An Ode to Fiona Gallagher

Sunday, March 10th marked Shameless’s 110th episode. It also marked the final episode featuring lead Emmy Rossum, who plays Fiona, the fierce, loyal, family-above-all oldest sister of the Gallagher clan. Save Rossum coming back as a guest star at some point, her brilliant run on Showtime’s longest-running show of all-time has ended.

Fiona Gallagher may be one of the most brilliantly complex female characters ever created for television, and Rossum plays her to perfection. In a show that features a lot of events that border on insane, Rossum has been a rock for nearly a decade.

Over the years, Fiona has shown herself to be a lot of things. She’s made her share of horrible mistakes and decisions – leaving cocaine out for her toddler-aged brother to find and nearly overdose on chief among them (that, and the ensuing scenes, remains one of the most difficult excerpts of any show that I’ve ever watched) – but she nevertheless has been one of the most empowering female characters on television for years. Despite having many faults, Fiona always wants to better herself and, most endearingly, she is always there for her siblings.

Monica and Frank are the worst parents imaginable. They only care for themselves and their own happiness, and resort to drugs and alcohol in order to try to make themselves happy. They care very, very little (if at all) for their children, and are never present for their kids. This forces Fiona to care for her siblings from a very young age – she speaks of doing so when she was just six years old, in fact. Eventually, in a very moving scene, she testifies in court in an effort to become her siblings’ legal guardian, a case which she wins. Fiona continually puts her own life on the back burner, caring for her five siblings – Lip, Ian, Carl, Debbie, and Liam – that range two decades in age. She willingly sacrifices time and time again in order to give her siblings the best lives possible. For that alone, she is remarkable. Despite her shortcomings – and there are many – Fiona is a constant in her siblings’ messy, difficult lives, and always has their backs.

When fans are first introduced to Fiona in the pilot episode, she is portrayed as an attractive, tough-as-nails young woman who loves to live, but also is extremely resourceful and responsible when it comes to her siblings. Rossum is 23 when the show begins; Fiona is said to be right around this age. It is clear to the viewer that Fiona is the rock of the Gallagher clan.

By the end of the first season, Fiona has already decided to stay with her family rather than leaving with Jimmy Steve (whom she only knows as Steve at the time), choosing her own blood over her happiness.

At the end of season two, after Jimmy Steve reenters her life, she learns that “Steve” is actually named Jimmy, and he has been leading a double life. This is difficult for her to deal with, but she begins to come to terms with it.

Once season three begins, she has started a new job as a cashier, but deals with a sexual-harassing boss. She fights for custody for her siblings, who have been displaced after Frank called Child Protective Services in an act of revenge. She is eventually granted legal guardianship – this is when the viewer sees how much she truly cares, and how much she is willing to give up in an attempt to better her siblings’ futures. Fiona is incredible.

In season four, Fiona has her major fall from grace when the cocaine that she parties with ends up in Liam’s possession.

Season four also sees her get involved with Robbie, a hard partyer and bad influence on her. She ends up violating her probation that is a result of the Liam incident. Fiona finally begins to see the errors in her ways, and the viewer is once again able to side with her.

In season five, she begins working at Patsy’s Pies, working her way back from her arrest. She eventually works her way up to the title of Manager at the Patsy’s Pies before getting fired in season nine. She begins seeing Sean, her older boss, in seasons five and six. Sean seems to be a good influence on Fiona, and fans really liked him initially. The two end up getting engaged, and Fiona is truly happy with him. However, on their wedding day, Frank drops the bombshell that Sean, who is supposedly clean, is using drugs again, and the wedding is called off. Fiona is understandably heartbroken.

By season five, Fiona begins giving her siblings more responsibilities, slowly letting her level of control deteriorate just a little bit. The show does this fantastically, as her abrupt departure at the end of season nine doesn’t seem so abrupt when reminiscing. Whether it be through forcing a teenage Debbie to raise her child without much help from Fiona, telling the kids that they all need to contribute, or beginning to live her own life by buying an apartment building in season seven, Fiona slowly starts to move forward.

Life is not without its lumps, however. She hits rock bottom once again in season nine after she finds out that her boyfriend, Ford, is actually married and has a child. She begins drinking heavily, not wanting to do any work at all. She wastes her family’s hard-earned, much-needed money on alcohol, and hangs around Frank, which is always a recipe for disaster. When she is fired from Patsy’s Pies and thrown out of the house by Lip, she hits absolute rock bottom. However, in typical Fiona fashion, she picks herself back up – with Lip’s help – and begins attending AA meetings, attempting to get her life back on track. When she is given $100,000 as a buy-out from her previous investment, she finally decides to do something for herself, and put herself first. However, upon leaving, she gives her family half of that money – $50,000 – because… well, because of course she does.

Fiona Gallagher is one of the most complex characters ever created for television. She has her faults – and there are many – but her commitment to raising her siblings in the wake of horrific circumstances makes her a character to admire. Not only does she always put her siblings’ needs first, but she also continues to deal with Frank – and, to a lesser extent, Monica – popping back up in her life time and time again.

Longtime fans of the show just want Fiona to be happy in her retirement from on-screen interactions, and it seems that she is. By not having her hook up with Jimmy Steve (as many thought they would), the show allows her to maintain her individuality and truly start fresh in her new life.

Few characters deserve happiness more than Fiona Gallagher. And she seems to finally be happy. That’s all that matters. 

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Season recaps courtesy of shameless.fandom.com.