Shameless: The Complete Eighth Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Shameless: The Complete Eighth Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 23, 2018

The good folks who came up with the so-called “12 Step program” for dealing with various substance abuse issues may well need to reconfigure the number in their system upward — and considerably upward — when at least some members of the extended Gallagher clan get involved. Shameless has tried to make both comedic and dramatic hay out of various issues the many characters in this sprawling series deal (or don’t deal, as the case may be) with, and this eighth season gets underway with would be paterfamilias Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy) seemingly once again on the 12 Step straight and narrow. Except — haven’t we seen this picture (and/or television series) before? Frank has frequently had “come to Jesus” (and/or Bill W., again as the case may be) moments, to the point that some curmudgeons may feel Frank is actually practicing a 24 or 36 Step method to attain sobriety. But Frank’s Groundhog Day like tendencies to travel roads he’s been on repeatedly before is of course just part and parcel of the territory this season of Shameless covers.

For those wanting to read about all the times the Gallaghers have made amends of one sort or another before (that's a joke, more or less, anyway), our reviews of the show's previous seasons can be accessed by clicking on the following links:

Shameless: The Complete First Season Blu-ray review

Shameless: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray review

Shameless: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray review

Shameless: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray review

Shameless: The Complete Fifth Season Blu-ray review

Shameless: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray review

Shameless: The Complete Seventh Season Blu-ray review

The whole “déjà vu all over again” aspect to Shameless doesn’t just pertain to Frank and his seemingly eternal efforts to forge better relationships with those whom he has wronged in the past (and, frank-ly, of course continues to wrong this season). Fiona (Emmy Rossum) continues to have “career” problems as she has in previous seasons, though this year is given over at least in part to her trials as a nascent landlord. The setting may have changed, but some of the issues are the same, or at least similar, to previous seasons, with Fiona feeling underappreciated for her efforts. Like I said — haven’t we seen this picture before?

Debbie (Emma Kenney) continues to have her trials (no pun intended, considering her penchant toward shoplifting), many centered around her growth as a young mother. But there are some well done vignettes this season with this particular character, including some unexpectedly funny interchanges as she works as a parking lot attendant, not suffering fools gladly who have supposedly lost their tickets. And actually it’s in many smaller moments like these that Shameless attains some of the well measured balance between melancholy and kinda sorta funny that has been one of its hallmarks from its early going.

There are a number of other subplots involving the large supporting cast, including some health scares, plots surrounding illegal activity, and attempts to secure profitable careers. But, again, so much of all of these elements have been part of Shameless for years, and unfortunately there's simply not much new here, despite efforts to perk up proceedings by providing different environments for some characters.

There’s an interesting and maybe even telling epigraph emblazoned across the back cover of this season’s Blu-ray release which states “Living the American Dream. . .one scheme at a time.” That would seem to paint the Gallaghers as something like The Grifters, and that, as they say, may be the rub as this series continues to try to find a way to both laugh at and have sympathy for these characters. It’s hard to root for someone trying to forge a straight and narrow path when they continue to take repeated detours, especially when so many of the routes turn out to be dead ends.

Shameless: The Complete Eighth Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shameless: The Complete Eighth Season is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Brothers' Warner Archive imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is the first season coming out under the auspices of Warner Archive, and while I wouldn't really put too much stock in the change of release strategy, I will say that this season's video presentation is arguably a slight step down from last year's. While there's still some appealing sharpness and good detail levels in a lot of the brightly lit or outdoor material, some of the interior scenes look pretty murky, with minimal shadow detail and equally minimal amounts of fine detail. The palette seems somewhat cooler and less vivid a lot of the time this season, as well, though part of this is understandable in that some of these hardscrabble characters live in somewhat dowdy environments where there's not that much opportunity for significant "pop" to the visuals. Contrast is consistent throughout the episodes, and I noticed no compression issues.

Shameless: The Complete Eighth Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shameless: The Complete Eighth Season continues the series' largely winning ways with another DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which tends to provide at least some noticeable immersion in every episode. A lot of the Gallagher home environment tends to be crowded and chaotic, with overlapping dialogue and natural effects like dishes clattering sounding quite realistic and lifelike. Outdoor material, as in some scenes in a garden center, also provide good placement of background noises throughout the surround channels. Fidelity is fine across all the episodes in this season, and dialogue is always clearly presented and smartly prioritized.

Shameless: The Complete Eighth Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• My Shameless Sister (1080p; 5:02) features Emma Kenney talking about and interviewing her mentor, Emmy Rossum.


• My Shameless Mentors (1080p; 7:40) features Kenney interviewing some of her other mentors.


• Deleted Scenes includes snippets from the following episodes:

  We Become What We. . .Frank! (1080p; 2:46)

  
  

  God Bless Her Rotting Soul (1080p; 1:29)

  
  

  F*** Paying It Forward (1080p; 2:11)

Disc Two

• Deleted Scenes includes snippets from the following episodes:

  The (Mis)Education of Liam Fergus Beircheart Gallagher (1080p; 6:12)

  
  

  Icarus Fell. And Rusty Ate Him. (1080p; 3:17)

  
  

  Occupy Fiona (1080p; 6:23)

  
  

  Frank's Northern Shuttle Express (1080p; 1:34)

Disc Three

• Deleted Scenes includes snippets from the following episodes:

  The Fugees (1080p; 4:13)

  
  

  The Church of Gay Jesus (1080p; 3:40)

  
  

  A Gallagher Pedicure (1080p; 3:07)

  
  

  Sleepwalking (1080p; 5:59)

Shameless: The Complete Eighth Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I guess I could be cheeky (what else is new?) and say that Shameless indulges in something like "12 steps forward, 13 (or more) steps back", because this season tends to revisit any number of character flaws and/or storylines that the show has already (repeatedly) covered in previous seasons. If you love the Gallaghers (despite their manifest flaws), you'll probably be willing to overlook some of the repetitive aspects of this season, and there's no denying that the cast has these characters down pat, delivering honest if occasionally overamped performances. Technical merits are generally strong for those considering a purchase.