might end up meeting a sadder and more dramatic end than anyone anticipated that could even pull at the heartstrings of the children who have literally tried to kill him on a number of occasions. An entire montage dedicated to things being inserted into a part of his body made the tone considerably more comical, while shots of him putting a toothbrush down his pants and choosing the opportunity to win a drinking contest over tending to his miscarrying girlfriend didn’t show him in the best light. Turning down Dottie’s new heart right before he had sex with her until she died was another low moment, and I think his existence is best summed up by that preview of the two things that would remain after the apocalypse: cockroaches and Frank Gallagher. This nostalgia trip has been a nice way to ensure that almost every week had plenty of Gallagher craziness, and I’m looking forward to getting back to the final episodes of new content over the next few weeks.

What I’m Watching: Shameless: Hall of Shame

Shameless: Hall of Shame: Episode 5 “Go Fiona on Them” (B+)

I’ve been wondering since this slate of special episodes started whether we were going to get one about Fiona, and I’m very glad that we did. It did feel a bit odd that Fiona herself wasn’t featured in its framing, and it seems like a foregone conclusion that Emmy Rossum won’t make a return appearance for the finale since this reality show contest storyline doesn’t scream ambition. This did serve as a formidable reminder of just how great she was on this show, and how lamentable it is that she barely got any critical recognition for her performance. A good chunk of this hour wasn’t actually about Fiona but instead about the siblings she raised and about how terrible a role model Frank was until he turned out to be a whole lot like her, but it’s always good to see the ensemble featured if I and I’m sure many others would love to have Fiona come back to see all of her siblings off when this show ends in just six weeks. What these retrospectives have done more than anything is to make me want to go back and watch the whole thing all over again, since I vaguely remember Steve/Jimmy and Sean but didn’t have any recollection of Gus. More vivid in my memory, for obvious reasons, are the more recent times when Fiona was a landlord and got involved with Ford, who ended up being just as duplicitous as the rest of them. Next and last up is Frank, whose montages are sure to be memorable, before this show airs its final four episodes, which I eagerly look forward to and dread at the same time.

What I’m Watching: Shameless

Shameless: Season 11, Episode 6 “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good....eh, Screw It” (B)

Two of this episode’s plotlines didn’t sit all that well with me, and that made the overall experience of the hour less effective than usual. While school shooter drills surely do happen in a similarly overindulgent way in real life, that being featured comically here as I was reading posts earlier yesterday about the third anniversary of the deadly shooting in Parkland, Florida felt like it was in poor taste. I thought that Carl was going to end up getting his latest female acquaintance pregnant even after she repeatedly claimed that she does this all the time and never gets pregnant, but then Debs went and made it about sexual assault, something that this show has already treated insensitively with Kev and doesn’t really need to revisit. On a more positive, dramatic note, Frank’s alcoholic dementia, which a lamentable development, is one that the show is handling very well, since there are clear warning signs but his family members hate him way too much to notice that it’s anything different than usual. Presumably they’ll be slightly kinder to him than Terry’s family has been to their patriarch, but I doubt it. I didn’t quite buy Sandy’s big apology, but Debs seems to have, and they’ll likely move forward together as a happy couple. Lip’s idea about selling the Gallagher house is not a bad one, and it would track for a final-season series development, one that might see all these characters heading into new and unexpected phases of their lives just like Fiona.

What I’m Watching: Shameless

Shameless: Season 11, Episode 5 “Slaughter” (B)

I’m not sure exactly what to make of some of what’s happening on this show. Its style has always been great, and I don’t know what the need is for things like that final scene where the bullet went straight up into atmosphere and then fell right down on Terry, killing him instantly. This show is wild enough without having Liam be an accidental murderer because he shot his gun into the air to scare off the Milkovich clan, and I’d much rather stick to the absurdity of Frank advertising a Unite the Right rally to get them out of the house and then causing violence as a result. Veronica canvassing and finding out that the only Black woman on the South Side was an Obama-hating birther conspiracy is more like it, highlighting the impact of gentrification and the futility of hard work. Lip and Tami getting evicted felt sudden, but now they have a murder house to live in which sort of fits with their fixer-upper vibe, though I’m not sure that they’ll still be able to afford it with Lip losing his job. Leesie tripping and getting partially impaled by her machete was a ridiculous development, but it does help Carl get out from under her maniacal grasp. I’m glad that Debs has finally realized that she, like viewers of this show, really doesn’t know much about Sandy, though she could have gone about it in a much smarter and more delicate way. I wouldn’t say that I’m on board with Ian’s logic that, if he’s going to hotwire an ambulance called in for a fake crime, he may as well carry a real gun, but it’s working for him and Mickey, so I’m all for it.

What I’m Watching: Shameless: Hall of Shame

Shameless: Hall of Shame: Episode 4 “Debbie, Carl and Liam: They Grow Up So Fast” (B+)

I suspected that this hour was going to be about Debs and Carl and guess it makes sense that Liam would be part of it too. It’s crazy to me that both Emma Kenney and Ethan Cutkosky were only eleven years old when the show first started, and that Christian Isaiah was even younger than that on his first appearance – only nine! All three of them worked out superbly, and it was fun to end the episode with Kenney and Cutkosky being interviewed way back when. I’d say that the structure of this hour wasn’t quite as sophisticated as the previous halls of shame, but it was still a blast to see the very violent impulses that both Debs and Carl exhibited as children and the many irresponsible decisions they both made. I most enjoyed Carl not even pretending to exhibit remorse and then insulting the judge just so that he could sent to prison. I forgot that Frank had made Carl think he had cancer and then used Liam to beg for money, and also that Fiona had her own issues that led to a rock-bottom moment of Liam getting into her cocaine supply. Carl getting his nephew arrested was also something I didn’t remember, and I feel like there’s so much more that could have been into each retrospective episode and easily filled an entire season for each character. Carl selling guns when Fiona told him not to deal drugs and ending up with all of the teachers pulling out what he sold them when they heard a noise in the cafeteria was another moment that only this show could produce. Of all the significant others, I think that Kelly was my favorite, though I also liked Dominique. I do not miss Kassidi, who I’m pretty sure was murdered, which was pretty startling but not something I thought too much about since she wasn’t a great part of the show. Debs didn’t have much luck in the relationship department, with Claudia and Julia being the highlight, and it was a bit strange that Sandy didn’t even merit an appearance. Liam is probably the most ethical member of the family, but he seems more than eager enough to let the Gallagher influence corrupt him.

What I’m Watching: Shameless: Hall of Shame

Shameless: Hall of Shame: Episode 3 “Lip and Tami: Once Upon a Phillip Gallagher” (B+)

These flashback episodes are really showing how much these characters have grown up since the show started. Lip is now such an adult, both a father and a partner to someone who asks a lot of him, but has at least become somewhat nicer after their initial meeting and her endearing “Jabby” nickname. While this show continues to be excellent, I forgot just how good this show was when it first started. I didn’t remember anything about Karen, that she had a baby, that Mandy hit her with a car, and that Amanda, his roommate’s girlfriend at college, was the one who made his relationship with Helene public after she felt that he had broken her heart. There was also so much criminal activity and so much smoking, but of course his most serious vice is his alcoholism, which was featured midway through this episode as he found himself unable to remember what he had done as he was being kicked out and also saw him watch Professor Youens experience the consequences of his addiction. I’m glad that it wasn’t too focused on Frank, even though Lip has definitely been affected by the negative influence of his father in his life. Framing it as a fairy tale or bedtime story to tell Fred as he went to bed was cute, and I enjoyed how he finally got around to introducing Tami towards the end of the hour and made it seem far more pleasant and romantic than it initially was.

What I’m Watching: Shameless

Shameless: Season 11, Episode 4 “Nimby” (B)

Parts of this episode felt a bit too formulaic and forced, and were really only worthwhile for the place they eventually got to. That’s truest of the Little Miss Southside pageant, where both Debs and Veronica gave in to their competitive instincts and ended up cancelling each other’s chances out, but it might have all not been for nothing since Veronica, despite being named as a drug dealer onstage, could have an unexpected political future as a result of her charged speech. The Milkoviches moving in next door to spew their racist views is probably something that should attract the attention of all the Gallaghers, but they seem too distracted for anyone other than Frank, Liam, and Kev to actually focus on that threat. Mickey and Ian getting hired to make weed deliveries is a smart plan, even if Mickey was able to seem like a military man by bragging about wiping out a village since he had no clue what conflicts were still ongoing when he was asked if he had served. I don’t know what exactly to make of Carl having to watch Leesie mistreat people and plant evidence, but at least he’s coming to terms with what he can do to make up in some small way for that general abuse of power. I was worried that Lip meeting Tami’s teacher who she was clearly still into would make him out to seem jealous, but instead Tami got to realize how wrong her situation was while Lip got the rare chance to be right. I was trying to figure out how I knew the actor, and seeing his name in the end credits reminded me that British actor Phillip Rhys was a part of one of the shows I first watched regularly, “24,” back in season two.

What I’m Watching: Shameless Hall of Shame

Shameless Hall of Shame: Episode 2 “Kev and V: God Doesn’t Give with Both Hands” (B+)

The second installment of this nostalgia series felt very different from the first, as if Kev and V exist in a different universe than Ian and Mickey, who were barely present in any of these flashbacks. We also got to see a good amount of Fiona, and it makes me hopeful that she’ll get a retrospective episode too even though I realize that’s somewhat unlikely since I don’t believe that Emmy Rossum has any plans to return to the show. I forgot that Kev used to have a full head of shaggy hair, and I think his new look suits him. Centering the antics of this episode around the assessment that Amy takes after her mother and Gemma takes after her father was a clever way to come around to Gemma being creative and able to market a skill that doesn’t necessarily call for traditional intelligence. I definitely didn’t remember the numerous times that Kev had to have sex with V’s mom so that they could get pregnant, or that Kev had breast cancer. I had also forgotten how much Svetlana changed their dynamic with her incredible sexual prowess and then bought their business out from under them before V got her deported. It’s fun to see all the clips assembled in this way, with V having been a nurse coming up all the times that she showed up to diagnose something or suggest a way of dealing with an injury. It’s nice that these supporting characters really did get such a showcase and feel just as much like a part of the family as the Gallaghers.

What I’m Watching: Shameless Hall of Shame

Shameless Hall of Shame: Episode 1 “Ian and Mickey: Daddy Issues” (B+)

I almost didn’t watch this episode because I hadn’t realized that Showtime was airing the first of six special installments sandwiched in between the regular hours of the final season of the long-running show. I wasn’t even sure if it was something I should be reviewing since it’s mostly not original content, but I’ll take all the “Shameless” I can get. I’m one of those people who used to love clip shows when they aired around the holidays or right before a series finale, and the advent of YouTube and instantly searchable moments doesn’t make me enjoy them any less. This show is a particularly fascinating phenomenon because the actors were all so young when they first started, and each casting decision turned out to be fantastic (though I really would have loved to see Jane Levy continue as Mandy Milkovich, had she not left in season two to star in “Suburgatory”). I knew Noel Fisher, who plays Mickey, from “The Riches” before this, and never would have imagined that he would have such a big role, and Cameron Monaghan, though he was seventeen when the show started, looked so young as Ian compared to the bodybuilding, much more self-assured Ian we see now. It was a blast seeing the montages of the many times Ian and Mickey had sex, both with each other and other people, as well as Mickey swearing incessantly and punching people over and over. I totally forgot that Marguerite Moreau was in season one and loved seeing her sardonically reviewing the security camera footage, and it was also great to see Svetlana completely intimidate Mickey by trying to give him what she thought he wanted. Debating whether Terry or Frank is worse was indeed a difficult dilemma, and Frank has certainly softened in a lot of ways from some of the harsher moments we saw featured in this episode. I will definitely be watching and reviewing these special episodes going forward – I love remembering all the best parts of this show.

What I’m Watching: Shameless

Shameless: Season 11, Episode 3 “Frances Francis Franny Frank” (B+)

I like when this show veers towards the dramatic, and not just with siblings saying potentially unforgivable things to each other like what Lip accidentally let slip about Debs not being a good mother. I didn’t expect to feel sympathy towards Frank, but when that’s happened in the past, it’s always been surprisingly resonant, like when he helped a woman to die via orgasm. In this case, it’s clear that his memory might be fading, which isn’t too startling given the many things he’s done to impair it over the years. While he did not succeed in getting Franny to the right school, he did give her a great day and help her feel seen despite the need to do sometimes to do things for other people, like make her mom happy by wearing a dress. There was plenty of arguing over the course of this hour with unreasonable expectations, like Debs thinking everyone else would just pick up the slack without her having an explicit plan for Franny and Tami assuming that the Gallaghers would all pull together to pay for the baby’s medical expenses. She should have just gone straight to Mickey, who got himself the best job possible as personal security and professional launderer for Veronica and Kev, who could really use it given his asinine behavior that got him robbed. Carl hasn’t luck finding a moderate or typical partner, but Leesie seems to check many of the boxes that he needs even if she doesn’t seem quite as concerned without the letter of the law.

What I’m Watching: Shameless

Shameless: Season 11, Episode 2 “Go Home Gentrifier” (B+)

It’s so strange to see Franny turning five years old since I can still remember when Debs, Carl, and especially Liam were close to that age when the show first started. Debs was the one trying hard to return to her childhood in by planning the perfect princess party for her daughter who couldn’t be any less interested. I enjoyed seeing Sandy and Tami interact since those two relatively new additions to the cast haven’t spent too much time together, even if all they were really doing was bonding over how overboard Debs was going for the party. There were a number of business developments in this hour, starting with Liam taking a stand to distribute free lunches to the kids at school labeled with “lunch debt” which feels like a very Frank move, seemingly philanthropic but surely with ulterior motivations, like the donations he was collecting or the fee he was planning on charging. Mickey wasn’t great at trying to make an honest living, instead coming up rather quickly with a plan to steal the dumpster full of expired food and sell it to the prison, a far speedier financial remedy than Ian’s carefully-calibrated hours. Kev and Veronica getting into business with Frank is clearly going to make them a lot of money, but not nearly as much as the sly and clever Frank plans on netting for himself. Lip and Tami discovering that their neighbors were the ones trashing their house so that they could keep property taxes down feels like a very appropriate thing for this show, an unfortunate realization that just counts as the way of life. Carl couldn’t have been more poorly-matched with a partner than Joshua Malina’s conflict-avoiding, eggplant parmesan-eating officer, but it appears he’s remedied that by getting him so drunk that he nearly died and probably won’t be fit for duty anytime soon. This show really is a blast.

What I’m Watching: Shameless (Season Premiere)

Shameless: Season 11, Episode 1 “This is Chicago!” (A-)

I remember thinking that the next season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” would be great because there wasn’t another comedy that could handle the coronavirus pandemic in a better way, but I forgot about what this show could do. The only other show I’m currently watching that’s dealing with our present state of affairs is “This Is Us,” and I love how this episode made everything about what’s happened as a result of the pandemic. Opening with Frank mocking social distancing and deeming himself an essential worker was terrific, and of course he’s someone who would believe that it was all a hoax. Kev and Veronica selling weed at the Alibi now that it’s legal isn’t nearly as monumental as the fact that they’re – unsurprisingly – secretly open when all bars and restaurants are supposed to be closed. The biggest effect that’s felt for all of them is the strain on money since the economy is doing poorly and they’re all struggling, and all that Tami wants is to spend more on things that Lip is cleverly able to trick her into not realizing that he’s substituting much cheaper options. Debs being a registered sex offender didn’t cause her trouble for long, and now she’s going to end up with plenty of jobs thanks to the Instagram profile Sandy set up for her. Marriage isn’t all that easy for Ian and Mickey, whose perspectives when it comes to both money and monogamy are apparently very different. I’m enjoying seeing Carl as a cop mostly on the straight and narrow, and I don’t have much to say about Tony and Kermit’s bathroom rendezvous other than that I appreciate this show’s investment in its recurring players. I’m very excited for the rest of this season, even though I’m very sad that it’s the show’s last.

What I’m Watching: Shameless (Season Finale)

Shameless: Season 10, Episode 12 “Gallavich!” (B+)

It’s a shame that this show is over, but at least we have one more season to look forward to before it signs off for good. What a season ender this was, with a wedding hastily pulled together after Terry burned down the original venue. I love that they had to put Debs in a wedding dress and hide the fact that it was a gay wedding to trick the owners into letting it have them there, and that Ian’s devoted followers were able to keep Terry from interfering. Of course Frank would know and have earned the ire of the owner, but he didn’t actually cause much trouble, and even provided a great honeymoon car thanks to Liam. I was thinking that Julia would make a perfect match for Carl, especially since she’s not actually a lesbian, but she may be getting the Gallaghers into much more trouble than she’s worth. Debs got to run from the police in a way that we’ve seen Frank and Fiona do from other people before, and something tells me she’s not going down for this. It was devastating to see Lip drink after Tami essentially broke up with him, and showing up to ask Brad to come to a meeting with him was the right move. It even seems to have brought Tami back to his line of thinking, willing to give the house down the street a try. This has been a fantastic season that hasn’t felt Fiona’s absence thanks to the richness of all the other characters who I can’t wait to see again in season eleven.

Season grade: A-
Season MVP: Jeremy Allen White as Lip

What I’m Watching: Shameless

Shameless: Season 10, Episode 11 “Location, Location, Location” (B+)

I didn’t realize that this was the second-to-last episode of the season, a realization that stings even more with the recent news that this show has been renewed for an eleventh and final season. Honestly, this show has had a long and great run, and eleven seasons is nothing to scoff at for any series. I’ll have to enjoy whatever’s left! Mickey’s dad showing up at the house threatening to kill Mickey pushed him in a truly insane groomzilla direction, which proved to be extremely entertaining. I thought that more might come of the florist rejecting the idea of working with a gay couple, but instead it was just all a run-up to Ian showing Mickey that he did care about something by finding the perfect person to sing Bon Jovi for their wedding, which I’m sure will be a blast to watch when it happens. Liam managed to find Frank so that he could stay at school, and Frank’s response to his wish to move in with him so that he could get enrolled somewhere better meant that Liam wasn’t interested in coming over when he was scared of the dark in his apparently haunted house. Of course it would end up being another squatter whose crystal meth made Frank feel right at home. Lip buying a house down the street made much more sense for a lot of reasons, but Tami didn’t react well, and their future together may now be in serious jeopardy. Kev was very smart to realize that he could make some money as a personal trainer and get rid of some obnoxious bar chores at the same time. I like that Carl is working as an informant – or undercover, as he likes to think – though naturally he ended up on the wrong side of the law with the cop wanting in on the take rather than to execute true justice. Debs splitting her time between a mother and a daughter was bound to end badly, and the corsage she forgot to take off was her undoing, resulting in the two of them fighting bitterly and forgetting all about her. She even got to rebound with a Milkovich sibling of her own!