Shameless: The 10 Worst Things Frank Gallagher Has Done

Frank Gallagher has taken the anti-hero concept to a whole new level. The star of Shameless has just done so many selfish, objectively-bad things that it is a minor miracle someone hasn’t just finished him off. And yet, he trudges on, like a mushroom that survives no matter what the conditions are.

Frank Gallagher does not discriminate when it comes to his wrongdoings either. It is one thing to be evil towards the ones who threaten your family or loved ones. It is another thing entirely to wrong the ones closest to you, like he often does. He might redeem himself on a few occasions, but the 10 worst things Frank Gallagher has ever done are a master class on how to be a bad human being.

10 Losing His Son In A Bet

Liam Gallagher, the youngest of Frank Gallagher’s children, is actually pretty close to his father. And believe it or not, Frank Gallagher actually puts a decent amount of effort into raising him, by his standards at least. Do you think this makes his son exempt from being used as collateral during a bet? Of course not. Frank Gallagher loses the bet, as he often does, meaning he also loses his son. The rest of his children had to pitch in to buy their brother back.

9 Faking Carl’s Cancer

Frank Gallagher will do pretty much anything if it means making a buck. He sees an opportunity by exploiting people’s kindness towards cancer patients and decides to take action. He convinces Carl Gallagher that he is afflicted with the deadly disease, even shaving his head and sending him to a camp filled with other sick children. His goal is to collect the gifts that are often given to young cancer patients in the Chicago area, namely a basketball signed by members of the Chicago Bulls, in order to sell them. Ruthless.

8 Calling Child Protective Services

His children are not afraid to stand up to him and all of his recklessness. One day, though, Frank Gallagher has simply had enough of being disrespected by them. He calls Child Protective Services, knowing that they are living without an official guardian in the house. They are all taken in by the government, mostly through foster homes.

Fiona Gallagher, who is often the bane of her father’s existence, must prove that she is the most capable guardian for her younger brothers and sisters, which she does. In the end, Frank Gallagher’s unbridled selfishness actually resulted in something good, as his oldest daughter became the legal guardian of the rest of his children.

7 Ruining Dottie’s Heart Transplant

One of Frank Gallagher’s romantic relationships involves a woman named Dottie, who is in desperate need of a heart transplant. He is not actually into her, though. All he is interested in is her government pension, which he hopes she will leave to him once she passes. The thing is, she needs to die. Frank Gallagher takes a call at her residence that reveals that there is a potential match for her, meaning she could receive a life-saving heart transplant. He acts as if she has already died, though, thus ruining her chances at a new heart.

6 Ruining Fiona’s Wedding

No moment is too sacred for Frank Gallagher. He does not approve of Sean, the man Fiona Gallagher is marrying, and decides to make his opinions heard during her wedding. He unleashes a tirade of insults directed at his entire family, as well as Sean, which results in Sean leaving and the wedding being called off. In hindsight, this might have been a good thing, since Sean really did have serious flaws that might have made the marriage a bad fit. But there is no excusing the way Frank Gallagher went about things.

5 The Fake Aunt Ginger

Frank Gallagher regularly collects the Social Security money of his “Aunt Ginger,” who really was his aunt. Although she is dead, he has managed to keep that hidden from the government for a while. When the feds begin to suspect something, he decides to steal an Alzheimer’s patient from a local nursing home and act as if she is his Aunt Ginger in order to ease the government’s suspicions. Frank Gallagher works incredibly hard to be lazy, ironically.

4 Seducing His Daughter For Her Liver

Frank Gallagher needed a new liver as a penance for his years of alcoholism. His children refused to help him, so he seeks out his long lost daughter with the hope of her offering up her liver for a transplant. His daughter, Samantha Scott, doesn’t know that he is her father, however.

Frank Gallagher decided to get in her good graces not by being a good father, but by trying to seduce her. He doesn’t go through with his advances, thankfully, showing that Frank Gallagher at least has some limits.

3 He Used His Son To Inseminate His Girlfriend

Only on Shameless do scenarios like this occur. Frank Gallagher’s girlfriend, Ingrid, expressed her desire to have children. Unfortunately (or fortunately), he is not able to have children anymore. Frank Gallagher remains determined to make Ingrid happy. He dupes his son, Carl Gallagher, into providing his sperm for Ingrid, meaning Carl is unknowingly the father of Ingrid’s children. Classic Frank Gallagher.

2 Giving Hymie Narcotics

One of Frank Gallagher’s longer relationships occurs with a woman named Sheila Jackson. Her daughter, Karen Jackson, gives birth to a child named Hymie, who has Down Syndrome. Hymie’s mother does not intend to raise him, so he is raised by his grandmother, who has a difficult time raising him. Frank Gallagher decides to help by secretly giving Hymie narcotics, which calm him down. It was all done to ensure that he would be able to stay at that house.

1 Having Relations With Karen

You have to give Frank Gallagher a tiny bit of slack on this one; he was very drunk and high during this encounter and was taken advantage of by Karen Jackson, who did this as a way to get back at her father. Nevertheless, Frank Gallagher could have put up more of a defense against such a horrible act, as anyone else would have. Karen Jackson was also Lip Gallagher’s girlfriend at the time, further adding to Frank Gallagher’s despicableness.

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