The Shameless Scene That Gets Fans Teary-Eyed Every Time

During the show's second season, Gallagher matriarch Monica returns to live with her children and be the mother figure that she never was before. While this sounds like a heartwarming gesture, Monica has a host of issues. In addition to having abandoned the family some time ago, she has also chosen not to take the medication needed to manage her bipolar disorder, leaving her extremely emotionally unstable.

Monica's decisions culminate in a suicide attempt on Thanksgiving day. It's a horrific scene: the family, including her young children, find her slumped and bleeding on the kitchen floor. While they're able to rush her to the hospital in time to save her, it's a traumatic experience for all involved, which is evident as soon as the Gallaghers return home to the mess Monica left behind.

In an intensely emotional scene, Fiona drops to the kitchen floor amid pools of blood and starts cleaning up, with her boyfriend Jimmy assisting her in silence. But while Fiona is undoubtedly a strong person, she's still only human, and cleaning up after your own mother's suicide attempt is enough to make anyone break down. That's exactly what happens. Fiona begins to sob in a rare moment of vulnerability, saying at one point, "Those poor kids," showing that a huge part of why she's upset stems from her love for her siblings. Even though the mood is lightened afterwards with a joke, the audience is still left feeling almost as shaken as Fiona probably was.