Shameless
Follow Created by Paul Abbott
Gerne: drama, dark comedy
Distributor: Warner Brothers

Shameless (DVD) – Series Review

Site Score
8.7
Good: Entertaining, gripping, good acting
Bad: Possibly a bit dark for some
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Drugs, sex and violence. Season two of the highly acclaimed Shameless cuts no corner and delves into the ghetto lifestyle of the Gallagher family. Fiona, Lip, Ian, Debbie, Carl and Frank return to their ghetto life and continue to have trouble just managing normal days. Of course, there aren’t a lot of normal days in the life of the Gallagher family.

 For those that were too fucking busy last week, here’s what happened last season on:

shameless-bannerAfter Eddie Jackson found out that Frank and Karen slept together, he killed himself and is, as far as anybody else knows, missing in action.

Steve/Jimmy fled to Brazil. Fiona did not join him. Lip and Karen make up, after Lip declared his love earlier, much to the resentment of Karen.

Kevin and Veronica’s new foster kid is Ethel, a girl from a religious cult that has a child with her 68 year old husband – who also happens to be married to about four other women – Ethel herself being 14. Season two continues the everlasting train wreck of the Gallagher family.

Emmy Rossum continues her display of Fiona, the mater familias. She has the task of upholding the household and juggling her numerous jobs, in order to make sure the family survives the winter. Still feeling the breakup with Steve, she has trouble focusing the job at hand. This isn’t made any easier when Steve suddenly shows up again, with a smoking Brazilian wife. Rossum is just one of the highlights of the show, the way she goes from happy-go-lucky to everything is ruined, is absolutely brilliant.

Fiona wouldn’t have to do the household if father Frank (William H. Macy) was around. Well, technically he is around, laying in a gutter, drunk off his rocker, or whatever drugs he’s on that day. His carefree life of binge drinking gets a small setback however when his mother receives a get out of jail for free card, and comes knocking on his door for assistance. Macy, before Shameless mostly playing a doormat of some kind, finds a new life purpose and becomes Frank. Most of the times you’ll want to reach through your T.V. and strangle the guy, but occasionally he’ll show some kind of soft side, and you’ll think, for a second or two at least, that he really could change, before he messes up again.

 

shameless-1Lip (Jeremy Allen White) and Ian (Cameron Monaghan), the two elder brothers of the Gallagher household, have their own problems. Lip, a proper genius, struggles with the news that Karen is pregnant. Since they have been constant sex, chances are high that he’s the father. Ian meanwhile has troubles of his own. Still recovering his lover getting shot and jailed, is still working for Kash. His new goal in life is joining the military as an officer. In order to do so he’ll need some assistance from Lip to help him study

The youngest daughter Debbie (Emma Kenney) is going to her puberty, falling in love with a boy and dealing with still caring for her deadbeat father.

Except the Gallaghers, we still keep track of Kevin and Veronica. Their foster child Ethel is also starting to get an interest in boys and, seeing her religious background, has trouble accepting these new emotions.

Meanwhile Sheila, Karen’s mother and Frank’s new love of his life, attempts to overcome her agoraphobia and attempts to broaden her walk, one step at a time.

 

shameless-2Season two continues the trend of combining hard life and drama with a cynical brand of humor. The cast is stellar, hardly missing a beat in their performance. The soundtrack always accompanies the mood of the episode, but isn’t that spectacular.

Drama is added with a couple of fresh faces. We have Jody (Zach McGowan), a guy Karen meets during her Sex Addicts Anonymous meetings. Slowly but surely the platonic relationship becomes more serious however, much to the chagrin of Lip.

The Gallaghers, already troubled by the arrival of Granny, get more trouble in house with the return of their mother, Monica. The bipolar mom returns during a good streak, creating new hope for a better world.

As is the case with many DVD’s nowadays, this box also comes with a couple of extras. We get some featurettes that bring us behind the scenes and get a lesson in how to act drunk. There’s also five segments that offer a discussion with five of the lead actors. Finally, we get a glimpse of season three.

Conclusion

Season two continues the road to point zero, mixing up hilarity with convincing drama. The show is intended for people who can tolerate dark humor and should be avoided by everyone who likes sugar coating on their television shows. For everyone else, this is a must see show that will make you care for a wide range of people. The acting is superb and the plot lines aren’t too contrived.

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