What do u think about Fiona? I don’t really see why ppl hate Fiona? I mean she’s done some stupid shit but all of the Gallagher’s have and she had to sacrifice everything to care for her siblings?? She’s done some selfish things but honestly I feel like she deserves it bc she’s put her siblings before her pretty much all the time.
Fiona is a tough one for me…
I loved her until the back half of season 5. Fiona gets a lot of hate for season 4 and while I get it, I personally don’t agree with it. I’ve actually tried to defend the whole situation with the coke several times but most people say they don’t feel any sympathy for her; but for some reason I still do. She made a TON of mistakes in season 4 that were frustrating, but I feel people forget just how young she is and that she never got to get much of her crazy out because her crazy (while certainly more wild than anything I’ve ever done) was tame compared to what she is surrounded by or what her siblings were capable of doing. Then season 4 comes around and it seems like one thing turns into another and everything snowballs for her until suddenly she’s left coke out on the counter and her baby brother got into it and finally Fiona realizes that she needs to take better care of herself and needs to figure herself out; figure out why her life was capable of spiraling the way it did when she used to be so in control. And I’m all good with that, everyone needs to figure out ways to better themselves. The problem with that though is the way she handled trying to better herself, basically left her siblings out in the cold despite her adopting her siblings. The judge even reminded her that this responsibility would be until Liam reached the age of 18. And her behavior in season 5-7 indicates that she has completely forgotten or has decided to ignore that she legally asked for responsibility of these kids.
But here she is in season 5, completely neglecting her family at home, throwing the “guardian” card around when it suits her but not actually doing much to assert her position as guardian or doing anything to make sure her siblings are staying out of trouble because she’s gone all of the time! I mean, Carl turned into full-blown thug and Debbie got it into her head to trap a boy she liked with a baby and this is definitely in-part, if not completely, due to Fiona’s absence.
Also, she has always been hateful towards the Milkovich family since the start of the series, but yet has no problem with Ian shacking up with a Milkovich despite the fact that he clearly has no idea what mental illness/bipolar disorder is? She has never felt positively towards the Milkoviches, never recognized the good either of them tried to do for their respective Gallaghers (Mandy encouraging Lip to go to college and even filling out the application that got him into school; Mickey bringing Ian home when no one else could, being a friend to him and getting him to lay off the drugs, etc.) but will allow Ian to move in with both Milkoviches and trust that they are actually going to keep an eye on him? That makes absolutely no sense and in this situation, Lip is no better. How are you going to hate on a group of people, but decide that while they aren’t good enough to hang around your family when they are dating your sibling, they are good enough to take care of your mentally ill sibling while you sort your own life out and act like you care from afar, conveniently butting in when things go to shit or after the dust has already settled?
Now fast forward to season 6 and Fiona is turning into mega-bitch. Granted they put a lot on Fiona that season, but Ian and Debbie definitely had a point when he called her out for being a bitch. Season 6 Fiona didn’t really do much to piss me off in particular, though her getting involved with Sean was annoying. Like, had she learned nothing from her experience with Gus?
Season 7 Fiona however, I have a HUGE problem with. As I already mentioned, Fiona agreed to be the guardian of these kids but now is saying “pay rent, or get the fuck out.” NOW, I understand that is her right, but she seems to forget that Debbie and Carl are still minors (15/16 and 14/15?). She can charge Lip and Ian whatever the fuck she wants because Ian has a full-time job and Lip isn’t in school and is an adult. But she was being completely unfair to Debbie and Carl.
Yes, I agree Debbie needed to pay for the baby stuff herself and maybe even pay a small rent with the house if only to teach her financial responsibility with the baby. But how can Fiona expect Debbie to get a job while in high school and with a baby without offering any assistance or even ideas for where she can get assistance? Of course she’s going to turn to stealing or prostitution or scams! I just feel like Fiona set Debbie up for failure and while some people may not feel sympathy for Debbie, and I don’t, not really, I do feel concern for the child Fiona is effectively kicking out onto the streets if Debbie can’t cough up the cash. If Debbie can’t get a job or pay $300 bucks a month living at home how the fuck is Fiona expecting her to get a job and live on her own?! Then pretends to care when Franny is stolen by the paternal family which wouldn’t have happened if she’d at least tried to work something more reasonable out with Debbie in the first place. Fiona was 110% setting her up for failure.
What I would have liked to see would be Fiona mentoring Debbie so that she learns a lesson about what she did, but also recognizing that the baby is here now and punishing the mother is punishing the child who is 200% innocent in this situation. I would have liked to see Fiona telling Debbie to get someone to watch Franny three nights a week so she can work, maybe Ian or Lip offering to watch her; you know, helping your siblings out like you’re ideally supposed to. But Fiona is basically punishing Debbie for having this baby despite her warnings and their fights, and I don’t think it’s right.
Then the whole “don’t call me, put me at the bottom of your emergency contact list” thing was bull. shit.
She is their guardian. Period. For the adults, sure, ask that they call someone else if they have anyone else. But do NOT put YOUR responsibilities on another sibling who did not ask for these responsibilities so that you can get your life going when you AGREED to put your life on hold until the youngest was 18. There were so many different ways Fiona could have handled this and I was not a fan of how she handled it. I get trying to make a point to Lip that she can make something of herself despite her situation, because Lip needed to be put in his place for being the elitist prick he always claims to hate. But don’t then take that out on the rest of your family to make the point to one. And the rest of the season she had a disgusting “all for one”, “me for me” attitude. I’m proud of her for finding ways to make something of herself and for doing well, but why did she have to be such a bitch about it? Why did she have to push her other siblings (namely Debbie) to doing dangerous things to care for themselves when it is literally her JOB to care for these kids? She’s lucky that Carl had Luther to guide him in season 6 and 7 or else he probably would have gone back to the gang for money. She’s also lucky that Frank was there (oh dear God did I say that?) for Liam because she wasn’t there to find out that the school was closed! So Liam found Frank who was surprisingly there for him in a way he’s never been there for any of his other kids before.
She turned into a serious pragmatist in season 7 and it just honestly tainted her whole character for me. I really hope that turns around in season 8 because it does look like the whole family comes together for something, but I’m also seeing some spoilers to indicate otherwise, so we’ll see I guess.
Anyway, that is my very LONG explanation of my very complicated feelings on Fiona. Season 1-4/5 Fiona, I love. She is my baby. Season 5.5-7 Fiona? Can seriously rot.
Thanks for the ask, anon! :)
P.S. I know it gets colorful and probably a little heated, but it’s towards the character and the events, not you! <3 Feel free to send me another anon to argue or ask for clarification :)
Hi honey💕 It's me again 😉 I saw the episode where Ian was diagnosed with bipolar and it made me really sad seeing him that way! But what made my heart break was when Mickey went to see him with Fiona and he left... We can clearly see that Mickey is broken too (at least is my opinion). I was relieved when he showed up in Ian's room and stayed with him! I just wanted to share my opinion with you! I hope you have a great day ❤
Yeah, the whole situation is sad. Mickey was trying so hard to be supportive of Ian and to wrap his head around his bipolar, but the reality is he just doesn’t understand it. And you could see by the way Ian seemed to not care about him while he was sedated that Mickey was super scared. What if this was going to be Ian from now on? What if Ian always looked at him like that or stopped caring about him? Was he strong enough to handle this? Could he be around this for a long period of time?
Of course we all know the answer that of COURSE Mickey could handle it that he would do absolutely anything for that man, but I can’t blame Mickey’s weakness.
Mickey’s return was so beautiful. He sobered up, put himself in the right mindset that he was going to be there for Ian no matter what, that he was going to help him however he could, went back to Ian and apologized!!!!! And spent the rest of the night cuddling and comforting him. Just… That moment can NOT be overvalued it is so fucking important. That was probably one of my favorite moments of season 5 for sure.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Keep sending them in!
I know I sent you two asks already and I have nothing productive to add but I just finished 5x6 and ... 😭😭😭 I've seen a lot of that stuff in gifs before but watching it in context is just so intense. The little half smile of encouragement to get Ian to sign the papers but still so obviously terrified. And the way he touches Ian's face and neck as they hug goodbye! I feel like Mickey's hands and body language say so much more than just his words. Noel is so amazing!!!!!
As heartbreaking as this episode is it is probably my favorite because it definitely showcases Noel’s (and Cam’s) talent for nonverbally portraying deep emotion. I love Noel’s ability to tell an entire train of thought just from the look on his face! In the police station it was like he was telling Ian “I’m here, I’m not mad, I’m not going anywhere, I’m so glad you’re okay, and we’re going to get this taken care of so everything can go back to normal.” Then in the hospital when Ian is too ashamed to give Mickey a proper goodbye, Mickey chases him like “hell no motherfucker, this is not how you’re leaving me for the next three days.” And I’m 99% sure that Mickey was crying during that hug which is HUGE. This is a character who resents all displays of emotion but here he is openly supporting his boyfriend to get treatment, openly and emotionally telling him goodbye, and allowing that wall to break completely down in the wake of this incredibly difficult situation. Just… wow.
Like I said, this episode is horrible because it’ll make me cry literally every single time, but it’s also beautiful because of what this episode means for Mickey’s character. How Noel didn’t get an Emmy for this season, I will never fucking know.
And don’t apologize for sending me messages. Send as many as you want! <3 <3
Hey! I wanted to ask, do we have a canon moment, when Mickey calls Svetlana "Svet" or "Lana"? Because I always get a little bit pissed when I see him calling her like that in fics... I just think that Mickey as a Ukranian would know how to shorten her name right, and it would be "Sveta". You can actually hear her right shortened name, when Yvon first appears and says "Ah, you are a bitch, Sveta" in russian...
Yeah, he calls her Svet when he is wandering drunk around the Milkovich house in 5x07. (And I think Ian called her Lana at one point??? Don’t quote me on that...)
And keep in mind, he may be Ukrainian in lineage, but that doesn’t mean he was raised with the language or customs (aside from his name which even then has been shortened and Americanized).
I have a lot of German in my family (and I mean a lot, like probably half of my lineage) but I didn’t grow up with ANY of the language, food, and likely not even any of the general mannerisms from German culture; and that’s probably because I’m at LEAST fourth generation American. Most of the German I was around growing up was from my step-Grandfather who was an Austrian refugee during WWII, and he just told a few vague stories or read to us in German once because my cousin was interested.
It never seemed to me that Mickey was ever exposed to his Ukrainian roots so I think at this point, that’s all they are: roots. That’s kind of an unfortunate thing about the United States is we have all of these cultures immigrating here but they sometimes eventually get lost after a family has been here for enough generations (or if they feel pressured to adhere to the “American” way which also could be the case here).
Either way, I doubt our boy was well-versed in Ukrainian language or culture, so I think the fanfic writers are alright in having him give her an Americanized version of her nickname :)
I finished 5x8. I HATED Deb comparing Mickey to Frank. (Though I'm not sure how I haven't seen gifs of Mickey's naked guitar playing. 😍) I wonder though, do you think Ian would have flushed his meds if Mickey had shown up sooner? He seemed pretty upset that he thought Mickey was leaving him, which honestly surprised me. And do you think Deb was the reason Mickey came back? I feel like he was maybe trying to stay away but it was only gonna take something small to drag him back.
The only reason I don’t mind Debbie making this point is because it was the start to that pattern Frank and Monica have (she comes back manic, they fight or shit hits the fan in some way, Frank drinks and swears himself off her, she ditches, he tries to drink her away, she comes back and comes back to her; rinse, repeat).
It was more of a warning than a full-out comparison, I think, because she simply noticed a connection and wanted to warn that this was the road he was headed down. This wasn’t yet their pattern, but it could have been the start of one. Mickey, I think, started off as a parallel to Frank because he fought for Ian’s right to remain unmedicated though everyone else wanted him medicated. Him telling Ian he was going to the hospital whether he liked it or not before he ran away was Mickey already breaking that pattern; Then he gives Ian that reassurance he needed to admit himself, then when he comes back to Ian, sober, and apologizes for ditching, and then he took Ian to the clinic to get his meds and made it a huge priority for Ian to get used to the meds and to find the most comfortable way to acclimate him to the new lifestyle. Mickey has proved over and over that he is not Frank and though it was actually the writers’ intent to connect them, I think what ended up happening was Mickey became a foil, an opposite of Frank in many ways.
Now, if Ian would have flushed them had Mickey been there… I’m going to go with no because Mickey would have kept a closer eye on him than Debbie did. Mickey would have sat in that bedroom with him all day if he had gone to pick him up. That’s not to say that Ian wouldn’t try to do something rash or try to fight Mickey on it maybe even playing to his conscience (”If you love me you won’t make me take them,” something like that).
I do think that Debbie helped Mickey recognize that dangerous pattern emerging. The last thing Mickey, or anyone, wants is to become like Frank. He was absolutely ready to break from the Gallaghers because that visit to the hospital freaked him out so bad, and you could see how upset seeing Ian while sedated made him. And I think in that moment, Mickey didn’t think he could handle it (and I don’t blame him, mental illness can be a tricky bitch to be around and witness, much less experience; so for someone who has absolutely no experience with mental illness to see the love of his life look at him like he doesn’t feel anything towards him and bail out on a visit because he’s tired? I can’t imagine how painful that must be when he had absolutely no idea what to expect). I think Mickey was trying to make a clean break because he didn’t think he could handle it, so he got drunk because that was the only way he knew not to feel anything (I mean, the poor boy wanted CRACK! This guy wanted some SERIOUS escape!) So I think it took Debbie pointing out that parallel for him to say “oh, hell no! We are not Frank and Monica!” and sober up to come back to be there for his man. I do think he would have come back eventually, but without Debbie pointing out that relationship, I fear that pattern may have emerged and would have been harder to recognize/avoid in the future.
Hi, I'm the anon who sent that ask about the blanket scene. Just saw the post on someone giving up on the show and I feel kind of guilty about it. I feel like I've been too negative about everything in season 7. I'm still pissed that the writers did what they did but there are good parts too. Like Noel and Cam's chemistry that is just. Absolutely. Mind-blowing. And the jeep sex lol. It's not too late to fix Ian's character, right? I don't really know what my point is, sorry if I'm annoying
Not at all, love; I promise that you, nor anyone else, is bothering me or ever has bothered me or annoyed me 😙
And don’t feel bad. Some people don’t have the energy to devote to a pairing that at this point may not get a happy ending, and I understand that. It also sounded like there were other things from the show that were wearing on them, then finding out that they aren’t together right now was probably just that final straw, and I get that too. This show is not easy to watch at times.
I know lots of people who can’t watch even from the first episode because Frank rings too true to their own alcoholic/flighty/abusive parent and I understand that, some other people just can’t get over “glorifying” illegal activities to make ends meet, and though I think it limits their moral perspective to what they know and understand, again, I understand.
For those of us that have watched it’s absolutely okay to express our criticism because that’s the only way to make media better. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like the writers receive the criticism well, but that may also be because some of the “criticism” comes across as full-blown attack on social media. It is true, though, that the quality of the writing seriously downgraded between season 5 and 6, and while season 7 was better it still wasn’t on par with what season 4 and season 5 brought, not by a mile!
And season 7 absolutely brought some good moments (especially the Gallavich ones). I try to focus on those more than the negative aspects if only because I think it’s the only way I won’t grow too resentful against the writers or the show. But yeah, Jeep sex, the dock scene, the spiderman kiss, “Never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad I finally found Jesus,” returning to their old routine and dynamic as though nothing had changed... those are all beautiful things and even if the writers tried to pull a few stops/fast ones on us, Noel and Cam absolutely saved it by being true to the characters even when the writers weren’t.
What bothers me is that it’s absolutely not too late to fix Ian’s character and bring Mickey back. They can have Mickey come back despite the risks, have them start back where they left off with Mickey’s legal troubles to drive his plotline for a little while before they figure out what to do with it, and then from there they can have Ian being 110% supportive, and they can bring Gallavich back stronger than ever. Will they do that? I have absolutely no clue. From what I’m seeing from the folks who have been with this fandom for years, my indication is to not get your hopes up and that’s why I definitely understand that person’s decision to stop while things are already getting sad, and hope to hear of Mickey in the future.
Don’t feel guilty that someone decided to stop. I respect that decision as much as I respect your criticism. On one side of the coin, it’s super important to talk about media and especially when media isn’t doing a solid job at telling a quality story or is misrepresenting someone/something; on the other, it’s okay for someone to unplug because life is entirely too short to fret over a fictional world unless that is entirely what you want. That’s another great thing about media, you can choose what media you want to consume (for the most part) and if you don’t like it, shut it off :)
Much love, anon, and please don’t be afraid to send more thoughts! I’m all for talking about media, even the sad/bad parts! <3
should i watch S 6-8, frm what ive gatahered theyre shit but still,,, or should i like watch the gallavich eps or ,, are they any good (also can ya tell me which ones are they?)
Are you saying that you’ve never watched the show at all?
Definitely watch the whole series up to season 5. Like… Stop at 5x09. Then if you are still only watching for Gallavich, it may be a good idea to stop, but if you are watching for other things/people too then proceed with caution. I don’t like telling people to just NOT watch S6 and 7 because I understand what burning curiosity does, but I will let you know that if you are watching the show for just Gallavich it’s probably best to stop at 5x09.
