Although Shameless has it’s moments of hilarity; such as Kev realizing that circle, is in fact, spelt with a c and not an s, it also has it’s moments where it just shatters your heart. Even though there are MANY, here’s a list of some of the most painful.
Needless to say, major spoilers ahead!
The following contains mentions of suicide, death, rape, and substance abuse.
8. Carl Trying to “Heal” Frank
After Frank shaved Carl’s head to “heal him” after lying and saying he had cancer, Carl mimics these actions to try and save his father from very near-death by shaving his head to “let the sun rays in” to cure him from the effects of a long life of drug addiction and binge-drinking.
7. Liam’s Accident
Fiona throws a party and to celebrate, she uses coke. Unfortunately, in Gallagher style, the celebration takes a turn for the worse when Liam somehow gets access to it, and is found unconscious on the kitchen floor by Debbie. Liam is taken to the hospital with acute cocaine toxicity with a dangerously fast heart rate and Fiona is arrested for negligence and possession of illegal drugs. So much for the party.
6. Mickey’s Rape & Marriage
After the horrible Terry Milkovich catches his son Mickey with Ian in the middle of an intimate moment, the two are badly beaten, Mickey getting the heavier beating. F-slurs and vulgar words are thrown at the two boys, and Terry pulls a gun when Ian tries to escape. Terry proceeds to call a prostitute named Svetlana to try and “turn” Mickey straight and forces Ian to watch. A few episodes later it is revealed that Svetlana is pregnant and is to marry Mickey within that same month. The whole situation is a horrifying nightmare.
5. Monica’s Suicide Attempt
After what started out as a happy Thanksgiving dinner, Monica (who is in the middle of a depressive episode) excuses herself to wash her hands. The happy chatting continues and even Debbie’s homeless friend Conrad joins the feast. The Gallaghers, Kev, and V then hear something fall in the kitchen and go to investigate, where they discover Monica bleeding badly on the floor after her suicude attempt. Fiona calls 911, Jimmy Steve attempts to stop the bleeding and the kids watch in horror until V takes them upstairs.
4. Ian’s First Depressive Episode
A few days after Mickey and Ian make their relationship publicly known, viewers may have believed that things were going to be okay, even if it were for a short time. But that hope was crushed when Ian appeared depressed and stayed in bed in an all too familiar way. The times Mickey, Mandy, Debbie, Carl, and Fiona tried to get him up they were all met with Ian either yelling at them to leave him alone or ignoring their requests. Fiona confirms that he is depressed and suspects that he may be bipolar like their mother Monica. Everyone is extremely distraught and while Fiona insists that Ian be taken to the hospital, Mickey refuses and believes that he and Fiona can take care of Ian in the Milkovich house.
3. Ian’s Manic Episode
After Ian is shown to have a questionable amount of energy, is bouncing from one idea to another and after fighting with Mickey, he drives off with Yevgeny (Mickey’s son). He ignores all calls from Mickey and his family and leaves them all wondering were he is going and why he left without telling anybody anything. Although he never hurt, nor intended to hurt Yev he leaves him alone in a car to try and get some money. A bystander calls the police and when Ian returns, looses it and begins berating the cops and the woman who called them. He runs away from the cops with Yev but does not make it far, and breaks down crying. Ian is arrested but later released and is taken to a psych ward. His goodbyes to Yev, his family, and Mickey are sad enough to watch, but when Mickey hugs him and asks a nurse if he can go in with him really just adds to the hurt.
2. Fiona’s Speech to Monica
Fiona’s relationship with her mother is a rocky one, as Monica abandoned the family when Fiona was in high school, leaving her to drop out in order to care for her family. Monica never offered any type of support and just disappeared from the lives of her family. So when she shows up and is demanding to be able to take Liam to start a family with her girlfriend Roberta, Fiona looses it. She tells Monica that she has no need to start a new family since she already had one, which she has had no part of in years. She tells her of all the things she did herself and of all the accomplishments of the rest of the Gallagher kids, without the help of their mother. It truly is one of the best written scenes of the show.
1. Fiona’s Speech to Frank
Once again, Fiona is giving a speech about Monica only this time Monica is dead and the speech is to Frank. While Frank is trying to paint Monica to be a misunderstood angel that loved her family; Fiona tells him that she was a narcissist, who didn’t love her kids or Frank, and that she only cared about herself. When Fiona goes back inside, Debbie gives her a stack a birthday and holiday cards meant for her kids that Monica never got around to sending. Emmy Rossum’s ability to act in emotionally demanding scenes such as these speeches to her parents are some of the shows best moments, and are worthy of every award.
Image for number: 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Picture credit for number 6: Lily Barragan