So, I think Debbie probably felt bad (this was before she shifted fully into Debbie 2.0) he was arrested for the Sammi thing but then right after she found out she was pregnant so I think it’s pretty understandable she moved on. I think Carl’s also just pretty agreeable and goes with the flow, doesn’t really get involved with his siblings’ drama but I think he and Mickey had a bit of a rapport. Maybe Carl thought he’d be fine in prison because he had this idea of Mickey in his head and he could survive anything sorta deal. If they did wonder what went down, it probably wasn’t for long because as you said, they all had their own shit to worry about, including Ian’s manic episode later on. I do think Lip kinda always knew that Ian and Mickey weren’t done, despite everything. Like, he didn’t know how or when but they’d end up together. I mean, he fully thought Ian would have run away to Mexico with him, so. From Fiona’s reaction, I think everyone’s response was positive when they heard Mickey was back.

So, over the past few days, the following images have been posted by Emma, Paris, and a producer:

This got me thinking that Debbie and Franny are in a car accident.

Then I started thinking about what would happen if Debbie dies/is incapacitated because of the car accident OR she’s charged with child endangerment because I seriously doubt Franny has a car seat.

From there, Franny becomes an orphan or one of the “strays around the neighborhood”...

AND IAN AND MICKEY ADOPT HER

Then the finale has a flash forward and Sophia Macy (who was at the table read for the finale) plays an older Franny being raised by Ian and Mickey

Today I'm thinking about Ian and how I've seen so many people comment on how Ian is shown to be stepping up as a husband and Mickey isn't. And I've been thinking about why this doesn't bother me.

I think the most glaring reason is... I think Ian had to. Like, as an audience, to leave us in a hopeful place with them, we need to see how Ian takes care of Mickey. Because, for a really long time, it went the other way.

I have this thing--as a person who loves them equally and therefore has been pressed into defending Ian on more than one occasion--about the fact that Ian is narratively disadvantaged because he... stayed on the show. When Ian is gone for half a season, the entire creative team is very aware that he is coming back. So they could really let Mickey miss Ian. In fact, it was important that they do, because Mickey did more to keep Ian alive in the minds of viewers than anyone else while we awaited his return. Two seasons later, when Mickey leaves, Ian doesn't return the favour. Because the creative team is working under the assumption that Mickey is never coming back. And while I wish they had given Ian moments where we'd seen him missing Mickey, instead of just telling us he did, they weren't trying to keep the character alive in our hearts this time. They were trying to move away from him.

So now, when we get to the start of season 11, we have this narrative imbalance where Mickey spent a whole season taking care of Ian, got put in jail for attacking someone who had tried to taken Ian away from him, carved Ian's name in his chest, showed up to say things like "You're under my skin, man. The fuck can I do?" And then, after Ian leaves him at the Mexican border, saying "This isn't who I am anymore" STILL comes back and gives up his freedom so that he can live in a tiny room and share a bunk bed with Ian.

Like... Ian didn't ASK for any of that. But he got it. And then tried to address a little bit of the inequity--the unspoken show me you want me, man of it all with the proposal story. But that's still a deep well of devotion.

This is pure speculation, but I think Shameless plans to ultimately leave us hopeful about (most of) the Gallaghers. I think Wells likes some sentiment and he wants us to leave these characters thinking they will basically be ok. And with Mickey and Ian, that means leaving us thinking "This is going to work. They're figuring it out. They're gonna be ok."

And to do that, I think they need to address some of that inequity I talked about yesterday. I think they needed to show us the initial clash (because no, these characters didn't talk about what being married was going to mean) and they needed to show us what it looked like while they figured that out. And Mickey's done the work. We all recognized it when he's taking the cereal out of Ian's hands and forcing him to get up and DO something. You can see right there, the Mickey we watched in season five, supporting Ian in the way he knows Ian will respond to. With Ian, I think we needed to see a little more. Because Mickey has changed and grown over the years, and I think there's more room to work out what is going to be hard for him to roll with and what he needs from Ian when things in his life go wrong. And some stuff has gone really wrong with him this season. Ian has been far from perfect, but it's been nice to see him figuring things out and responding to what Mickey needs, even if he doesn't see the gaps as effortlessly as Mickey seems to see them with Ian.