Because I am nitpicky that way: the city of Chicago lists high school diploma or equivalency as an expected condition for EMT certification courses, and every recommended program in the Chicago area requires it as a condition of enrollment. EMT jobs are highly competitive in Chicago in any case, so your point stands…

The ratings this season have so far been very low. I don't know how much that matters to Showtime as a premium cable outlet, and they may have been expecting the drop due to the season switch, but the premiere episode of the season barely outscored the February episode from Oscars weekend, and episode two (against the…

The editing this week was all over the place; the cuts between storylines sometimes seemed random. They tried to pack too much into one episode.

I agree that they have swung that pendulum too far (trying to fit the awards category, I think). There are definitely things that are legitimate sources of humor in the Shameless world, dark humor or otherwise, but increasingly actions/events exist to set up a punchline. Even last night, I thought Ian's reaction to…

As much as I am enjoying the renewed focus on the Gallagher children under one roof, Frank's presence is still a contrivance (and an unnecessary one - the kids are already there and they don't need to unite against a common enemy). The show seems to know it, since Vee asked Fiona why they don't get a restraining order…

I wish I could give the writers credit for thinking this through in a complex way, but I really think this was a quick way to get rid of Caleb by using something "topical" with a supposedly Shameless spin. Admittedly, Caleb wasn't a long term character, but we saw a good amount of his background and social life, and…

WTF was that? Caleb's weaselly "it's not cheating if it's with a girl/you don't understand because you haven't slept with a woman" was enough to make Ian pick up a woman on public transport and sleep with her, even though he has never been turned on by women and wasn't turned on by this one? Ian breaks up with him not…

It's tone deaf, that's for sure. I have a feeling that the writers would brush off criticism with blah blah it's Shameless blah blah we're not afraid to be politically incorrect blah blah you didn't like Caleb so we got rid of Caleb what do you want from us, but there are a whole lot of ways to cause drama in that…

It was funny, but it also left me wondering how this conversation had never come up before. They all shared a room for years!

There was something annoying about the inevitability of that resolution - maybe the contrivance of settling everything in a weekend? But I was a total sucker for it anyway.

Thank you! The characters are at least ten years apart and it would attract a lot more notice than some jokes from a jealous older ex.

I agree; they spent so little time on the aftermath of the relationship that the context of Ian's remarks was never clarified (is this what the show sees as the truth? Is Ian being flippant as a way to distance himself from his past?). It came across as a simplistic way to say "Mickey = bad boyfriend, Caleb = good…

That's just me mocking the continuity - Ian and Lip were introduced as being a year apart in the first episode, and Lip said he was 22 tonight, but Ian was 17 at the start of season five and is still shown this season as not legally able to drink, so…

Well, as Ian has been dealing with his diagnosis for three years, he's had time to figure out how to manage his medication and moods. Since he's 21 and all, what with Lip being 22 now. Ahem.

I ended the show with a kind of "that's it?" feeling. The emotional impact of the season's events has been drained either because that impact hasn't been built through sustained, coherent plotting and characterization, or because, regardless of inconsistencies in the story or characters, we've come to expect that the…

After the last two seasons, I question whether the writers of this show can find something for Fiona to do without a guy being at the center of it. Once upon a time Fiona had to worry about running a household and we at least saw some glimmers of someone who wanted more for herself. At least Shameless is an…

Point A, yes, I wonder about that, too. I know they've been renewed for a seventh season and there's been some conjecture about an eighth, so I don't think they have a defined end yet. It's pretty easy for a show to seem aimless if the writers don't have a sense of when or how they want to see things wrap up. It's not…

The acceleration of certain plot elements and lack of depth or development is at least in part coming from having too many main characters included in every episode. When Debbie and Carl where younger, they were occasionally the focus, but they didn't need much time to show Debbie having a crush or getting revenge on…

Yeah, legally it's considered a gift that stays with the recipient regardless of a divorce as long as it was initially accepted in good faith (i.e. Fiona wasn't tricking him into marriage specifically to get the ring or something like that). If they hadn't followed through with the marriage it would vary by state, but…

Interesting ideas on both characters. I'm wondering if the reason we aren't seeing more layers to Ian—that he might be saying things in the moment to reassure himself that things are going well, for example, or have doubts or be in denial—is that the writers may not have outlined a clear arc for him over the season,…