Shameless: Best & Worst Relationships, Ranked

The Gallagher Family has been through a whole lot on Shameless. From an alcoholic father to a mother who has abandoned the kids at an early age, this family doesn’t seem to have a whole lot going for them. What they lack in stability and financial support, they make up for in their romantic relationships… Well, sometimes. While some of the relationships on Shameless are beautiful and goal-worthy, others are absolute disasters that the world’s best couples counselor couldn’t dare attempt to fix. During the course of all nine seasons on the show, who were some of the best couples on Shameless and who were some of the worst? Read the list below to find out!

10 DOTTIE AND FRANK (WORST)

Dottie and Frank were an extremely unfortunate pairing on Shameless and Frank’s treatment of Dottie just further highlighted how much of a terrible person Frank Gallagher really is. Back in season 2, Dottie (otherwise known offensively as “Butter Face” by the men at the bar), was on the cusp of death. She had a bad heart that would explode if her heart rate went above a certain level.

Frank used Dottie for her pension although he seemed to gain a genuine attraction towards her. When Dottie’s heart monitor went off indicating she needed to rush to the hospital to get the transplant surgery she needed to survive, Frank never told her it went off even though he heard it beep. So basically, he killed Dottie. We knew Frank was a total a-hole, but we didn’t know until that point that he was literally willing to have someone die for his own benefit. Dottie deserved much better in her final days.

9 FIONA AND FORD (WORST)

Fiona and Ford are not only the dullest couple on Shameless, but they might just take the cake for being the stalest couple in TV history. How could our favorite South Side Dramedy manage to create a couple that’s blander than a bowl of flavorless oatmeal? Watching the two interact felt like the ultimate downfall of Shameless because of how much of a snooze fest it was. Luckily, the writers decided to get rid of him in season 9 by giving him a whole secret storyline that could barely justify all those minutes we wasted watching Ford and Fiona fall in love.

8 LIP AND SIERRA (WORST)

There are a lot of couples on Shameless who do despicable things in their relationship. While Sierra and Lip never really betray each other or anything of that nature, their biggest crime is how utterly boring and unremarkable of a couple they are. There is nothing about their relationship that would indicate the slightest speck of a spark, and watching the two together is like watching paint dry. They just weren’t fun to follow as a storyline and we’d be just fine skipping over all of the scenes with Lip and Sierra. Lip ultimately decided he had to leave the relationship because he claimed he spent most of their time together overtly drunk.

7 CARL AND KASSIDI (WORST)

Poor Carl! He was stuck in an abusive relationship, where Kassidi literally chained him to his bed so he would never leave her. She was the poster child of the “clingy girlfriend” trope and wore that title like a shimmering badge of honor. Although the two were no older than 15/16, she made Carl marry her so he couldn’t leave the relationship. Kassidi forced Carl to refrain from following his dreams of going to military school at Westpoint because she thought it would ruin their relationship. She was the definition of selfish and it took Carl a whole lot of strength to finally get out of the abusive situation.

6 FIONA AND SEAN

Man, Fiona really has bad luck in the romance department, doesn’t she? Sean was easily one of the worst of the bunch, posing the whole time as a recovered heroin addict when in all truth he was using the entire time behind Fiona’s back. Total Prince Charming. We all recall that classic wedding scene when Frank revealed to the entire family how Sean was still using, featuring Fiona’s classic “ugly cry”. Yet Sean’s worst crime of all was how flat and boring he was, putting him in that same unfortunate boat as Sierra and Ford. Yawn!

5 LIP AND KEREN (BEST)

Lip considers Karen to be his best friend on Shameless and he cares for Karen in a way that he has never cared for anyone else on the show. Yes, Karen is tough as nails and has made a series of downright heartless decisions, yet despite all of this, Lip is still able to see into the fact that she is more than just a “mean girl” that the world perceives her to be. She is truly struggling deep down inside and he wants desperately to help her. As Frank puts it, Karen is “a beautiful mess”. Karen was Lip’s first love and over all nine seasons on the show, he never seemed to love another girl as much as he loved Karen.

4 LIP AND MANDY (BEST)

While with Lip and Karen, Lip was the one who was tripping over Karen and ultimately making a fool out of himself for her, for Lip and Mandy, it is Mandy who is willing to play the fool in order to win Lip’s affection. Mandy truly loves Lip and cares for him deep down, despite all of the heartache he has put her through by not returning her feelings. It takes time for Lip to fully appreciate Mandy, and he tells her how beautiful and capable she is while she is in the middle of a violently abusive relationship.

In fact, the two shared so much chemistry on screen that the actors who portray them, Jeremy Allen White (Lip) and Emma Greenwell (Mandy) are dating in real life, and have been since 2011! How beautiful is that?

3 FRANK AND MONICA (BEST)

Frank’s feelings for Monica provide viewers with the smallest glimmer of hope that Frank does, in fact, have a soul. The way he treats the love of his life and the mother of all his children (well, almost all), is absolutely heartbreaking to watch because we know as much as he tries, he will not be able to fix her. The two are equally messed up and only cause trouble when they are together, but boy, do they love each other. Plus, if it wasn’t for these two we would have no Gallagher clan, so ultimately, we should be thanking these two.

2 MICKEY AND IAN (BEST)

Mickey and Ian are truly meant for each other. Their chemistry is off the charts and the two of them share something that simply cannot be replaced no matter how hard they might try. Ian has dated several other people during the time of Mickey’s absence, but all his other romances felt stale in comparison to his relationship with his best friend and one true love, Mickey Milkovich.

Fans were thrilled when the two were (finally!) reunited when Ian was placed in prison alongside his old flame. While Mickey tried his best to constantly portray himself as the ultimate tough guy, he became soft whenever in the arms of his love.

1 KEV AND V (BEST)

Kev and V are hands down the best couple on Shameless, no questions asked. The two work together as a team unit, they rarely fight, and they would rather die than hurt each other. Kev and V are one of those TV couples who fans aspire to one day mimic in their own romantic relationships. Perhaps the best part about Kev and V’s relationship is their willingness to have fun together. They are constantly enjoying each others company and they continue to find excitement in their relationship after being together for what seems to be over a decade. They are the ultimate relationship goals and if it wasn’t for these two, Shameless would sincerely be missing the necessary ingredient required to provide the show with some much-needed soul.

What is your favorite relationship pairing on Shameless?