The series is set on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, and depicts the poor, dysfunctional family of Frank Gallagher, a neglectful single father of six: Fiona, Phillip, Ian, Debbie, Carl, and Liam.
The series followed the family's journey as they tried to improve their lives, especially after Fiona leaves the house and Frank's dementia diagnosis.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 0.70 million household viewers and gained a 0.18 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
Despite that, William H. Macy received a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards.
As Lip (Jeremy Allen White) wonders what to do after failing to sell the house, Tami (Kate Miner) tells him she might be pregnant again.
Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) grows attached to his job in the parking enforcement unit, massively charging wealthy people for using the handicap spots.
While the family celebrates at the Alibi, Franny (Paris Newton) finds Frank's letter at home and draws over it.
While we are sad to bid the Gallaghers farewell, we couldn't be more confident in the ability of showrunner John Wells, his writing team and this great cast to bring our series to its appropriately ‘Shameless’ conclusion.
Wells said, "while we've had a lot of fun with Frank, to leave it with the impression that there's no consequences whatsoever for years of damaging behavior to his body between drugs and alcohol would be less than fair.
We're so invested as writers and audience members in their lives that you want to fill in some blanks and not run the American Graffiti end crawl.
He added, "A lot of times for the actors and the writers you go through a huge tearful goodbye and then you write them back and it's probably a little anti-climactic; it feels a little too beholden to what fans may want.
"[5] As the writers considered the idea, they joked over having the family get tired of Frank and send him to Florida, where Fiona was living.
[6] In its original American broadcast, "Father Frank, Full of Grace" was seen by an estimated 0.70 million household viewers with a 0.18 in the 18–49 demographics.
[...] Because Wells wants to freeze frame their lives, all of [their storylines] just stops without resolution, wasting any opportunity for it to say something meaningful about these characters and their journeys."
"[10] Meaghan Darwish of TV Insider expressed similar sentiments, writing "There's leaving things to the imagination and then there's providing absolutely no closure.
Picurro ultimately concluded, "Series finales are tricky business since it's not often that fans actually agree with where its writers think things should end.
Daniel Kurland of Den of Geek gave the episode a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote "Shameless, much like the Gallaghers themselves, was messy, but never lacking in love.
"[15] Amber Dowling of Variety praised the decision to kill off Frank, writing "while the finale left many questions concerning the fates of the remaining Gallagher clan, one thing viewers know for sure is that these characters are no longer constrained by the addicted man who was without a doubt more of a dead weight than an anchor.
"[16] William H. Macy submitted the episode to support his nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards.