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The Case of Frank Gallagher: Great Character, Terrible Person (Shameless US Video Essay)

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Is Frank Gallagher one of the best-written characters on television, or one of the worst people ever put on screen? This video makes the strongest possible case for both, first building the full argument that he's a genuinely great character, then tearing it apart to show exactly why he's a terrible father and an even worse man. You don't have to pick a side. That's kind of the point.
#ShamelessTV #FrankGallagher #VideoEssay

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
01:56 The Case For Frank:
17:31 The Case Against Frank
36:36 The Final Verdict
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20 Comments

@melissa24799 1 month ago

For me, realizing that he's actually capable of loving a person and caring about them made it all so much worse because I'm just so angry that he didn't do that for the people who needed it the most, his kids...

@YTCProductions 1 month ago

I really wish there was a shameless prequel that would be with a younger Frank when he met Monica and how he was under his mother and brothers .

@onemanturret1641 1 month ago

Keep in mind the niceness he shows is bare minimum kindness you should see in a father.

@banjotiki3910 1 month ago (edited)

"Great Character, Terrible Person" couldnt be said better. Its so entertaining and funny to watch him, but the stuff he does is simply terrible and he isnt redeemable, like you said, he doesnt even want to be redeemed.

He's still what makes Shameless Shameless and I will always have a good laugh watching him

@corneliahanimann2173 1 month ago

I will watch this video tomorrow at work, but I have already my mind made up.

He literally, in the first or second season, cheats on his girlfriend with "butterface", to inherit her money, and when she is called for a heart transplant that she had been waiting for, he tells them on the phone that she no longer wants it, but he actually sleeps with her, to help her get the heart attack, when really, she initially wanted to get that heart.

Frank is fun to watch, but there is not a single redeemable thing about him.

@melissa24799 1 month ago

Frank was worse than Monica imo because having a parent like Frank in your life must be worse than having a parent who's constantly absent like Monica. Frank disappointed and hurt the kids literally on a daily basis...

@dislecsyk991 1 month ago

Honestly didn't ever feel bad for Frank in the whole series. Not once. It's part of the reason that the ending didn't work for me. They spent the whole show making him an irredeemable arsehole, then tried to redeem him when he got dementia. But they'd dug the hole so deep that it was impossible.

@YTCProductions 1 month ago

22:58
So there's the Season 7 opening when Frank woke up in the dirty Chicago water after they dumped him in the water after he exposed Sean but also ruined Fionas wedding at the same time . It showed Frank swimming and he sees the following ......

Fiona in a bridal dress drowning staring at him under the weight of what he left her with looking lifeless.

Debbie swimming after Franny who's swimming away from Debbie attached to an umblical cord . In which Frank made Debbie the way she is with her need to manipulate love the way Frank did with her .

Liam passing a smoke to Frank which foreshadows his care taking in the later seasons .

Ian getting head and flipping off Frank in defiance to him being so abused by Frank for years and him claiming his individuality from Frank .

Carl pumping a shotgun in military gear channeling the hustle mindset he got from Frank into a positive outlet Inspite of what he's taught Carl and what he did to Carl.

And finally in the same suit as Frank is Lip being a reflective mirror pouring a drink in a glass . Literally Frank's son in every sense of it in terms of addiction and potential and smarts being wasted on horrible partners and addiction .

@YTCProductions 1 month ago

9:48 ironically Frank treated Liam way better than Debbie did

@amyleyshon9013 1 month ago

The 2 worst things Frank ever did. One was the time he blocked that woman from finding out that there was a potential heart donor for her.She ends up dying. It was all to collect her money. The other was when he reported to social services that his own children were living in unsafe conditions. They ended up separated in foster care,,etc…to get revenge on them,,for what, I don’t remember.

@melissa24799 1 month ago

The most infuriating main character I've ever seen in a show. I got so angry about him all the time...

@YTCProductions 1 month ago

5:35 also since Frank has likely been drinking since childhood if Lip of all people started drinking at 10 I can't see how Frank would be no different. That's nearly 35-40 years of drinking since Frank's around his late 40s to early 50s by the start of the show . And it's a miracle he hasn't destroyed his liver much earlier and also because if he stops he can get the shakes like Professor Youens did when they took him off alcohol when he got locked up .
Id only imagine how much worse Frank would be.

Overall an addiction can reset your baseline and you consume more and more overtime just to reach the baseline you're trying to reach till it destroys you .

@georgia9105 1 month ago

I'm watching this and just finished your video on Lip, I strongly believe Frank is the result of abuse and a system that lets it continue. He was sexually abused and turned to drugs and Monica which in turn made him feel like he wasn't a terrible father if he wasn't doing those things to his children. Definitely agree with him being entertaining but his selfishness truly showcases what years of poverty, addiction, and toxic relationships can do to someone. Great video and tuning into some other ones.

@thechickapedia1175 1 month ago

Why didn’t they bartender, who heard Frank make that call to CPS, warn Fiona?

@sweet-co 1 month ago

What a great video. I loved especially the part, where you mentioned that only hating him as an individual would be letting the system off the hook that made him and in which he operates so easily. I wonder if that is why you presented the case for him so well, because you can see him as a survivor AND as a perpetrator. Both things are true in his character, especially b/c he has a flat arc. He didn't take the chance to change and improve his character and his survival tactics like his kids did.
A lot of the things you mentioned in part 1, the charm, the ingenuity, the moments of connection with his kids, sadly make him a realistic type of abuser. He gives his kids just enough so they don't reject him and his philosophy completely (until the bridge scene maybe). Obviously they want a connection to a parent, they want to feel cared for or if not that at least validated, so when he is there for them, when he has a kind word for them (weather it's genuine or just manipulation), that's something they hold on to. They want those moments to mean something.

@yeeebhop9012 1 month ago (edited)

Please do an entire video dedicated for bojack horseman !! Specifically how he’s often perceived to be either with BPD/NPD. As some with BPD I’m highly intrigued by his character.