For the last nine years, audiences have watched the Gallagher family navigate their way through the pitfalls and triumphs of life in South Side Chicago. After airing its 11th season in late 2020/2021 and being the longest-running series on Showtime, the US version of Shameless will be coming to a close. Since it started, the show has maintained a relatively consistent tone regardless of losing many supporting characters from the earlier seasons along the way.
Going into season 11, the core cast still remains with the exception of Fiona Gallagher (Emmy Rossum), who departed at the end of the ninth season. There have been some seasons, overall, that are stronger than others, mainly due to the use of characters and the overarching storylines. Below are seasons 1 to 10 of Shameless, ranked according to its ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.
Season 10 (40%)
Season ten of Shameless had the enormous task of proving the show could still be good without Fiona at the center. The entire cast stepped up to bring their all which also saw Ian and Mickey brought back into the Gallagher household after being released from prison.
The season also sees Lip tackle fatherhood with him and Tami raising their child in an RV, Debbie dating an older woman, Carl trains neighborhood watch cadets and Franks gets held captive by a mysterious woman. It is worth noting that without Fiona around, Kevin and V become less intertwined with the Gallagher’s.
Season 9 (70%)
This season saw Fiona go big with an investment opportunity and then soon after, everything comes crashing down. After finding out Ford secretly had a wife and child that he still lived with, Fiona also ends up losing her apartment building to pay for her investment. Meanwhile, Lip gets involved with Brad’s sister in law Tami, leading to pregnancy, and Frank, of course, continues being Frank.
After being bought out by her investment partner Max, Fiona ends up with $100,000 in her pocket. She gives $50,000 to the Gallagher household and with the rest of the money, leaves South Side Chicago for good.
Season 1 (70%)
This is where we are first introduced to the Gallagher family and their neighbors Kev and Veronica. The first season of Shameless mostly focused on Fiona’s relationship with Steve (Justin Chatwin), who is lying about who he really is. Another major plotline is Ian being a closeted homosexual and having an affair with his married boss.
Local cop Tony, who has a crush on Fiona, and loses her virginity to her, develops a distaste for Steve out of jealousy. When he finds out about his criminal history, he gives him an ultimatum, go to prison or disappear. Steve/Jimmy is forced to leave but tries to convince Fiona to go with him but she refuses.
Season 7 (88%)
At the end of the last season, Frank found himself being thrown over a bridge after running Fiona’s wedding. He then disowns everyone in the family except for Liam and turns an open house into a homeless shelter, where he adopts a replacement Gallagher family. Meanwhile, Fiona, now the manager of Patsy’s Pie’s and disheartened from her break up with Sean, turns to Tinder for casual hookups.
This season introduces the character of Sierra who ends up dating Lip on and off over the next few seasons. Another major plotline involves Monica returning to reveal she has terminal brain damage and only limited time left.
Season 5 (92%)
Post prison Fiona continues to work at the diner Patsy’s Pies and begins a relationship with musician Gus, who she marries soon after. Fiona’s plans are rocked when Jimmy returns after a noticeable absence and reveals where he’s been. After hooking back up a couple of times, Fiona realizes her time with Jimmy is over and they farewell.
Other major plotlines for the season include Kevin and V splitting up, Ian discovering he has bi-polar, Lip begins a relationship with a college professor, Carl becomes a drug dealer and Frank begins a relationship with a young doctor suffering terminal cancer.
Season 3 (92%)
Jimmy has been living at the Gallagher house for some time now, whilst continuing to remain in a forced marriage with Estefania. Lip dates Mandy Milkovich but difficulties arise when Karen returns, which leads to Mandy hitting Karen with her car, causing brain damage.
The Gallagher kids are forced into foster care, so Fiona forces Frank to clean up his act and talk to child services, with Shelia pretending to be Monica. The season includes Kevin and Veronica's attempts to get pregnant, where they enlist V’s mother to help them conceive when Veronica is told she is unlikely to get pregnant.
Season 8 (100%)
Fiona renovates and maintains an apartment building as an investment following the sale of the laundromat. Frank returns from a monastery with a newfound look on life and makes attempts to be more involved in his children’s lives, even getting a job to pull his weight.
The major storyline that fills the season is Ian running a movement to stop gay conversion therapy and preaching all-inclusive love. Lip’s professor ends up crashing his car into a house and due to previous DUI’s is sent to prison, later dying from a seizure whilst behind bars.
Season 6 (100%)
At the start of the season, Debbie reveals that she’s pregnant, which leads to Derek leaving without a trace. Near the end of the season she gives birth to Franny against Fiona’s advice, Fiona on the other hand, gets an abortion and later gets engaged to Sean.
Sammi and Mickey are both in jail from attempting to kill each other, so Sammi’s mom Queenie comes to the Gallagher house to look after Chuckie, eventually taking him to live in her commune. Frank and Debbie go with them for a brief period before returning back to Chicago.
Season 4 (100%)
This season was less lighthearted than the previous three as it dealt with more serious storylines such as Fiona trying to move on after the disappearance of Jimmy and then going to jail for possession of cocaine, which leads to Liam in the hospital. Frank’s alcoholism catches up to him and he requires a liver transplant. When Fiona refuses to donate part of her liver to Frank, he reveals he will ask his oldest daughter, Sammi.
When Frank recovers from his post-operation delirium, he finds out that he has married Sheila and adopted a group of Native American children. Meanwhile, Mickey comes out to his friends and family, much to the dismay of his father Terry.
Season 2 (100%)
Police officer Tony now lives next door to the Gallagher house after strong-arming Steve to leave town. However, Steve returns through the season married to Estefania, the daughter of a drug dealer whom he married out of fear. Karen now has a new partner but continues to be intimate with Lip and when she falls pregnant, he assumes he’s the father.
Grandma Gallagher arrives at the house after being released from jail due to ill health and forces Frank to be her caretaker. He passes the buck to Sheila and Jody, where they become intimate with each other. Grammy convinces the pair to hasten her death by smothering her with a pillow and her death leads to Frank reconnecting with Monica, the mother of his children.