The Gallaghers are finally back.
Shameless is a show that I’ve loved from the beginning, but season 3 helped it evolve from a great show into a fantastic show, showcasing William H. Macy’s Frank Gallagher in ways that we never saw before. It was a much more focused season with a brilliant finale, and it had me salivating for season 4.
Now, season 4 is here. The show’s much more mature now, delivering its storylines without the usual Gallagher shenanigans; I said a similar thing last week about Community’s premiere, and I think both of the shows are going down some intriguing paths. For Shameless, it seems as if we’ve reached a key turning point in its run; whereas season 1 consisted of myriad entertaining, yet almost childish, storylines, we’re now seeing an increasingly melancholy, toned down take on the Gallaghers. Sure, part of the charm lies in the wacky antics of the early days, but I’m fully invested in these characters now, and I want to see how the writers take the show in a new direction.
A common theme in “Simple Pleasures” is solitary. Frank’s beaten down and teetering on the edge of death, and he’s someone who’s lost pretty much everything; going off on a tangent, this is very similar to Sheila, who’s now sitting at her table alone. Getting back to Frank, the only person who bothers to interact with him is Carl, which is very understandable considering he needs a father figure to help him through puberty. In fact, the two are in a shared situation of solitary; Carl’s trying to navigate the tricky waters between childhood and adulthood, and Frank’s essentially ruined his adulthood.
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