Review of Shameless: Series 4

Introduction

We`re back off to the Chatsworth Estate and to the furthering adventures of Frank Gallacher (David Threlfall) and his clan. Kevin and Veronica have been arrested in Eastern Europe after trying to adopt a baby and minor characters from previous series move into the estate.

Ep 1 - Frank burns his dinner and himself, ending up in hospital. Sheila`s on a cookery course so the hospital phone ex-wife Monica. Meanwhile Lip finds out he`s really 19 on his 18th birthday.

Ep 2 - Jamie McGuire is released from prison, but doesn`t return to the family way. Sheila tries to find out if Monica is still gay or after Frank.

Ep 3 - It`s Sheila`s and Frank`s anniversary party, and Sheila discovers that Frank and Monica are sleeping together. Meanwhile the McGuire clan are sent a message.

Ep 4 - Ian is sacked by Kash and then finds himself involved with a girl who`s stolen a load of scratch cards from Shane McGuire.

Ep 5 - After being taunted by the others, Debs is on a mission to have sex. Ian finds himself garnering attention from one of the McGuires.

Ep 6 - Carl is having difficulty with his relationship with Monica, focussing his problems on Norma. Frank becomes an ice cream man for Shane McGuire.

Ep 7 - There`s a terror alert on the Chatsworth Estate after a series of bombs goes off. Frank is accused of trying to rape Norma whilst trying to help himself to her cash.

Ep 8 - Norma arranges to have the van tarted up to win back Monica. Paddy has a bit of a breakdown when three of his former cellmates die within weeks of each other.

Video

As expected from a recent TV series.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, which is more than adequate. This series is very dialogue-driven and all dialogue is audible. Subtitles as standard as well.

Features

Deleted Scenes - nine in total, including the big Take That finale in full. Apart from the latter, all are pre-post production.

Outtakes - some funny-ish, some not.

Conclusion

It was a little odd to go into this series with the amount of changes taking place. Maxine Peake had already decided that she was off to do something else (big future, that one…) and so Dean Lennox Kelly had to go as well, albeit via a Shakespearean time travelling escapade. There`s also limited opportunities for pyromaniac Marty and girlfriend and so they`re off as well. Back comes Monica (Annabelle Apsion) and lesbian trucker lover Norma (Dystin Johnson), as well as the entire McGuire clan.

There`s a subtle shift this series, in that the Gallachers aren`t the main focus. They get to share the limelight with Paddy McGuire (Sean Gilder) and his family, who inhabit Kev and Veronica`s house next door. There`s also a subtle shift in the emphasis as it`s not so much funny now as a drama with plenty of laughs. Not that there wasn`t drama in the first place but there`s a bit more of it now. There`s a mix of writers as well, so some episodes work better than others, some characters better than others. Carrie the mad copper is one of those who is just a little too much over the top. Not a huge fan of Mimi either, although I`m not sure if I prefer her to Monica (who I really detest). This isn`t a dig at the actresses in any way, it`s about the characters and I`m guessing they`re supposed to have that effect on viewers.

I quite enjoyed this series in the end, and the big Take That finale was quite spectacular, but I didn`t enjoy it anywhere near as much as the first series. This series has always been morally ambiguous but they get twisted that little bit more here and made me squirm a little more than usual. Jamie McGuire (Aaron McCusker) appears to be on the road to salvation after a stint in for murder, but all is not quite as it seems here and I was a little confused at the end as to how it really went down.

Good but a little flawed.