‘Shameless’ season 7, episode 10: Cameron Monaghan on Ian’s story; will Mickey change things?

“Shameless” is a funny show, but it’s also one of the best character studies out there. Sometimes in the midst of all the comedy, you tend to forget how well this show crafts the stories of these complicated, broken people and some of their various highs and lows. Ian is one of the best examples within the Gallagher family; he spends his life dealing with bipolar disorder and the struggles that go along with that, but the show never deals with it in a way that feels preachy or wants you to feel sorry for him. He’s as real as a fictional person can be, and the writing really pushes for that more so than sympathy.

Another primary reason for this character being so effective is bar-none the performance of Cameron Monaghan, a consistently underrated actor in the series and someone, thanks to “Gotham,” with a little more of a profile now than he had on this series alone. The video below features Monaghan detailing the extensive work that he put in to playing Ian, especially in terms of research people with bipolar disorder and how they would react in several different situations.

For those of you who are nerds for the craft of acting to go along with the end result on-screen, this video is for you.

In looking ahead to this weekend’s new episode, Showtime released previously that Ian will learn in this episode that Mickey may be out of prison and on the lam, which could bring an emotional gut-punch into his psyche. This is clearly someone he has deep feelings for, the kind that never go away; yet, the idea of him being “on the lam” is not the sort of thing that you want to be associated with if you’re interested in a stable future. Ian’s got a good job and has a method for being in control of his disorder, so who knows what that collision course would look like? What would it mean for his future if he became a part of that world?

Some answers may come your way this weekend, but at the same time do you really believe that this sort of emotional weight would go in and out of Ian’s mind over the course of a single hour? It’s hard to buy that as a reality.

For more news on “Shameless,” check out a video preview and synopsis for Sunday’s episode here. (Photo: Showtime.)