Shameless has never been afraid to highlight the debaucherous (and at times depressing)
exploits of the Gallaghers.
And the man behind the most deranged moments of all is the family patriarch, William H.
Macy's Frank.
Sure.
Frank was drunk and strung out on pain meds when he had Mex with his free-range neighbor,
Karen Jackson, who also happens to be his son's girlfriend and the daughter of Frank's
love interest.
But if being under the influence was an excuse for doing bad things, Frank Gallagher's soul
would be as pure as driven snow.
Yes, Karen takes advantage of him.
Yes, Frank has no idea Karen is filming the act as payback for her father's cruel words.
But it's fair to assume that any man with half a brain cell - or half a soul - would
stop the sensual encounter right away.
Instead, Frank is a willing participant.
One of Frank's hallmark qualities is his uncanny knack at taking a bad situation and making
it so much worse.
Such is the case in the second season premiere, when Frank nearly loses his youngest son in
a bet.
Overhearing a drug dealer claiming he withstood two taser blasts, Frank bets money he doesn't
have that the dealer is lying.
Unfortunately for Frank, with the help of the bartender's taser, the dealer proves he
can ride the lightning.
“Where’s my ten grand motherf---er?”
Frank's only idea for making the money is to panhandle while using his toddler son Liam
to garner sympathy.
Unfortunately, that means Liam is with Frank when the drug dealers grab him off the street.
Since Frank has nothing else to give them, the dealers take Liam as collateral.
Frank callously shrugs off losing his son in a bet, and doesn't even inform the other
Gallaghers what has happened until they confront him.
The terrible decision making, lack of responsibility, and disregard for his family's safety all
reflect classic Frank parenting.
Every man has his limit.
For Frank Gallagher, that limit is incest… barely.
In Shameless' fourth season Frank learns the punishment he's been putting his liver through
has left him with only a short time to live.
“You know you’re dying, right?”
"we're all dying Doc."
"Soon."
Desperate to find a potential liver donor, Frank reveals that he has another child that
the family is unaware of - an illegitimate daughter named Sammi that he lost contact
with before any of the other kids were born.
He tracks Sammi down and finds her living in a trailer park with a child of her own.
Rather than attempting to connect with his daughter, Frank romances her, hoping it will
help him convince her to agree to donate part of her liver.
The two almost sleep together but for once Frank actually avoids sex.
Frank's plan almost works.
Smitten with her manipulative father, Sammi does exactly what Frank wants and offers to
be a liver donor.
But once Frank learns she isn't a match, he unintentionally reveals his dishonesty in
a frustrated rant.
“What did you say?”
“Your daughter?”
Once again, Frank's brazen disregard for other people hurts someone unlucky enough to be
related to him.
When Frank finds out that Dottie, a.k.a. "Butterface," is slowly dying while awaiting a heart transplant,
he goes about wooing her in an attempt to secure her government pension.
That alone is pretty despicable, but Frank's next moves became his new low point.
One day, Dottie is taking a shower and the phone rings.
The hospital has found a matching donor, meaning Dottie could receive her life-saving transplant.
At least, she would have, had Frank not lied to the caller by telling them that Dottie
had already passed.
This disgusting and incredibly self-centered act is a death sentence for Dottie.
Later, though he knows Dottie's weakened heart can't handle it, he agrees to have sex with
her.
Dottie dips before it's over.
Where most people see a terminally ill child, Frank sees as an opportunity.
After a local news report highlights a cancer-stricken child who was granted his wish to meet the
Chicago Bulls, Frank's devious wheels begin to turn.
This time it's Carl's turn to get caught up in one of Frank's lies, as the pre-teen is
convinced by his father that he has cancer.
Frank even goes so far as to shave the boy's head, claiming it'll help the sun's healing
rays get in.
While the scam does not score the sports memorabilia Frank was after, it does get Carl sent to
a special summer camp for terminally ill children.
Carl complains a lot about the camp's lack of a shooting range or ice cream sprinkles,
though he does use his presumed illness to con a camp counselor in a way that would make
his dad proud.
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