‘Shameless’ Spoilers: What Happened In The Season 4 Finale? Recap Before The Season 5 Premiere On Jan. 11

The Gallagher’s are back! And according to reports, the “Shameless” gang will be rowdier than ever when the Showtime series airs its highly anticipated Season 5 premiere on Sunday, Jan. 11. Before you sit down to watch the alleged sidesplitting new season, refresh your memory with a recap of the Season 4 finale. After all, “Lazarus” did leave us with one of the biggest cliffhangers in network TV.

When episode 12 of the fourth season kicked off, viewers found Frank (William H. Macy) in a peculiar situation. Yes, he was recovering from his successful liver transplant but when he woke from his post-operative delirium he found that in addition to gaining a new liver, he had also gained a wife.

That’s right, Frank was married to Sheila (Joan Cusack). But instead of being concerned with his new relationship status, Frank was more worried that his transplant medication forbade him to drink alcohol. (Like that would ever stop Frank!) Instead, Frank takes a swig from a bottle (after his son breaks him out of the hospital) and curses the world for trying to take him down. “That all you got? That’s it. I’m still here, you f--ker! I’m alive! You see me? You see me standing here? You lost, a--hole,” he shouted in the Season 4 finale.

Meanwhile, Fiona (Emmy Rossum) was released from jail -- after she passed a drug test -- due to overcrowding in the prison. But the Gallagher matriarch wasn’t out of the woods just yet. Fiona was put on probation by her parole officer (Regina King) and required to attend regular Narcotics Anonymous meetings, all while holding down her newest gig as a diner waitress and caring for her family.

But things starting adding up for Fiona – especially when it was revealed in the finale that Ian (Cameron Monaghan) was battling a bipolar disorder. “Is this family ever going to catch a break?” Fiona wondered, suggesting that Ian should be hospitalized.

But Mickey (Noel Fisher) couldn’t disagree more. Instead, he requested that Ian live with him. “I can take care of him!” he rebutted. “He’s f--king family.”

But the most exciting moment (yes, even more thrilling than Sheila’s Native American child adoption going haywire) of the Season 4 finale came at the very end. In a post-credit scene, a female driver (Dichen Lachman) pulled up right outside the Gallagher residence. She then asked her mysterious male companion if he was going to go inside.

“Is this the right house?” she asked. “Jack?”

That’s when it was revealed that Jack is actually Jimmy/Steve (Justin Chatwin), a character that fans thought was killed off in the Season 3 finale.

“Jack” then revealed he wasn’t ready to head inside just yet. That’s when the two drove off, leaving viewers with their mouths agape.

“HOLLLLLLY MOLY NO IDEA. HE'S ALIVE. JUST FOUND OUT WITH YOU. PPL CALLING ME. SO MAD DIDN'T SEE LIVE. #JIMMYSTEVE @Justingchatwin #SHAMELESS,” Rossum tweeted to her followers of the jaw-dropping finale.

Prior to the finale, Rossum revealed to TVLine that fans had every reason to believe Jimmy was killed off by Estefania’s (Stephanie Fantauzzi) no-nonsense father. “I take it that at the end of episode 11, you’re to assume that he got on the boat and he’s not coming back,” she said of the Season 3 episode. “We saw what happened to the last person who got on that boat. Remember? The first guy in the first episode, they chopped him up and they threw him off the boat.”

Jimmy/Steve/Jack and the rest of the Gallagher clan will return for Season 5 of “Shameless” when episode 1, “Milk of the Gods,” airs Sunday, Jan. 11, at 9 p.m. EST on Showtime.