10 Times Shameless Broke Our Hearts - CBR

Shameless is the story of 6 Gallagher children living in the South side of Chicago. With no mother on the scene, heir father Frank Gallagher (a drunken drug-addict who neglects his kids) leaves the eldest, Fiona, to raise them. Fiona, Lip, Ian, Carl, Debbie, and Liam are disjointed, dysfunctional, and struggle financially, so they resort to petty crime to keep food on the table.

RELATED: Shameless: 5 Actors Who Nailed Their Roles ( & 5 Who Fell Short)

Despite being a comedy-drama, Shameless touches on huge issues surrounding racism, sexuality, gender identity, mental illness, and poverty. Through Shameless' 11 seasons, there were many moments that broke fans' hearts.

10 Monica Gallagher Returns – Just Like The Pilgrims Intended

Monica Gallagher is the kids' deadbeat Mom. After leaving Frank when they were only little, Monica returns to be their Mom again in season 2. On Thanksgiving, the 8 Gallaghers, Jimmy (Fiona's boyfriend), Veronica, and Kevin (their friends and next-door neighbors) sit round the table, chatting, drinking and chucking food. Monica gets up, telling Ian she needs to wash her hands. Fiona hears a strange noise, heading to the kitchen to explore.

Slouched by the kitchen cupboards, Monica has slashed her wrists and is bleeding out on the floor as all the children coming running in. Everyone shocked, Jimmy jumps in to apply pressure on her wounds while Fiona calls the ambulance. Luckily, Monica survives the ordeal, but it's because she was failing to take her Bipolar medication that she was left emotionally vulnerable. Just Like The Pilgrims Intended is a harrowing episode, showing Fiona and Jimmy silently mopping up Monica's blood in tears.

9 Liam Left Unsupervised At The Party – There's The Rub

Fiona gets a lot of romantic attention throughout Shameless. Robbie arrives at the Gallagher house with a bag of cocaine, looking to party with her. She kicks him out, cocaine still in her possession, and Fiona, Veronica, Kevin and Lip all start partying while watching Liam. Fiona loses sight of Liam for a moment, and wanders into the kitchen to find his face covered in cocaine.

Due to Liam's young age, that amount of cocaine causes an overdose, and he's rushed to hospital where they start asking questions. Liam survives the ordeal, but Fiona is arrested and jailed for child abuse. There's The Rub is a difficult watch, not only because of Liam's health risks, but the difficulty seeing Fiona – an otherwise great guardian to her siblings – make such a colossal mistake.

8 Mickey And Ian's Relationship – Cascading Failures

It's a tough life living on the south side, especially if you're gay. Ian and Mickey's relationship starts in season 1, and eventually the two wed in season 10. The Gallagher family is dysfunctional, but the Milkovich family is even worse. Terry Milkovich is a real dirtbag – a racist and homophobe constantly evading police who impregnated his daughter.

He catches Ian and Mickey together in season 3 and severely beats them both. Terry knocks out his son, Mickey, with the base of his gun and invites a prostitute to his house, ordering her to have sex with Mickey in front of Ian to turn him heterosexual. It's tough watching Mickey Milkovich, an otherwise tough and scary guy, be subjected to such a horrific act. It truly breaks audience's hearts.

7 DFS Separates The Siblings – Cascading Failures

Frank Gallagher, in another spiteful move, calls the Department of Family Services on the Gallagher children, who put them into separate foster homes. Watching the children realise they are going separately – some on their own – is a deeply emotional part of Cascading Failures. Fiona does her best to get them back, exploring all options – even asking Kev and Veronica to foster them.

RELATED: Shameless: Every Season, Ranked From Worst To Best

The foster homes they go to are awful. Lip and Ian lives in a military-style camp, Debbie ends up working slave labor, but Liam ends up with a kind, wealthy gay couple. It's upsetting for the children and viewers, especially when they learn it was their father who did this – purely out of spite and anger.

6 Ian's Diagnosis – Crazy Love

Ian Gallagher suffers manic and depressive episodes through the early seasons of Shameless, and eventually admits himself to a psychiatric hospital in season 5, noticeably nervous. He gets a formal diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. Although good news that he can finally manage his mental health, it's the character's devastation when he sees similarities between his mother's mistakes and his own. Crazy Love is a troubling episode for Ian, as he sees himself diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and compared to Monica.

5 Lip's Addiction To Alcohol – You Sold Me The Laundromat, Remember?

As a Gallagher, life is particularly tough on the eldest siblings. Phillip 'Lip' Gallagher is intelligent, bashful and loyal. His admission to college starts his reliance on alcohol, as he struggles with balancing school and a job and finds the work challenging. Several days and nights of heavy drinking develop an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, and Lip hits rock bottom one night in season 7.

He gets into a fight, his girlfriend breaks up with him and then arrives at another ex's house, drunk, in the middle of the night and breaks in to crash on the floor. He realises his dependence on drinking and decides to sober up by attending AA meetings. Lip had been kicked out of college and the board decide not to expunge his disciplinary record. It's hard for fans to see Lip as he breaks.

4 Monica's Death – Requiem For A Sl*t

Requiem For A Sl*t is another one of Shameless' heartbreaking episodes – for two reasons. Monica returns in season 7 and renews her vows with Frank in a drug-fuelled binge. They argue and go to bed miserable. Frank tries to wake her the next morning but is unable to, and at the hospital is told she died of a brain aneurysm.

The Gallaghers have mixed feelings – Frank is devastated by her death, falling into a depression. Some of the children are fine, finding no difference between her neglect and death since they won't see her anyway. Monica also left them 70 pounds of meth, in true Gallagher fashion. It's sad to see Frank miserable, and even worse to see some Gallaghers not care at all.

3 Fiona's Departure – Found

Fiona Gallagher (played brilliantly by Emmy Rossum) had some of the saddest plotlines in Shameless. She was raising 5 kids, sacrificing her own life to put food on the table, earning money any way she can, and trying to ensure they get the best lives possible. After the cocaine incident with Liam, things unravelled for Fiona and she headed on a downward spiral. In an attempt to sort herself out, she took loans against the house and got onto the property ladder and was succeeding in her management career at Patsy's Pies.

CBR Report

Our main newsletter packed with the latest updates, reviews and buzz from the worlds of movies, TV, anime, comics, and beyond. Get ready and let's dive in! Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

RELATED: Shameless: 10 Ways Frank Has Changed Since The First Season

She begins drinking, gets fired, stars fighting and gets arrested again. Trying to pick herself back up, Fiona attends AA meetings with Lip and gets another job where she bumps into her old real-estate investor friend, who offers her back her original investment: $100,000. She leaves $50,000 to her siblings, with Debbie now in charge of the family finances, and never looks back. Her siblings throw her a goodbye party, but she never turns up.

2 Lip Fighting For His Child – Gallavich!

Lip and his girlfriend, Tami, have their first child in season 10. The pair fight a lot, and at Mickey and Ian's wedding, Lip and Tami fight over where to live. She threatens to take Freddie, their newborn, and tells Lip he can visit whenever he wants. In their argument, Lip begs for more constant access to his child, and even offers to move with her – even if it means leaving his family. It's a heartbreaking moment in an otherwise happy episode. Gallavich! shows Lip having his first drink since recovering from alcoholism and getting drunk.

1 The End Of Frank Gallagher – Father Frank, Full Of Grace

Frank Gallagher is loyal to no-one like he is to illegal substances. In Shameless, Frank encounters many near-misses with death, and fans didn't expect the season finale. After being hospitalised for (yet another) overdose, Frank Gallagher is diagnosed with Covid-19 and after experiencing the worst symptoms, passes away. He leaves a letter for his children that they read before the funeral. In the most emotional moment of Shameless, his note breaks everyone's hearts – but it's very Frank.

NEXT: Shameless: 10 Things That Should Have Happened In Season 11 (But Never Did)