Abigail Tobis ’20, Editor-in-Chief
John Wells, the producer of Shameless, has done it again. Coming out with the ninth season, everyone is raving over this fan favorite. Although based off of a British television series in Manchester, Shameless is now an American, showtime classic.
The show surrounds itself around the life of single father Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy) and his six kids. The alcoholic father is fairly absent from the kids’ lives, and is constantly getting in troubles, forcing oldest daughter, Fiona Gallagher (Emmy Rossum) to take on the role of and caring for the rest of the five: Lip (Jeremy Allen White), Ian (Cameron Monaghan), Debby (Emma Kenney), Carl (Ethan Cutkosky), and Liam (Black Johnson).
The series presents life in a different way than most shows. The kids struggle through everyday, causing Fiona to have several different jobs and, at worst case scenario steal, because they have no other option. The family lives in a low poverty area full of crime and chaos. There is never a dull moment, either with Fiona’s love interest, Frank always getting in trouble in the law, and Lip trying to figure out what to do with his future. Showing the true importance of family might be one of the core reasons Shameless is so popular.
Season nine was released Sept. 9, and the plot picking up right where season eight left off. We have seen all the kids grow from season one, which allows the audience to get to know the characters on a personal level. The only character the audience did not really know was the youngest Liam, due to the fact that he was a baby. This season is when Liam is finally able to enter on a communication level, and we are able to get to know his personality and his character. He enters school and begins to get really close with his father, unlike any of the other kids.
In this season, viewers also find a different side to Frank than we have never seen before. He gets a job and is trying to change his ways by being a good father to Liam, but only Liam. This might be the one of the biggest plot twists the show has ever seen.
Lead actress, Rossum, is not coming back to the show in the tenth season, which has come as a surprise to many. “I know you will continue on without me, for now. There is much more Gallagher story to be told. I will always be rooting for my family. Try not to think of me as gone, just think of me as moving down the block,” Rossum said on her Facebook. Even though Rossum and her character Fiona have been the backbone of the show and the Gallagher family, she wishes to expand her acting career and prove her worth in places outside of Shameless.
What the producers decide to do without Fiona, the fan favorite, will be a mystery. It will be a difficult task to keep all the viewers watching, because of how vital the female character is to the plot.
Shameless can be watched on Netflix, Showtime, YouTube, Vudu, Google Play, and iTunes. Junior, Ashley Koth said, “The show is so inappropriate but so good.” The show filled with chaos, humor, and drama, presents life in a realistic, different way than any other show. This uniqueness is what sets this series apart from others.
Photo courtesy of ew.com
Lyon Life 