Is Frank Gallagher the best character ever written?

So, some of you just read the title and immediately lost respect for me, and I understand your scepticism. However, I hope you can hear me out on why I see Mr. Gallagher (Shamless, 2011) as one of my favorite tv characters of all time. 

I think a lot of consumers, of media in general, expect perfection from their main characters (or top content creators), when in reality that is never going to be realistic. It's unfair to hold them to higher standards than we hold ourselves, and people in our personal lives. Now, there is of course a moral standard that most of us uphold, which is good and normal. Frank Gallagher undeniably lived the majority of his life way below that standard, and many of his actions in the series were unforgivable to most people, even myself.

All this considered, Frank is the product of exceptional writing and casting. William H. Macy will forever be known for his iconic portrayal in this show. His character was a blunt representation of an alcoholic parent who never failed to dissapoint his family through his choices. The thing I love the most about him though, is how intellegent and witty he was. That is not to say he didn't make stupid choices throughout his life, but there is no doubt he had a very special mind. One memorable moment for me was when his brilliant son, Lip, whom he had a very tumultuous relationship with, reluctantly admitted to Frank's sharpness, as he was coming to terms with the fact that he was more like his father than he would've cared to admit. It became sadly clear that Frank's life could have been much different had he not struggled with sustance abuse.

Another key aspect that added depth to the character was his true love for his estranged wife, Monica. While Frank may have had a handfull of heartfelt moments with other people, I was never convinced he loved anyone, even his children. When Monica would find her way back into the families lives, usually to bring nothing but more unwanted disruption and chaos, her husband could never resist letting her back into his heart. Their relationship was as toxic as it gets, but it became clear to everyone that what was between the two was genuine love, just in their own messed up way. 

When it comes to Frank and his kids, the bad moments outweigh the good 500 to 1. His relationships with each of the six of them (yes, I am excluding his eldest, Sammy) were uniquely different and complex. I think my favorite may have been the one between he and Fiona, the actual head of the household. She could put him in his place in a way no one else could, and he respected her, even if he never wanted to say it aloud. As I breifly mentioned before, his relationship with Phillip, or "Lip" centered around the fact that they were wired the same way. Lip obviously resented his father and hated this fact, trying to fight accepting it for as long as he could. As for Ian, who actually found out Frank wasn't his biological dad early on in the show, still dealt with his undesired precence most of his life, but was ultimately just like his mother, Monica, which is why it was hard for Frank to even look at him at times. Debbie's relations with her father were probably the most disheartening, because in her younger childhood years, she thought the world of him, but over time came to realize she could never count on her dad, which was sad to see. I really enjoyed Frank and Carl's dynamic. He wanted to make his dad proud as a kid, and would go to great lengths to spend time with him, which I believe gave Frank a soft (ish) spot for him. The youngest, Liam, had the least amount of time with his father, meaning less time to dissapoint him, so the two never had actual conflicts and I think their time togther was fun for the two of them. 

I could go on to talk about Frank's timeline with Sheila, as well as the young female doctor he had a breif yet life-changing time with, but I have class to attend, and chances are, most of you have had enough of my synopsis for today, so I'll wrap it up.

All to say, as I have rewatched Shamelss I appreciate the complexeties of Frank Gallagher more and more. I recommend this show to everyone, as long as you're ready for some completely unhinged humor and crazy storylines. I am going to round this all out with a TikTok comment I recently saw, which said "Frank Gallagher they could never make me form a real opinion on you." because I think encapsulates all the emotions you go through when seeing this character's journey. It was a pleasure to follow along the rollercoaster that was Frank's life.