I have to give Keith McDuffee his due. He got me thinking more than usual about Shameless after viewing the pilot. And I tip my hat his way. Keith posted a comment from last week’s episode I wanted to respond to immediately. What he said got a lot stewing in my mind, but I held tight and let it simmer … I thought about it.
And after a lot of consideration, I decided Shameless isn’t what it purports with regard to an initial summation of the Gallagher clan. After all, there are (and have been) a lot of despicable characters out there — to name a few: Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall on Dexter) no need to elaborate, I’m sure. Hank Moody (David Duchovny on Californication) with all his quirks and foibles. And many of the characters on Weeds. In the Top Five? How about Walter White (Bryan Cranston on Breaking Bad)? He’s a no-brainer.
But taking the blinders off and considering Keith’s thoughts from a different perspective, I can see his point of view. And, to be sure, there are aspects within many of the Shameless characters which are indeed deplorable. But the show goes beyond that. Their despicability is the soft-shell candy coating at the surface. And, if you pay attention, the writers have addressed some those matters in some interesting ways. And I expect they will continue to do so.
Moment to moment, this week showed some pretty go-for-the-knees base actions from some of The Gallaghers: Frank (William H. Macy) bloodying his son Ian’s nose with a face plant after having received the same at The Alibi. Steve (Justin Chatwin) leaving Frank in Canada “as a favor” to the Gallagher family. (That was a kicker.) How ’bout Lip (Jeremy Allen White) cold cocking that kid with the grocery can and ripping off his bicycle? Klassy.
But let’s get past that.
Instead, look at those reprehensible actions as vehicles … means to different ends, so to speak. As examples: I dug Frank’s terrific follow-up rant after his (equally terrific) discussion with Lip when he stormed out of the house, cruising the neighborhood looking for a place to stay. Or the emotion Fiona (Emmy Rossum) envelopes Steve with all through her realization that it was he who orchestrated her father’s Great White North demise. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m feeling the waves of emotiveness Emma Kenney’s Debbie is putting out there with her craft. Her heart-felt feelings when she thinks she may have seen her father dead at the side of those train tracks, her loving ways and interest in Frank’s every word (not to mention her fawning over him with a beer) when he gets back home. And you can’t not help notice the fast, furious and hilarious familial interplay that came rapid-fire in the episode. (Not to mention my personal favorite scene when Frank appears out of the motorhome, freshly smuggled back home from over the border, all his “friends” and acquaintances waving maple leaf flags and singing “O, Canada” at him in obvious mockery.)
You see: Shameless – for me, anyway — is becoming much deeper than just a showcase for “ugly” people and what they do to and against each other.
There’s a lot of thought to be considered within all the interaction in the hour Shameless is on. And that’s not missed on me.
Clacked by Michael Noble 
on Jan 16, 2011 @ 23:00 EST5EDT
