Shameless Season 6 Finale "Familia Supra Gallegorious Omnia!" Review
It's always a sad time when your favorite shows come to their season finales. The show you love and watch weekly won't be returning for at least 6 months and you are left with a hole that you need to fill. Luckily, with how many great shows are on tv these days, viewers won't have to look far for that next show to fill the hole.
Sunday night's season 6 finale of 'Shameless' was wonderful. With how our Gallaghers have been just beaten down and further demoralized this season, the finale gave them (or most of them) hope for the future while facing their biggest obstacles head-on.
Lip's battle with alcoholism took a dark turn last week as he nearly got into a fist fight with his professor/mentor as well as campus security. He was arrested, and in the finale, bailed out and eventually goes to rehab. Professor Youens was the one to post bail and pay for rehab, taking more of a fatherly role in Lip's life now that Lip's all but been expelled. Lip had a tough season and it really resonated with me personally.
Carl's transformation into a respectable young man has been fun to watch. With his criminal life (hopefully) behind him, Carl tries to gain the approval with his girlfriend's cop father. Carl has come a long way this season and I like this better tha "thug life" Carl.
Debbie's struggles with teenage motherhood really hit hard last week when she dropped the baby while falling asleep. Her rejection of the family's help in caring for Franny, paired with her inexperience in raising a child, has been extremely tough on not only Debbie, but the whole family. The baby's constant crying really raised tensions last week, but with Debbie beginning to come around and accept help, it has been a healing factor to the Gallaghers' family unit. Her conversation with the doctor during a checkup for Franny really revealed how much she needs help and struck home with Debs.
Kevin, V, and Svetlana's storylines have been absolutely insane. Trying to save the bar and then trying to keep Svetlana from getting deported has morphed into a weird 3-way relationship that actually seems to be working, despite initial worries from Kevin. They all keep the show's crazy level high and make for a lot of fun.
Ian's arc this season has been one of absolute triumph. Despite his struggles with topics of homosexuality, drug addiction, mental illness and his familial issues, Ian Gallagher has worked his hardest to build a life for himself. He's found his calling in life with his EMS career and fought hard to regain his job back because he lied on his application about being bi-polar. His relationship with boyfriend Caleb, serving as his emotional crutch, has helped to push Ian forward and help break him out of his own insecurities. Things got a little shaky when he went back to that strip club to get a job after being fired from his EMS company, but we then see him get his job back in a beautiful and powerful scene. I have certainly enjoyed Ian's character more this season than in the past.
The writers and actors on 'Shameless' do such an amazing job at making us love characters with so many flaws. They can also make us absolutely hate them just as easily, but only because we love them so much. This has never been more true than with Frank's story arc this season. Frank has always been the scumbag that you couldn't help but love, despite how shitty of a human-being he actually is. Frank is an absolute piece of shit that sometimes has glimmers of goodness in him, but always manages to turn his altruism into personal gain. Viewers can't help but love him despite it all. But the last quarter of the season has taken a really dark tone for Frank. His further spiral out of control has shown him to be physically abusive and violent, brawling with Fiona's fiance, Sean, even going so far as to "hire" a hitman to kill him. We find out this plot doesn't work and Frank is seen buying a gun to do the job himself. He begins stalking Sean with the gun and we're meant to think he plans to kill him. Frank breaks into his office before we get to Fiona's wedding.
That leads us lastly to Fiona's story this season. Fiona, for me, has always been the one character you know NEEDS to be the strongest for her family, but always messes up or has something bad happen to her. This season saw Fiona on the upward swing, with her engagement and wedding to Sean. However, history again repeats itself, as Frank spills the beans that he found Sean's heroin stash in his office at the restaurant. At first, I wasn't sure if Frank was lying just to breakup the wedding, or if he was telling the truth. After a few moments and looks at Sean's face, it was plain to see that it was true. Sean had still been using, lying and hiding it from Fiona the entire time. Sean's son is present and hears Frank's news and runs off. Our final scene with Fiona shows her sitting outside of the church, having the conversation with Sean about his use. He reveals everything but has to leave to try and keep joint-custody of his son, who called his mother about the news. He wishes Fiona well in her life and walks off. Poor Fiona is left and will no doubt have a really hard time at the start of next season. Let's hope a drug relapse isn't a possibility, and I hope she has more self-respect to not sleep around.
'Shameless' is one of the best character-driven shows on tv and one of my favorites. Though I'm sad the season is over and that my fiance and will have to wait 6 months to see our Gallaghers again, I was left with a mainly positive outlook for our characters going into next season (sorry, not you, Fiona). This show, for me is perfect.
My rating: 10 out of 10
