#gallavich analysis

This scene is short, but probably one of my favorite in the whole show. Gallavich are finally together again, they're navigating being stuck together, but Ian has to get out of jail; they'll have to be once again separated. For the first time, Mickey is the one fighting for Ian to leave.

Why? Because he cares about him. It shows how he places Ian above what he personally wants or believes in. Ian comes first.

And that whole dialogue:

"I wanna be where you are, Mickey!"

"You don't get to be."

It's what Shameless has shown countless of times; Gallavich want to be together, and they get separated. As if they don't belong together. And this time, Mickey urges it's because Ian needs to have a stable job and go see his nephew; showing once again how much he cares about Ian.

"I love you."

"I know."

It's the second time Ian tells Mickey he loves him out loud. When was the first time? Before he left Mickey at the Mexico border. To me, Mickey's answer is so telling.

He knows.

Despite everything that life has thrown at them, despite all the hardships, the times Ian left and the times Mickey was running away from himself too, he knows. He knows Ian loves him, wants to be where he is. He might have had little periods of self doubt, obviously, but deep down, he has always known. Always felt that what he and Ian had was unlike anything else; why else would he come back and risk himself otherwise? For sure, there's his love for Ian, but being in the same cell...I firmly believe Mickey has always known that he and Ian loved each other and were it for each other. Even when Ian was leaving, he knew it was only a question of time before they found each other again.

And now, life threatens to separate them again. It hurts, it's scary, but Mickey wants the best for Ian. Because he has always known that no matter what happens, Ian loves him, wants to be with him. And the feeling is mutual.

Not only this, but it's also the first scene in which they both say "I love you" to each other. Shows how strong and solid they are, no matter what happens. All that matters is that they love each other. They're meant to be together.

as the seasons went on, one of the things made most clear about mickey milkovich, was his love language, acts of service. the way that mickey views love is that loving somebody is doing grand gestures to keep them with you. throughout the entire show, this is made clear, for example: robbing a man’s house for ian then kissing him (overcoming a huge fear of his), getting terry off of ian so that he would get more hurt than ian would, kissing ian in public, coming out for ian and getting the living shit beat out of him, (almost) murdering ian’s half-sister for calling the military police on him, snitching on a huge cartel and getting himself thrown back in prison for ian, attempting to escape prison again for ian, and eventually, faking marrying ian’s sister so that he could marry ian.

however, ian isn’t the same as mickey in that way. does ian love mickey? fuck yeah. but is ian as willing to do as much crazy shit in the name of love as mickey is? not really. it’s not that ian doesn’t love mickey or doesn’t risk a ton for mickey, because he does, he just loves mickey in a different way.

so, since mickey views love as doing grand gestures that could possibly risk everything in your life, he has a hard time understanding that people can love people in different ways that don’t involve a lot of danger. so when ian doesn’t go to mexico and doesn’t sign the marriage license, mickey feels as if ian doesn’t love him. his thought process is kind of just like i’ve done so much for ian, i’ve done everything to keep us together, but he still can’t commit, and that hurts mickey! it’s so obvious that he feels that way in 10x08 when ian says, “i wanna know how you feel!” and mickey just looks beyond pissed and hurt. and in the next episode, ian tries to explain himself, but mickey says, “no, you’re just saying that you don’t love me enough now”. to an extent, he understands that he and ian have different minds that work in very different ways, but he can’t grasp the thought of ian not signing those papers, because to him that’s a grand gesture, and a grand gesture = loving somebody.

but the reason that ian doesn’t sign the papers isn’t because he doesn’t love mickey, it’s because he’s afraid to commit. debbie tells him that he’s scared of commitment, and ian tells mickey himself that the reason he’s scared is because of his parents. and truly, it makes sense. from what we’ve seen of frank and monica, it’s been stated that they’ve been married many times; and ever since season 4 the show has made a point of showing ian’s fear of becoming his mother. and historically throughout shameless ian hasn’t had the best romantic history. he’s been with so many men that he tells a nurse that he doesn’t even know how many, we’ve seen him with men old enough to be his father- possibly even grandfather, and every single of age boyfriend (including mickey, sorry) has treated him like actual dog shit at one point. it makes sense that he’s afraid. he grew up seeing his parents fight with each other and leave each other (and their children) and then seeing his sister get into toxic relationships with men who, in ian’s words, weren’t very nice to her. his view on love is warped, and yes, he does love mickey, but loving mickey scares ian, and believe me, it scares mickey, too.

So because apparently I need to defend Ian now too, I’m going to go ahead and start dividing these posts between Ian talk and Mickey talk.

Ian first:

We open the episode’s Gallavich plotline with Ian checking up on Mickey via Mandy who hasn’t been to visit him in jail.

I think it goes without saying that Ian is concerned about Mickey and probably misses him, not to mention feels guilty that Mickey got shot basically due to him. These thoughts are clearly taking a lot out of him because he can’t seem to get Mickey, or what happened, out of his head.

While no one has ever argued Ian’s dedication to Mickey, I definitely still feel it’s worth mentioning. 

Now, to provide a bit of a segue between our boys here, I would like to point out how Ian perfectly sums up Mickey’s situation at this stage in the show.

Mickey would rather be shot in the leg and sent to Juvie than to admit he’s gay. Let that sink in just how freaking deep in the closet Mickey is. How much denial do you have to be in to accept jail before admitting to what happened and that your sexuality is a key factor that would help him avoid jail time? Think about it, had Mickey owned up to his sexuality and explained why Kash actually shot him he could have at least gotten some time off if not walked on the theft, but Kash could have been arrested for statutory rape at the very least. 

That is some pretty deep denial and even self-loathing when you’d rather go to jail (Juvie) than admit your sexuality.

Later, Ian goes to Juvie to see Mickey after his sentencing. Mickey thanks Ian for putting money in his commissary, but it wasn’t Ian.

The fact that Mickey mistakenly assumes Ian was the one to fill his account when it was actually Kash reveals something pretty huge: Mickey automatically assumed Ian did it. He assumed this before he believed it was his own parents, his sister, his cousins. He went straight to assuming it was Ian, and while Ian was responsible, it still wasn’t even technically him. 

Let’s think about that a second. This kid knew the money had to have come from his friends with benefits side-guy because he also knew it couldn’t have come from his own family. Whether this is because he knows they are too broke or if there is a family policy that those incarcerated are on their own or something else, we don’t know. But the fact is, Mickey and Ian are already starting to take care of each other and Mickey has just been given a huge reason to trust Ian even more than he can trust his own family. Sure, his cousins are there for him a lot when he’s about to go do something illegal and sure Mandy loves him (though their dynamic is so dysfunctional we don’t know how much of that love actually comes through in a way that satisfies either of their needs for familial love), but when it comes to actually caring for him, financially, emotionally or otherwise? That job has pretty much been taken up by Ian at this point. This right here shows how little he can actually depend on his family. And notice, even when Ian admits it wasn’t him, but that he tricked Kash out of the money...

^Look at that look on his face. Tell me that isn’t him trying to hide how much it means to him. In his own twisted way, Ian has done what he had to do to help Mickey out and Mickey, I argue, is genuinely touched that Ian would do that for him. Look at him trying to hide his smile. Then beyond that, he’s amused because this adorable little puppy of a boy has just pulled a Mickey move. A typical southside “gotta do what you gotta do” moment where Ian seized an opportunity to help out his friend.

What Ian just did for Mickey is like their south side version of a romantic gesture, and it also puts them on an even playing field because this is absolutely a move Mickey would have made if the roles were reversed. It also advances their relationship just that tad bit more because now there is a trust building. First, Ian ran to Mickey when he needed him, and now here Ian is making sure Mickey has some money in juvie and visits him when his own sister won’t (at this point).

So now I suppose we return to one of the main arguments I hear against Gallavich that Mickey isn’t invested or is mean to Ian.  

Out of context, obviously this is not a good thing to say to someone to put it mildly. Keep in mind, and I’ll just keep this reminder brief, that Mickey is DEEP in the closet and his wall is slowly coming down. 

So let’s start with the being mean to Ian. Look at this face. He finds Mickey’s sarcasm and rudeness amusing! Some people probably don’t understand why that is and that’s fine. Not everyone can handle a relationship dynamic like this. I’m sure I couldn’t if it was the constant communication style. But this is what Ian is used to and he finds it amusing because he knows that Mickey doesn’t mean it.

He sees right through all of Mickey’s defenses which is the number one reason he keeps pushing.

And it’s little details like this ^ that keeps Ian persistent. Despite Mickey’s attempts to keep strong against the charms of this kid he can’t help but be amused by him too. He is resisting this bulldozer of a kid as hard as he can, but let’s be honest, we all knew that Ian was eventually going to break down that wall. You can see it even now. When Mickey is trying to be so tough and not feel anything. Look at how he tries so hard not to smile and so instead looks away when yet another brick is knocked away.

I think that the Gallavich haters must have missed these little details that make up the magic of Gallavich. They must have! Yes, their relationship dynamic is a-typical, but even not coming from a background similar to theirs I know plenty of couples (happy couples) who communicate in similar ways and that’s because they think it’s funny and they are on the same page. Obviously there is a boundary and a certain line that is not crossed, but to me relationships are so individual that as long as both parties understand the dynamic, like the dynamic as it is, and it isn’t harming either party, then we on the outside have zero room to judge.

The final part of this scene (which was actually improvised by Noel and Cam btw) is a great wrap-up to re-establish where they are at this point. While Mickey’s defenses are breaking down, the fact remains that he still doesn’t want to admit to himself that he’s gay and so any touchy-feely action Ian tries to bring to the table is denied because to Mickey there is still a firm line (though we all know that line is blurring more and more each episode.)

And in this case, he isn’t being mean to Ian. People pay attention to shit like this in jail and Mickey has to look out for himself and make sure no one is noticing that he’s talking to a boyfriend (or anyone who could be perceived as a boyfriend). This is why Mickey keeps looking over his shoulder at people, to make sure they aren’t watching or listening. He can’t show weakness in a place like this and he already is on crutches! He can’t give the other boys any reason to pick on him because he is all alone in there, at least before he gathers any friends.

So lovelies it looks like this is all I have to say about 1x10. Next week we move on to 2x02! Until then, if you have anything to add or anything you want to counter-argue send me an ask!

Gallavich moment 3

The first thing that occurs in 1x07 is Ian walks into the Kash And Grab to find Kash roughed up by Mickey.

 It also turns out that Mickey stole the gun. Now, before anyone complains about this let’s keep in mind–this kid has grown up with firearms and learning to defend himself against any adversary, armed or otherwise. Mickey was raised to not only survive Southside, but to run it as his father and his father’s friends seem to.

 Kash is a pansy who honestly has no business owning or using a gun (at least not until he gathers more courage and practices more to handle it well). Can we realistically expect Mickey to handle the situation differently? 

Imagine this, Mickey’s packing up his usual box of treats when Kash warns him to put it back. Mickey of course ignores him, maybe even laughs like the punk he is, and Kash pulls out his gun, releases the safety. Mickey sees this. What does he do? Act like the frightened little pussies Terry taught him he could take from, or take the gun and teach said pussy to never pull a firearm on him again? And if we’re being honest, we’re lucky(?) he didn’t full-out kill him. He just as easily could have shot Kash in the head. 

This development does a couple of things things: continues to establish Mickey’s reputation as a hardened thug, shows he knows his way around firearms and is not afraid of someone (who is inexperienced) with a gun, and that he does show some restraint. Let’s be honest, if someone pulls a gun on you, regardless of whether or not you’ve done something wrong, you’re probably going to fight for your life. Mickey, knowing that Kash isn’t actually going to do anything with his piece just gives him a black eye and takes the gun before he hurts himself.

Moving on, Ian promises to get the gun back and rushes over to the Milkovich place to do just that. He ransacks Mickey’s bedroom while Mickey is away picking up his father from prison, freaking out Mandy.

And tells her that Mickey needs to give the gun back so this feud can be over. Obviously, Mandy is not convinced that Ian can actually do anything to change her brother’s mind. These teeny details are important because it shows what kind of a man raised the Milkovich kids (a jailbird) and that Mandy feels she has true reason to be afraid for Ian’s safety should Mickey find out he was in his room.

Next time we see Ian and Mickey interact is their big fight/sex scene. I’ve heard a few things about this scene and people are just so bewildered by how they can go from trying to kill each other to fucking… And they aren’t wrong, this is definitely puzzling! But this is also Shameless so…. need I say more?

Now, I’ve heard that some people felt they should have stopped seeing each other after that first time because of the violent nature of their meeting, but let’s examine this a little closer, shall we?

So, some people, when blaming Mickey for all of the fucked-upness of the more unsavory parts of their relationship seem to forget that it was Ian who waltzed into the Milkovich house with a fucking tire iron ready to fuck someone up, walked up behind a sleeping Mickey and tapped him between the shoulder blades with said weapon. 

So for Mickey haters, that’s one strike on Ian that tends to be ignored. But let’s also look into why Ian may do something like this before Ian haters get too excited.

Mickey has just assaulted his boyfriend (ugh!) and stolen a gun, the only means of protection that Kash had against people like Mickey. Mickey’s thug status has been well established so with Ian doing what he is doing right now, we are also establishing that Ian is brave and willing to stand up for himself and others. This is clearly a trait Mickey can respect as he does end up giving the gun back…

This also starts to set up my counterargument for something else Mickey haters say a lot; that Mickey doesn’t actually care for Ian or that Ian cares for him more.

Let’s look at what just happened here, though. Mickey, a thug, not only just outed himself to someone (a risky move regardless of who you are if you aren’t ready to come out yet) but is trusting that he won’t say anything. He also gives Ian what he wants. Why? Because they had sex? That doesn’t seem like a strong enough reason to someone like Mickey to cave in. If the writers wanted to, they could have just as easily had Mickey keep the gun just to make a point, but they gave him an open moment to show a bitty smidge of his vulnerable, even tender side.

Then, I guess it may have rubbed some people the wrong way when he refused to allow Ian to kiss him?

Why? Why should that bother you? It didn’t seem to bother Ian…

Confused, maybe… but not particularly hung up on it. 

Well, I understand why Mickey refuses to kiss him. Because that would make him officially gay in his eyes. Of course, we all know that Mickey is gay, but remember that Mickey was raised by a homophobic father who taught him to beat up gays, and probably made it abundantly clear that if any of his children turned out gay they would be dead and buried before anyone knew. To Mickey, I argue, this is just a kink and hooking up with Ian is just for satisfying his kink but does not make him gay. As long as it’s just sex, then that’s all it is because afterall, being gay (Mickey believes) means holding hands with men, kissing men, being intimate with men, maybe immersing yourself in gay culture… So to Mickey as long as the intimacy and any “gay” behavior is absent, he’s not gay. Obviously, we know this is untrue, but can we all appreciate for just a second how fucking sad it is that there are people out there who honestly believe this? There are people out there who absolutely refuse to accept themselves for who they are even if they “indulge” in their sexual preference every once in a while. Can we also take a moment to keep in mind that on top of the angry, abusive, and backwards childhood he’s had and the backwards things he has learned from his father, he’s also had to keep this part of himself buried so deep that even he didn’t recognize it? Can you imagine how angry he would be? How confused and scared and resentful? Noel Fisher explained it best, I think…

              “I think everybody can relate to that experience of needing to feel hidden or [having] some part of them they have to hide, and I just really try to imagine myself in that situation-in those circumstances, and I’m thinking if I had to do that for like the duration of my life I would probably be really angry and would probably have a lot of rage and frustration. I mean just think about how much frustration happens when you’re just driving in a lot of traffic! So if that’s just the taste and then there’s a lifetime of something much more important and integral to who you are as a person that would build up a lot!…”

                              -Noel Fisher, AfterBuzz Interview 

For the Mickey haters this time, just think for a while about everything on Mickey’s shoulders and imagine yourself in that position. I am fairly certain I would grow up resentful and angry and be very cautious, even defensive, about who I bring into my life. So this is where Mickey is at this point: allowing him to indulge in his “kink” for the time being while keeping Ian at arm’s length so no one gets confused that Mickey is not gay. This way his father won’t kill him and everything continues on generally unaffected. And on top of that, he gets to have satisfying sex!

That’s it for 1x07! Feel free to submit to my Request or my Ask if I missed anything or even if you want to counter argue. Next week I’ll move on to 1x08!

Today we're going to be talking about season 1 episode 8. A reminder that in the last episode Ian and Mickey had sex for the first time and it was in an atypical fashion to say the least... But, as we discover in episode 8 they are definitely into each other. Ian is walking around with his head in the clouds wanting to tell Mandy, his best friend, what's going on with him,

 but he can't because Mickey is her brother and is very deep in the closet. We got a strong hint in episode 7 that Mickey’s father, Terry, is homophobic. 

We also saw this in how terrified Mickey looked when Terry walked in. He looked like he was bracing to defend himself and possibly fight for his life, which as we find out later throughout the next three seasons that is actually very much a reality for him.

So now a bit of time has passed, and right now we're seeing Ian with his head in the clouds, head over heels, definitely infatuated, and becoming disenchanted with Kash (if he wasn't already.)

Mickey clearly is into him as well because he goes to the Kash And Grab to have sex on the down low. 

And definitely offers a subtle invitation at the Milkovich house when Ian goes to “study” with Mandy.

So where I see people continuing to dislike Mickey is from how he seems disinterested in Ian. We see this because after they finish and Mickey leaves the store, Ian tries to make a joke about what just happened (because he's Ian and he's dorky like that,) and Mickey acts disinterested. Not that Ian seems to mind....

Now it's a little unclear if Mickey actually feels something for Ian at this point or if it is just physical release for him and Ian is just available to satisfy his sexual preferences and subtle (sort of). We don't really know how Mickey feels at this point because he's very good at hiding how he's feeling because all of his defenses are still up. Regardless, it's not as though Ian has expectations of them being exclusive (at least there is no impression that they discussed being exclusive). He knows that Mickey is on the down-low, he knows that it would be a bad thing for him to come out, so I think that Ian for right now is satisfied with whatever Mickey can give him, or believes that he may be able to appeal to him overtime. Again we're not entirely sure. 

I think that Ian’s monogamy with Mickey has placed some bias with some people, preferring Ian and maybe even feeling bad for him. I understand. In American society we tend to favor stable and monogamous relationships and consider that the “correct” way to handle a relationship, and that’s not a bad standard to hold necessarily. However, life, as Shameless shows us, is not so simple and 9 times out of 10 we *don’t* follow these standards for multiple reasons. For Mickey right now, he can’t offer Ian a label for what they are, or promise a steady relationship, because he is so deep in the closet and is genuinely afraid of not only coming out but even just admitting to himself that he’s gay.

What I have to say to the Mickey haters at this point with arguing his disinterest is even if that is true and even if he doesn't actually care for Ian, I know plenty of people (gay and straight) who have callous and meaningless sex, I know plenty of people (gay and straight) who have anonymous sex; and I feel there should be no judgement for it as long as both parties are aware of the circumstances and everyone is practicing safe sex. Just because Mickey is detached, and maybe at this point it is just a physical thing for him, I don't see anything wrong with that. No discussion has taken place to establish that they are exclusive or in any relationship one way or another beyond that of physical release, and in fact a boundary was set the very first time they got together. 

And they stuck by that boundary until Ian started noticing cracks in Mickey’s wall and tried to slither through in season 3. Clearly, Mickey doesn't want intimacy and at this point he's afraid of intimacy. The way I see it, Mickey has been taught over his life that being gay is wrong, being gay is disgusting, and being gay gets you beaten; so if this is just a kink, which I think he has reduced his sexual preference down to, then he can go on pretending he’s not gay as long as he doesn’t “act” gay. If there are no emotions attached, if there's no intimacy and it's just sex, he reasons it doesn't make him gay so he’s relatively safe.

 Mickey is afraid of being true to who he is. He's afraid of acknowledging who he is because of the way he was brought up, and because of what neighborhood he lives in. Keep in mind, he even fagbashes other people himself because he has been conditioned and taught to do it! So for the audience to expect him to be open and accepting of his sexuality is unfair, and unrealistic because he's simply not at that stage in his life yet. And besides, how are you going to interact with someone you're having sex with on the down low? Are you going to be intimate? Are you going to get their hopes up, or even get your own hopes up? Or are you going to keep it simple and keep it as the casual hook up you need it to be right now? Another reason I feel people are critical of Mickey in particular is because Ian is so clearly into him; he is dreamy eyed, not really thinking a lot, and he's just smiling for no reason at all. Clearly Mickey makes him happy. He is kind of a lost puppy actually, and it's really sweet and also really sad because we're not sure how Mickey feels. Some people feel like Mickey is completely disinterested, and they may be right for right now, but we don't actually know. Clearly Mickey is into him at least physically, but there is also a friendship brewing there.

 So for the audience seeing those lost puppy aspects of Ian, I think set a bar for viewers and set expectations for how Mickey should act. But Mickey is never going to act like that, even in season 5 he didn't really act like that. In season 6, yes he did, but that was completely out of character and we will not discuss that. Nine times out of ten, Mickey will never act like that. Ian also seems to feel exclusive with Mickey, because he doesn't have sex with Kash again after they start hooking up, but that is on Ian.

Another note about Ian; Ian has been very fortunate to have a family that is generally supportive of one another and tends to stick together, as dysfunctional as they may be. Despite their poverty and despite any setbacks that they have (from their mother being mentally ill, their father being a drunk, their older sister being their caretaker, Etc,) Ian has the privilege of a very inclusive family whereas the Milkovich family is very conditional. You are probably expected to help out with the family business, and to be useful. The Milkoviches do stick up for each other which we see with Mickey’s first introduction, defending Mandy and we see later when Iggy sticks by Mickey no matter what, but something tells me that Terry is *not* the person who raised them to be that way. Something tells me the Milkovich children banded together to protect each other against an abusive father and the rough neighborhood and environment they live in. That being said, Mickey can’t feel as open, even around his sister and Iggy who both end up being fine with it, because he has no confidence in how they will react or if thing will be safe for him.

The bottom line of this episode I leave you with is, think if you were in Mickey’s shoes and you were taught that being gay is wrong, and in fact you were taught growing up to fagbash and threaten the safety of gay people, then how would you feel about your sexuality? It's already hard enough coming to terms with your sexuality regardless of your family and social environment, regardless of anything really! Imagine having that pressure to be straight because it’s the only right way to be but no matter how hard you try you can’t be? 

That is all I have for 1x08! As always please send me an ask or a submission if I missed anything or even if you feel like I’m completely wrong! 

Until next time, lovelies!

I’m still on a warpath apparently about this whole “Mickey and Ian are toxic” crap and I finally realized what it must have been to lead some people to think this way... I think they may have ignored the minute details that truly make up the brilliance of not only Mickey and Ian’s story but their individual characters as well and of course the brilliance of Noel and Cameron’s performances of these incredibly complex characters that truly make the difference. This show has so much to read into and that’s why I love it 2x more than I did at first glance. These characters are not the most reliable face-value narrators because while they don’t particularly lie, they do often have underlying feelings that they aren’t willing to expose because of their circumstances. Take Mickey’s attraction to Ian as the biggest and most blatant example.

In this Masterpost I am going to be breaking down Ian’s and Mickey’s interactions to hopefully show the doubters once and for all why the Gallavich pairing has so much support and why we support them to hopefully gain even more support.

I’ll be updating this post (hopefully) one episode per week at a time.

Finally, if any of the readers disagree with my analysis, by all means counter-argue! I love a good discussion and welcome anyone who disagrees with my interpretation to call out any holes or bias.

1x03

As I continue working on my ICYMI posts I realize that because I have no huge complaints about Mickey myself, I may be missing some arguments because of things I’m not seeing. Though I try to be thorough and think I have been, there may be some things that some people find offensive/not okay that I don’t even acknowledge as something that could be taken that way. 

So, if you yourself have any complaints about Mickey (or Ian or Gallavich) or have encountered any complaints about Mickey (or Ian or Gallavich), please reblog/comment to let me know! If you yourself have complaints about Mickey but don’t want to start a huge debate/discussion/set a target on your back from overzealous Gallavich fans (like myself admittedly) I invite you to send me an anonymous ask or submit a post and I promise I won’t publish it unless you ask me to. :) Because I am now ASKING for Mickey (and Gallavich) criticism I promise to keep it civil and mature because if anything, honest responses about Mickey are only going to help my analysis (and who knows? Maybe there will be that one thing even I can’t explain away?) 

And as always, ANYONE is free to message me at any time about literally anything <3

3x08

This episode is mostly Mickey-free but Mandy exposes a few things about the Milkoviches that are character defining for both of them and the Milkovich family as a whole.

The Gallaghers are at risk of losing their house and while Fiona hopes to save themselves (as close to) the legitimate/legal way, it becomes increasingly clear that they need to sink to Patrick’s level in order to protect themselves.

Because they have run out of options aside from killing Patrick, Mandy offers the Milkovich way of dealing with things

The fact that Mandy is offering to help at all is pretty incredible considering how Fiona and V treated her earlier in the episode (”Mandy Skankovich”) and I think it should be noted that she cares enough about the Gallaghers to put the clear Milkovich prejudice aside to help. Perhaps it is giving her too much credit because just about any human being with a soul should be willing to help children stay off the streets, but considering how she reacted in just the previous episode to her brother’s pistol-whipping, I think it is safe to assume Mandy’s heart is selective about who it bleeds for.

Mandy’s willingness to do just about anything for Lip and Ian, and their family establishes that the depth at which the Milkovich siblings love is a family trait. We talk all of the time about how much Mickey loves Ian and now remarkable it is that he loves so deeply and Mandy’s dedication to her Gallaghers further establishes that while the Milkoviches are a tough group they are also dedicated lovers.

This scene also establishes what we mostly knew already, that Mickey is in deep in the family drug business. 

What still is up for debate is if Mickey’s involvement is completely voluntary, but either way it is solidly established now that the drug business is a family operation and everyone pitches in.

Now I’m going to get into some headcanon because I don’t have any solid evidence to back up my next claim, but I feel the need to suggest it anyway: Though Mandy says her helping Mickey move some meth will drop the intimidation fee by a significant amount, I will personally argue that Mickey would have done it for $200 to begin with just to keep up appearances but because he genuinely would not want Ian, or his family, on the streets. I think Mickey would actually want to do it for free but would need to charge something so it doesn’t look like anything funny is going on between him and any of the Gallaghers, especially considering that he was just caught with a Gallagher a couple of weeks prior.

This “favor” also further shows just how numb the Milkovich kids are to violence and law breaking as Fiona tries to lay down the law: “enough with the brothers Milkovich!” But clearly not all of the Gallaghers are so quick to insist a moral high ground considering they know how close they are to being homeless.

This level of desperation leads the Gallaghers to do some dark things which, in a way, brings them back down to the Milkovich’s level (poetically ironic considering Fiona acts like she and her family are better than the Milkoviches over half the time). Gallaghers asking the Milkoviches for help further shows that neither family is ‘better’ than the other because when the going gets tough, the fact of the matter is everyone will do what they have to do to survive and this matter is a problem of survival.