One TV series I’ve been liking this year is Shameless. I missed out it for almost a decade but now I’m playing catch-up. It’s about a dysfunctional Chicago family, with a worthless (yet cunning) patriarch leaving the whole family’s future in the hands of the eldest daughter. While none of the previous seasons ever surpassed how much I enjoyed the first, did this one do it?

Fiona has moved on after the disappearance of Jimmy Lishman. With most of the kids growing up and not needing her help, Fiona has the chance to do what she needs to do. She manages to land an office job, and she ends up quite good at it. However she dates her boss, and that doesn’t lead to a good mixture.

Lip is now a man and he’s into a pretty notable college in the Chicago area. However while he was one of the smartest kids in his average high-school, he soon learns that college was far more difficult than he ever expected.

Frank on the other hand is not at a good point in his life. His liver is at an all time low, and he really needs a transplant. After years of heavy drinking, his body can’t take a drop of alcohol anymore, literally. Which causes the wily father of many to get pretty inventive and desperate. The only one of the Gallagher clan that cares is Carl, who is really trying to keep his father out of the graveyard.

Overall besides the original season, I may have liked the fourth season the best. I didn’t really like Fiona’s downfall into some pretty horrid decisions, but I did like Lip’s evolution from stupid-genius kid to pretty competent big brother. Since Frank was almost dead the whole season, his antics were weak, but Carl kind of makes up for that.