The complexity of these characters is amazing this episode truly showed how meant to be Ian and Mickey are. After their marriage there was a lot of pressure on the two of them to be a "normal" married couple but their relationship isn't known for being easy, much less society's idea of "normal". This episode had the couple sit down and truly reflect on their relationship's past and communicated how complex the two characters are individually making it understandable as to why the two have experienced so much conflict with one another in the past. Communication is a common setback for the two characters and I honestly don't think their marriage would have gone on much longer without the two sitting down like they did in this episode and coming to a mutual understanding about the realities of their relationship.
This episode made me see the characters differently and I now have a deeper understanding of Ian and Mickey's relationship than I did before watching this episode.
I don't typically write reviews but seeing all of the backlash this episode got from other Shameless fans, I feel a lot of people missed the message that the writers were trying to relay to us. This episode wasn't just a montage of Ian and Mickey scenes, it was a long awaited moment in their relationship where they successfully communicated with each other about their expectations going forward and the older Ian and Mickey scenes included in the episode were chosen to show watchers how complex and beautiful their relationship has been throughout the previous 10 seasons.