When Emmy Rossum left, I gave serious consideration as to stop watching the show. She was very much the heart of the show. I gave in and watched the post Fionna seasons, because what else am I going to do at 8PM on a Sunday night?
The final season was overall decent. It was greatly affected by Covid. They had a couple of scares and had to shut down production a few times. That resulted in a few times where there were 2-3 weeks of no new episodes. I wish they had them all in the can before releasing them. They also limited the cast and storylines due to this,which really showed.
In some interviews, they used the pandemic as an excuse as to why Emmy Rossum didn't appear in the final episode. I don't buy it. It was well known that Emmy and her agent were public about their displeasure with Emmy making considerably less than Macy, despite her carrying the show just as much as him. Many shows have integrated Zoom or Skype as a tool for storytelling during this past year. There's no reason why they couldn't have done the same with Emmy.
If you would have told me during season 1 that the character with the most growth would have been Carl, I would not have believed you. He went from an unlikable serial killer in the making to one of my favorite characters. In contrast, Lip became the most frustrating of all the characters. I didn't have a problem with him becoming an alcoholic and getting expelled, but the final 5 seasons just became about him and AA. At least have him decide to go back to school via community college or something or join some sort of tech startup. I just re-watched the series and when he initially joined the motorcycle shop, he admitted to knowing shit and not caring about motorcycles. He just needed to stay busy so he didn't relapse. Contrast to this season where he is suddenly an expert on vintage motorcycles and wants to sell them.
As for the finale itself. I guess they were trying for a mix of "a typical day in the life of the Gallaghers" and life goes on or doesn't magically change. The problem, is that there is no closure. The show was a satire on lower socio economic life with outrageous over the top moments, and suddenly they want to be "realistic" at the end? They said they wanted there to be consequences for Frank's actions, so they gave him dementia, but then they cop out by killing him. You can't have it both ways. They have Frank float up to the sky, presumably heaven. If there is a heaven, isn't there a hell? Wouldn't Frank go to hell for some of the awful things he's done? He denied a woman a heart transplant because he wanted her money when she died.
Most shows just don't know how to end. You can count on a single hand the number of shows that ended well. I have no regrets watching Shameless. The journey was worth it over the actual destination.
