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This page is about the US incarnation of Fiona Gallagher. For the UK version, see Fiona Gallagher.

Fiona Monica Gallagher was a central character and in the difficult position of being the oldest Gallagher child. Since she was 16 years old and her mother walked out, Fiona has taken care of her siblings and dysfunctional, alcoholic father, Frank. Despite how stressful and chaotic her life is, Fiona meets every challenge head on. Her siblings and father often turn to her when they get into trouble with the law.

Fiona is a hard worker, willing to take on even the worst jobs to support the family. Occasionally, she cuts loose and goes out drinking and dancing with her best friend and next door neighbor, Veronica. Although normally level headed, she can make ill-informed choices when she's been drinking (and, in Season 4, cocaine -- a one-time incident that did not end well).

The struggle between wanting to take care of her family and strike out on her own leads to problems for Fiona in later seasons. She begins to come into her own after she uses her determination and quick wit to make a series of (mostly) successful real estate ventures.

At the end of Season 9, Fiona decides to leave and make a fresh start somewhere else and departs the show.

Appearance

She has olive skin and dark brown eyes. Naturally slim and tall, Fiona wears form fitting clothes. They are mostly hand-me-downs or "borrowed" from the store (worn with the tags still on). Her hair is shoulder length in later seasons.

Personality

Fiona is a true South Side girl: she's scrappy, resourceful, and not afraid to get into a fight. As the sole provider for the Gallaghers, she takes on odd jobs (and demeaning ones, like sexy waitressing gigs) to provide for what her father's welfare checks won't cover. When she isn't juggling the responsibilities of her siblings or dealing with Frank's shenanigans, she's out partying with Veronica and Veronica's husband, Kev.

Other than Lip, Fiona is the most reliable of all the Gallaghers (other than the latter half of Season 4). Fiona is almost always there for the people she cares about, and she's willing to do whatever it takes to keep her siblings out of foster care: in her mid-teens, she dropped out of high school to take care of them. She once remarked that she's almost positive she doesn't want kids of her own since "her siblings are her kids." During Season 9, she sees they have grown up and decides that she needs to go on her path. She leaves her family house but gives her family a large amount of money to support themselves.

While Fiona doesn't get along with either of her parents because of their neglect, she has showed that she does love them. She was pleased by Frank bonding with the family while he was getting sober, genuinely comforted Frank after he was insulted by his mother Peggy Gallagher and understood why he is the way he is. She later told an ailing Frank in season 3, that she does love him and was just tired of him not showing care for the family, as well as admitting her fear was that he didn't care for them. She was also shocked to learn that he had a third daughter and never told her, as she believed she had him figured out. She tearfully confronted her mother on her frequent leaving the family and told her she just wanted to be loved. She thanked her mother for giving Liam back. After her arrest in Season 4, she has learned that she couldn't blame them for her faults and must accept responsibility. Even though Frank ruined her wedding and she kicked him out, Fiona revealed to Veronica that she appreciated his acts since he saved her from a potential failed marriage and slowly forgave her father. This was seen when she let him stay in the old apartment and tried to comfort Frank after Monica's death, after seeing him devastated. She also stated she took care of him after he neglected the family with Monica's first departure. She can be surprised when he shows genuine love, as seen when Frank apologized to her for all he has done when changing in Season 8 and acted on his new ways by defending the family from a meth head and she thanked him for doing so. Even after he fell back into his old ways, she shows him more patience and doesn't seem bothered by him anymore, like in the past. She also ran a business with him in her depression and they worked well together. Fiona also seemed to take her father's words about her excessive drinking into consideration. She even stood by him when he injured himself at her old building and only left once his safety was guaranteed. When preparing to leave the house, she shared one final moment with him and took his gratitude for caring for the family in stride and smiled at her father after seeing he was holding back tears, causing her to know this was his way of wishing her well and they parted on good terms.

Fiona, like her siblings, struggles with an unstable self-esteem. She's short-tempered due to stress, often so tired and overworked that she neglects to brush her hair or get adequate sleep. She hides her more sensitive side underneath her tough, confident exterior; it's difficult for her to ask for help. Throughout the series, she has several emotional breakdowns in private.

Once her siblings mature, Fiona finally begins thinking about her own future. A good example is when she started working hard to better her life in Season 7 and told her family they must fend for themselves.

Fiona's tumultuous childhood left her with self-esteem and abandonment issues, leading her to make impulsive choices and fall for men who are sometimes bad news. She spontaneously gets married to Gus Pfender (after less than a week of dating), pursues an on-again off-again "relationship" with Steve/Jimmy Lishman (a con artist and a car thief who is also married at one point), and sabotages a healthy relationship with her boss, Mike Pratt, by sleeping with his coke-addicted brother, Robbie Pratt. Fiona nearly marries a drug addicted Sean Pierce but her father ruins the wedding by telling her of his exploits. After the failed wedding, she tries out Tinder in Season 8, and she enjoys how easy meaningless sex is compared to her intense, short-lived relationships until she realizes she needs something real. As of the Season 8, she is attracted to Ford, an Irish carpenter (and part-time sperm donor). Ford is the most grounded, sensible partner Fiona has met. At first, he rebuffed her and they start slow with hanging out before they begin to date. It was Ford who helped her see that she won't always be able to help her siblings, and she needed to let them grow on their own. Once she learned Ford was married and using her as an affair, she was devastated by this since she called him her boyfriend.

After her break-up with Ford, she fell into a drunk slump and constantly drank or lazed around the house. This led to concern from her siblings who took over for her in running the house as Fiona was no longer capable. Fiona's mannerisms hit a major low, as she lost her job, nearly got kicked out by Lip for getting his sponsee Jason drunk, inadvertently causing him to have a drug relapse, and assaulted a woman for harassing Liam. After Frank told her to stop drinking because of her uncontrollable nature. At the end, she woke up passed out next to her father and realized she was nearly like him, which caused her to reevaluate her standing by attending AA meetings and getting a new job. Fiona hit a break when learning she earned a large sum of money from a previous investment. She decided to make a start for herself elsewhere but not before leaving her family money. However Fiona unfortunately left Debbie in charge of the money, assuming her sister would be responsible enough with it due to her intelligence, but this unfortunately turned out to be misplaced faith as Debbie assumed she also got control of the house too and began making poor choices like buying designer clothes for herself and using their siblings actual social security numbers for credit cards when Frank had already used their names to get credit cards and put them in heavy debt. Fiona clearly overestimated Debbie's competence and it's possible that Fiona still held a grudge against Lip, which was why she didn't choose him even though he would have been a much better choice in managing the family's money. Fiona also ignored the fact that she was still the legal guardian of both Liam and Carl (at the time since he was still 17).

Throughout the Seasons

Season 1

In the pilot, Fiona is the caretaker of the Gallagher family, taking over for her absent mother, Monica Gallagher, and her narcissistic, alcoholic father, Frank. Fiona ensures her siblings are fed, clothed, in school, and out of trouble. (Their father is often passed out on the kitchen floor, too drunk to take care of them.) She struggles to barely make ends meet by taking on odd jobs, and more than once we see her searching for spare change throughout the house. Fiona goes to a club in downtown Chicago with Veronica. Steve is admiring Fiona when he sees her purse get stolen; he pursues the thief and, although he doesn't catch the man, he earns her respect. They go back to her house and have sex on the kitchen floor. Tony, a neighborhood cop who has known the Gallaghers for years, also has an eye on Fiona. He asks out Fiona and they sleep together on the first date. Afterward, she decides that conscientious, conservative Tony isn't her type, so she decides to keep seeing Steve, who entices her with his double life as a car thief.

She looks really hard to find her father when he's missing in Canada in episode 2, "Frank the Plank". She is also angry to learn it was Steve who sent him away and scolds him for it. After his return, she talked to him and warned him to never hit another of "her" kids before he moved out.

In "Aunt Ginger", she is surprised by a bureau inspector asking about her great aunt Ginger Gallagher and tells them she is at a retirement home. Fiona finds her father and tells him about this. Frank later tells the family Ginger really died twelve years ago. Fiona and Frank borrowed a senile woman, from Veronica's nursing home and have her pose as Ginger. After everything is settled, Fiona tells Debbie who cared for the old woman that they can visit Ginger's grave. However, she is shocked to learn Frank buried her in the backyard.

Following Ginger's return to the nursing home, Debbie steals little Casey Casden, a neighborhood boy. Fiona is horrified by her sister's act and learns she took it after witnessing his father playing with him and his sister in their yard and got jealous. Fiona explains this to her brother, and they work to return him to his home through a carefully devised plan to return him so nobody gets in trouble. Fiona is pleased Debbie gained money from the incident after being held a hero and bought a function water heater.

In Frank Gallagher: Loving Husband, Devoted Father, she is surprised to meet her father's friend Kermit. She is a main pawn in the planning of Frank's fake funeral to outrun two men whom he owes $6,000, which is done successfully.

Next, in "It's Time to Kill the Turtle", Fiona works odd jobs and is surprised her father and Debbie come home from a sugar rush after Frank decided to get sober. Frank reveals he needs to stay sober to escape his need for alcohol in order to get $3,000 in a medical study. Fiona is confused by this but loves the new sober Frank, with whom she bonds with and has fun along with her family and friends. She is surprised at this change, though Lip states he did this before and won't stop for money. Nevertheless, Fiona is very pleased when Frank plays the piano, does work around the house, cooks, and tells stories. However, Lip advised Fiona, Debbie, and Carl to "enjoy the moment while it lasts." Later on, after working she comes home crying from a long day. Eventually, she questions her brother on his sour attitude to their father in this good time and he explains Frank once got sober and went to his little league game and expressed pride in him. Lip ends it by stating that he didn't know it wouldn't last after Fiona inquired on it. When Frank's soberness gets too much, Debbie encourages Lip and Fiona to "kill the turtle" as she put it, a misunderstanding to the reference that Lip had made about Frank previously. She decides to end his attempt at staying sober after he plans to slam holes in the roof through the attic for skylights with Carl. At the end, Steve comes over to find a drunk and bitter Frank with the children sitting around satisfied.

In "Killer Carl," Fiona scrambles to prove to Carl's school that he won't become a delinquent. Fiona is constantly trying to keep her siblings out of trouble, especially Carl. When Carl is almost taken away until Steve shows up and poses as Fiona's husband, ensuring the principal that Carl is in good hands. Although Steve constantly helps Fiona with the kids and her problems, she worries he's "distracting" her from her responsibilities; she can't stand it when he buys her expensive things or gives her money. She is later relieved when Carl protects Lip from a bully by hitting him with a bat.


In "But at Last Came a Knock", Monica unexpectedly comes back and plays the loving mother card. We get the impression that Monica is bipolar and has abandoned the family countless times. Monica's overbearing partner, Roberta ("Bob"), demands that they hand over Liam. Fiona, enraged and hurt, calls Monica out on her bullshit and criticizes her for trying to take away the son she wasn't there to raise. Monica refuses to compromise, so Fiona moves into the house next door with Steve, who bought the property.

Ultimately in Nana Gallagher Had an Affair, she protests to Veronica on the issue and starts making plans to take away her parents' rights to the kids. However, she is later intimidated to stop by Frank who wants his settlement and threatens Fiona to stay out of it. She later ends up moving back into the Gallagher home and starts to assert her place. She, Lip, and Debbie take Carl to the hospital to get his arm treated while also telling Frank that Liam is his son after all and orders him not to sign his rights of the children to Monica. Fiona is present at the dinner, where she learns Ian is not Frank's son but she assures Debbie that they are still family. She is shocked to learn Ian is the child of one of Frank's brothers, making him both her brother and cousin. Fiona clarifies to her younger siblings; they have three uncles. She soon lashes out at Monica for trying to make a family with Bob after leaving her old one behind.

At the end of the season, Steve has to leave the country after he is threatened by Tony, who has figured out that Steve is a con man. Steve begs Fiona to go with him. The end of Season 1 shows Fiona about to get on the subway to the airport, but turning back because her heart is with her family. She accepts a job offer she received from her reckless, sensual friend, Jasmine, who she met in "Daddyz Girl." The closing scene shows Fiona sitting in Jasmine's office, looking sad but hopeful for the future.

Season 2

Fiona runs a summer daycare in the Gallagher home to raise money for their "squirrel fund." Debbie does most of the child rearing when Fiona is at her day job. Fiona continues to hang out with Jasmine at the club; Jasmine is married with children, but she parties with rich older men. A banker from JPMorgan (who, by no coincidence, looks somewhat like Steve) pursues Fiona, but she doesn't feel a connection.

While riding the L Train, Fiona finds a purse containing $500. A man sitting nearby warns her not to leave "her" purse unattended, which emboldens Fiona to steal the bag. She uses the money to buy groceries, but she feels guilty and decides to return the purse to its owner, Kim. Lip warns her not to give the purse back without getting a cash reward. Kim asks if Fiona wants a reward, but rescinds the offer when she realizes the purse is empty. Fiona claims she found the purse that way, though she feels even worse when she realizes Kim also has a house full of kids. When she goes back to return the money, Kim is hostile: she accuses Fiona of being a dirty thief, and Fiona calls her white trash.

Steve comes back in her life in "Father's Day," but Fiona is more shocked than relieved.

In Can I Have a Mother, Fiona is sleeping before she is told by Debbie of their grandmother Peggy Gallagher being released and making herself at home as the new head of the family. She takes her new boyfriend and goes on a double date with Steve and his girlfriend. She also learns that he's in a staged marriage to a woman named Estefania, who only speaks Portuguese. She has a moment to herself but ends up making out with Steve though stops before it gets out of hand. However, her boyfriend figured out what happened and left. At a party Sheila throws for Karen, she is awkward around Steve and tries to avoid. She is also worried when her grandma argues with Sheila and tries to have her father end it but he tells her to stay out of it. Fiona is horrified when Peggy nearly shoots Sheila but Tony stops the police from arresting Peggy. After the party, Debbie tells Fiona that Steve's real name is Jimmy. She is surprised to learn this and leaves an angry voicemail while calling him by his name. She soon talks with her grandmother and gives her money to fix things up, while offering more time to learn more about each other since they missed out during her incarceration when Fiona was eleven. Later on, Fiona overhears her father being dominated by his mother. She finds her father on the porch, where she empathizes with her father after realizing what he went through as a child and seeing he was no different from her and her siblings. She comforts him and shares a beer with him as they bond over bad parents while he takes her words with a smile.

Unlike Frank, she likes her grandmother being over in a A Bottle of Jean Nate and watches him take care of her. She attends a party thrown by Jasmine and find Jimmy is there and she is still self-conscious about her previous knowledge from Debbie. Fiona is soon kissed by Jasmine who shows an interest beyond being friends, while Fiona leaves out of awkwardness but states she'll see her later. Very soon, she discovers Peggy's activities in the basement and is worried when Carl is nearly caught in a meth lab explosion. Fiona realizes Frank was right and finds him at the Alibi where she starts to plot with him to kick Peggy out but discovers she is dying of cancer. Fiona also ends her friendship with Jasmine Hollander.

It was seen in Parenthood, that as a result of her act, Fiona kicked Peggy out and she goes to live with Frank and Sheila while Fiona prohibits her younger siblings from seeing her.

Fiona sleeps with her high school crush, Craig, in "I'll Light a Candle for You Every Day." Craig is a laughably bad lover: he has sex with Fiona in the backseat of his van, which is filled with dirty diapers, and makes strange noises the entire time. In the following episode, his wife, Lucy Joe Heisner, confronts Fiona about the affair with a baseball bat in hand. Fiona and Debbie are shopping when Lucy drives by, bombs Fiona with a chocolate milkshake, and calls her a slut. Debbie asks Fiona if she knew Craig was married. Fiona looks at her ruined clothes and replies, "at least it's chocolate." Later, Craig shows up with Lucy asking for their forgiveness and God's grace; Fiona cries in the bathroom, feeling humiliated and alone.

Season 3

In "May I Trim Your Hedges?" Fiona takes a cashier job at the grocery store, even though the manager bothers her about how much she likes "deli meats" -- i.e., propositioning her to blow him. Veronica catches him harassing her on a "titty cam" during an interview; Fiona threatens to expose him unless he gives her the job, and he agrees.

In "Cascading Failures", Fiona quits after requesting a day off last minute to check on her siblings, who were placed in foster care due to Frank calling CPS in revenge. Fiona hounds a social worker to figure out where her siblings were placed. The social worker gets up to use the bathroom, hinting that Fiona can listen to the audio file of the man who called CPS; she is quietly enraged to discover it was Frank.

Fiona fights for custody of her siblings in "A Long Way From Home." The judge at the hearing decides that Frank can still retain parental rights, but Fiona is granted legal guardianship. Fiona bans Frank from the house. Despite this, he shows up after everything goes wrong when he holds a fake funeral for their long dead Aunt Ginger (in yet another cash scheme). Patrick, their cousin, forges a will that declares he has ownership of the Gallagher home, and Fiona rushes to beat him at his own game. At the end of "When There's a Will", Debbie tricks Patrick into molesting her, and he's arrested. Fiona proposes $500 a month in rent, no deposit, and a 50 year lease, and Patrick relents.

Fiona gets a temporary sales job under Mike Pratt. With the house secure and money coming in, everything is going well until Jimmy decides to return to medical school, since he can't cope with his barista job. In "Civil Wrongs" Jimmy claims he needs to finish his degree in Michigan so he won't lose his credits. He explains that "he needs a change", and Fiona becomes upset when he says that being apart for a year doesn't matter. Jimmy meets with Estefania's father, who informs him that his daughter was deported because of Jimmy's negligence.

In "Order Room Service", Fiona and the kids go camping with Mike, and Fiona surprises Mike when she kisses him. They're about to have sex when she breaks down about Jimmy. Later that night, Jimmy is forced onto a boat by Estefania's father, presumably to leave the country with her. The next morning, Fiona calls Jimmy and leaves a message stating she loves him and forgives him for not wanting to take the kids to Michigan.

As the season wraps up, Fiona continues to leave messages for Jimmy. In the season finale, "Survival of the Fittest", Fiona argues with Mike that she deserves to stay with the company; Mike refuses and lets her go. When she picks up Lip at the hospital -- where he stayed overnight with a drunken Frank, whose liver is failing. She confronts her father and tells him she wished him dead for years but tells him that she does love him and only wants him to show love to the family. Fiona throws Lip a surprise party for his high school graduation; afterwards, Debbie asks what happened to Jimmy, and Fiona says he's gone for good.

Shortly after the party, Mike has a change of heart and hires Fiona for a permanent sales position. The audience last sees her standing in the snow, calling Jimmy and saying, "wherever you are, bye."

Season 4

Fiona starts dating Mike, Mike openly admits that he has trust issues due to his destructive ex, Eve.

In "My Oldest Daughter", she moves up with her job and gets her younger siblings medical attention. After an angry man bashes in the company car's windshield, Fiona claims that a falling tree broke the glass. Mike finds out and they have an argument about Fiona lying, but they make up and move on. Fiona refused to be a liver donor for her father after he and Carl beg her to do so, stating this was his own fault as Frank tells a depressed Carl that he'll go to his other daughter for help. Fiona states Debbie is too young for surgery, as Frank tells her that he was referring to his oldest daughter Samantha, who he will go to for help. The news of another sibling surprises Fiona and she is left in shock as her father glares at her for not helping him.

In "Like Father, Like Daughter", Fiona continues seeing Mike and complains about her discovery of her father's new child and being angered he withheld that. Mike comforts her and tells her of his plans to have dinner with Mike's brother, Robbie Pratt. Things look good, though Mike gets drunk and she ends up having sex on the kitchen counter of Mike's apartment while Mike is passed out. Robbie claims he is three years sober, but admits to Fiona that he still struggles with cocaine; he's "addicted to the rush of life." He taunts Fiona by pointing out that she is also an addict, someone who craves chaos and can't stand an average, nice guy like Mike.

After a falling out with their father in "There's the Rub", Robbie tells Mike about the affair, prompting Mike to dump Fiona. The episode ends with Robbie giving Fiona a baggie of coke for her birthday.

Fiona snorts a few lines and parties with Kev, Veronica, and the family, but the celebration ends with Liam accidentally ingesting the coke and going to the ER. The police arrest Fiona at the hospital, and her bail is set at $100,000.

After spending several humiliating days in prison, Carl called Mike who posts her bail and drives her home, stating that they can never see each other again. Fiona's lawyer encourages her to plead guilty, which makes her a felon but rewards her with probation. Being under house arrest and apathy from Lip makes Fiona depressed and stir-crazy. She watches as Lip takes care of the family and meets her older sister Sammi and nephew Chuckie, who she is surprised to meet.

After a wild night with Robbie and his friends, Fiona violates her probation and ends up stranded in a neighboring city. Lip picks her up and comforts her for the first time.


When Robbie arrives at the Gallagher Household to sincerely apologize to Fiona, who is outraged to see him and slams the door in his face. Robbie wasn't surprised by this reaction and walks away, feeling guilty.

In the season finale, "Lazarus," a judge sends Fiona to a women's correctional facility for 90 days; she's released only a few days later when she passes her drug test. She lands a job at Patsy's Pies, thanks to her parole officer.

Season 5

Fiona is now working at Patsy's. She is finally finding a balance in her life: she has a steady job and is relatively happy again. She has a crush on her older boss, Sean, and they flirt daily on the job. Fiona is on house arrest for a few months but after she pays her time, she gets the ankle bracelet off.

After swearing off men for several months, Fiona decides to go out with a hot musician who asks her out at the diner. When she shows up for the date, she finds out that the hot musician actually has a girlfriend. Fueled with anger, she makes out with his friend, Gus. They end up hitting it off and have a steamy one week relationship before impulsively deciding to get married.

Fiona and Gus have an intimate wedding at city hall, but Fiona decides to keep the marriage a secret for the first few days because she is still unsure if it was the right decision to marry someone she barely knows.

Out of the blue, Jimmy shows back up in Fiona's life again. He professes his love for her and tries to win her back, after he left her for years. Fiona caves and ends up sleeping with Jimmy. She tells Gus about sleeping with her ex, which of course blows up in her face. Fiona tells Jimmy that it's over - forever.

She tries to patch things up with Gus, but her poor decisions over the course of their brief marriage cause his bandmate to tell her it's best to leave Gus because he's too nice for her.

Deep down, Fiona knows that her feelings for her boss, Sean, are turning into love as she spends more time with him.

Season 6

Fiona gets a promotion at Patsy's Pies to Assistant Manager, after Sean pushes her to accept the job. Fiona accepts it, even though the pay is worse because she won't get tips. She struggles with managing the wait staff. She is also sleeping with Sean while married to Gus.

Fiona finds out that Debbie is pregnant and Fiona strongly urges, or demands, that Debbie get an abortion. Fiona adamantly does not want to raise another baby in the house, and she and Debbie fight throughout the season. Suddenly, Fiona finds out that she herself is pregnant with either Gus, Sean or Jimmy's baby. The hormones affect her emotional state but she ultimately decides, with no hesitation, that she wants to abort the baby.

The Gallaghers receive an eviction notice on their house because Patrick took out a loan that he never intended to pay back. Fiona then has to get a mortgage from the bank to bid on the house at an auction. She loses her bid to another family, so the Gallaghers move everything out of the house and disperse. Fiona moves in briefly with Sean and tries to connect with his son, but the son is not open to having a new mom.

The family that bought the house discover what bad shape the house is in, which gives Fiona the opportunity to buy the house back from them. The Gallaghers get to move back in. Sean decides to make it official and move in with Fiona.

Fiona also officially gets a divorce from Gus, which gives Sean the opportunity to propose. They decide to have a wedding, white dress and all, which Frank insists on paying for. When Fiona tells Frank he can't walk her down the aisle, he ruins the wedding and tells Fiona that he saw Sean doing drugs (even though he is a recovering drug addict). Fiona's heart is broken and the wedding is off.

Season 7

In Hiraeth, Sean is completely out of Fiona's life, even at Patsy's Pies, which Fiona is left to run by herself. The owner of Patsy's gives Fiona full responsibility, which leads Fiona to hire the flaky wait staff that Sean hired. She hires new girls and tries to revamp the diner completely- having themed nights, opening the diner for 24 hours, giving the waitresses new uniforms, and even creating a nightly speakeasy where people can secretly drink out of mugs. The diner starts making a bigger profit from Fiona's efforts, which gives her a sense of pride and confidence in her future ability to run a business. Fiona also keeps Frank from the house after he is revealed to be back. Like her siblings, she wants nothing to do with him but is somewhat thankful he ruined the wedding when talking to Veronica since she labeled Sean a loser.

In Swipe, Fuck, Leave, she is pleased Frank disowns them since it was already a shame and gives him his stuff as she planned to take back her room. Fiona is later promoted to manager at Patsy's since Sean left and accepts the new responsibility. She also decides not to get in relationship and experiments with Tinder, since her past relationships haven't worked out. She has frequent one night stands instead. That night, she goes out with her coworkers and Lip while learning of Tinder. She later comes home to find Carl resting and asks about his pain from his circumcision and he tells her that he's alright. When she tells him she's going upstairs, he told her she can't as he previously found the walls were blocked with cement, courtesy of Frank getting revenge on his children for trying to kill him and kicking him out. Fiona was not pleased by her father's act, especially since they had to sleep in the den. She is also angry at Frank barricading himself upstairs and torturing her siblings with a raccoon. Eventually, she and her siblings gathered supplies and worked to destroy the wall.

During Home Sweet Homeless Shelter, she is not too pleased when Lip makes snarky remarks on his future or when Debbie is arrested and she has to bail her out. Afterwards, she puts pressure on her siblings by telling them each of them (except Liam) will have to earn their keep and that she will not bail them out of a crisis and they will depend on each other. She is also not happy when Veronica shows them that Frank has opened a homeless shelter in a empty house not far from their home. Fiona remarks on her father's choice, stating her family has taken begging to a new height but is surprised by Veronica's own family drama. Fiona soon watches her siblings protest Frank's choice but he tells her along with his other children to leave him alone since they have shown him how they feel (throwing him off a bridge, insulting him, and kicking him out) and sends them off.

Fiona finds out the Wendell's, the laundromat across the street from Patsy's Pies, is up for sale. The owner of Patsy's tells her that the only way to really make money is to own property. Fiona decides to take out a loan and buy the laundromat. She struggles to make a profit, but with the help of Kev, Frank and the Alibi regulars, Fiona whips the place into shape and completely revamps it. Fiona also forgives her father and lets him take care of the senile owner Etta by letting him stay with her in the apartment above the laundromat.

Fiona receives an offer to sell the laundromat and ultimately Fiona accepts, making a 100% profit after much negotiation. Fiona decides that buying and flipping property might be her new future.

Near the end of the season, Fiona buys an apartment building from a contact she met at a networking event.

The season also ends with the return of Fiona's mother, Monica. Fiona curses her mother for leaving her as a child and making her pick up her slack in raising the family. Fiona soon learns that Monica is dying and that she wants to atone for her actions.

When Monica dies in Requiem For a Slut, Fiona is resistant to shedding a tear for the woman who abandoned her as a child while the other Gallaghers mourn Monica. Fiona also sees how heartbroken her father is and genuinely tries to comfort him but he ignores her and leaves with a sad look. Fiona is against the idea of her family selling the meth that Monica left behind and they would listen to their father of selling it. Later on, she calls her estranged grandfather Bill Darrgen and watches him fight Frank. She tells Bill that she wanted to cremate Monica but he decides to pay for the funeral services and bury her. Before the funeral, Fiona places the meth that Monica gave her and Liam in the casket and curses her by calling her mom for the last time and hitting her corpse. She speaks at the service and talks about her mother until watching Frank speak and seems moved by his words of Monica and the children.

Afterwards, she returns home with her family and watches her father dance around while remarking to Ian that he truly loved Monica and noted that she probably didn't want to believe it. She soon dances with Frank and lets him lead her, with them truly making amends.

Season 8

After her mother's funeral, Fiona has her hands full with the new apartment building, which occupies almost all her focus in the Season. Fiona is more concerned with her own success than she is with any personal issues or responsibilities. She expects her family to, for the most part, look after themselves while she tends to her own business. Her friends and family believe buying the place was a mistake, and that she will not be able to make a profit, but she is determined to make it work. Unlike the laundromat, she had the place inspected beforehand, so she knows the building is in good shape and that it simply needs renovations.

She spends more time than usual with Debbie because her metalworking skills proving useful in repairs while she handles the rest. In many respects, Fiona strives to be more independent and successful in this season. Fiona is later put off by the change in her father when he apologizes to her for what he has done to her. She is confused and is told by her family that he may have lost his mind after doing meth.

Fiona's spirits are uplifted when she leases her first apartment for double the amount she expected, but she encounters more problems as the season progresses. Her first challenge is the tenants, she befriends Nessa Chabon and her girlfriend Mel, who are current tenants. The other tenants all cause problems for Fiona, and she quickly evicts a large family that outwardly disrespects her. This apartment is later leased to a young man who lives alone and only chose to lease because utilities are included and he has several computers.

In God Bless Her Rotting Soul, while fixing up her apartment building, she goes to the hardware store where her father works and it is here he requests to be called Francis or Dad. Fiona ignores this and goes about getting tools since he denied her a family discount. Later on, her siblings come to her for help after they are attacked by thugs led by a man named Eric Stark who owned some of the meth and threaten the family for his money. She has her siblings apologize for not listening to her and all except Carl do so. After she decides to help, Liam and Frank (who had experienced guilt) arrive and he also volunteers to help and she has him use his job to get tools for them. Fiona and her family are forced to dig up Monica, since Fiona put her share of meth in the ground with her. They arrive at the storage unit and pay Eric, but the payment is still not enough and he threatens them at gunpoint, as Fiona quickly guards her family. Fortunately, Frank steps in and Fiona watches as he successfully threatens Eric to accept the payment or be faced with death if he ever comes near the family again as Fiona is surprised by her father's actions, seeing that his change is real. After Frank leads everyone out of the area, she quickly leaves with them. She thanks and congratulates Frank on his first step of change by calling him Francis, as he requested and he takes it with a smile. Later on, she puts Mel in her place by threatening her.

Eventually in Fuck Paying It Forward, Fiona meets her ex-fiancé Sean again and he is now sober. Sean comes to make amends while Fiona is conflicted in the meeting but receives a shock after Sean is revealed to have gotten married and came only to pay her back for the wedding. Fiona soon embarrasses herself after trying to tell his new wife of Sean's past but gets the wrong woman and Sean is left oblivious to her actions.

In The (Mis)Education of Liam Fergus Beircheart Gallagher, Fiona is obsessed with making the area marketable for new tenants. She learns that a church down the road from her building will soon be leased as a homeless shelter, and Fiona chooses to intervene. She later finds out the shelter was for her brother Ian and his boyfriend Trevor. Though Fiona feels bad for cutting them off, she does not apologize for trying to be successful, which causes a conflict between her and Ian. However, this issue is quickly resolved when Fiona convinces one of her connections to lease a new shelter to Ian and Trevor cheap.

One of Fiona's older tenants named Mrs. Cardinal dies, opening up her apartment for lease. The apartment had been lived in for years, and it takes time to clean and restore it. Mrs. Cardinal's dog had eaten the flesh on the old woman's arm and was supposed to be put down, but Fiona saved it and kept it as her pet. Fiona begins dating a handyman named Ford, who helps her restore the doors and flooring in the vacant apartment. Fiona originally planned to lease the aparment to make more money, but she finds herself living in it because the Gallagher house is too crowded.

Fiona has some roof work done with a local contractor who fixes it at a bargain price, but one of his workers, Rodney Latham, falls off the roof and shatters his ankle. Fiona discovers Rodney lives in his car with his wife and two kids. Fiona contacts Trevor to set up accommodations for them in a family shelter, and allows them to move into the vacant apartment for two days until their room is ready at the shelter. Rodney and his family immediately take advantage. They move in, change the locks, and stop answering the door.

With Ford's help, Fiona cuts them off from all utilities, but they remain in the house and serve Fiona papers for a 6 million dollar injury lawsuit for the injury sustained on her property. In the season finale, Fiona uses a smoke bomb to gas them out of the building. While outside, Fiona offers Rodney 4,000 dollars cash to leave and never come back. They refuse at first, but Fiona convinces Rodney to accept the offer, and put in writing that he drops the lawsuit and that he will leave.

Season 9

Fiona continues to work in her apartment and continues her romance with Ford and the latter even gives her advice in business, something that impresses her and aids in her. Ford's intelligence often leads Fiona to question him and she gets no answer. Very soon, she confronts Ford on this and tells him he doesn't know anything about as she does of him. Ford reveals his knowledge of her life in detail, stating he had done some research and is impressed with her and decides to open up to her.

After Ford shows that he might want a relationship, as he gets jealous of her meeting with a real estate agent and denying jealously. V comments on this too and Fiona begins to consider it.

Fiona also bonds with her brother Liam after he is kicked out of private school because of Frank's indiscretions. Fiona takes Liam out with her and he is able to help her with marketing because of his knowledge in school as she takes his advice. Fiona later enrolls her brother into public school.

As Ian prepares to go to prison for two years, Fiona makes a $100,000 investment that she can't back out of, though she tries to. This puts a strain on her relationship with Ford and leaves her scrambling to find a way to raise another $25,000, causing her to briefly consider stealing money from the restaurant and trying and failing to take out another loan. To compound matters even further, after a night of drinking, Fiona discovers that Ford has a wife and kid. Ford claims that he and his wife are separated and getting a divorce and are only still living together for the sake of their kid. In hysterical tears, a drunk Fiona drives away, causing her to crash into a parked car. Completely devastated by the turn of events her life has taken, Fiona runs off and doesn't show up for when Ian goes to jail, forcing Kevin to drive him.

Fiona returns to her apartment where she ignores calls from Max Whitiford and her family. This forces Debbie to go to her apartment and find the bruised Fiona who informs her of her situation with Ford and her debts. Fiona is depressed when she is told of missing Ian's departure before she gets her arm treated but this still isn't enough since she has no way of making ends meet. Fiona finds a way out after Debbie's friends help with the car by giving her tips to collect money from the damage by saying it was stolen. She meets with Lip and tells him she is putting up the apartment on lease and Max comes for money. He offers to buy the apartment building after telling her that doing so will maintain her credit and she accepts the offer. Fiona leaves the building but her dog is left behind in the process. With some of her problems resolved, Fiona gets drunk and buys food to throw a party as she has decided to move back in the Gallagher Household. Debbie arrives and takes Fiona to Patsy's and reveals she had some friends help in getting revenge on Ford. At the end, Fiona sees Ford hung from a sign with his pants around his legs. Ford begs for help to get down and Fiona shoots a paint gun at his rear end and takes amusement from the act, thanking her family for giving her the chance. Getting more drunk in her backyard, Fiona expresses joy at being home while her brothers watch on.

Two weeks after her break-up with Ford, she falls into a drunk slump and constantly drank or lazed around the house. She is later taken home while passed out by Kev and V, while her siblings worry.

In The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Alibi, Fiona finds her father passed out on the floor and takes his drinks. Soon she wastes the money her family has for bills on alcohol and continues her actions. She gets her arm cast removed and nearly argues with Debbie who has taken control of the house in her absence. Fiona also meets Ford again and when he asks for his tools, she lies and orders him out.

During BOOOOOOOOOOOONE!, Fiona also has terrible scenes at work where she is the object of concern but she casts them aside. She later learns Frank and Ingrid are expecting kids, she insults his impending failures and labels her own fault as "bankrupt with anger issues".

Very soon in Los Diablos, this led to concern from her siblings who took over for her in running the house as Fiona was no longer capable. Fiona's mannerisms hit a major low, as she lost her job, nearly got kicked out by Lip, and assaulted a woman for harassing Liam.

In You'll Know Bottom When You Hit It, she is angry when Lip has gathered her items and is fulfilling his promise. After Frank offers her a deal, she decides to work with him in surviving the blackout. Father and daughter's plan was successful even though Frank told her to stop drinking because of her uncontrollable nature. At the end, she woke up in her old apartment building passed out next to her father and realized she was nearly like him, which caused her to revaluate her standing by attending AA meetings with Lip.

During Lost, Fiona continued meetings and makes progress as well as amends with her former coworkers. She reconciles with Lip and learns he is going to be a father and is surprised by this. Fiona also tends to her injured father and learns from him that her old apartment building was destroyed. She also takes him to the hospital and being by his side until he receives help. For her assault, she meets with her attorney and learns that the charges may be dropped because of the prejudice from the woman and because of Liam's race. She is told to get a job and works at a gas station as cashier. She bumps into Max who tells her that her old investment has finally gone through. Fiona hits a break when Max offers to buy her out of her $100,000 investment rather than making Fiona wait six months to a year for it to pay out, giving Fiona a chance to put her life back on track.

During Found, Fiona is left pondering on what to do with the money before she wakes up and goes for coffee. She watches Carl and Debbie go out for unknown reasons before she is annoyed by her father's whining and exasperated that he will heal in three to six months. She later tells Lip and Debbie of this as well as her assault being reduced to a misdemeanor. At the statement of her attorney, she decides that she has to make a fresh start. She visits Ian in prison and she tells him of her plans to leave and begin anew, something he supports. When preparing to leave, she is met by Debbie who found Liam and tells Lip that Fiona is leaving. Lip asks about this and Fiona tells him that she has to branch out now that everyone is grown up. He understands and she entrusts their family in his hands but she asks that she stay for a party to say goodbye. Fiona agrees but knows she can't stay since she would turn back. She leaves a note on the fridge and shared one final moment with Frank who noticed that she was skipping the party. Frank sends his caretaker away and took the time to express his gratitude to his daughter for caring for the family, as she took it in stride since she always wanted this praised and smiled as she saw him nearly in tears and knew this was his way of wishing her well and said goodbye to her father. Fiona took one last look at the house and set out by taking a train to the airport. She told another passenger it was her first time flying too and sat down as she prepared for her new path. Debbie later discovered Fiona left 50 grand for the family, with a note telling them that she loved them. The family also threw a party for her anyway. Ian also noticed her plane and smiled as he silently wished her well.

Season 10

During We Few, We Lucky Few, We Band of Gallaghers!, it has been six months since she left and Fiona calls her family to check in but nobody answers the phone. However, Fiona is updated about her new nephew Freddie Gallagher by Debbie.

Episode Appearances

Episodes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Season 7
Season 8
Season 9
Season 10
Season 11

Behind the Scenes

  • Emmy Rossum has said that playing Fiona has "brought out her ballsier side," and she can also relate to Fiona's need to take care of everyone. Emmy Rossum also likes that she does not have to be "all glam" on the show Shameless.
  • Emmy Rossum has also said "I love her fierce loyalty to her family. I love the extremities of the situations that this family is in and the outrageous stuff that they let us do. We're lucky enough to be on a network that encourages that. I loved the opportunity to work with Bill [William.H.Macy]. I love that the character shows such duality. She's so strong, but has this vulnerability underneath. I thought she was very much a modern woman."
  • John Wells revealed that both the production and Emmy Rossum wanted to bring Fiona back for the Shameless finale, but due to complications with filming the series during the COVID-19 pandemic and working around her schedule with the required quarantine period, it simply did not work out.[1]

Gallery

Pictures

Notes

  • She would have graduated and earned a scholarship from track, but dropped out to care for her family.
  • She is one of the few Gallagher children to call Frank "Dad".
  • She is Frank's second daughter, due to him having a daughter before her.
  • According to her, she wished for Frank's death for her birthday.
  • She is one of the four Gallagher children to marry, the others being: Carl Gallagher, Samantha Slott and Ian Gallagher.
  • Along with her sisters (Debbie and Samantha) and brothers (Carl and Lip), she had a child though she had an abortion.
  • She mentions in Season 1 that she never flew on a plane, though accomplishes this goal in her final appearance.
  • As mentioned by Debbie and Lip in Season 9, she "goes Fiona on people" whenever she decides to help her siblings. Fiona constantly says that's not a thing but is told otherwise.
  • She never met her nephew Freddie Gallagher nor she has met her Unnamed nieces and nephews (via Carl) but was aware of them, though heard of Freddie's birth (via Debbie) and the others under the belief they were half-siblings.
  • During the mini series, Shameless Hall of Shame, it is revealed that she went to Florida after leaving the South Side.

References

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