A felonious monkey helps It’s Always Sunny rebound from its worst episode ever
Let us never mention "The Gang Buys A Roller Rink" again, under penalty of torture
TV Reviews Me
Episode 3: “The Gang Buys A Roller Rink”
“I’m sorry, I just don’t find crass humor that funny.”
Of all the format-breaking stunt episodes It’s Always Sunny has perpetrated in its now 15 years on the air, none are as consistently disappointing as the flashback. “The Gang Buys A Roller Rink” isn’t “Frank’s Brother” abysmal, but it’s perhaps more worrisome in how flippantly it punishes us for giving a damn about the show’s world. Plus, it’s not even very funny. The episode’s would-be revelatory look back at the Gang’s origins instead functions as a big, red warning light about diminishing, late-run returns of the sort that the long-sustaining Sunny has never really warranted before.
There’s nobody more tiresome than a continuity nerd, but “The Gang Buys A Roller Rink” flaunts its “who gives a crap?” attitude so brazenly, that I’ll take the bait. The sale of the venerable South Philly Skate is the excuse given for this episode-long excursion into the Gang’s 1998 past, as presented by episode writers Rob Rosell & David Hornsby (who should know much, much better). It’s the thinnest of premises, which, along with the actors’ deliberately age-inappropriate, decades-old appearances, wouldn’t matter if the rest of the episode weren’t so carelessly lazy.
I can accept that the never-before-mentioned roller rink was the Gang’s go-to hangout before they managed to purchase Philly’s least reputable bar, I guess. And Charlie being a smooth-skating, blissfully competent second in command to rink owner Smokey could be chalked up to Charlie’s long history of revealing oddball capabilities amidst his riot of disadvantages and manias. Mac being a skeezy weed dealer (complete with bandwagon-jumping late-90s Hornets gear) is iffier, considering Mac’s inherent unwillingness to court actual physical danger. Sure, he’s revealed to sort of suck at it (his oft-flashed waistband pistol is revealed to merely be a hilt he found in the trash), but Mac’s shown as proficient enough at his trade to contribute a sizable wad of cash toward the Gang’s eventual plan to buy the rink, which, yeah, I’m not buying.
Dennis and Frank’s relationship comes across as at least consistent with what we know of them, in that Frank’s a womanizing cad whose mentorship of Dennis is clearly a barely engaged grooming process whereby Dennis will eventually take the fall for Frank’s many financial misdeeds. (Oh, and that a misunderstanding winds up forcing Dennis to watch his father have hurried but graphic intercourse with a sex worker.) Still, 1998 Dennis is way too stiff and straight. We know Dennis Reynolds’ history of self-aggrandizement, narcissism, and hinted-at psychopathic tendencies to buy this buttoned-down square version. Even with some 23 years of accumulated awfulness yet to come, this is not the Dennis Reynolds we know.
And that brings us to Sweet Dee, who truly and bafflingly lives up to her it-turns-out un-ironic nickname in this travesty of mischaracterization. Dee was never sweet. Formative dysfunction and whatever genetic disposition to wretchedness never gave Dee Reynolds much of a chance, but this solicitous, prim, and vulgarity-averse Dee is simply a lazily slapped-together caricature in service of a bad joke. That Dee ultimately becomes our Dee thanks to a bonk of the noggin (after Charlie, also unrecognizably kind and thoughtful in this iteration, loosens her skates’ nuts to help her excel) is the sort of apathetically off-kilter plotting that makes longtime fans throw up our hands. It’s like watching Community’s fourth season, except that, here, the show isn’t being fobbed off onto some network-chosen outsiders. Rosell and Hornsby are Sunny veterans, and that makes “The Gang Buys A Roller Rink”’s sloppy indifference dispiriting as hell.
And, yeah, I’m being that pedantic person investing too much effort into deconstructing a sitcom. But, for one thing, that’s my job. And for another, a careless, airily lackadaisical episode like “The Gang Buys A Roller Rink” suggests a creative exhaustion Sunny’s never truly courted. Dee Reynolds once made Rickety Cricket eat a dog turd in high school. Dee Reynolds was never the overly-peppy preppy looking out for the feelings of her roller-dancing team and politely hell-bent on following her acting dreams while admonishing the guys about making off-color jokes. Dee switched to acting after flunking out of her psychology studies at UPenn, where she memorably got committed after setting her roommate on fire that one time. This sucks.
The Gang is. Other shows have pulled this old personality switcheroo flashback gag (the straitlaced college-aged Reverend Jim’s first taste of drugs comes to mind). But we don’t want there to be a single inciting incident that made the Gang who they are overnight. The Gang, as warped and twisted in the forge of bad parenting, societal forces, religion, and straight-up self-destructiveness as they have been, are The Gang. The premise of the show demands that, depends on it. If we’re occasionally filled in on how Dennis being preyed upon by a rapacious school librarian, or Charlie’s horrific childhood of neglect and abuse contributed to the people they’ve become, that’s fine, as long as the show stays true to its central, inviolable conceit.
The Gang represents the five-tentacled, squirmy, unremittingly selfish soul of us. They are us writ large, and in the filthy scrawl of a bathroom graffiti tag. It’s Always Sunny has admirably—I’d say miraculously—maintained its comic integrity for 14-plus seasons by never, ever letting us forget that the Gang is never—and was never—capable of substantive change. Sunny derives its power from drilling deep into that inky, fetid heart of humanity and showing us how five Philly ding-dongs somehow sucked in more than their share of our collective terribleness as a species. Bonk on the head, my ass, is what I’m saying.
There are a few laughs in “The Gang Buys A Roller Rink.” These are funny people, who’ve lived in their characters’ skins a long, long time. The on-the-nose running gag about 1998 Mac smugly predicting that new tech like cell phones and the internet represent passing fads does lead to the melancholy joke of Dennis, Mac, and Charlie standing in present-day Paddy’s, the only place or thing in their lives that never progressed. “I got a lot of things wrong,” Mac notes, as the sight of The Gang’s unrealized ambitions in pooling their money to purchase Paddy’s (South Philly Skate was never for sale, as it turns out) plays out with what is the episode’s only twist to strike a familiar chord.
Is “The Gang Buys A Roller Rink” the worst episode in Sunny’s legendarily consistent run? That’s a tough one. It’s not as aggressively, futilely unpleasant as “Frank’s Brother,” while fellow flashback episode “The Gang Cracks The Liberty Bell” is merely as irrelevant a sideshow as a centuries-long game of telephone can be. But even those uncharacteristic missteps didn’t feel like the work of It’s Always Sunny imposters, and creatively spent ones at that. So, yes, this was the worst Sunny episode ever.
Episode grade: D-Plus.
Episode 4: “The Gang Replaces Dee With A Monkey”
“I was in character before, but I’m me now.”
This is more like it. Sure, this fourth episode has its shakier elements, and there aren’t many Sunny outings where the A and B stories are so tenuously connected, but at least “The Gang Replaces Dee With A Monkey” is recognizable in its go-for-broke outrageousness. And, it must be said, the Gang does, in fact, replace Sweet Dee with an actual monkey. So, props for that.
The inciting incident this time (such as it is) comes when the guys overhear Dee ranting in desperate unhappiness and panic before storming out of Paddy’s, and assume that she’s finally going through menopause. (It’s a leap, but the distraught Dee is complaining about everything being unaccountably too hot, so at least Frank’s logical leap has a smidge of evidence.) With the guys taking the time to simply note in passing how little they like having Dee around (“I don’t want this to be taken the wrong way because, you know, I slept with Dee that one time,” admits Charlie, “but, like, I’m like sick of looking at her”), we discover that Dee’s merely been going Method all week in preparation for a big acting audition.
Thus set in motion, the plot splits in twain, as is Sunny’s way. Dee, thwarted once again by a beleaguered local talent scout (Jack Plotnick) who’s been subjected to Dee’s delusional acting dreams over the years, hits upon the scam of opening her own acting school. Meanwhile, the guys, positing that Dee’s apparent entry into inconvenient middle age will further cramp their style, start brainstorming replacements. Always a reliable forecast for showers of self-incriminating and delightfully dim ideas, their process eventually results in Frank showing up with a live monkey in tow.
Where did Frank get a monkey? Don’t worry about it. (Eventually we learn that, like all of Philly’s primate detritus, the animal eventually found its way under the bridge where Frank and Charlie hang out.) And while Dennis is initially exasperated in reminding Frank that their offhand mockery that Dee’s job could be done by a monkey was just an insulting figure of speech, he and the rest of the guys are gradually won over by their new employee’s facility with pouring suspiciously delicious drafts.
Now, the comedy concept of introducing an actual monkey into Paddy’s daily routine is, I’m going to term it, “broad.” But the seamless manner in which the guys all just accept this new wrinkle into their daily routine makes it work, dammit. The way that they all respond with an offhand “Thank you, monkey,” to each deftly refilled beer speaks volumes as to how willingly we’ve been conditioned to accept that The Gang’s collective, self-obsessed madness can incorporate anything that furthers their weekly desires. Here, it’s a monkey, sure, but it pours a mean beer, doesn’t talk back, and, as Frank notes avariciously, “You don’t have to pay a monkey shit.”
Besides, the guys all get tellingly hammered pretty quickly and start contemplating their need for a vacation from the Paddy’s grind. Overcoming Charlie’s typically blinkered view of the world (how can both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh be in Pennsylvania, anyway?), the guys all take turns putting their heads together on the ideal getaway. After all, they solved that whole monkey problem in no time.
It’s in these hangout bull sessions that Sunny really sparks for me, each member’s personas lashing out with weird little revelatory details for the others to seize upon in bewildered contempt. In the initial Dee/monkey debate, Mac goes off on a tangent about women’s various distasteful odors as evidence of the need for change, leaving Dennis to note in passing, “Yeah, he’s got an agenda.” And here, Charlie’s response when asked to free-associate places for the Gang to go (“Yellow,” he scrawls on a bar napkin, explaining, “I panicked”), is absurdly echoed by Mac’s own napkin reading “Purple.” There’s nobody funnier than Glenn Howerton when Dennis, confronted with a stupid idea the entire rest of the Gang supports, explodes in outrage. (“Go where!? Purple? That’s not a place,” he exclaims in vein-throbbing indignation.)
As for Dee, her hastily assembled acting class (no personal checks, no refunds) is equally well suited to Kaitlin Olson’s gifts for unsettling monomania. Spurred on by the casting guy’s insult that only Dee’s acting teacher has benefitted in any way from all Dee’s years of intermittent hard work, Dee sees her new role as unquestioned, rule-bestowing, money-reaping guru as her true destiny. Noting how one student’s desperate need for guidance and affirmation lends Dee unimagined power over others gives Dee a moment of chillingly hilarious epiphany.
“I can control you,” Dee realizes, Olson making Dee’s burgeoning awareness of an acting teacher’s cult-like sway one of her little masterpieces of cynical, quicksilver self-delusion and malign glee. Toying with her vulnerable student/prey to test out the extent of her power, Dee soon has unfortunate would-be actress Kiki glassy-eyed with slavish confusion.
I believe in you.
You do?
Maybe. I’m not going to tell you right now. But yes!
Clinching the young woman in an embrace, Olson lands the final line with a smile of dawning, evil satisfaction so eloquent in its comic fearsomeness that it makes you forget all about that monkey. No mean feat, that.
There are, as noted, a few clinkers in the mix here. Frank brings up supposed former owners of the monkey (or his descendants) in Fatty Arbuckle and Kitty Dukakis to explain why the disreputable creature wound up under that bridge, which is a cheap, scattershot joke that doesn’t land. And just sending Dee off on a solo adventure only to slam her back into Paddy’s for the wrap-up isn’t especially elegant.
Still, the denouement is the sort of over-the-top conceit that Sunny can pull off like no other show, as the guys, awakening blearily from what turns out were the monkey-bartender’s half-whiskey beers, realizing that not only have they been robbed, but that the monkey took the opportunity to, as Frank puts it bluntly, “[fuck] our mouths.” (He was warned about that possibility by the monkey’s former owner, in fairness to the monkey.)
Still, the Gang is nothing if not resilient in the face of a shit-covered bar and some violent monkey-crime, and a monkey-scratched Dennis attempts to salvage something from the experience by consulting the white board the guys had been using to free-associate some vacation destination traits. With Dee emerging to throw her recent success in the guys faces (she abandoned her acting students immediately upon receiving a call from the Irish-accented director desperate to cast her as “obnoxious American MILF number one”), the two disparate threads finally come together.
Crossing out their initial workshopped drunken proposal of a guys’ jaunt to “monkey beer island of green and fight” with the more accurate “whiskey beer island of green and fight,” the guys, inspired by Dee’s news of her movie shoot across the pond, finally sees the light. Pack your bags, Gang, we’re headed to Ireland.
Episode grade B-Plus.
Stray observations
- If we’re to accept this origin story (which I am not admitting to), Mac initially put up four grand in weed-dealing money to purchase Paddy’s, Dennis chipped in Frank’s five grand in contemptuous severance money, while assistant skate manager Charlie had managed to scrape together just over $57,000. (He does check those vending machine slots for stray quarters.)
- Mac and Dennis continually string Charlie along as to his share of the bar by distracting him with the promise of meat sandwiches.
- And let us never talk of “The Gang Buys A Roller Rink” again.
- Dee is actually really good in her audition. Granted, she’s asked to play a maddened, paranoid weirdo at the end of her rope, but she sort of nails it.
- Sweet Dee’s advice to her students is terrible in a particularly revealing way. Explaining that listening to your fellow performers only gets in the way, and that writers are stupid dorks, Dee’s guidance is for a pair of scene partners to play everything as scene-stealingly huge as possible. (“I want to see your performances from the fuckin’ moon!”)
- She also has some choice advice about the casting couch, noting that the inherent power imbalance of means that “People in power will try to bang you.” She then plots to bang her hunkiest student.
- Power corrupts absolutely, especially when you’re pretty corrupt to start with, as Dee switches into diva mode immediately upon realizing that the telephoning director wants her for a role. “Too slow—don’t start over,” she barks.
- Comedy loves a slow thinker, and, in Charlie, Mac, and Frank’s vain attempts to look like they know what Dennis is talking about, nobody’s slower or funnier than three guys who’ve just been slipped a mickey by a monkey.
- Dennis: “It is a little disappointing that a team of primates could do our job for us, but I’m gonna blow past it.”
173 Comments
“Roller Rink” was awful for 2 reasons specifically—- Dee and Charlie.That was not the way they were supposed to be that way back then. Charlie was far too lucid and competent and Dee way too self-confident—-when we saw flashbacks to their past (the high school reunion) we were led to believe that they were the same people they were back in high school. So this was a canon-breaking episode. Which is especially shocking since Rickety Cricket wrote it (with some other guy).
Agree about “Monkey”—-that one actually felt like classic Sunny episode, with Charlie “Yellow” for a vacation suggestion and not realizing states can have more than 1 city. Which makes the “Rink” portrayal of Charlie even more odd.
I guess given that Charlie is remembering the flashback, we could make the jump that he’s completely misrepresenting all 4 main characters, including making himself look better than he was?Bad episode though. But still not as bad as the episodes in the second half of Season 13. Those episodes were often painfully bad.
But early Charlie was lucid and rather similar to Mac and Dennis in self-interested awfulness. It’s only after Frank got involved that he truly descended into becoming a total mess.Also I think the focus people are having on it not fitting with canon can be excused by the fact last season also had a flashback episode where they openly dealt with the idea all flashbacks rely on unreliable narrators so the idea this is what they merely thought they were like could work.
“But early Charlie was lucid and rather similar to Mac and Dennis in self-interested awfulness.”I’d blame that more on early-show writing when they were still trying to mold the characters, especially season 1 without Frank—-none of the characters were set in stone at that point. No “dirt grub” no “king of the rats” no “barely functioning dyslexic” Charlie back then.
But, it is clearly the entire premise of the reunion episode later that they are the same people they were back in High School.
Nah, the point of the reunion episode was that despite their allusions they were losers back in High School too. That isn’t negated by this episode.And again so the idea they weren’t completely insane prior to the show isn’t a problem.
Ronnie the Rat? Dirt Grub? Giant Bird/Aluminum Monster?At the very least you would admit that the Charlie we saw in “Rink” doesn’t remotely resemble the Charlie that couldn’t get out the word “philanthropist”, right?The only way I can see that episode making sense is if we are to believe that Charlie was the one “remembering”, since his is the face that gets zoomed in on before the flashback starts. Charlie’s mind is unreliable at best.
But again those high school things were deliberately made to be the pettiest stuff. Dee was bullied for having a back brace, Dennis was a lone weirdo with pomposity issues, Mac was the school snitch, and Charlie like a lot of kids that age was into weird bugs and such.
“Charlie like a lot of kids that age was into weird bugs and such.”Well, you had me until that point—usually high school boys are obsessed with sex, not bugs.
“At the very least you would admit that the Charlie we saw in “Rink” doesn’t remotely resemble the Charlie that couldn’t get out the word “philanthropist”, right?”He’s been huffing paint for 20+ years and it’s not like rolling around in skates being a roller rink janitor is very difficult. They show he’s not a complete buffoon in Charlie Work, probably the best episode of the entire series. I’m honestly not sure if some of you have even seen that episode if you think Charlie is just a complete moron with zero skills.
“He’s been huffing paint for 20+ years and it’s not like rolling around in skates being a roller rink janitor is very difficult.”Do you think a paint huffer and barely functioning never-treated dyslexic would be that financially sound as to save up the tens of thousands of dollars that he contributed to buying the rink (turning out to be Paddy’s instead)?About the only thing that was Charlie-like in this episode was his ‘tiptoeing on skates to make a drug deal and not getting paid’.
Why is Charlie shown to be smart in this episode. He was shown semi-competently directing traffic through a rolling rink as an assistant manager. It’s not like he had a job in an accounting firm or at NASA. It’s not THAT much of a stress that he would be appointed assistant manager by a man who clearly doesn’t care about the job at all.
But the idea that they were complete losers back in high school seems inconsistent with the gang, who you get the feeling, were people who peaked in high school.
The gang went to good colleges, had girlfriends, were sexually active, seemed of a matching socio-economic mold as their classmates, etc.
That they were that hated and targeted to the degree shown in that episode seems inconsistent with people who wouldn’t want to leave town ASAP.
It is known that the characters of this show are really unreliable narrators or just unreliable in general…so the way they imagine a backstory may not be the truth at all. I liked the episode. I always wanted to know how Sweet Dee got her name. I even told my boyfriend about it. I thought it was funny. But there have been episodes and even whole seasons where I thought the writing was downright lackluster so to each their own!
The way out of the disconnect in Roller Rink could have been the same as the resolution Reunion. That ended with the gang striking back at their enemies with a stunning dance number, only to show in reality they’re completely unreliable narrators.
Or, in a more extreme way, how Who Got Dee Pregnant shows their brains are just Cheez Wiz.
The reunion episode is one I’d never rewatch because it’s so sad and disappointing. If anything, I’d prefer to consider that one non-canon. The premise of the high school reunion episode is that the gang remembers their childhood incorrectly and they were directly at the bottom of the school pecking order which seems inconsistent with the Sunnyverse anyway. They seem to have had a decent amount of cool friends like Jason Sudeikis’s character or the Ponderosas or the woman in the second episode who claims Charlie was a kid’s father. It’s not like when they encounter someone from high school, the old high school classmate points out that they were the biggest nerds in school.
I mean, the “Charlie Work” episode showed that Charlie was fairly competent at his job, at least where literacy wasn’t concerned.
True, but the entire premise of that episode was that Charlie was acting against everything we’ve seen him do, for the few times when the health inspector shows up.
This was my exact take on it. I’m not saying it was an amazing episode, but I genuinely thought part of the conceit here is that they’re always so consistently unreliable that we could assume almost none of what we saw resembled reality. Except the gun part. That I could buy.
The fact that some people care about “canon” in IASIP is hilarious
This was my read. I kind of interpreted the whole thing as being from their (as a group) perpetually warped perspectives. I was admittedly expecting a joke to point to that at episode’s end, but that would’ve been somewhat anti-Sunny all’s-well-that-ends-well, so keeping it as a shoulder shrug ended up seeming fitting.
Yeah, I don’t agree that being not canonical makes for a terrible, terrible episode. I honestly thought it was wonderful and I’ve seen every episode of this series. I just forgot the things that Dennis points out above. I guess you can say I’m a failure of a Sunny fan to remember the exact moment when Dee wanted to become an actor but that’s awfully nitpicky on Dennis’s part.
They did show Competent Assistant Manager Charlie discovering his love of huffing things, so the 20+ years of killing brain cells could account for the difference between him and Rat Basher Charlie. It still contradicts a lot of previously established history, though, and even worse, it just wasn’t funny.
I agree, that would have been a nice origin story if he wasn’t already known as “dirt grub” prior to that (told in the HS reunion episode), which to me tells us that he hasn’t changed that much throughout the years.Found this in the episode script (Reunion part 1):“I’m going to go to the bathroom, I’m going to find stuff to huff, I’m going to get high.
If I’m the Dirtgrub, I’m going to be the Dirtgrub.”
Which means that he already was getting high on fumes back in high school.I’m probably doing way too much fact checking and historical checks for a sitcom though.
Doesn’t it make sense that someone used to huffing chemicals and getting high would be enough of a connoisseur of chemicals to say “not bad” after sniffing the shoe spray?…Which he absolutely does?
Doesn’t make any sense though – this show had already established Charlie was sniffing model glue as a kid and was mixing inhalants in the school bathrooms in high school. He didn’t just discover it as a roller rink employee.
Idk why y’all tale this to mean he’s “discovering” it. He makes a fucking commentary that the spray is “not bad” — because he has experience with these things and would know the different between something that’s bad, just okay, and good.
Not really “discovering” it though — it’s established that as early as the Christmas episode he gets a taste for glue-sniffing. The spray in the shoes is just another instance. He reacts with a nonchalant “not bad” because he would know.
I’m reluctant to assign too much credit or blame to individual writers because I know that’s not how these things work….but it’s nice to have Glenn Howerton on the writing staff again. The next 2 episodes are credited to Howerton, McElhenney, and Day. That gives me some hope.
We also get a Ganz episode this (brief) season. I don’t any one of hers has failed to be at least very good.
She’s credited with Time’s Up For the Gang, which is one of the best Sunny episodes ever.
Yep. Top 10 for me too. Probably the only real classic of the past 5 seasons.
Yeah, I agree with that. I’d also submit Hero or Hate Crime? and Mac and Dennis Move to the Suburbs as potential candidates as well.
whoah, there’s so much good stuff in the last 5 years:
The Janitor Always Mops Twice, The Gang Group Texts, The Gang Geets New Wheels, The Gang Tends Bar, Hero or Hate Crime, Old Lady Comedy House, Ass Kicker’s United , The Gang Goes to a Water Park are all 10 out of 10s for me
Unreliable narrators. It’s their retelling of what happened; not necessarily what happened. I thought it was weak but I was still amused enough. Every single ‘flashback’ in the show leans hard into the idea that their memories/perceptions of events are self-serving bullshit meant to reconcile their self-image with reality.
Always love watching people lose their shit when Dennis isn’t as bad as they want him to be. He has canon BPD. Stay salty about it and stop demonising mental illness. Can’t wait for you a specific breed of Dennis fan to loose their shit later this season too. Not seeing these things coming is on you.
Anyway I’m so glad they didn’t feed you with the nothing but psychopathic sociopathic Dennis that lives in your head anyone who thinks that’s all Dennis is or has ever been is missing out. The actor’s made it clear enough times that he hates that’s the only thing some people take from Dennis. People losing it over a younger innocent Dennis is so damn hilarious to me and deserved since the character has a canon mental illness so no the show isn’t always going to run the psychopath and sociopath only spiel all the time.
r u ok
I think we found the true bipolar
Controversial opinion, but I thought Franks Brother is a decent episode. No classic but it has good moments, the nightclub owner repeatedly getting arrested for being black including being a Black Panther at one point got a laugh out of me. Roller Ring? Nada, nope its pretty bad. Moving on, Monkey grew on it. I expected Frank to kill the monkey, the fact its a rapist robbing monkey was a much better payout. Also I know who Fatty Arbuckle was, I thought that was random enough to work.
Same. “Frank’s Brother” is a keeper for the late, great Jon Polito, if nothing else. Also, “The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell” is one of my favorite early episodes.
The ending of Frank’s Brother is one of their best.“Well, I guess black can crack.”
Liberty Bell episode was awesome.Flourish the pinky!
Y-y-y-y-y-eeeeeeee-s-s-s-s!
Franks Brother is great. I’ve only ever seen hate for it from reviewers on this site really, never got it.
Yeah, I don’t get the hate for it, either. It’s totally fine.
Agreed. It has grown on me over the years.
I do think “Frank’s Brother” is among the worst, maybe even the very worst episode, but the other supposed contender for worst episode mentioned in the the article, “The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell”, was hilarious I thought. I never understood the hate for that one.
Yeah, Liberty Bell is unjustly maligned. It’s a great episode. Frank’s Brother isn’t particularly good, but it has it’s moments. I thought we all agreed that A Cricket’s Tale is the worst episode. Or did we all just block that one out of our memories?
What?! I love the Liberty Bell episode! Charlie starting right off the bat with “The year was 1492!”, Colonel Cricket, the fake 18th centuryisms ( “Until he is no longer consisting of life-pulse”), Mac’s wooden teeth, “YeeeEEEEEeeesss” and Dee flying off like the Wicked Witch of the West cracked me up.
I personally love that Shadynasty sounds like a kickass name and is also Shady Nasty
Dude that’s not controversial, this article is literally the first time I’m hearing anyone shit on it. Fuck this guy.
Yea, low key enjoy Frank’s Brother, especially for Lance Reddick.“Well I guess that don’t leave me with no choice….THAN TO BE A MATURE ASS ADULT ABOUT THIS SHIT.But know. THAT I STRONGLY DISAGREE WITH IT.”
Thats my favorite line without question. He’s a supremely reasonable person who keeps getting screwed over.
Same on Franks Brother. There are plenty of other episodes I’d skip before that (“Ass Kickers” and the two-part Superbowl eps from season 13 come to mind)
Most of Franks lines are pretty good in that episode. I get people not liking the other stuff and “tasteless” bits but its always sunny. Shambooya roll callllllll
frank’s brother had not a single laugh in it IIRC. It was just an awkwardly slow episode. I also thought the same was true of the gang solves the bathroom crisis FWIW
Even the synop mentions a young innocent Dennis sorry you can’t handle seeing him like that sometimes or the gang being multi faucet at times and not always one dimensional.
How many faucets do you think Paddy’s has?
Three. One that works.
Depends on the quality of Charlie Work
The problem is not the expansion of Dennis’ personality by itself, its that it actually destroys canon. The Gang were supposed to be the same people they were since high school. The roller rink episode takes place after high school. Dennis is a completely different person. Even more so for Charlie, who was a “dirt grub” in high school and a mess for most of the Sunny run.
They’re *not* the same though. They get worse and worse. The seeds have always been there — since high school, per the reunion… since childhood, per the christmas special and “The Gang Gets Analyzed”… — but the devolution of the characters into their basest selves is kind of the whole arc of this show. How is everybody here missing one of the core conceits of the show this far into its run?This was definitely one of the weakest episodes but god damn, people. A lot of the reactions here are awfully telling.I should have left this page when the reviewer included Liberty Bell as an example of one of the worst episodes.
Oh, I agree. If you could only take control of the canon away from those unpredictable, unreliable, inconsistent, “creative” comedy-writer types, this show would run much more smoothly.
I’m not trying to say that a sitcom has to be ‘true to canon’ all the time like say, a deep fantasy/sci-fi epic, but these are just so egregious that they dump all over actual classic past episodes like the aforementioned “reunion”. Or the majority of Charlie episodes during the classic era where he was a barely-functioning loon.
The Roller Rink episode reminded me of all those awful Simpsons flashback episodes, especially the ones from say, 2000 on (many of which Mr. Perkins covered). Ignore continuity. Ignore the central values of the character. Just a lazy idea where they try to shoehorn the characters into. I think I agree, it’s worst Sunny episode.Monkey was muuuuuch better. That Pittsburgh conversation was such a perfect Charlie moment and it had me rolling.
Oh fuuuuuck this was the Always Sunny version of That 90s Show. Bluuuuuuuuh!
I had to laugh when I saw the words:
a big, red warning light about diminishing, late-run returns of the sort that the long-sustaining Sunny has never really warranted before. The show has been going downhill for years, with one or two good episodes a season. And everything I’ve heard about this season so far makes it sound like the slide has continued.
Seasons 11-13 weren’t great, but I thought S14 was pretty good.
for me the only downfall the show has had is at season 13 and 14,but besides this episode i think this season has been a lot better,the first two episodes werent perfect but they where pretty good and the monkey one was amaizing
Season 13 was especially egregious—the entire second half ranged from bad to painfully bad.
What? We’re watching two different shows. S13 has some great episodes, especially Mac Finds his Pride.
Well, I can tell we are never going to agree on this. While it was better than the dreck of “The Gang wins the Big Game” or “Charlie’s Home Alone”, I am definitely not a fan of that episode.
I think the amount of variability over who likes what (I didn’t find Charlie Finds his Pride) funny, I think the show generally aims high and not everything lands. I’m ok with that level of ambition and that it’s only 10 episodes a year or every other year keeps creativity flowing (like Curb Your Enthusiasm which I believe has been on the air longer than It’s Always Sunny though I’ve never seen more than 2 episodes of that show)
That’s my thought too. Did they not see… like half the shit in seasons 12 and 13? Those were the blaring warning lights. Seasons 14 and 15 have been an improvement.
The thing a lot of writers don’t get is that references alone aren’t jokes. It the same reason so much of the political humor on SNL is so painful — just mentioning one thing or another about Trump or Biden isn’t humor, it’s the opposite of it. All of the usual requirements of humor are still there — originality, surprise, pacing….
What values? I mean the characters are unreliable and usually drunk or under the influence of something. I don’t watch Sunny for it’s values.
So give it a rating lower than c+, c+ isn’t awful.
That’s the average of the 2 episodes’ individual ratings (D+, B+).
I think I’m going to finish this season out, wish it well, and jump off the IASIP train. It’s had a good run and been extremely amusing at times, but when “it wasn’t that bad” and “that one part was sort of funny” is the best I can say about a show week after week, it’s probably time to part ways.
The sexual energy between Dee and Kiki is incredible. When Dee turns away to take that phone call, enraptured Kiki looks like she might collapse from the pleasure of Dee’s validation. It’s going to be delightfully painful to watch Dee discard this dalliance with terrible teaching and manipulative management for the opportunity to bomb in a bit role. She’s such a self-serving asshole that she probably would have done very well as a talent manager. And poor Kiki might never recover from the whiplash abandonment.
I enjoyed that too. Kiki was giving it her all. I assume a lot of acting workshops are run like this!
I guess I have unusual taste because I thought that third episode was better than the first two.
Maybe I’m a sucker for the “before they got together” kind of sitcom episodes, but I thought the roller rink episode was pretty good. Not a classic Sunny by any means, but still funny and a lot better than Frank’s Brother. That’s still my least favorite Sunny episode.And the monkey episode – that WAS a classic Sunny level episode. Dee being terrible at everything will never be not funny, rape monkey, the gang figuring out where to go on vacation – I don’t think I laughed this hard at any episode of Sunny since something like 12th season.
Yeah, “Roller Rink” was nowhere near the worst Sunny episode, or even the worst so far this season (that 2020 episode missed the mark big time, with a lot of stale jokes that we could see coming a mile away). The Gang’s characterization in this one didn’t really bother me; after all, they weren’t always as over the top as they are now. They’ve gotten more demented over the course of the series, but here they didn’t seem that far off from their Season 1 selves, who were mostly just petty jerks, rather than the full-on sociopaths they would become. But the monkey episode was definitely the better of the two.
The roller rink episode seems to support the theory that Charlie went from being just not very bright to illiterate weirdo because of alcohol, glue, paint etc abuse.
He’s always been super capable — in the right circumstances. Did everyone just forget “Charlie Work” in this comment section or what?
I thought the Dee parts were the best part of the roller rink and acting workshop episodes.
Kaitlin Olson is an excellent comedic actress in general.
She really elevated both episodes when the boys have been kind of bland so far this season
This show should have stuck with its original cues from Seinfeld and ended on top after nine seasons before McElhenny started flooding the show with so many inside jokes and experimental concepts it left each episode with 75% less laughs. The problem with shows that run longer than a decade is that they ultimately become unrecognizable to the origins that made them so special. It’s a talented cast of writers and actors, but what it’s become isn’t It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia anymore.
But a universe where Sunny ended after S9 is a universe where we don’t get to hear Dennis’ spot-on CCH Pounder impression, and I’m not sure that’s a universe I’d want to live in.
Or PTSDee.
That one’s such a classic
It’s all worth it for Mac Finds His Pride
Can’t for “The Gang Beats Boggs” either, if only for the fact I’m a baseball fan (and a native of Tampa, Fl where Boggs played for a time, and still resides), and drunken shenanigans on fictional planes can almost always get a laugh out of me.
That might be my favorite episode ever
Which episode is that? She was referenced in Happy Endings too. I loved Warehouse 13.
Or maybe this is an exception to the rule and we’ll follow these characters until they’re the assholes in the old folks home. I’m okay with that. They’ve all done other things, and they’re good in them and those other things have been fine, but those other things didn’t have the magic Always Sunny does. Sometimes the band just needs to stay together.
I see what you mean, but if it finished around season 9, we would’ve missed out on so many great episodes. Charlie Work, The Gang Group Dates, Mac & Dennis Move to the Suburbs, Hero or Hate Crime?, The Gang Misses The Boat, Times Up For The Gang…the list goes on, and these are some of my favourite episodes from the show in general.
Great, or even good, episodes are much rarer these days, but as long as they have the occasional banger, I am happy to have the gang around. Although I do think the show dropped massively in consistent quality the last few seasons and has a pretty different feel to it (some of the humour feels really forced).
“Experimental concepts that are laugh free” just reminded me of the recent Simpsons two parter that spoofed crime prestige TV. I’m sure as an exercise, it was fun for the animators, and the casting directors who were able to grab some big name guest stars from those types of shows. But it wasn’t funny or even fun; it’s an inside joke of something they could do without asking themselves if it was something the audience would want to see them do. So it’s 60 minutes almost intentionally devoid of comedy* so the animators can pull off live action techniques in cartoon form. I don’t want to see this trend happen to Sunny *Ok there is one good laugh, ironically involving a skating rink. In this case, Groundskeeper Willie’s “drunk rink” at the local fair, where instead of a cell, drunkards are sent careening on ice to sober up.
One thing that other media can learn from comic books is that slavish devotion to canon can be really detrimental to a work, both in its creation and in its enjoyment.I actually REALLY enjoyed Geoff Johns’ Doomsday Clock (more people would have if he had stuck to schedule…) What a beautiful interpretation of shifting and conflicting backstories and retcons! And of course, all just window dressing for the ultimate message, which is:Don’t worry so much! Here is a story. Take it in. Experience joy.I’ve been cured of my canon addiction and I wish the same for you, Dennis.
I don’t think now is the time to start poking holes in this show’s continuity or plausibility. Questioning where the monkey came from? It’s Frank. Frank could get Buzz Aldrin’s corpse if the plot required it, he’s connected.Hardly the worst episode this show has ever produced – you’re blocking out some unfunny shit – and it isn’t Seaquest so they can retcon their past every season and it won’t matter. When the show comes to a close, we’ll discover the entire show has been Charlie’s hallucination as he slowly died inhaling the fumes from the gasoline way back in Season 4’s The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis.
Frank could get Buzz Aldrin’s corpse if the plot required it, he’s connected.Those are some serious connections, considering Buzz is still alive.
“Mac being a skeezy weed dealer (complete with bandwagon-jumping late-90s Hornets gear) is iffier, considering Mac’s inherent unwillingness to court actual physical danger.”In the High School Reunion episode, they mention that Mac got the nickname “Ronnie the Rat” in high school because he ratted out the other drug dealers.
I seem to recall other suggestions he had done other bits of petty crime and struggled a bit to avoid going all the way like his dad. I think it’s fair to question the size of the bankroll, but not the pot dealing in general.
Plus it’s just pot. That’s barely dealing.
He probably was a poser than a narc. In tune with his character.
Mac also only had the handle of a gun and didn’t pursue the guys who stole from him, so he wasn’t going all in.
Exactly!For a reviewer who is going to take such an authoritative stand on the subject material that they can have the nerve to say the creators should know their own show better, the reviewer ought to… *know the fucking show*
W know that Mac was a drug dealer from the high school reunion episodes so that isn’t breaking canon
While I can 100% agree that Frank’s Brother is one of the show’s only bad episodes (I consider it their worst), I have a very different opinion about The Gang Buys a Roller Rink. I thought it was what The Gang Hits The Slopes should have been, in that it doesn’t just put the modern times version of The Gang in a typical 90s trope but it actually flashes us back to The Gang in the 90s. I wasn’t looking for consistency in storylines from previous seasons, as I feel this show doesn’t need to do in order to be funny (remember, Charlie said in a season 1 episode that he has twin sisters and we’ve never heard about nor seen them ever). I enjoyed seeing the stark contrasts of the somewhat innocent versions of The Gang in the 90s to where they are now. And, if you want to stretch your imagination a bit further, this episode was all about The Gang collectively remembering their post-high school days fondly, so they could be misinterpreting basically everything that happened other than buying the bar. They aren’t the most reliable narrators (lest we forget their ideas of themselves in the High School Reunion episodes). Just a thought to explore. I enjoyed both episodes very much (would probably go A- for both) even though the payoffs of Dee’s nastiness being caused by a head injury and the monkey looking for revenge from its ancestors’ turmoil were reaches.
I laughed more during ‘Roller Rink’ than I did during the first two episodes of the season combined, so I can forgive a couple of continuity quandaries. Also, I suppose I can believe that, for a brief period, Dee attempted to reform after high school in order to make it as an actress, and I can believe that Dennis was briefly straight-edge to impress Frank. Charlie, Mac, and Frank’s characterisations all rang true enough for me. There were a few good gags and a few naff ones, and a few that were decent initially but didn’t really develop into anything (I thought Dee’s sweetness was going to be revealed as an act, for instance, and was a little disappointed when it turned out that wasn’t the case). I think it missed the mark ever so slightly, and didn’t quite fulfil the potential of the ideas I dreamed up when I found out they were doing a roller-rink episode. But I’d give this one a B-.
‘Monkey’, though. Ooh boy. That was the best of the season. Not an absolute Sunny classic, but a very funny outing. That’s the gang back to their disgusting selves and the show being willing to go with it where it felt like it was resisting earlier in the season. Charlie’s confusion about the number of cities in each state (“YELLOW”, “PURPLE”), the descent into a drunken spiral, Dee acting horribly to a bunch of kids, and then a sick twist at the end. This had a lot of what makes Sunny so brilliant when it’s at its best. I was a little worried about diminishing returns looking ahead to the rest of the season, and honestly in a way I still am, but while this episode wasn’t perfect, it’s given me a bit of faith that the rust has been shaken off and this season can hit its stride in the second half. A-/B+.
Hey now, The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell was hilarious.Even if just for the scene when Charlie and Frank are trying to shoot the pumpkins/each other and Charlie does this quick little model pose as Frank pulls the trigger. That always makes it hard to breathe for me lol
I loved “Liberty Bell” with Colonel Cricket’s pursuit of Dee.And his ultimate demise.
Honestly, I like the Liberty Bell ep, its the type of gimmick episode I like.
Same, I love that “story within a story but the story is clearly BS” stuff lol.
Dennis Perkins, I have no idea who you are. I never comment on anything I read, but you’re an idiot. Sorry you don’t get jokes.
Wasnt it established seasons ago that Charlie HAS no shares of the bar? He long since sold whatever shares he had to the others? I guess that doesn’t necessarily preclude him from having shares he didn’t ever realize he had, therefore they were never sold, but the whole thing is a bad note from a bad episode.
Eh…the premise was the fact that Charlie didn’t have much ownership stake in the bar, despite putting up the lion’s share of the investment. If you were to buy-in 50% into my business idea, you’d get a larger or smaller stake depending on what you bring to the table; can you grow it? Do you have experience in that industry? Charlie got side-lined by meat sandwiches over his 90% buy-in to the extent that he basically owned none of the bar.
Exactly. It fits into the whole idiot savant thing that Charlie accumulated more money than the other 2 partners but didn’t know he had that much.
If you make $57,000 and don’t know you made $57,000 you definitely fall under the classification of idiot savant.
Damn y’all’s memories are spotty. He has no shares of the bar because he *traded them away for sandwiches* — which is exactly what they distract him with *again* when he starts asking about how fair the original deal was. They even say “you don’t have any money, how are you going to pay” with regards to the sandwiches, because he doesn’t have any shares left with which to pay. Jfc.
hey i remembered he had no shares!
Suggestions for what actually is the worst episode, gang?For me I’d have to go with The Gang Hits the Slopes. Pretty much unwatchable.
As a fan of 80’s schlock I loved that one
Yeah I loved that one too, especially the juxtaposition of 80s sex romp “pranks” being too over the line even for The Gang
It’s incredible how everybody here including the author of this terrible article have such bad takes. This website is like a breeding ground for the worst opinions you can possibly find
It’s still Frank’s Brother. What a waste of the long time coming pairing of DeVito and Polito.The only good laugh for me is Naturi Naughton’s hilarious delivery of “….. Drugs. I choose drugs.”
Yea, something seems off with this season, don’t know what it is.One choice that struck me as odd from last week was they did the “well, I guess we know what we have to do” line that usually hard cuts to the episode title, but then they all said “make Lethal Weapon 7″ and THEN it cut to the title “The Gang Makes Lethal Weapon 7″ Like, that’s a classic Sunny bit of hard cut to title to finish the thought the Gang was having.Then with the roller rink episode, the entire time I was waiting for someone to step in and go “wait wait wait, you’re all wrong, none of this happened that way, how do you remember this so poorly?”The only consistent thing was Mac being a drug dealer, that had been established before, but the others…. Like, why have a like “this is when Charlie started huffing gas” thing, he should have been Dirt Grub already.
That “Make Lethal Weapon 7″ thing stuck out to me too! I was all geared up to chuckled at the title card drop, but then they said it and dropped the card, and the rhythm felt really weird.
It’s only 4 episodes in.
Of 8. So halfway.
Love Sunny since day one and I’ll take what I can get but what I find that’s off is the age.. The gang is just a lot older.. 40+ and still doing the same stints as when they were 30 just doesn’t feel right.. But as die hard fan I will watch till the end.
Also, Mac of course would still be rocking the Hornets Starter gear well into the late 90s after it faded out. That seems very Mac.
The big red light isn’t just the lack of continuity, it’s that the first 3 episodes of the season were a year in a review, a sequel to previous episodes, and an origin story flashback. If that’s the best they can do after 2 years off, it’s a cry for help.
Something that Always Sunny has struggled with in some episodes in recent seasons is the snap and delivery of the dialogue, and I’m curious to what extent that’s due to limited time for rehearsal and script oversight.
After they shook off the dust in the first season, there have been great scenes where three, four or five characters would be carrying on overlapping conversations that would twist and change in hilarious ways. Sometime’s it’s still there, but a lot of times we get dead spots in episodes with conventional line deliveries between characters in conventional ways.It’s a tribute to the core writers and actors that the chaos feels natural but almost certainly is highly rewritten and workshopped out to be as efficient as it actually is. But when it’s missing, you can feel the air escaping from an episode.
Yeah something definitely felt off to me and I think you might have pinned it down
Rapacious means greedy, not rapey.
The whole roller rink episode was set up as the guys telling the story of rhwie past. So it’s all from their story, with all its embellishments, exaggerations, and inaccuracies. It even fades back to them in the end just after telling it, and they’ve never been the most reliable people. So this was just them remembering some things vaguely, but making themselves look better (or making some of the others look worse – or making Dee look both better and worse) in the process. I never took it to be exactly what happened.
Exactly. They are the ones telling the story and they are possibly the most unreliable narrators of all time. Nothing about this story has to be accepted as true. It is just the gang making up/misremembering the entire incident.
I checked out on the show with the High School Reunion two-parter, which in a lot of ways was the best possible end point for the show since it brought everything to a head in terms of summing up the characters, their horrible natures, and the general themes of the show. I’ve dipped in and out since then for episodes that got decent buzzed (the suburb episode, the cruise ship and the super bowl two-parter, the Wade Boggs Challenge sequel, and the “Mac uses interpretive dance to come out to his dad” episode) but the show is clearly on the last legs and it’s blatantly obvious that the cast wants to do other things. The only real justification I possibly give for the show going the route it did with the the blatant ignoring of past lore in Roller Rink episode, is that it was a VERY old script David Hornsby wrote (most likely around S1-2) and that for whatever reason it never got made until the show needed a script in a hurry to fill in the episode order and it got dusted off/modified to include Frank, a slightly more competent Charlie, and random lines about life in the 90s. The script being circa S1 or written during the gap between seasons one and two would explain Dee and Dennis’s OOC characteristics since it somewhat fits their earlier S1 personalities.That said, the episode (and this season in particular) seems to indicate the show has gone way way too long and the writers/cast don’t have the balls to move the show and the characters forward in ways that actually might make the series better/reinvent it. Mac coming out could have introduced some new storylines with them also explicitly addressing the fact that Mac seems to be in love with Dennis and addressing that head on in a serious way. Dennis dropping everything to try and make a life with his kid could also have been a big thing to reshape the series with Dennis trying to be a good father and addressing his own fucked up childhood and Frank and his mom’s screwing him up. Dee’s transition into acting teacher as well could have mined some material. Or even Frank realizing that he’s fucked up his kids (both Dee/Dennis, but also Charlie) and actually ACKNOWLEDGE Charlie as his proper heir? And yes, I know the show is about “nothing” and that the chief selling point is that the cast are horrible, irredeemable monsters. But that material has been mined beyond the point of no return, that you might as well give the show a third act reinvention where you go full Moral Orel and go from “this is a show about horrible people” to “this is a show about horrible people who one day realize that they are horrible people and actually try and get their shit fixed and become better people for real”.
I don’t agree that “Rink” was as explosively, violently bad as would be implied up there. It’s just…weak. Empty? It feels like someone sighing. If you paced it the way a normal, solid episode is paced, as far as dialogue, incident, and jokes usually go, you have like 8 minutes of material. It’s just so inert and empty. It goes so long without any jokes, it’s not even like it has bad jokes that don’t land or make you roll your eyes, it just…doesn’t have jokes. They even seem to be speaking more slowly. It’s so weird. Yeah, I think it might be the worst one they’ve done.
This is the correct take. “Roller Rink” doesn’t hit the mark but everyone here is acting like it’s the end of the show, like we didn’t all sit through some real stinkers in seasons 12 and 13.
“Charlie had managed to scrape together just over $57,000″And yet they had earlier established that Charlie’s contract for the bar only gives him merchandising revenues. Weak sauce.
I completely disagree. I found this episode funny and fresh, unlike the last several episodes that ended up copying old episodes with “callbacks” or reuse. My least favorite overall is Mac Finds His Pride, not because of anything political (I completely agree with the episode politically and ideologically) but because it was so disappointing. It wasn’t trying to be funny because it was trying to be taken seriously, which is only ever a result of a show’s writing taking itself too seriously. Many great shows that are meant to be comedy but eventually end up getting all serious (Trailer Park Boys is a good example where some seasons feel really preachy). I was so disappointed by Mac Finds His Pride mainly because that whole season was full of not very good episodes and then the season finale was not even meant to be funny. This roller rink episode was refreshing to not only see something new for a change, but also each joke landed (the first two episodes had many jokes that were easy, not very funny, or didn’t really land properly) and many scenes were clever set ups for jokes on s15e3 unlike e1 and e2 (like Charlie getting quarters from machines comparing himself to a good business model and then later revealing that he’s actually making thousands of dollars from the scheme). I think this roller rink episode was hilarious
Does anyone else feel like the show kind of is spinning its wheels and maybe should have ended with Mac Finds His Pride? It was a terrific and emotional episode that was the culmination of his character, with a level of sincerity the show had never done.It could have left with some questions if the gang actually grow and progress to better people or not if it ended there. But right after we get our answer and they’re back to normal and barely even address Mac’s sexuality, Dennis’s kid, etc.And without any emotional backing or character development it gets more and more uncomfortable that these almost 50 year old people are doing the same things still. I get the feeling, especially from this season, that the writers, actors, and even the characters are just tired and bored of the premise.I honestly don’t even remember watching the season 14 episodes and this season has been dull and lackluster imo. I never thought I’d say this but the show has become predictable and feels like they’re going through the motions.And the roller rink episode seems indicative that even the creators don’t know their characters anymore, breaking all character consistency and cannon for some cheap laughs.Its why a show like Futurama, while not being as consistently great as its original run, still had some terrific episodes and stories in its later run because they had emotional throughlines to lean on. But it would probably be meh if it returned again after wrapping up its main relationship.Just my thought. It’s not terrible but I’m personally finding it to be boring and unmemorable.
I didn’t particularly enjoy either episode but Dee’s dawning realization of how she could emotionally abuse her student was pretty funny. Dee will take whatever control she can.
Charlie proved years ago he was a competent ice skater. Why are you surprised he also knows how to roller skate?
The reviewer, and a ton of the commenters here, clearly don’t know/remember the show as well as they would like to think.
i watched the episodes (esp after you set the expectations low) and they are completely fine. everyone needs to quit crying over “this is not character consistent in my eyes!” and whatever other crybaby crap they feel like nitpickingthe jokes are funny, it’s still very well made, and they’re still on air. that’s all anyone can ask for. no one SHOULD give a fuck otherwise.like christ sakes 99% of people bitching here haven’t lifted a finger to write a script (let alone make a movie) yet they’re talking about character development and how they know the characters best, yada yada, as if they’re professional screenwriters, and yet they’ll misunderstand pretty basic plot details or overthink, focus on stupid tiny details that aren’t important, and generally just act like they know best because they can watch TV shows and their brain forms semi-coherent opinionsi see people act retardedly judgmental over TV shows like this so much it’s making me think people just don’t have real problems to focus on, more than they’re just being pretentious and expect too much. maybe it’s both. IDK.overall just fucking enjoy a show for what it is and stop acting like you know best. i guarantee you your opinions are worthless dogshit. like holy shit not everyone needs to be red letter media. it makes you a VERY annoying person. i know from years of experience
Slightly off topic, but since it was brought up in the article, I must take exception with the constant dumping on the 4th season of Community. I’ve watched every single season of that show multiple times. Overall, yes, the gas leak season is the weakest of all the seasons, but only because each episode is merely average. But through all 6 seasons, there are some episodes of the show that I cannot suffer to sit through again. When I rewatch the show, I actually skip these episodes. And every single one of these skipped episodes are in the second half of the 3rd season. The first half of the 3rd season is fantastic, which is why, overall, the third season is still better than the 4th season. But at least I can sit through every episode of the 4th season on a rewatch. Hell, even if the 4th season was just average, it was still funnier than most other stuff on TV at the time. But that 3rd season…oof. Such highs, and then such lowly lows. Honestly, after that horrible second half of the third season, I was actually impressed the 4th season was, at the very least, decent. I think people should give it another shot, and stop comparing it to peak season 1-2 of Community.
This is one of those copypastas, isn’t it?
Season 4 had Herstory of Dance, which I really like.
Ah yes, nothing says “uncharacteristic misstep” like “The Gang Cracks The Liberty Bell,” which this site harshly critiqued with an…A-?
Those reviews are from three A.V. Club staff turnovers ago
Isn’t Felonious Monkey a jazz musician?
I think it’s a Math Rock band.
Sorry…more folk:https://www.reverbnation.com/feloniousmonkey
The writer says he doesn’t buy Mac as a weed dealer. But, here’s a quote by Dennis from the high school reunion episodes: “What I mean Mac, is that the only reason you got to hang out with me and the other cool kids is because you sold us all weed. Everybody thought that you were an asshole.”Although, in reality, all their memories of high school were way off. And, as shown last season in their flashback episode, memory in general is very unreliable. Regardless, I do think Mac sold weed in high school, so it’s not exactly a stretch to think he might continue to do so later. Selling weed is not a hard job, nor is it typically dangerous. It’s not like selling crack or something.
You’re kind of being a nitpicky, obsessive nerd. This article reminds me
of Rainman losing his shit because he couldn’t watch People’s Court at
4pm or eat fishticks on Wednesday. Loosen up. It’s comedy. This was a
good episode. Puffy jacket Mac selling weed, Dee hitting her head and
turning into a bitch, and Dennis watching Frank bang a hooker. Great
stuff.
Also, the show started in 2005 and Dee was
like…what…25? That means in 1998, Dee could’ve still been in high
school. She could have made Cricket eat the turd after hitting her head.
Dee also could have had acting ambitions prior to college.
Dennis
could have still been the upbeat person you see in the episode and had
sociopathic and narcissistic behavior – especially when you consider how
incredibly inauthentic and fake sociopaths are. Mac could have been
ever so slightly more ballsy in 1998. After all, most people are less
cautious as teens.
People change, especially from their teens to mid/late 20s. All of your poindexter criticisms are based on the
erroneous assumption that these characters were the same in 1998 as they
were in 2005 and beyond.
Lastly, the gang commits so many crimes
with immunity that it’s kind of ridiculous to get this upset over minor
details. I mean…they even set Dee completely on fire a couple of times and she walked away basically unharmed.
You have completely missed the point of this episode! You are comparing it to Frank’s brother (which was a great episode), when you should be comparing it to ‘the gang desperately tries to win an award’.The flash back is not meant to be an origin of the characters, but an origin of the actors themselves. I won’t go into full detail, but I’ll let you watch the episode again with that in mind.
So glad someone said this.Its like a fan won a contest and wrote the 2nd flashback episode of the season. Like they kinda only a little saw a few previous episodes.It was NOT GOOD
I think in the LW#7 ep, Dennis’ dating experience and his lessons are brilliant. It is not only hilarious but it was such a concise summary of how screwed up people’s brains are form living on social media—I would even call it important social commentary.
I’m fine with the continuity as presented here:-As others have said, Charlie was far more lucid before Frank came along, and we’ve seen him be more or less responsible and competent at other jobs like the Oldie’s Rock Cafe and as a school janitor. He even manages to rise to the occasion at Paddies whenever the health inspector shows up. Charlie wouldn’t be the first person to find themselves in a much better position after high school, even if it doesn’t last.-Mac was previously established to be a drug dealer in his youth, and he’s always been delusional about what a badass he is. Since we only ever see one of his deals, he could have been mostly selling to junior high kids the entire time for all we know.-Judging by the ages of the characters/actors, the gang would have graduated high school well before 1998 when this episode took place. This version of Sweet Dee is a post-Aluminum Monster in high school Dee, possibly even post-mental institution Dee, long enough after her back brace came off that she was able to temporarily re-invent herself as Sweet Dee.-Assuming as well that this is post-university Dennis since he’s ready to start working for Frank, I’m fine with the idea that time away from the rest of the Gang and his old habits helped him become at least a temporarily better person. Remember how pleasant he became without the Range Rover?
If the biggest reason you have that the episode is bad is that it doesn’t match the continuity then you have a bad take.
I always assume whatever they remember is going to be mostly inaccurate, so I loved this episode.
Reminds me of Simm’s Seinfeld reviews complaining about early Kramer doing things that the show hadn’t yet established as his character.
Didn’t think it was that bad, but also you’re making the wrong comparison. This is more like the episode where it’s revealed that the Gang minus Charlie has had a longstanding tradition of hitting the slopes that had never once been referenced just so they could do an episode long parody of 80s ski movies. Shades of Hot Tub Time Machine in both as wellOr just look back to the one with Frank’s head injury— Dee and Dennis are acting the same in both, however they need to to squeeze money out of Frank.
Count me in the AV minority, but I’m loving this season, especially the roller rink episode. TheThe Boogie Nights homage at the start of the flashback put a big old stupid grin on my face.
Not even close. This episode wasn’t great, but “The Gang Turns Black” is unquestionably the worst episode by a gigantic margin.
Ever watch X-Files? They’d have some weird episodes once in a while that were completely off-plot. Who cares?
I got a kick out of recognizing the roller rink location they filmed at. It’s Midnight Rollerway in Gendale, CA. Been there a few times and once spotted John C. Reilley out there on his skates.
if this late in the game, the enjoyment you get from an episode of ‘sunny’ is directly linked to how closely it relates to previous episodes, i have nothing to say.it was an iffy start to the season, but i got more laughs out of the roller rink episode than the monkey one.and lance reddick alone was enough to elevate ‘frank’s brother’ from the bottom of the pile.
To each their own, but I’m really starting to disagree with you. I thought this episode was solid, and it was interesting how we saw how they came to own the bar (I’ve always wondered that). And I’ve said this before, but the Liberty Bell episode was funny.
Does nobody in these comments realize Roller Rink is being told via the lens of Charlie’s memory? Taken in that light, it all makes perfect sense.