Why Cameron Monaghan Struggled With His Character Development In Shameless Season 8

"Shameless" went on for eleven seasons, which one might argue was a few too many. Should the writers have called it quits after Fiona (Emmy Rossum) left the show in season 9? Probably, considering it was always Fiona (not Frank) who was the true heart of the series. But for fans who particularly love the show's early years, the real end of "Shameless" probably should've been season 7. After a major quality dip in seasons 5 and 6, season 7 was a return to form, one with some fresh storylines for all the characters and a surprisingly conclusive closing montage. If "Shameless" had ended there, it'd be known as that show that got a little shaky in later years but still managed to end on a high note.

But this is a Showtime series; ending a show with dignity is not how this network has ever worked. "Shameless" kept on churning out episodes, and halfway through season 8 it became clear this was a disastrous idea. Not only had the overall quality of the writing fallen off a cliff, but Ian's character arc in particular is possibly one of the worst things the show's ever done. After three seasons of maturing and coming to terms with his bipolar disorder, Ian stops taking his meds, gets obsessively involved in a protest group, turns into a borderline cult leader nicknamed Gay Jesus, then blows up a homophobe's car and becomes a wanted fugitive. The story's a tonal mess, almost universally disliked by the fanbase, and just plain depressing. Even the actor who played Ian, Cameron Monaghan, initially had a tough time getting on board with it. 

In a 2021 interview, Monaghan explained, "We were at a point where we were getting so many new writers onto the series, and the show I feel struggled for a second, which happens with any series that's been on for a while. It felt like there was a point where they didn't know what they wanted to do with Ian." Tonally, it's easy to see what he's talking about: "Shameless" had always been a dramedy, but most of season 8 felt more like an hour-long sitcom.

But when it comes to not knowing what to do with Ian's character, this admittedly wasn't a new issue for the show. With Mickey in jail for long periods of time and Ian still too young to join the military, season 2 chose to have Ian get into an inexplicable episodes-long feud with his brother Lip, one that was resolved with a single fistfight without any lingering consequences. Of course, this was much easier to forgive than the mishandling of Ian in later seasons, because the stakes were nowhere near as high. 

"There were a couple of episodes where I was kind of looking at the story and being like, 'What are we doing here? It doesn't really feel like anything is happening with him and we're kind of floating across these relationships,'" Monaghan continued. "I wasn't sure what we were trying to say, but that being said, that is kind of true to life, to a certain degree, where we do find ourselves sometimes in these ruts where we don't know what we're doing with our relationships, our lives, and ourselves."

Of course, it wasn't really Ian who was going through a period of aimlessness. His character arc here was just a product of a show feeling the need to stick to its original premise — a messy family of hustlers who are always an inch away from escaping poverty — at the expense of any legitimate character growth. Just as Lip frustratingly sabotaged his college success to maintain the show's status quo, Ian going into season 8 had finally built a stable, promising life for himself, and the show didn't know what to do with that. 

Ian's character also suffered from season 5's decision to messily write his longtime love interest Mickey (Noel Fisher) out of the show, which is why his season 8 storyline had one saving grace: it ended up with Ian in prison with Mickey, and the two characters finally rekindled their relationship throughout the show's final seasons. "I do think having those [season 8] episodes make when [the writers] started finding the way with the character and relationships again, kind of more satisfying, 'cause he sort of loses his way and he comes back," Monaghan explained. "So it was kind of a challenge, but I think it all worked out ultimately." 

So although "Shameless" probably still should've ended after season 7, it's at least nice to know that the quality of the writing with Ian didn't get any worse after season 8. Ian and Mickey's storyline was never quite able to reach the compelling heights it did in seasons 3 through 5, but at the very least, the writers committed to it the second time around. After Gay Jesus, Ian got a sense of direction again, and that at least helps to make those final seasons worth watching.