Shameless

vMaegan Allen

English-1010-012

Jessica Glade

2/5/14

Shameless

I have been a fan of the Showtime series, Shameless, since the first season. The first episode stars out with Fiona Gallagher, the oldest sister of 5, waking up and walking down a messy hallway in southside Chicago. We watch her as she picks up clothes and throws them down a laundry chute, bangs on doors, yelling “wake up kids, school”. She makes her way down the stairs and begins making sandwiches. We are then greeted by Lip, short for Phillip, the oldest Gallagher brother, Ian, the second oldest brother, Debbie, the youngest sister, Carl, the second youngest brother and finally Liam, the youngest of the bunch. They gather at the kitchen table for breakfast and we see them passing around a shoe box collecting money for the property tax. Fiona quickly asks for the phone and asks how many minutes are left before rushing the kids out the door for school. Fiona then cleans of the table before sorting through a huge pile of dirty clothes. She’s interrupted by a knock on the door, it’s a young cop carrying what looks like a bum over his shoulder. Fiona greets him with a cheerful good morning and a cup of coffee. He asks, “Where do you want him today?” and Fiona replys, “Anywhere but here” as she laughs it off she points to the corner. The cop lays him down and leaves as quickly as he arrived. Fiona resumes her chores but no before kicking the old man and muttering, “hey dad…”. I knew by the first commercial break I was hooked, this was the realest show I had ever seen. Now, I have been following the Gallagher’s through 4 seasons. I’ve been with them through DCS taking the children, their no-show mother showing up to take the youngest, Frank, the dead-beat dad’s liver failing, kidnappings, pregnancies and jailtime, heart-ache and love but one thing has remained, they are Shameless.