'Shameless' season 9 episode 8: Kevin and Veronica Ball invest their energies into yet another social cause
This story may contain spoilers for 'Shameless' season 9, episode 8: 'The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Alibi'.
Ever since the beginning of its ongoing season 9, Showtime's hit dramedy 'Shameless' has upheld two of its secondary characters, Kevin (Steve Howey) and Veronica Ball (Shanola Hampton) as patrons of social causes. From going about the show's own form of the #MeToo movement through making their bar The Alibi 'less-rapey' and a woman-safe zone to now fostering an immigrant teen, over time, the raunchy, freaky couple who once used to indulge in cam-porn for fast cash, have come a long way. However, from time to time, it does come off as if the showrunners are trying to use Kevin and Veronica - no matter how spicy the storyline is - as props for social issues, probably to balance out all the degenerate debauchery the rest of the characters get up to.
And in the latter half of season 9, the mid-season premiere itself was able to establish that the majority of Kevin's and Veronica's storyline was going to be invested in yet another social cause; this time focusing on the struggles that immigrant children and their families undergo while seeking asylum. The fact that the couple went ahead with these plans in the first place was purely because Kevin wanted a son to play catch with was slightly ridiculous to register as he emerged to be the pro-women's equality/feminist hero of the first half of the same season.
