Teen rapist, teen annoyance, and teen mom all in one!
(Note: please don't be a shithead and send these blog posts to any of the actors/actresses/writers/producers because they're just a little bit of fun here and there. I get it, we want to blend that line of the fictional and real world but people are sensitive.)
I was in happy tears when those last few seconds of season 7 showed Debbie learning welding. But then I learned that we still have at least one more season and that wasn't The Ending. It was supposed to be The Ending in case they didn't get The Renewal, but they got The Renewal, so now more shit is going to go down next year. Which means Debbie still has time to be even more of a fuckup.
Whatever. Bitter blog post can continue.
My friend Nikole started watching Shameless and my warning was, "You're going to want to punch Debbie." Guess what? She's on season 6 and she wants to punch Debbie.
I'm not saying Debbie is badly written. In fact, I think how she turned out fits in line with how she was as a child. She's probably one of the better written characters in the show! But god, does she make me want to rip out my uterus.
It all started when Debbie started going through this thing called puberty. Before that, she was just there. She could save the Gallaghers when Fiona couldn't. She had a lot of potential, really. But to keep the story going for her, they had to funnel her into a trap. I think the moral of the story is that if you're in poverty, it's extremely unlikely for you to get out.
But god damn. Let's just think of what Debbie has done!
1. Debbie raped a guy. Let us not downplay that. She raped an innocent, awkward pizza guy because she wanted to pop her cherry.
2. She didn't think of the consequences of having a child in her circumstances.
3. She didn't think how her romantic partner felt about having a child- and even worse, she just didn't care.
4. She forced a young boy into fathering a child he didn't want!
5. She brought a child into the world without thinking of anything past, "I want to be a mommmmmmm!"
6. Very clearly doesn't understand that actions have consequences.
Trying to manipulate your sister into having a child so you can raise your kids together is something that I hate her for. No, your sister doesn't need to keep her child! She struggles to feed the kids she already has! So why on earth did you think it was okay to purposefully get knocked up to add to the number of mouths she has? Why not just bring a stray puppy home? They're cuter than a fucking baby and cheaper.
It's like I'm watching my kid. Except I'm a lesbian. And I'm childfree. And my last name isn't Gallagher. And there's a screen between us. But I just want to flick her in the forehead and tell her to have some fuckin' sense! I can't be the only one!
Sometimes, my roommate tries to be rational with me about fictional characters. She's tried to get me to understand why Jace from Shadowhunters is such a whiny, intolerable fuckface, but I still see him as a whiny, intolerable fuckface. But I don't think she's ever tried to get me to understand Debbie Gallagher.
And you know what? Very, very few people are trying to get people to 'understand' Debbie Gallagher. If she was a male and did this shit, there's no way in hell anyone would try to excuse this.
I haven't posted in a few days- or something like that- but I wanna just say I'm still alive. Some people might hate that the girl with the purple hair and the obsession with How To Get Away With Murder is still kicking, but whatever. Live your way.
Really, I should be reading the first chapter on my theatre book, but I don't want to neglect this blog. It's my little baby that I'm going to grow into a nice, beautiful, angry teenager. Like the kids in Until Dawn or something. Or Victoria Chase.
Anyways, I've been watching Shameless UK because I wanted to see the differences. I'm not even halfway through it or anything (I skipped a lot of the first season because Shameless US and UK are pretty much the exact same) but I think that both are pretty great in their own ways.
There's characters I like a lot more in the UK version, such as Kash and Debbie. I hated both of them in the US version. I think the exact moment I knew I would like Kash in the UK version is when he was talking to Ian and said that it took every ounce of his will to sleep next to a woman every night when he doesn't like the feel of her skin. I felt a similar way when I used to kiss boys I didn't really like.
I like Mickey in the US version a lot more. He's a lovable prick and I love him so much, okay? I needed a character like Mickey in my life, honestly. I also like Fiona in the US version a lot better,
but her and Jimmy/Steve/Jack/Sonny/Johnny weren't as cute in the US version.
I think that the US version has better looking actors/actresses in it, so that could be a big reason people who are used to the US version and try watching the UK version stop watching it. Yes, we Americans really are that shallow sometimes.
Although, I'll admit I've watched Misfits and would be pissed if they made a US version. They'd cast Rudy as someone who looks picture perfect and I'd be so upset. Also, is it bad I was weirdly attracted to Kelly? I also thought Jess was GORGEOUS, but I bet that's not an unpopular attraction. WAIT. I was attracted to Kelly because of the accent. Also I have a thing for people who attack Hitler because my creepy stalker loves Hitler and Nazism because he's a fucking idiot.
Anyways. I think I like how Shameless UK focuses more on other characters other than the Gallaghers. It's revolved around the Estate rather than whatever guy we don't care about that Fiona is screwing this week (yes, shade) and I think I like that more. There's only so much drama you can add in the lives of Frank, Fiona, Lip, Ian, Debbie, Carl, and Liam (lol when is the last time Liam got a plotline) without getting bored with the recycled plotlines.
Also, Monica's sexuality seems to get a bit more attention in the UK version in my opinion.
Speaking of Monica, there's the most important topic. The selling point of the US version is who plays Frank.
I think a lot of people gloss over the fact that Frank is literally one of the most important characters in each series. Yeah, he's an ass. He's an alcoholic ass. However, having William H. Macy portray Frank is one of the best choices ever. Honestly, it was hating Frank that drove me to love the US series in the first place. Watching Fiona tell him off and him giving these hilarious speeches was one of the biggest appeals of the series for me.
So, this one goes out to the US version. William H. Macy, you play a mean douchebag!
Y'know, I should have seen it coming. I was going to get sucked into this show. Everyone on Tumblr was raving about this show since before I could remember. When I found out the plot, I knew exactly how much I was going to love this show.
See, I like shows revolving around a family. It's a not-so-guilty pleasure of mine. I've gotten a little bit more picky, however- I really can't watch The Fosters anymore after all the stuff about Brandon and Callie and I really don't think that a lot of the other family dramas out there are entertaining enough to watch.
So when I found out that Shameless was about a family in Chicago with an alcoholic father, a motherly sister, a smart but lazy son, a gay son, a little sister too eager to grow up, a delinquent son, and the little baby son, I was instantly going to watch it. I knew about some of the characters not in the family, such as the Milkovichs and Jimmy/Steve/Jack (seriously) and I was going to watch for them, too, of course! I already knew about one of the most popular pairings of the show, and I was excited for that. Let's just say, I was so eager to start this.
I think the character I fell in love with first was Fiona Gallagher, the sister that dedicated her life to her siblings. She's played by the lovely Emmy Rossum and man, she's a fucking amazing actress.
I also liked Ian Gallagher, the military-obsessed gay son. I kind of figured I would like him.
It took me a bit to warm up to Carl, which is funny because he's probably that character that I liked the best (in the family) after the last season. He's absolutely hilarious and I don't know why it took me so long to realize it. Now that I'm reblogging stuff over on Tumblr, I realize I missed out on something amazing while watching.
Debbie and Liam didn't really do much of anything to make me think any way about them in the first season. Now, I hate Debbie with a burning passion these days, and Liam still doesn't have much of a story to work from.
Fiona had my heart the second that she was talking to her family. You know, the family she's given up everything to raise. She gave up so much for these kids when her father and mother couldn't, and I just love her so much for it. Sure, she has fun and dates around, but she's young and we all need some fun in our lives when we're young, right?
Her best friend, Veronica Fisher, is another character I kind of instantly liked. She's hilarious and sexual and she has one of the best relationships on the show. I can't say I like a lot of the relationships on the show, but I can say I really like Kevin and Veronica together. Also, this scene is hilarious and I will fight anyone who doesn't agree.
Lip Gallagher, the second oldest kid, had some scenes that made me roll my eyes (getting that one hot girl from school to suck your gay brother's dick, anyone?) but I can agree that he's not the worse out of the Gallagher clan. He's had some hilarious moments, but nothing beats the, "Circle doesn't start with s?" Nothing.
Ian Gallagher was one of my faves for a long time. After a point, though, my love died down. I much prefer Mickey nowadays, but I'll talk about him later.
I liked Debbie in season 2-3, but after that, no. We get it, teenagers are annoying and want to grow up. However, why didn't someone tell her ass off for trying to get pregnant? No, the Fiona conversation doesn't count. She's fucking fourteen living in poverty. She's also fucking stupid, because no amount of hormones in the body makes you think that having a kid whilest living in poverty is okay. This isn't The Pregnancy Pact. Plus, there's like, how many babies in the show already?
Carl, again, love him to pieces now. He's so sweet and actually understands consent (unlike some of the characters) and takes in homeless kids from the street. Also, when he was trying to figure out how gay sex works was one of my favorites. Let's just say he's a gift to the show. Don't let anyone tell you different.
Frank sucks. Well, except in the fifth season. I actually liked his storyline for the most part in that season. Probably because all the other storylines in that season sucked ass. Other than that, fuck Frank.
I'm just going to write this one paragraph on all of Fiona's romantic interests. In one word, I can sum them all up: no. They're wearing the amazing character of Fiona down. They all look the exact fucking same and there's too many of them that I can't even remember their names a majority of the time. Gus, Jimmy/Steve/Jack, and Tony. Remember Tony? That guy who wanted to make ghetto trash babies with her? Well, I don't even remember what happened between them because there were so damn many of these guys. Why can't they go away? It's honestly pointless to write her storyline for a season based on some bullshit love triangle with some dark-haired, loving guy. She's possibly one of the most interesting characters on the show and yet nowadays the only thing she gets involved in is some affair with some guy nobody can even remember by the next.
The only one who actually matters is Jimmy/Steve/Jack. He took care of the kids and actually had an interesting plot for awhile. Coming back for like two episodes in the fifth season was stupid, even if he did bring a pretty hot girl to stalk Fiona. I would have preferred Fiona to cheat on her rather than Jimmy/Steve/Jack on her boring-ass musician husband. It would have been more interesting, honestly.
See, even Lip's romantic interests are more interesting than Fiona's. At least they get a plot a majority of the time. Karen Jackson had her daddy issues and her pregnancy. Mandy had that whole Ian thing going on and everything. Even Amanda was more important than Sean/Gus/Tony/Boss guy/Boss guy's brother.
Ian and Mandy's friendship is more important to me than Fiona's love life right now. We get it, she's young and dates a lot of guys. We get it, Shameless writers, you've forgotten somehow to make a romantic interest on the show interesting if they're connected to Fiona.
For fuck's sake, why couldn't we have kept this going on throughout the whole series?
Even when Mickey Milkovich came in for the first time, and yelled, "Ian Gallllllaggggghhhhherrrrrr!" I found that more interesting than the romantic interests of Fiona Gallagher. Seriously, why not make a season about her becoming responsible again? Why can't she do that with a boyfriend? I mean, writers, you were able to do that when Jimmy/Steve/Jack was around. You were able to make it interesting. Why can't you do that now?
Speaking of Mickey Milkovich, if that's how he's going to be written off the show, that's total bullshit. Even that doctor Frank was hanging out with got a better sendoff than him. That pisses me off in new fucking ways I didn't know I could be pissed off in. And I'm an angry person.
Think about it this way. There is a character that was cherished for years. He's probably one of the most developed characters in the show. And he's going to be killed by a dumb hick half-sister who tried fucking her dad at some point with poor aim. Are you fucking kidding me? Why can't he disappear for a little bit and come back later like Jimmy/Steve/Jack did? I get it, the actor has other work to do. Even his prick father got written off better than what everyone else thinks he's going to be written off. I wish the actor the best of luck in future endeavors, though.
I get it, Ian's sick. There's a lot of shit that Ian's going through right now. He needs to take his medication. However, that's no excuse for the shitty way Mickey's going to be written off.
Also, for anyone who might say that this is supposed to be dark comedy, again, the women that Frank slept with got put on a bus to Shameless Heaven better than this. There's something to be said about that.
Why can't we go back to this shit?
There's a difference between making your characters do stupid things, and making the characters completely unlikable. They've officially done that with season 5. Their characterizations are so fucked up. I mean, I can understand some of the shit Ian does (I understand that feeling of feeling so numb while on pain medication) but uh... Fiona has the most boring plotlines of the show these days and hasn't even really taken proper care of her kids these days. Lip is becoming more likable, but damn, the hot professor storyline is a bit stupid. Honestly, nobody cares. Debbie is a literal fucking rapist with dumb teen mom drama and she's not going to realize how wrong she is. Carl is in juvie (but I can understand why- the actor has to attend high school) and Liam is probably old enough to have an actual storyline but doesn't get one. Sammi isn't a Gallagher, no matter what anyone says.
And Veronica and Kev were one of my favorite couples on the show. That was ruined by some lame storyline. C'mon, Kev would never do what he did in season 5. He might be dumb, but he's a lover. He'd do anything for his business, kids, and his wife.
Also, does anyone actually think the show is genuinely funny in season 5? Season 5 was sad because Ian was dealing with his mental illness. One of the best couples broke up. Debbie raped her friend. Carl got put in juvie and it seemed like nobody really gave a shit. Shelia, Mandy, and probably Mickey, characters that have been there since the beginning, all got written off that season. There were really no jokes or fun things going on. Everything was either depressing as fuck or reused.
I miss when we got good things that I'll probably repeat on my death bed, such as the famous:
““Fuck you don’t worry about it. I’ve been staying at Ian’s since you’ve been in the can bitch. Guess what we’ve been doing, daddy. We’ve been fucking. And I take it. He gives it to me good and hard and I fucking like it…fuck you, I suck his dick! I fucking love it!”
Also, when did iPhones get so cheap for a family that doesn't have a steady income? This never got explained, but Jesus Christ, it should have. I know they have prepaid iPhones, but still, those ones run for how much? I don't understand anything on this show anymore.
Season 1-4 were perfect. They were great and practically the pinnacle of television. They were absolutely hilarious and original and made me so, so happy.
But now? Don't watch Shameless. It'll give you a crazy idea to watch season 5.
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