The Season 9 finale of Shameless airs tomorrow night on Showtime. As diehard fans of the series know, the network releases a small arrangement of press photos – which also serve as episode teasers – nearly a week before a new episode airs.
In addition to this week’s episode marking the end of Season 9 of Shameless , this episode will also force fans of the Showtime series to say goodbye to Emmy Rossum – who has played the role of Fiona Gallagher since the series started.
According to the teaser promo for this week’s episode – which previewed at the end of last week’s episode – it appears as if Fiona will say goodbye to all her family members individually before exiting the show. One snapshot from this week’s episode, features a distraught looking William H. Macy – who plays Frank Gallagher – sitting on the couch as his eldest child appears to be heading out the door, forever.
As those who have stayed current with Season 9 know, Fiona and Frank have had some interesting dynamics added to their relationship this season. For starters, Fiona spiraled out of control during most of the season after losing everything but the shirt off her back. She discovered her boyfriend was married with a child, she made a poor investment, she lost her apartment building, she lost her job, and she was forced to move back in with her family.
Emmy Rossum’s character found comfort at the bottom of a bottle as Season 9 progressed. Unfortunately, she wasn’t a very pleasant drunk.
It was Frank who bluntly pointed out the fact that some individuals can handle being an alcoholic and some can’t. He continued to explain that there were some people who were silly and fun when they were drunk, and others who were angry and violent. He continued his wide advice by informing his daughter that she was not a good drunk and needed to get it together.
During Season 9, viewers also watched Frank break up a fight between Fiona and Lip (Jeremy Allen White) after her drinking started to cause issues for everyone in the household. Frank separated the feuding siblings and told Lip he needed to cut his sister some slack as she was always there to hold the family together when both he and their late mother, Monica, failed to do so.
The heartbreaking fallout was followed by a very sweet encounter as Lip and Fiona did manage to make up as she decided enough was enough and started going to AA meetings.
Last week’s episode ended with Fiona running into Max at her new job at the gas station. Max offered to buy Fiona out of the investment she made into the real estate deal.
As fans brace for saying goodbye to Fiona Gallagher, they can only hope Frank and the rest of the family can survive without her.
The Season 9 finale airs tomorrow night on Showtime, but will be available after midnight ET via the Showtime streaming app.