Tonight's the Season Finale of Shameless! Star Shanola Hampton Reveals What to Expect

Season five of Shameless has certainly kept us on our toes, which is why there’s no telling what will go down in tonight’s season finale. From Fiona’s quickie wedding and Ian’s mental health struggle to so many Gallagher arrests that we've lost track, there hasn’t been a dull moment since the most dysfunctional family on Chicago’s South Side returned to Showtime in January.

But one of this season’s most intense storylines wasn't about one of the Gallaghers. Sure, Fiona (Emmy Rossum) has had her fair share of drama, but it’s been the emotional-rollercoaster marriage of her best friends, Kev (Steve Howey) and Veronica (Shanola Hampton) that's been the hardest to watch. “They’d never been at odds before, and they’d never had this awkward feeling of not knowing where they are with one another,” Hampton told InStyle during a recent visit to our office. “It’s really this crazy dynamic.”

Crazy is definitely an appropriate way to describe season five, but it’s also been eye-opening for Hampton. A new mom herself, she knew that it would get people talking when her character failed to bond with her newborn twin daughters—but she didn’t expect the fan reaction to be so overwhelmingly positive. “The role reversal of the mother not being connected to the children is something that I knew everyone would be angry about, but it was actually a nice change,” she said. “I wasn’t prepared for all the women who said ‘Thank you for shedding some light on this, because I secretly felt that way, too.'”

And as we already know, this is one series that doesn’t shy away when it comes to controversy. “Our show is very real and truthful when it comes to relationships—especially about what happens when you bring children into them,” Hampton said. Even though last week’s episode seemed to finally reunite everyone’s fave Shameless couple, there’s still plenty of questions left unanswered when it comes to their future. “Veronica and Kev don’t know where they are together, and I don’t know how it ends for them,” said Hampton. “There will be a little bit of hope, but it can never be the same—their story still continues.”

To see how this chapter wraps up for the couple and the Gallaghers, tune into Showtime tonight at 9 p.m. ET.