Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
Jimmy moves into the Gallagher home, but his marriage to Estefania keeps him tied to her father, Nando. When Nando kills Estefania’s former boyfriend Marco, Jimmy is forced to help dispose of the body and maintain the marriage. Frank, meanwhile, is stranded in Mexico and works as a drug mule to get back across the border. At home Fiona tries party promotion before taking a grocery-store job; Frank’s anger at the family leads him to call Child Protective Services, and the children are removed from the house. Fiona quits her job to fight for them, gets Frank to cooperate, and wins legal guardianship alongside him after their court hearing.
The family also has to defend its home from cousin Patrick, who claims ownership through a competing will; after Debbie accuses him of molesting her and he is arrested, Fiona negotiates a long lease that lets the Gallaghers stay. Lip returns to school and earns admission to MIT, but his relationship with Mandy collapses after she deliberately runs Karen over. Karen survives with serious injuries and leaves with Jody and Hymie for treatment in Arizona. Ian and Mickey’s relationship is exposed to Mickey’s violent father, and Ian later decides to enlist in the Army without telling his family. Jimmy’s absence leaves Fiona trying to understand what happened; by the finale she accepts that he is not coming back, chooses to remain in Chicago, and secures a sales job. Frank collapses and learns that his liver is failing, but he leaves the hospital and keeps drinking.