Review: "Shameless" Gets Tedious With Season Ten

Persistence is the main family trait in "Shameless," nothing else seems to matter. Money comes and goes. Romantic relationships are fleeting. Everyone is scheming for one thing or another–and, generally, each scheme has a pretty successful run, until the schemer gets board and moves on to something else.

Now on its 10th season, the series itself persists as diligently as the Gallagher family. Making us wonder if an end is ever in sight. The original British series, from which this Showtime series spawned, lasted for 11 seasons before it gave up the ghost in 2013. And even as it ended the characters persisted–Frank sired yet another Gallagher child and then faked his own death. For good or bad, nothing is really over.

Season 10 does bring some changes. Emmy Rossum, who played the eldest daughter Fiona, has left the series this season, after Cameron Monaghan, who plays the gay middle child Ian, threatened to quit the show but, apparently, decided to stay. Returning to join Monaghan is his character's longtime love/hate companion Mickey (Noel Fisher) who went away in season eight.

With Rossum out of the picture, Jeremy Allen White, who plays the eldest son Lip, takes over the heart and soul of the story. His character has a baby this season and his baby-mama Tami (Kate Miner) becomes one of the shows main characters.

Last season, Fiona decided that her family no longer needed her; continuing to take care of them was detrimental to her and it enabled their bad habits. So she left Chicago, supposedly for good, and she left her family with a check for $50,000. But under the executive governorship of the "responsible" child, Debbie (Emma Kenney), no one sees any of the money. As the new head of household, Debbie keeps a tight lid on the finances, managing her taste for expensive clothing. She buys it, wears it and returns it and then buys something else–haute couture at a $0 budget.

Ian, the families incurable romantic, got himself locked up in prison so that he could be with the love of his life, Mickey. But there's trouble in paradise when the two men discover that being locked up, day after day in the same cell, can strain a relationship.

Giving birth practically killed Tami, and she's stuck in the hospital trying to recover. So–for a while at least–Lip faces the sleepless realities of being a single parent to a newborn child. And Liam (Christian Isaiah), being the only Gallagher with black skin, searches for his identity. He's not the victim of discrimination, but it's hard to be a proud black man in a proud white trash world.

Meanwhile, Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) graduates from the academy and the military can't wait to be rid of him. Back in civilian life, he has to negotiate civilian problems, like battling a 9 to 5 and fighting off his employer's sexual advances.

The comedy is dark and cringe worthy, and the humorous observations in the script are cleaver but predictable. Tirelessly, the Gallagher's just keep going from one thing to another–but in general, the show itself is getting pretty tedious.

At least a new Blu-ray release promises some visual appeal, but if you have to watch it on HDX, you might as well not bother. The images are crushed and the colors are abysmal.

"Shameless: Season 10"
Available online