12
Apr
This Shameless review contains spoilers. Shameless Season 11 Episode 12 “We’re still here. We’re surviving, right?” Most people would likely not argue that Shameless’s best years are behind it. Showtime, its cable network, even briefly had a reputation for bleeding series dry long after they should have ended. However, even the most egregious examples of this like Weeds, Californication, and Dexter still pale in comparison to Shameless‘s episode count and none of them ever lost their series’ lead. It’s fair to say that Shameless is not as good as when it started or even how it was a few seasons…
05
Apr
This Shameless episode contains spoilers. Shameless Season 11 Episode 11 “We’re adults now. This is what adults do. They move on.” Shameless tows the line over whether Frank Gallagher is actually wise or just so high on his own supply that he’s convinced himself that he’s a street smart genius. The truth of the matter is irrelevant because either way Frank still makes bold declarations as if they were the word of God. He’s a non-stop repository for nonsensical advice and Frank’s teachings have been present through every season, even if they’re lessons that the Gallaghers actively ignore. “The Fickle…
29
Mar
This Shameless review contains spoilers. Shameless Season 11 Episode 10 “Why is everybody running? Nobody is chasing you fuckers.” Shameless was designed to reflect a more unpolished and realistic class of society that often gets overlooked or marginalized. It’s a show that sets out to humanize the alleged derelicts of society and showcase the grounded and prevalent difficulties that plague these types of people. Shameless has done an excellent job at representation towards lower class families and communities for over a decade, which makes it so thoroughly perplexing that as Shameless heads into its final episodes that a major plot…
22
Mar
This Shameless review contains spoilers. Shameless Season 11 Episode 9 “The only thing that’s permanent is impermanence. Change is the only constant…” Change is not an easy thing. This entire farewell season of Shameless has functioned as an examination of change from many different angles, but the characters have reached a point where they have to stop running and confront these developments now that there are only three episodes left in the series. “Survivors” is a busy episode that puts every character outside of their comfort zone and in the middle of transformations of various severities. Kevin taking over parenting…
15
Mar
This Shameless review contains spoilers. Shameless Season 11 Episode 8 “You can’t cancel history. It’s already happened.” Shameless is always looking to the future even as it considers its past. This reflection is typically a source of calm for the Gallaghers, but this season has been all about removing these characters’ familiar landmarks and comforting touchstones, whether it’s the dismantling of physical institutions or the metaphorical loss of old memories and a version of Chicago that no longer exists. Shameless season 11 presents the future as an intrusive and frightening force, but “Cancelled” finds a way to have pride for…
08
Mar
This Shameless review contains spoilers. Shameless Season 11 Episode 7 “Why do you still all live together? You obviously hate each other.” A tenet of Shameless that’s defined the series even more than its Chicago setting or lower class social strata is that the dysfunctional Gallagher family all live together in one crowded house. There are nearly ten people living in the Gallagher household at any given time and these close quarters are metonymic of the love-hate relationship between the Gallaghers that’s at the core of the series. This cramped lifestyle is uncomfortable and limiting in many ways, but it’s…
15
Feb
This Shameless review contains spoilers. Shameless Season 11 Episode 6 “It’s the end of an era…” Shameless widely advertised that this is the series’ final season, but this episode is the first time that it’s actually felt like the end of the show and that it’s getting ready to say goodbye. The first half of Shameless season 11 has been very messy and it’s even often felt careless at times. This is a season that’s been about change, both in respect to the Gallaghers and Chicago as a whole, which is a theme that’s been explored in many different manners,…
01
Feb
This Shameless review contains spoilers. Shameless Season 11 Episode 5 “One again it’s up to Frank Gallagher to save the neighborhood.” At several points season 11 of Shameless has reminded me of Weeds’s messy final year. This is not a positive comparison, but Shameless’s “Slaughter” creates several parallels between these Showtime series and the dissolution of their central families. Weeds doesn’t end on a perfect note, but its finale at least attempts something deeply ambitious. Shameless is headed down similar territory with its characters, but it’s not a show that’s ever stylistically rocked the boat. This has led to a…
11
Jan
This Shameless review contains spoilers. Shameless Season 11 Episode 4 “This only ends with death.” Shameless is at its strongest when it has a focused story arc to commit to and so season 11’s more laid back nature hasn’t done the series any favors. There’s still entertainment to be found in these characters and their shenanigans, but it’s hard to deny that a third of the season has passed and it doesn’t really feel like anything has happened. The most unifying element to this final season has been its deeper look into Chicago itself and how the various Gallaghers fit…
21
Dec
This Shameless review contains spoilers. Shameless Season 11 Episode 3 “Gender’s a social construct.” Shameless is a series that’s always been very interested in how its Chicago neighborhood influences its characters. Coming as a remake from a UK series, Shameless’s new environment becomes one of its most important changes. This series constantly labels characters and tells them what they can and cannot do, while this perception internalizes and festers. This final season has taken an even greater interest in these themes and “Frances Francis Franny Frank” specifically filters them through gender norms. This is hardly the first time gender has…
14
Dec
This Shameless review contains spoilers. Shameless Season 11 Episode 2 “I want some nice things in my life for a change.” A major hurdle that season ten of Shameless had to work through was not only the loss of Emmy Rossum’s Fiona, but also the idea that some other Gallagher should now take her place as the show’s central protagonist and stabilizing force in the family. Their decision to appoint Debbie to this position did not work in the show’s favor, but season eleven is already off to a strong start by how it’s relegated Debbie back to more of…
07
Dec
This Shameless review contains spoilers. Shameless Season 11 Episode 1 “The Gallaghers built Chicago single-handedly…” The final season of Shameless begins with an introduction that’s the most stylized that the show’s ever been and it almost feels out of place for the this series. Frank narrates over austere newsreel footage of Chicago’s history, which gradually devolves into the slovenly nature that is more Shameless’ speed. Frank’s Zelig-like revisionist take on the city illustrates how Gallaghers have been involved with every important event that shaped Chicago, whether it’s the takedown of Capone or the Trial of the Chicago Seven (which would…
02
Dec
“Fortnite is dead” felt like an increasingly popular sentiment in 2020. You certainly didn’t have to look too hard to find comments from gamers who felt that it was the end of an era for a game so popular that it was prominently featured in the highest-grossing movie of all-time. But in recent months, it felt like the game had fallen off the cultural radar. Whenever you looked at Twitch, it seemed like most of the service’s most popular streamers had moved on to Call of Duty: Warzone, Valorant, and a legion of viral games like Fall Guys, Among Us,…
30
Nov
If you missed Shameless last year, there is no reason to worry. A cast member or two will be ready at the top of Dec. 6’s premiere to curse you for being the spoiled suburban princess that you are. But as enjoyable as every season of irrepressible Gallagher behavior can be, there’s little denying that each year features something so Shameless that it dwarfs the rest of the bad behavior that came before it. These are moments that are so crass in their unapologetic depravity that they transcend being more broken furniture on the South Side, and instead become a…
13
Oct
All good things must come to an end. All debauched things too. Which may explain how we’re here, staring at the Great Beyond for the Gallagher Brood of Shameless. Aye, two seasons after Emmy Rossum left the series as one of its ostensible lead characters, Fiona Gallagher, the series itself is resuming production and winding down in the age of COVID. That doesn’t mean it won’t go out swinging and drinking though! Shameless Season 11 Release Date The eleventh and final season of Shameless begins on Dec. 4, 2020. Don’t pretend like you will have somewhere better to be! Shameless…
