Why Shameless’ Ethan Cutkosky Feels Carl’s Story Had A Fitting End – Looper

Carl Gallagher is still, naturally, making his share of trouble on the streets of Chicago when the credits roll for the series finale of “Shameless.” He just happens to be doing so on the right side of the law. If you watched “Shameless” all the way through, you know the idea of Carl joining the Chicago P.D. would have been laughable early on. Even midway through the series’ run Carl seemed more likely ticketed to a life behind bars. But he eventually turned his life around, and as the series concluded, he’s legitimately trying to be both a good cop and a positive influence on his community.

That turnaround made for one of the better overarching storylines on “Shameless.” And during a 2021 interview with Euphoria, Cutkosky admitted he was pretty happy about it himself because Carl’s story ended on a relatively high note. “I think it was a nice arc of Carl’s storyline,” Cutkosky told Euphoria, before alluding that the dramatic highs and lows of the character’s life made for fascinating, and often timely, storytelling. With such extreme moments in the character’s life, Cutkosky liked that it all ended pretty well for Carl. The actor went on to elaborate that he was indeed quite happy that things were, more or less, starting to work out for Carl by the series’ end, stating in no uncertain terms, “I was very happy with the way that they left it off.”

As happy as Cutkosky was about Carl’s surprisingly positive landing spot in the “Shameless” finale, it’s safe to say fans were even happier. But that undoubtedly made it all the more difficult for them to say goodbye.