Shameless #2

There they are. The Gallaghers plus the neighbors two houses down. Of Shameless fame. I barely got through the first couple of episodes for all the gratuitious sex, nudity, foul language, drinking, smoking, and drug use. I felt like I needed a shower after viewing. But then I became attached to the various characters who dwell on the South Side of Chicago. I had something of a sketchy upbringing but anything that happened to me pales away to nothing compared to what Fiona, et al, have endured at the hands of their alcoholic, drug-addicted, mostly absent parents. In between shuddering over rape, incest, needle drugs, the system (educational, penal, etc), and all the poor choices made by every stinking one of them, I began to admire them for their ingenuity and survival instincts. I started to look forward to the genuine moments of affection and humanity between them. Now that I have watched over half the episodes, I find myself torn between continuing to rush forward through them or to possibly slow down since there really aren't that many left. And I hate how at the end of a series the writers and producers tend to muck things up. Either by hastily throwing together neatly tied up endings for multiple story lines or failing to answer pertinent questions about the fates of the characters. Anyway, I am enjoying the ride with these people and the dangerous, bizarre, hilarious, painful situations they get themselves into. All I know is, I have always adored Joan Cusack. Her turn as Sheila Jackson convinced me all over again just how brilliant and enigmatic an actress she is. I really must go, the next episode is cued up.