‘Shameless’ Finale: 7 Questions That Need To Be Answered In Season 9

The “Shameless” Season 8 finale didn’t end on a massive cliffhanger, but it certainly didn’t tie up every storyline neatly either. The Showtime comedy will have to answer these questions in Season 9:

Is Lip a foster father? In the “Shameless” finale, Lip (Jeremy Allen White) said that Xan (Scarlet Spencer) could stay with him for a few days until they find her aunt or mother, but clearly, no one wants the kid. Will Lip let child services take her or will he decide to raise her himself in Season 9?

Is Ian going to jail? “Shameless” Season 8 ended with Ian (Cameron Monaghan) in handcuffs after his protests got out of hand (he and his supporters lit a car on fire), but his boastful smile finally faded as the cops put him in the car. Clearly, Ian is having trouble handling his mental illness, and that might be enough to keep his time behind bars short if he is willing to go back into treatment in “Shameless” Season 9.

Will Frank’s attempted robbery affect Liam? Little Liam (Christian Isaiah) messed up Frank’s (William H. Macy) plan when he gave his father the wrong security code. Frank ditched the police, but that house has to have security cameras, right? Won’t they know that Liam’s dad was the one who robbed them?

Is Ford going to stick around? It’s been an entire season and Ford (Richard Flood) hasn’t proved himself to be a criminal, fraud, drug addict or unstable in any way. In the finale, he told Fiona (Emmy Rossum) that he was willing to make changes for her if she’d let him know what she wanted. All she wanted was for him to “be madly in love” with her, which he said wasn’t possible because they were adults. Will a relationship without that kind of intensity keep Fiona satisfied through Season 9?

Will Debbie share custody? Sure, that’s probably what’s best for Frannie. After all, Derek’s health insurance would come in handy. However, Debbie (Emma Kenney) definitely has some grudges, and she isn’t known for making the most mature decisions.

Will Kassidi follow Carl to military school? Carl (Ethan Cutowsky) finally escaped Kassidi’s (Sammi Hanratty) hold on him and headed back to school. But would anyone be surprised if she just tried to hide under his bunk bed all year?

Will Svetlana actually stay with that old man? She technically married him, but Svetlana (Isidora Goreshter) isn’t going to be happy about the prenuptial agreement that’s in place. Will she ditch him and try to find a different meal ticket? Or will she try to find a way around the prenup?

Luckily, these questions will all be answered eventually. “Shameless” Season 9 is expected to premiere in late 2018.