January 12, 2015
Shameless - Complete Fourth Season
Michael Cox READ TIME: 2 MIN.
There's plenty on television for those who want to push the limits of good taste, but "Shameless" kicks it up a notch.
How shameless is the Complete Fourth Season (now on Blu-ray and DVD)? Fiona Gallagher (the go-for-broke beautiful Emmy Rossum) holds the family together while passionately dating her new boss -- but still, she lets her new boyfriend's brother finger her on the subway. And in order to find a liver donor for the organ he has obliterated with drugs and alcohol, the absentee patriarch Frank Gallagher (the ever impressive and horrifying William H. Macy) seeks out his estranged older daughter from a previous marriage. Sammi (Emily Bergl) is desperately lonely and reeling from the family's legendary libido. Does Frank come clean with his identity? Hell, no. He attempts to seduce his offspring instead.
Frank justifies that there's a historical tradition of "keepin' it in the family":
"Hell we probably still would, if Oedipus hadn't ruined it for all of us. So fine, cast the first stone. But let me ask you: If we all came from just Adam and Eve in the beginning... Well, you do the math."
Too tame for you?
Frank also teaches his 12 year-old Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) how to masturbate, so that his son will help him rectally administer shots of alcohol. Meanwhile, his 13-year-old daughter, Debbie (Emma Kenney), has a goal to seduce a 20-year-old and lose her virginity.
But it isn't all incest and clitoral stimulation on public transportation. Let's not forget the romance: The semi-closeted and fully fucked-up long distance relationship between Ian Gallagher (Cameron Monaghan) and Mickey Milkovich (Noel Fisher).
Ian stole his brother's identity to join the Army, and Mickey is using his wife and her friends' sexual favors to provide for his family. Still, the amorous connection between this beautiful ginger and burly brunette is rougher, sweatier and more muscular that a rugby scrum. (Follow their every fusion on the Tumblr and fanfiction sites: #gallavich.)
This Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack contains all 12 episodes of the fourth season, plus two featurettes, "Being a Gallagher" and "Shameless Neighbors," and a few paltry deleted scenes (which seem carelessly throw in as filler).
When it comes to being "Shameless," remember what Frank says: "Dry-humping is not incest."
"Shameless: The Complete Fourth Season"
Blu-ray + DVD
Not Rated / 642 min.
wbtvondvd.com
#gallavich