5 ‘Shameless’ Scenes So Traumatizing I Almost Quit the Show

Thanks to its dark comedy, Shameless is able to pull its characters through the most unbelievable situations. However, there are some moments that not even the darkest Shameless humor can save, and some of those had me questioning whether it was worth it to keep watching.

These are my five least favorite scenes, which almost made me give up on the show altogether.

1. Monica’s Thanksgiving Suicide Attempt: Season 2, Episode 11

Just when the Gallaghers seemed to be enjoying a nice and very rare moment together during Thanksgiving dinner, Monica suffered a breakdown that led to one of the most shocking scenes in television history.

Thankfully, her suicide attempt was unsuccessful, but it was still a very traumatizing experience both for the Gallaghers and me. It was especially hard to watch the younger kids, Debbie and Carl, react to it.

2. Terry Milkovich’s Homophobic Outrage: Season 3, Episode 6

Watching Terry Milkovich unleash his violent, homophobic rage on Mickey and Ian Gallagher in Season 3 made me physically ill. After catching Mickey and Ian together, Terry beats them both and forces a Russian sex worker (Svetlana) to rape Mickey.

A huge problem I have with this scene, besides it being absolutely brutal, is that the show never mentions it again after this. For me, it's one of the biggest examples of Shameless’ neglect when it comes to addressing important topics and issues it introduces.

3. Professor Helene's Photo Leak: Season 6, Episode 5

Helene's photo leak was another Shameless moment I still can't get over. After Lip broke things off with Amanda, she got revenge in the worst way possible by leaking a nude photo of his professor/girlfriend Helene to the entire campus.

4. Liam's Cocaine Accident: Season 4, Episode 5

Fiona hit rock bottom when she left cocaine out at a party and little Liam got into it. Needless to say, everything fell apart after this. Though Liam survived, this moment changed everything and made me seriously question if I could keep watching.

5. Sammi Snitching on Ian: Season 5, Episode 10

By season 5, I needed to know that Shameless loves to ruin almost every wholesome moment. But this time I didn't anticipate anything bad. Just when things were looking up for Mickey and Ian, Sammi Slott had to ruin everything. She called the military police on Ian. Her revenge got Ian arrested and separated him from Mickey.