Did ‘Shameless’ Just Kill off a Major Character in Penultimate Season 11 Episode?

Shameless fans are wondering if they’ve seen the last of one of the Gallagher family members after watching Season 11, Episode 11 Sunday night. Although the series finale is still a week away, Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy) may have seen his final moment on the show. Warning: Shameless spoilers ahead.

In Sunday’s episode, Frank continues to lose control of his bodily functions — body and mind — and young Liam (Christian Isaiah) takes pity on his father and doe a day of “Frank things” with him. The two do things like pretend to be blind beggars, scoring $100 in their scam. After Frank has a rendezvous with a prostitute his spirits are temporarily lifted — until later at the Alibi when his body rejects alcohol, forcing Frank to consider his identity without it.

After a physical fight with Debbie (Emma Kenney), who Frank says will only find love if she “finds someone who’s an even bigger loser than [she is],” Frank and Liam return home to a despondent Lip (Jeremy Allen White), who just lost out on a chance to sell the house. A touching, unexpected father-son moment between the two is overshadowed by Frank’s worsening dementia forcing him to go to extremes and shooting up. “Ah, that’s so much better,” he says as he places a letter addressed to “Gallagher family” on the mantle. But the letter falls to the floor as he shoots up once again and collapses on the couch, his eyes closing slowly.

Fans couldn’t help but feel emotional at the cliffhanger moment, wondering if Frank will make it through to next week’s series finale. “I won’t forgive Shameless writers for what they did to Frank,” one Twitter user wrote. “Who knew one picture could cause me so much pain?” someone captioned an image of the fallen letter. “Frank’s last genuine smile was him reading the letter he wrote to his family,” another despondent fan said.

Fans will have to wait for Sunday’s series finale on Showtime to see what ultimately will become of Frank. Shameless fans, what are your thoughts on the final season? Share in the comments below.