By Meliha Gutic
Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor
Showtime’s “Shameless” aired its season finale on Sunday, January 28.
First premiering in 2011, the show has quickly gained popularity amongst teens and young adults.
This was the season eight finale, and it brought on a lot of drama, but no conclusions.
Plots were left open-ended, due to the fact that the storylines will lead into season nine.
“Shameless has always been one of the shows I look forward to watching, because it’s unlike anything else you see on TV. To be completely honest, I felt as though this last season was lacking because it just seemed to be all over the place,” said senior Alex Grobleski.
In the finale, we saw patriarch Frank Gallagher, played by William H. Macy, back to his old ways, and almost being arrested. This was a far cry from the rest of the season when he had a job and was an outstanding citizen.
His daughter Fiona, played by Emmy Rossum, was seen defeating the squatters and potentially engaging in a new love interest, something that viewers will be seeing more of, according to executive producer, Nancy Pimental.
“My favorite character is definitely Frank because he always gets himself into all these stupid situations, and after following this character for eight seasons, you just have to think, only Frank,” said senior Sam Sood.
The rest of the siblings definitely had a busy season as well. Ian became “Gay Jesus” but in the finale, he is arrested. Carl gets married to Kassidi, the craziest person ever, and in the finale, he finally escapes her antics and heads back to the military.
During the season, viewers saw Lip overcoming his alcoholism, and in the finale, he came to the conclusion that most of his life was an alcohol-filled daze, and wasn’t sure if he was actually in love with Sierra.
“The thing about the show is that in some sense, everything is pretty much relatable, no matter how crazy it may seem. The characters go through things, that many people go through every day,” said Grobleski.
Ian struggles with bipolar disorder, Lip struggles with alcoholism, Debbie struggles with being a single mother, trying to make it for her daughter, and Carl struggles with the direction of his life.
“I think that’s why the show is so popular. There is a person for everyone to connect with, no matter who it is. A lot of shows nowadays make us wish we had the life they’re living, but in this show, everyone is the same,” said senior Savannah Lobo.
Since it became available to stream on Netflix, the show’s ratings surged, averaging over a million viewers, and according to Entertainment Weekly, the first episode of season eight was the highest rating since season three.
“I only heard of the show through Netflix, and I feel as though it got around through word of mouth just because of the number of people who were recommending to watch it,” said Sood.
This past award season, Macy was nominated for an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actor’s Guild Award, of which he won the latter.
“I think all the acting is great in this show, especially that of Lip, played by Jeremy Allen White. If they could all be nominated for awards, that would be awesome,” said Grobleski.
Season nine will begin production later this year.
