Spanning six seasons thus far, Showtime’s “Shameless” (US version) takes place in the south side of Chicago, with a plot revolving around the Gallaghers. Comprised of an alcoholic father, an absentee mother, and six siblings, all of whom don’t really know what they’re doing with their lives, but are somehow making it work.
The best way to describe the Gallagher clan would be unpredictable, but also wildly compelling.
First there’s Frank, the father whose ways of parenting mainly involve cashing in disability checks to get drunk at the bar. Seeing as the mother left early on, 18-year-old Fiona dropped out of high school to take care of her five younger siblings, but not without a little help from her friends Kev and Veronica. The show primarily follows the lives of Fiona and her younger brothers and sisters, Lip, Ian, Debbie, Carl and Liam, as they grow up and maneuver their way through disappointments, heartbreak, and a lot of drama. “Shameless” piles together romance, crime, racism, homosexuality, mental illness, and other aspects to create a group of people you can’t help but root for, however dysfunctional they may be.
Now I must give a fair warning that there is a LOT of sex and profanity in the show, but beyond that lies characters that face the demands of real life, like Fiona who not only has bad luck with the men in her life, but also struggles through various jobs only to end in failure, all to support her siblings. The show offers a genuine depiction of human struggles, however exaggerated and shocking they may be. For example, Fiona accidentally letting her youngest baby brother Liam get ahold of cocaine in the kitchen, which in turn lands her in jail. But the important thing about “Shameless” is that it exemplifies people who are resilient, but not invincible, illustrating the reality that even the ones who overcome challenges are prone to falling once again.
The Gallaghers are the opposite of your ideal family with the white picket fence. Frank shaves his son Carl’s head to trick him into thinking he has cancer just to get money from a cancer foundation. Debbie deals with losing her virginity at a young age, Ian illegally joins the army, Lip can pull off a perfect SAT score but refuses to embrace his intelligence, and trust me when I say that crazier things have happened in the show. “Shameless” embodies many taboo topics and some may consider the characters to be desperate criminals in the way that they steal cars for a living or sell firearms at school. While it’s safe to say many of the characters have seen the inside of a prison cell, that doesn’t make them bad people. You as a viewer feel their frustration, and you commend them for the strength in their ability to see past the difficulties even when they struggle to put food on the table and pay utility bills.
The show opens doors to heavy topics that are told in a comedic tone, which is what makes it brilliantly entertaining. I think the way the story is told differs from other shows because you really see how each character’s experiences physically and mentally shape who they are.
Each character essentially has his or her own battles to deal with, which is what makes the show so relatable to the viewers. The absence of parental figures, the need to fit in and the battle not to conform Even if it’s not to those extremes as displayed in the show, haven’t we all been there?
Lastly, I want to applaud all the talented actors and actresses that are a part of the cast, all of whom bring forth personality and charm, executing their roles flawlessly. I could go on and on about each character but in short, they not only offer humor, but also a taste of realness. Their personalities directly reflect the name of the show, and that is what makes them praiseworthy. The plot doesn’t sugarcoat anything, it doesn’t scratch surfaces, it tells it how it is.
The most prominent message that the show gets across is that it is okay to be unapologetically flawed. I would recommend “Shameless” to anyone and everyone because it’s endlessly fascinating and has easily become what is in my opinion to be one of the best TV shows of all time.
