I found this review a little disappointing, tbh. As someone who has criticized the show all season, I thought this latest installment deserved at least an A-. The Kev/V/Svet storyline was by far the least annoying C plot I've seen in a while. I'm not usually a fan of babies being introduced to shows as plot devices,…

Um, this is American television. It may be shameless but it still has that moralizing impulse to punish characters for their misdeeds (i.e. Ian's promiscuity last year) so I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop on that storyline.

This is correct

"Damaged and interesting again." THIS

I really enjoyed early season 2 Fiona embracing the single life.

Same. That scene was one of the most visceral portrayals of class divisions that I've seen on television, and it was beautifully acted by both of them. I've had experiences like that—not to that degree or with the same intensity of emotion, but still—visiting my hometown and seeing former high school friends who never…

Thanks, I'll take a look! I've read a lot of fan criticism on tumblr (although tbh I think a lot of gallavich shippers have stopped watching at this point. I was a fan of that relationship but it wasn't my sole reason for watching by any means) so I'll be interested to see her defense of the show.

That's what I was hoping for too, but I think the fact that they didn't exchange any words running into each other is telling.

I could see Fiona being able to sue for royalties to that song about her (hey, it's America!). But yeah, the divorce proceedings struck me as pretty phony. I do like Oscar Nuñez, though.

You may already know this, but in the U.K. version Carl does become a cop (much to Frank's horror).

As a writer, I completely agree.

BUMP

Haven't read all the comments on this, and normally I would protest on behalf of Mickey, who legitimately had probably the most character growth of anyone on the show. However, I think your observation of the gender divide on this show is troublingly accurate. You have people like Lip, who from my perspective might be…

Which writer? I'd be curious to check out their Twitter feed.

This is the most tonally inconsistent show on television, I swear. There were some truly beautiful moments in this week's mess of an episode (Ian/Mandy, Ian/Lip/Carl) which I honestly found shocking given the number of times I groaned after predicting exactly what was about to happen before it did (Mandy + sex work +…

Will probably get crucified for saying this, but I thought the Michaela/Asher hookup scene was…pretty hot. Not that I want them to be in a real relationship necessarily, but I didn't mind the club sex.

Huh, I'd be interested in what kinds of story elements you've seen lifted from online posts. I've definitely seen posts on tumblr before accusing the show writers of the same thing… It's certainly possible!

I'm at least thankful the kid in question per the episode's title was Lip instead of Chuckie, although the "grandma" thing doesn't make sense at all in his case. "Come for your retroactive stepmom?"

Another gripe re: writing of the show is how explication-driven it has become. In past seasons (especially Fiona'a emotional legal guardian storyline), I was gripped by the occasional referencing of what it was like to grow up in the Gallagher "household"—especially for the older siblings like Fiona, Lip and Ian whose…

Sigh. It's just disappointing because I genuinely care(d) about these characters, and now it's like they're being forced into bad fan fiction versions of themselves. Seriously, where's the substance? Is this even the same show?