Well if you want to split hairs, he didn't actually try to kill Sammi. It was an accidental overdose played entirely as dark surrealist comedy, after which he and Debbie tried to hide the evidence when he thought she died (so odd that there were no consequences for Debbie). Everything about the way his crime and…

Yes! It caught my attention immediately because he looked so young in the shot.

"HIS NAME IS TATTOOED ON MICKEY’S CHEST. JUST FOLLOW IAN."

I think the hair was meant to be a wig, a disguise since he's on the run. I mean, are we supposed to think he popped out to a salon for a haircut before heading to Mexico? But he was wearing it even when alone with Ian so who knows.

Yeah that's where I struggle with it. If I was able to watch their scenes free from context and memory, they were fine. But I actually do have a memory and I care about the context, so none of it played for me.

Nailed it. Which is why every love interest has to suddenly turn evil or crazy on the way out.

Why explore the nuance of a complex relationship when you can just reduce it to a false dichotomy and dispense with it quickly? I expect Ian will learn his lesson next week and go back to Trevor. Sigh.

The other thing that's weird about the Ian/Mickey story is that the framing is all about Mickey being a bad influence, Mickey taking Ian to the dark side, etc. And sure, Mickey is a criminal and you can argue that's enough to make him the wrong choice when Ian is trying to establish a stable life for himself. But Ian…

"the notion that Mickey was the thing holding Ian back instead of the thing holding Ian together toward the end of their relationship is incredibly tough to swallow."

They are extremely selective about whether things like the law or consequences for choices exist on this show.

Yep, they had to write him out. But how they chose to do it is completely on them.

To be honest, whether or not they care doesn't really matter. The end product is what it is.

Without a doubt, there are rude fans. But I've seen the professional writers of this show mock and taunt people they themselves assume are distraught marginalized teenagers. It's not a good look.

Svetlana had to pay him to get him to go.

My money's definitely on a fan fuck you. A couple of the writers have already been fucking with those poor undying Gallavich fans on twitter. I've never seen any other creators be so hostile to their most devoted fanbase.

Given the character assassination, the damaging way they wrote him off, and the mocking retcon of the Ian/Mickey relationship all through season 6, they have a strange way of showing they care.

They lost me forever re: Mickey with that awful prison scene. They clearly don't care about that character anymore, so I don't expect that to suddenly change.

No commentary on the ridiculous framing of Mickey's return? Okay, I'll say it: this is stupid. Given that he's on the lam from a prison break (there aren't enough eye rolls in the world) and that Ian is supposed to be so into Trevor, I expect that Mickey is here to play the bad news ex they've been rewriting him as…

It wasn't until this episode.

I fully expect a sloppy final chapter meant to end Mickey's presence on the show permanently. Sincerely doubt Mickey fans will be pleased.