Svetlana Fisher, Shameless

Svetlana Fisher (Isidora Goreshter)

On the American remake of the UK comedy-drama Shameless, Svetlana Fisher was a Russian prostitute initially introduced in Season 3 when she was hired by Mickey’s father Terry to “turn” his son straight. Later on, it was revealed that she was pregnant with what was supposedly Mickey’s child, and they ended up married.

Season 4

In season 4, she taunted Mickey for being “rainbow boy” after he slept with a man and told him that being gay was a choice. In the same conversation, it was revealed that Nika, one of the other prostitutes that she worked with, wanted to have sex with her. When Mickey asked her if that meant she was a lesbian, she answered “maybe yes, maybe no; choice.”

Season 5

In season 5, Svetlana left Mickey after he refused to kick his boyfriend out from their house. She moved in with Kevin and supplemented her living arrangement by watching after his kids and performing sexual favors for him. When Kevin reconciled with his wife Veronica, Svetlana widened her “wifely duties” to also cover her and surprised her by giving her oral sex.

Season 6

In season 6, Svetlana lamented that her “green card” would soon expire as her marriage to Mickey, a convicted felon, was no longer valid. Kevin was still married to his ex-wife, which meant only Veronica was available, and while Kevin was unsure about the arrangement, Veronica and Svetlana saw it as no big deal.

They got married (off-camera) at the courthouse, and announced it later that night after celebrating Fiona’s upcoming nuptials. After that, Svetlana and Veronica were forced to become closer in order to fool any possible immigration officer checks on the validity of their marriage. That led to them having sex on several occasions. Kevin became jealous of their newfound intimacy and the three of them started scheduling their time together in a polyamorous relationship instead.

Season 7

In the beginning of the season, Kevin, Veronica and Svetlana were still working, living and sleeping together in a polyamorous relationship. In the second episode, Kevin proposed a topless maid service for Veronica and Svetlana: they would be topless while another woman cleaned a client’s house. The three also discussed adopting each other’s children for a tax break (episode 7×05) though that storyline was mostly abandoned.

Another character, Yvon, was also introduced into the picture. Svetlana claimed he was her father, but after Kevin saw the two of them having sex, she admitted Yvon was actually her husband from Russia (episode 7×06). That meant Svetlana’s marriage to Veronica was not legal, and Svetlana insisted she would do whatever it took for her, Kevin and Veronica to be happy again.

In episode 7×07, Svetlana returned bloodied and roughed up, and proclaimed Yvon was officially gone from their lives. Not knowing exactly what happened made Veronica and Kevin question whether they should continue having sex with Svetlana.

Svetlana meanwhile stole their “titty van” (for the topless maid business) for insurance money, started a new home business making fake passports and moved Kevin’s bar in her name, which lead to Veronica and Kevin ending their threeway relationship though there was no real resolution for the storyline.

Appearances:

• 29 episodes. Guest in S3. Recurring seasons 4-6. Main cast in season 7.

Female love interests:

• Veronica Fisher (Shanola Hampton, main cast, wife)
• Nika (Ileana Huxley, guest, 2 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a woman: Questionable

Male love interests:

• Kevin Ball (Steve Howey, main cast)
• Mickey Milkovich (Noel Fisher, recurring S1-2&6, main cast S3-5)
• Yvon (Pasha D. Lychnikoff, recurring S7, 5 episodes. husband)

Relationship story arc with a man: Yes

Filter Relationship Arc:

• Male (Regular)

Storyline during sweeps? No

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.