Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
On Chicago’s South Side, Fiona keeps the Gallagher household running while Frank drinks, disappears, and returns with another problem; their mother Monica is absent, and the younger children still depend on Fiona for daily care. Fiona begins seeing Steve, then learns that his apparent wealth comes from stealing expensive cars. He is really Jimmy Lishman, a wealthy man who has been hiding from his family, and Debbie discovers the secret before Fiona does. Ian’s private relationship with Kash, his married boss at the corner store, gives way to a quieter connection with Mickey Milkovich, whose shoplifting brings a violent response from Kash.
Lip wants his casual relationship with Karen to become something more, but Karen’s home life with her controlling father Eddie keeps turning their connection into another source of hurt. After Eddie shames Karen at a purity event, she sexually assaults an incapacitated Frank and posts the video online; Eddie sees it, and later dies by suicide. Lip and Ian are arrested after driving one of Jimmy’s stolen cars, while Fiona has to decide whether to leave with Jimmy for Costa Rica. She stays in Chicago, accepts an office job through her new friend Jasmine, and chooses the work of supporting the family. Ian tells Fiona he is gay, and she accepts him without making it a crisis.