Top 10 Shameless Plot Holes You Never Noticed

Kev and V’s struggles with fertility formed their primary plotline in the third season of “Shameless.” As they tried and failed to have a baby the old fashioned way, the couple eventually embraced a more unconventional solution and turned to V’s mother Carol for help. Though Carol does become pregnant with Kev’s baby, things would take a turn when she gave birth to a little boy and decided to keep him for herself. After that, we barely heard anything about that kid again. Kev even apparently forgot he exists. Looking at the devoted relationship Kev has with his twin daughters, it just doesn’t make sense that he would have none whatsoever with his son.

It’s not surprising that one of the Gallagher children is not Frank’s biological offspring. What is surprising is the fact that Ian is the one who holds that honor. As it turns out, Ian’s father is Frank’s stable, middle-class brother Clayton as a result of an ill-advised fling with Monica. This is a huge revelation, but it never had much impact on either Ian or the plot after it was introduced. We expect his siblings to take it in stride, of course. It’s just kind of strange that Ian doesn’t seem to make anything of this information. For all intents and purposes, it’s like it never happened, so we have to wonder why it was worth bringing up at all.

From the first episode of the series, Kev and V have been a constant presence on “Shameless.” Not only are the pair some of the most understanding neighbors of all time, but they are the best friends the Gallagher family could ask for. You would never know that based on the more recent seasons of the show. Kev and V are increasingly isolated in their own storylines, to the point where it feels like they’re off in their own series. Don’t get us wrong, we would totally watch a Kev and V spinoff, but after everything they’ve been through with the Gallaghers, it just doesn’t sit right to see the relationship reduced to token status.

“Shameless” has become known for a tendency to approach storytelling a little haphazardly, but few dropped plotlines have been weirder or more unsettling than Kassidi’s. Carl was smitten by her intense devotion to him originally. He even agreed to marry her, despite the fact that it wasn’t exactly his idea. When her possessive streak turned crazy though, Carl couldn’t get back to military school fast enough. Not to be ignored, Kassidi followed him, and one of Carl’s cadets decided to help him out of the clingy situation. So...what happened? Did that kid really commit murder? We have no idea, because Kassidi is never really mentioned again. The abrupt end to her arc just seems like bad writing.

Did you guys know that Lip is incredibly smart? Lip’s genius level intellect was his defining feature for the first half of the series. It was how he propelled himself through the world. Since he got kicked out of college though, the show seems to have completely forgotten about this aspect of Lip. While we like the time taken to prioritize his substance abuse recovery and emotional development, we hate that it comes at the expense of his previously impressive brainpower. Then again, the insecure part of Lip always seemed to yearn for an excuse to be average. If the change is a choice on Lip’s part then the writing isn’t making that clear to the audience.

You either love Debbie or you hate her, but at least she used to make the choice more difficult. Debbie was originally one of the most caring and empathetic characters on “Shameless.” She was shown to be pretty intelligent too. Then as a teenager Debbie took a sharp left turn into brat territory and it’s been downhill ever since. From her bad habit of sexually predatory behavior, to her dumb ideas and various scams, Debbie now only sees the world as far as it relates to her own wants and needs. While her siblings have worked to overcome Frank’s influence, Debbie has only become more like him. It would be sad if the complete disconnect from her earlier self wasn’t so frustrating.

Arguably, no Gallagher has had as rough a journey as Fiona. We were rooting for her to succeed, and it hurt to see her experience such a brutal setback in season nine. Even worse was anticipating the backlash that we were sure her downward spiral would yield. Except, nothing really happened. The whole plotline seemed to be setting up for a downfall similar to her jail stint in season four. Instead the aftermath was fairly anticlimactic despite Fiona’s ongoing personal struggles. The police never got involved, the owner of the car she hit never appeared to cause trouble...It almost felt like a fakeout from a show that has rarely ignored the chance to pile on to its leads.

Where to begin with Liam? So much about this character just doesn’t add up. First there’s the fact that we’re supposed to believe that recessive genes explain how he could be Frank’s biological child. There’s also the fact that the writers ignored him for so long it was a little jarring when he suddenly developed a personality in later seasons. Prior to that, Liam’s main feature was his potential for brain damage following his accidental sampling of Fiona’s coke. However, nothing ever came from even that little bit of development. For a long time, Liam was simply the writers’ blank slate, which is only becoming more noticeable as he finally gets a bigger role in the series.

“Shameless” likes to push the envelope, sure, but when it comes to Frank they ask us to suspend a lot of disbelief. The man is a chronic substance addict who has been abusing his body relentlessly for his entire adult life. He was even in total liver failure at one point. Not only did Frank get a miraculous save then, but he keeps surviving no matter what the plot throws at him. Legal issues? He skates again and again. Or the many people who have wanted him dead? His generally chaotic existence? Just another day in the life. There’s never any real consequences for Frank. He’s a true cockroach in every sense, but seriously, how is this man still alive?

The beating heart that held that Gallaghers together, Fiona never hesitated to put her siblings first. She even knowingly sacrificed her future for the security of becoming their legal guardian when she was barely an adult herself. Despite all that fierce devotion though, later seasons saw Fiona unwilling to shoulder the responsibilities of running the family. So she just kind of...stopped. It didn't seem to matter that Carl and Debbie were definitely still underage, or that Liam is an actual child. Forget irresponsible, that’s completely unlike the Fiona that was developed in the first half of the series. There had to have been a way to explore new stories for her without cutting out the core of her character.