‘Shameless’ Season 7 Spoilers: Are Ian And Mickey Getting Back Together? Showrunner Teases New Trans Romance

Things are finally looking up for Ian in Season 7 of Showtime’s “Shameless.” After calling it quite with Caleb, the second eldest Gallagher son has his sights set on a seemingly promising new prospect.

During episode 4 of the Showtime drama viewers were introduced to Trevor (Elliot Fletcher), an advocate for at risk youth on Chicago’s Southside. Although the episode marked his first appearance in Season 7 of “Shameless,” he and Ian (Cameron Monaghan) seem to be on the fast track to either a lasting friendship or something way bigger. Whatever the nature of their relationship, it’s clear that Trevor will play a pivotal part in Season 7 whether that be opening Ian’s eyes to something new or simply starting important conversations about gender identity and sexuality.

While executive producer Nancy Pimental says she and other showrunners did not set out to create a “trans story,” they are very pleased with this plotline, where Ian and Trevor’s story is heading and — above all else — their casting decisions.

“Introducing Trevor was the most exciting part of the episode. To cast an actor authentically who is trans to play trans, I think that everyone was nervous that the pool of actors to look at would be small. But it wasn’t — there were a lot of really great choices. For me, the naturalism and charm and fierceness that comes with who Elliot is and the commitment to the character made him the obvious choice,” Pimental told The Hollywood Reporter.

Pimental added that writing this storyline was made that much better by Monaghan’s enthusiasm. She said in an interview with THR that he “was psyched” to be a part of it and will be showing “Shameless” viewers his funny side once more. Pimental noted that while he’s become known to most as the “depressed and bipolar” Gallagher sibling, there is so much more to him as a character.

“Cameron was psyched, and he’s really funny this season,” she said. “That’s the fun of exploring this potential relationship — doing it the ‘Shameless’ way usually involves comedy. He’s had a lot of funny stuff to do and he’s been up for it and has really delivered. Playing depressed and bipolar doesn’t necessarily bring out the he-hes and the ha-has, but this has been fun to watch.”

While things appear to be going swimmingly for Ian and Trevor — after Ian apologized for his poor word choice upon learning about his new beau's sexuality, that is — it seems “Shameless” writers may have plans to throw a curveball their way. According to a report from TV Guide, Mickey Milkovich (Noel Fisher) is returning to Season 7.

When last viewers saw Mickey, he was hustling with Svetlana (Isidora Gereshtor) from behind bars. The publication reports that “Shameless” will delve deeper into how Mickey will evade serving his full prison sentence in episode 9. Mickey will reportedly return home to the Southside in the episodes that follow, which has given fans a lot of hope that he and Ian — dubbed Gallavich — will get back together.

Season 7 has been a challenging one for Ian thus far. In episode 1 he discovered that Caleb (Jeff Pierre) had been cheating on him with a girl from high school. Ian was confused as to how his boyfriend, whom he assumed was gay, was getting romantic with women behind his back. His confusion grew when Caleb revealed that he is gender fluid, a term Ian was not familiar with at the time. Ian attempted to open his mind by having sex with a woman, but found himself appalled by the idea. He looked to Lip (Jeremy Allen White) for advice, but his big brother was little help.

Meanwhile, Ian was also struggling at work again. His medications appeared to be out of whack as a result of what happened in his personal life and it affected him professionally. During episode 3 he and his partner respond to a call for a mentally disturbed woman whom Ian was able to calm down and restrain. She pleaded with him to take the restraints off in the ambulance and, despite the warnings of his partner, he agreed. The woman jumped from the ambulance and was hit by a car and was urged to take some time off. He complied and was back to work by episode 4.

Tune in to Showtime Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT to find out more.