“Shameless” is one of those shows that we can’t look away from. Since introducing the Gallaghers to us on Showtime eight seasons ago, we’ve been following every beer Frank’s chugged, every bad boyfriend Fiona’s had and how many times they almost get evicted. But, with the new season kicking off Sunday night, it’s time to recap everything that’s gone down over the last two years – so you’re not totally lost.
1. Frank:
Last season, Frank was a bit of a hot mess (what else is new?) He tried opening a homeless shelter at his old woman Shiela’s house but, that didn’t work out too well. Just like his actual family, his homeless family threw him out on the streets because – he’s the absolute worst. He ends up meeting up with Monica again – Gallagher’s birth mom – and the two are madly in love like it’s 1999 – despite her trying to kill herself the last time they got back together. The two decide to renew their vows and get married all over again.
Unfortunately, Monica dies before they renew their vows and, Frank basically loses it (even worse than before). He realizes Monica left them a lot of money – in heroin – and tries to get the kids to sell it as a “gift Monica left them.”
2. Fiona:
Fiona always seems as though she’s doing the same old thing every season – dating bad guys and trying to save her family. But, season seven brought out a new Fiona. She finally turned over a new leaf and decided to stop allowing her family to walk all over her and became more of a businesswoman after taking over Patsy’s Pies when her ex-fiancé slipped back into a bad drug habit. She is inspired by a woman who owns the restaurant land and property and decides she, too, can become a savvy businesswoman. She fixed up the diner and ends up buying a run-down laundromat across the street that belonged to an old woman who has a sh*t ton of memory problems. She flipped the laundromat to Margo, the businesswoman she’s obsessed with being and ends up buying an apartment building – one step closer to her dreams.
3. Lip:
Lip had a lot of problems with substance abuse over the years but this year, it came to a head. While working at Patsy’s Pies with his sister, he started dating a waitress there – Sierra. The two get kind of serious, but his drinking keeps causing issues in relationships. If you remember from previous seasons, Lip got expelled from college for sleeping with his professor for months and causing a lot of issues (his ex-girlfriend leaked the info. to the entire university and then some). His professor/mentor got him a meeting with the board of the school to appeal his expulsion but, it backfired and he still was turned away from school. So, his binge drinking reappeared and he beat the sh*t out of Sierra’s baby daddy, probably ruining that relationship forever. But, he got himself back into AA after the fight and hopefully, stays on the right track.
4. Ian:
Ian’s an EMT and is trying to manage his bipolar disorder and saving people’s lives. Caleb and him (that hot fireman) broke up super early in the season because he was cheating on Ian with a woman – scandalous. Ian met Trevor, a transgender man, and the two had a brief but cute love story because the love of his life Mickey broke out of jail and returned to Ian’s life. Mickey convinces Ian to move to Mexico with him to escape the American Justice System, but, Ian gets all the way to the border and decides he can’t go. This kind of ends the Ian and Mickey romance – maybe forever?
5. Carl:
Carl finally got the girl – Dom – that he’s been feening over for seasons. But, Dom tells him he needs to get circumcised so they can have sex but – Carl’s a teenage boy and getting circumcised at that age is risky. He does it anyway and has a bunch of complications before he finds out that Dom had been cheating on him after her father accused him of giving her gonorrhea – horrid. After being heartbroken, he becomes close to her dad who formally hated him and he convinces Carl he should enroll in military school in order to become a cop.
6. Debbie:
Debbie’s a young, broke mother who tries to make a quick dollar. She begins stealing other mother’s strollers and baby supplies at the park and selling them online to make money. But, she ends up getting into a lot of sh*t for it. Her baby daddy’s family – Derek – found her fighting with someone and said she was an unfit parent to raise their daughter. Debbie has to fight to get custody of her daughter and ends up living/dating/parenting with Sierra’s (Lip’s waitress) brother who’s a paraplegic. Debbie decides she needs to be a better parent and not like Monica, so decides she’ll learn a skill to make a living.
7. Liam:
It’s hard to believe that Liam is no longer a baby who almost OD’d on cocaine, but he’s not going to a private school to get a good education after Frank cheats the system, as per usual.
8. Kev, V & Svet:
The “thrupple” marriage that started off so smoothly blew up in all their faces when Svet took advantage of Kev and V’s stupidity and had them “sign over” the bar to her. Svet also had her husband move in with them, disguised as her father until Kev and V caught them having sex. The entire thing is a big ol’ hot mess now.