On a macro level, the absence of stakes is one of the (many) problems plaguing
Shameless entering its final season. Whether due to the absolute disinterest in continuity between seasons or the siloing of storylines from one another, the show’s writers have used the idea of the show as a “sitcom” to abandon the type of storyline that felt like it could fully disrupt these characters’ lives. Even in a season with a deadly pandemic, the show remains defined by this sense that no matter what is going on around them, the Gallaghers are always going to be Gallaghers, and that’s the comic/dramatic constant the show wants to focus on.