‘Shameless’ Series Finale Gives Gallagher Family Member Fitting Sendoff

Shameless has brought the story of the Gallagher family to an end, for now. There are plenty of questions still up in the air after the show closed out on the Chicago clan. There is some finality to it all, though. It might not be unexpected, especially after the events of the penultimate episode.

It should be said for sure that Shameless ended much like it started, which fans likely expected and demanded before tuning in Sunday. Ahead will be spoilers for the finale of Shameless on Showtime. Move forward only if ready or if you’ve watched the episode.

The finale picks up immediately after the prior episode, leaving Frank Gallagher fighting an overdose on the family’s couch, and nobody seemed worried that they might have a dead man in their home. They especially don’t care that the dead man could be their father. Instead, they choose to wait it out over a cup of coffee.

Frank ends up dodging the bullet on the couch and walks out of the house. From his home, Frank staggers to a local church and believes he’s an altar boy. It’s a moment that blurs the lines between fiction and reality, sort of sending him on a final journey that wraps up the series and his story. Gallagher is battling an OD, has been diagnosed with dementia and even ends up battling COVID, something that didn’t exist when the series started.

The priest at the church calls an ambulance for Frank, spending his final moments reflecting through flashbacks of his family, including departed daughter Emmy Rossum, while essentially dying alone. But dying alone doesn’t always mean you’re actually dying alone in television.

Macy delivers a grand performance in the closing moments, delivering a voiceover of Frank’s final note to his family as a monologue that covers his children, the lessons he hoped they learned and just what could happen next. He seems to leave his body behind in the hospital, an apparition that travels to The Alibi, the drinking hole that housed many scenes from the series over the years. Frank sits at his customary seat at the bar before leaving there to travel across the city of Chicago itself. The show then closes much like it needs to.

“People say you can’t drink your troubles away,” Macy says to close the note. “I say you’re just not drinking enough. Guess that’s it. Not much left to say really. Except time’s precious. Don’t f—ing waste it. Have a good time. I sure as hell did.”

There is also a funny mid-credits scene to cap off the series and Frank Gallagher’s existence. The crematory being used on his dead body explodes due to the overwhelming alcohol that made up his day-to-day life.