TVSquad

(S05E02) Although it's interesting to see the individual characters play in their own storylines and schemes every once in a while, there's a lot to be said about the chemistry and rapid-fire interactions when all five members of the gang are stuck together for an entire episode. Doubly so when it's an episode that mainly takes place in a tiny car or cramped U-Haul.

In addition to this, their poor decision-making seems to escalate faster when they're feeding off each other's bad intentions, which means more laughter and delighted points-at-the-screen for us bozos.


In this episode, the gang decided to help Frank knock an item off his bucket list by taking him to the Grand Canyon (this was also an attempt to get Charlie to explore a place outside Philly for the first time). Of course, with the help of some beers and a general disregard for road safety, they didn't make it further than twenty minutes from the pub and almost kill themselves in the process (see: angry cyclists, burning poison glaze, innocent-looking potential psychokiller youths).

One of my favorite exchanges happened at the Italian Market, when Charlie ate a pear for the first time.

Charlie: You didn't tell me to not eat the stem, dude.
Mac: Did you eat the stickers that are all over it?
Charlie: Yeah, it was gross!
Mac: Of course it's gross, it's a sticker!
Charlie: I eat stickers all the time, dude!

Just imagine each line actually ended with the inflection-equivalent to ten additional exclamation points.

This was only topped by Dee drunkenly serenading the young hitchhiker, with the aid of her Soul Asylum cassette, right before accidentally showering Mac with the contents of her piss jar. Yeah, only on Always Sunny. Sweet Dee's desperation to be included in the boys' original road trip plan and this almost-connection with the Hollywood-bound runaway reminded me of the old-school version of Dee, before she got a little more assertive and Mac-like in the season premiere, as reader Splam pointed out in the last review.

All in all, this was a solid episode, possibly more successful than the season premiere in terms of respecting the core of the Always Sunny characters and how they play off each other. Plus, there was a cyclist getting hit in the head with Mac's beer bottle, and that can never be not funny.

On a final, pathetic note, I've noticed that "Oh, goddamnit" has made itself a forceful presence in my casual conversations, thanks to Always Sunny. It seems to be a big favorite with the characters, so surely I'm not the only one with this problem. It's similar to how I was tempted to enhance every song with "Aa-ahh-aaa" after hearing the Dayman song.

[Watch episodes and clips of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and other shows over at SlashControl.]