'Shameless' Season 10 Finale: A classic heist gets 'Gallavich' a wedding venue but the show isn't going anywhere
Spoiler Alert for 'Shameless' Season 10, Episode 12
It’s the season finale, and what better way to wrap up this meandering season than with a good old South Side wedding? It’s not just any South Side wedding, though. It’s the gay Gallagher union of Ian (Cameron Monaghan) and Mickey (Noel Fisher), and nothing’s going according to plan. That’s never stopped the Gallaghers, however, and Debbie (Emma Kenney) perhaps puts it best: “We're gonna white trash this s***.”
Mickey and Ian have been together, out and proud, for a while now. However, them taking their relationship to the next level with a wedding has brought the South Side's homophobia to the fore. It's no longer just Terry Milkovich (Dennis Cockrum), who is sent into a destructive, homicidal rage by the news of the wedding. Bar patrons, wedding venues, even Frank (William H. Macy) suddenly all have their own disparaging opinions for an issue that up until now, people mostly let lie. It's not like homophobia isn't an issue that needs to be tackled, it's just that for a show that has excelled in balancing cynicism, boldness, humor and sensitivity when taking on issues, this feels sudden, forced and pretty awkward.
Terry's gunning for his son -- literally -- and burns the wedding venue down. The Gallaghers are not about to take something like that lying down, though, and there's going to be a wedding by any means necessary. It's been a while since we've seen an all-hands-on-deck Gallagher con, though not even that can make a show that's at least two seasons past its sell-by date, feel like it's doing anything but spinning its wheels. What is essentially the heist of a wedding venue is worth a chuckle, perhaps, but it mostly serves as a reminder of how shocking the show once used to feel like.
All that fades away, however, when it comes to the actual wedding. Played straight, it is everything one could hope for in a wedding episode. Noel Fisher and Cameron Monaghan sell the love between their two characters with absolute dedication and sincerity. The road to this point was bumpy, but absolutely worth it, proven by both the quiet moments the two share before the wedding and the exchanging of their vows during the grand event.
'Shameless' isn't known for its happy endings -- the best that usually can be hoped for is that the good outweighs the bad complications that come with it. However, through sheer Gallagher grit, Ian and Mickey have gotten themselves a real win. Even Frank tears up at the wedding he had to be tricked into attending.
There's another season of 'Shameless' to come, but aside from perhaps the complications Lip (Jeremy Allen White) has with leaving the South Side, it's hard to imagine what more the show can do with its characters. The cast is well-established enough to continue to liven up the screen together, but the plot itself has meandered with no real sense of direction. Even the season finale felt less like a finale and more like a series of chaotic events with a beautiful wedding tacked on.
Forget the question of whether or not Lip is going somewhere. Is anyone?