After 10 long years on television, the beloved Gallagher family has finally found closure. Yet despite the emotionally fraught series finale of Showtime's hit drama Shameless this past April, the final episode polarized viewers to the tune of a 6.0/10 IMDb rating. For comparison, no other single episode of season 11 was ranked lower than 7.1/10.
Even so, fans of Shameless will always remember the lovable dysfunctional family led by alcoholic patriarch Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy) and eldest daughter Fiona (Emmy Rossum), followed by Lip (Jeremy Allen White), Ian (Cameron Monaghan), Debbie (Emma Kenney), Carl (Ethan Cutkosky), Liam (Christian Isaiah), and neighbors Kevin (Steve Howie) and V (Shanola Hampton).
Mickey
"Ian Gallagher, you messed with the wrong girl." / "Come on, I'm thirsty."
Tough guy, Mickey Milkovich, makes quite the entrance in Shameless in the third episode of season 1. With a tire iron in tow, Mickey storms into the liquor store where Ian is working and shouts: "Ian Gallagher, you messed with the wrong girl," in regards to his sister, Mandy.
Ever the wise guy, Mickey stays true to himself until the very end. In arranging a surprise party for his and Ian's wedding anniversary, he pretends to not remember the date or the special occasion. In the moments before he springs the surprise on Ian, he walks toward the Alibi and says, "Come on, I'm thirsty."
Kevin
"That didn't hurt half as much as I thought it would." / "What can I get you two underpaid public servants."
Lovable neighbor, Kevin Ball, provided a decade of laughter with his big-hearted character. In the opening episode of the show, Kevin is introduced as a submissive with a ball-gag in his mouth. When his girlfriend V lets him speak, he utters, "That didn't hurt half as much as I thought it would."
Kevin's final line in the series is delivered when asking Carl and his police mentor what they want to drink at the Alibi. Of course, the entire cast joins in a folk song moments later, as they bid farewell to Frank and, by proxy, the faithful audience.
Veronica
"Fiona, where are you? Fiona?" / All right, make sure you pay your tab before you walk out the door."
Shanola Hampton played the Gallaghers' neighbor Veronica "V" Fisher in all 134 episodes of the show. While her character is introduced by enjoying S&M with her boyfriend Kevin, she doesn't speak her first line until roughly eight minutes into the pilot.
While Fiona is getting dressed for the day, she barges into Lip's room asking for his deodorant. In the background, V can be heard in the background saying "Fiona, where are you? Fiona?!" At the end of the series, V is also heard offscreen, this time saying, "All right, make sure you pay your tab before you walk out the door."
Carl
"Electrical." / "Hey Kev, come here!"
As one of the youngest Gallagher siblings who really came into his own as the series progressed, Carl didn't have many long lines to begin the show. When he's introduced around the breakfast table in the opening episode, his first line is "electrical," as everyone rounds up money to pay for the electric bill.
By the series end, Carl shows interest in law enforcement. One of his mentors suggests purchasing the Alibi from Kev and V to turn into a cop bar. Carl first tells the man he has no money before requesting, "Hey Kev, come here!" to further inquire about the asking price.
Debbie
"Oh no, I fell down." / "How you like that $80,000 roman candle now, bi*ch?"
Debbie underwent one of the biggest character arcs on Shameless, evolving from an innocent preteen in the beginning to a loving mother by series end. When taking care of her little brother, Liam, in the series premiere, she playfully speaks in his voice by saying, "Oh no, I fell down."
In the finale, Debbie makes fun of a man's flaming vehicle in the middle of the street outside of the Alibi. Adding insult to injury, Debbie crudely asks, "How you like that $80,000 roman candle now, bi*ch?"
Ian
"First shower." / "Love you, big brother."
One of the strongest relationships among the Gallagher clan is the loving bond between brother Ian and Lip. This bond is established in the very first episode of the series when you hear the brothers offscreen before they're even introduced.
Ian can be heard claiming, "First shower" after Fiona wakes her siblings up for school at 7:15 am. Ten years later and in a world of dramatic upheaval, Ian gives one final heartfelt affirmation to Lip by simply saying, "Love you, big brother."
Lip
"You had it yesterday." / Yeah, I love you too, a**hole."
Along with Debbie and Ian, Lip experienced the most character changes over his 10 years coming of age on the south side of Chicago. The brilliant but troubled young man always had his heart in the right place, especially when it comes to his brother Ian.
Just like Ian's introductory line, Lip can be heard responding offscreen replying to his brother's "first shower" request by saying "you had it yesterday." When Ian tells Lip that he loves him in the series finale, Lip affectionately retorts by saying "yeah, I love you too, a**hole."
Fiona
"7:15, monkeys. Come on!" / "It's my first time on a plane, too."
One character noticeably absent from the series finale is Fiona, the heart and soul of the show for the first 110 episodes. While she utters the word "blow" while holding tissues to her infant siblings' noses, her first real line in the show is when she wakes her siblings up for school.
At the end of Season 9, Fiona makes a conscious decision to leave Chicago and move on with her life. In saying goodbye to the series, Fiona's final line is delivered as she nervously readies for takeoff.
Frank
"Nobody's saying our neighborhood is The Garden of Eden. Hell, some people say God avoids this place altogether." / "I guess that's it. Not much left to say, really. Except, time's precious. Don't f**king waste it. Have a good time. I sure as hell did."
Frank Gallagher opens and closes the series with mirrored monologues regarding each of his family members. In the series premiere, Frank introduces himself by declaring, "Nobody's saying our neighborhood is The Garden of Eden. Hell, some people say God avoids this place altogether."
In the finale, Frank leaves the audience with the following line, as his spirit floats away into the ether: "I guess that's it. Not much left to say, really. Except, time's precious. Don't f**king waste it. Have a good time. I sure as hell did."