Top 5 Gallavich things you think the show should have covered/shown.
This isnt gonna be a top 5 because I think a lot of the things I take issue with or wanted to see more of all intersect in some way. And the more I thought about this response and tried to break it down, the more I realised that it all kinda boils down to the same thing: intimacy.
And I don't mean sex (necessarily). But I think it's frustrating (and we can probably even do some unpacking of the shows unintentional homophobic bias) that Gallavich have more deleted scenes than any of the straight couples on the show. Their sex scenes are consistently cut short, deleted or interrupted for comedy in a way that does not happen with the other relationships.
Despite them being the longest running relationship a Gallagher has on the whole show, and second longest lasting relationship overall after Kev and V, a lot of it happens off screen or is implied.
We deserved more casual intimacy. More domesticity. More communication. Especially considering that both Ian and Mickey use acts of service as a love language.
It's often devastating to me that we lost a lot of the heart of their relationship in the final two seasons. Yes, they got married. Yes, they had these shining moments. But the fact the most tender moments between them where they communicate about their concerns and want to help each other, were all deleted, is insane to me?
They deleted the "I gotta worry, you're my husband". They deleted the "I'm so glad you're so concerned about me" / "You're so sensitive". Every sex scene was interrupted for comedic purposes.
Gallavich CARRIED the comedy of the final 2 seasons. And I loved that they were finally happy and stable enough to be classed as the comedy relief, but I think that the show failed to hit that balance of drama/comedy/angst that made it so poignant in the beginning. And them utilising Gallavich for their comedy left them feeling less dynamic than they had been previously.
Literally one of my fav moments in the entire final season is when Mickey picks up donuts after helping Lip rob Born Free. There's a couple of reasons for that:
1) Mickey agreeing to help Lip pull off the heist even though he's still on parole and barely tolerates Lip, but he knows Lip means a lot to Ian
2) The contrast we get of back to back scenes following the heist where Lip is lying through his teeth to Tami about where he was and what he was doing, only to immediately cut to Mickey coming home and Ian immediately teases him about the heist, confirming that Ian and Mickey have an open and honest line of communication.
3) Mickey's quip to Carl about "Ian got his period this morning, sent me out for donuts". As his explanation to Carl about where he was so early. Because this is funny and shows us that they can still be comedic without watering down their relationship. But it also plays into that acts of service thing, this is apparently an acceptable explanation to Carl. Why wouldn't Mickey go out early first thing in the morning just to pick up Ian's favourite donuts?
4) The casual affection of Ian patting Mickey's shoulder/chest as they cross paths in the kitchen
This one 30 second scene gives us casual affection, acts of service, open communication, and comedy. The show just never seemed to strike that balance quite so well for most of the final 2 seasons, despite these few scenes being hidden gems.
I wish we'd gotten to see more of their early development. But I also concede that was more a logistics thing than a creative choice. I believe Cam was still a minor for the first 2 seasons. And Noel was on a "recurring" contract. Child labor laws dictate that minors can't work more than 9 hours a day.
And with Ian being old enough within the context of the show to carry his own subplot, but Cam being too young to work as long as a lot of his co-workers, that's a part of why Ian is absent from many ensemble scenes. They used Cam's allocated work hours elsewhere so now they have to play up the whole "Ian is the forgotten middle child who slipped through the cracks" thing.
Noel was taking on other jobs and had an inconsistent schedule because he was classed as part-time. I mean, the show "dyed" his hair temporarily with ink in the first season or 2, because he was around so sporadically and had other contracts and projects.
All of this to say: though logistically I can understand why the show was unable to show a lot of their earlier development, it's still something I would have liked to see. We get these little glimpses of growing feelings, largely through microexpression or body language. Cam and Noel worked wonders with so little and I'm so grateful to them.
But I would have liked to see them actually hanging out. Actually working together at the Kash and Grab. I would have liked to see the transition, the shift, when exactly did they each realize this had transcended casual. Ian mentioned sneaking into a baseball game like it was no big deal, and Mickey only shrugs it off because he has other commitments, he's not surprised or bothered that Ian asked. Had they snuck into games together? How else had they hung out?
All of these things are implied or inferred, but I wish we got to SEE it.
So yeah, intimacy of any and all kinds. Communication. Casual affection. Acts of service. Quality time. Sex that isn't used for comedy. Not having FOUR ENTIRE KISSING SCENES DELETED. Deleting four kiss scenes of your flagship relationship is insanity. what the fuck.
I wish we didn't so often have to rely on Cam and Noel's nuanced performances. Cam and Noel pioneered the ship. The mutual respect they've always held for each other, and the strength in their friendship, the way they trust each other's instincts as actors and have both been open about the fact they bounced ideas off of each other and improvised a lot? Thank God for them, honestly. Thank GOD.
