Let me begin by
saying that the first time I watched this episode, I honestly wasn’t all that
crazy about it. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate this episode, it’s just that
I didn’t love it. Given how great It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia usually is,
I thought this episode was a somewhat disappointing way to start off season
eight. However, I will say that this episode has really grown on me after
watching it several more times, and I’m confident that it will continue to grow
on me as I watch it again in the future.
If there’s one
thing that I’ve found myself thinking about a lot when I’m watching this
episode, it’s that it feels very reminiscent of season one in terms of the tone
and feel of the episode. The only thing that’s different to me about this
episode compared to an actual season one episode is the fact that Danny DeVito
is a member of the cast now. Perhaps the reason why this episode feels very
reminiscent of season one to me is the fact that the Nazi memorabilia that
Charlie got from Dennis and Dee’s grandfather, Pop-Pop, back in the season one
episode “The Gang Finds a Dead Guy” plays a very important role in the episode.
The fact that the writers made such a significant reference to something that
happened all the way back in a season one episode really impressed me as a
viewer, and I think it’s really cool that they did that since I can’t think of
too many shows that reference back to something from an episode from the show’s
first season many seasons later, especially for a show in its eight season.
I have to say
that I loved Dennis and Dee’s reaction to the video of them at Pop-Pop’s summer
camp when they were kids as they realized that it was camp for children to
become junior Nazi’s. I thought their reaction was awkward, yet hilarious.
Watching this video is what prompted them to decide to sign the forms to have
Pop-Pop taken off of life support. However, they quickly decided that they
decided that they should watch an animal die first before they had to watch
Pop-Pop die.
One thing that
really surprised me about this episode is that Dennis and Dee showed an unusual
level of humanity when it came to deciding whether or not to take Pop-Pop off
life support. Despite Pop-Pop’s past as a Nazi in World War II, they didn’t
know if they could live with the thought of being the ones who would make the
decision since he was still their grandfather. Maybe other people other will
disagree with my views on Dennis and Dee’s actions in this episode, but I
thought the level of humanity they showed in this episode was unusual for them.
I can’t give them too much credit for their actions though. After all, they did
go to the pound, because they wanted to watch an animal be put down before they
took life Pop-Pop off life support. That was definitely a bit on the
sociopathic side.
While they were
at the pound they found out that Cricket is working there now, and he now has a
nasty scar on his face. Cricket sure has taken a beating throughout the show’s
run. It wouldn’t surprise me if Cricket died at the end of the series, if not
sooner. Dennis and Dee couldn’t bring themselves to watch any of the animals at
the pound die, so they decided to set them free. I thought it was hilarious
that Cricket somehow ended up in a kennel while they were looking at all of the
animals and were trying to decide which one of the animals they should watch be
put down. Going to the pound and setting the animals free prompted Dennis and
Dee to decide that they didn’t want to take Pop-Pop off life support. The
Lawyer wasn’t happy about their decision though, so he convinced them to give
him power of attorney when it came to making medical decisions for Pop-Pop.
If there were
anyone who came across as being truly emotionally cold in this episode, I would
say that it was The Lawyer. I get that he feels like The Gang has been nothing
but trouble for him, but did he have to be so callous when it came to getting
Dennis and Dee to decide whether or not to take Pop-Pop off life support? After
all, he is their grandfather, and making that kind of decision would be
difficult for anyone, but that didn’t stop him from being very rude about the
whole situation. If I had to guess why The Lawyer was so eager to have Dennis
and Dee sign the necessary paperwork to have Pop-Pop off life support, I’m
guessing he figured that once Pop-Pop was taken off life support that he would
hopefully never have to see them again since he told The Gang that at the
beginning of the episode. Regardless, I still thought that The Lawyer was being
very cold about the whole situation, and even Dennis and Dee thought that he
was being an asshole when he was giving the doctor his consent to take Pop-Pop
off life support. That’s really saying something about The Lawyer’s behavior,
if you ask me.
The Lawyer also
seemed pretty upset when Pop-Pop didn’t die when they took him off life support
and the doctor told him, Dennis and Dee that Pop-Pop could continue to live for
months even though he’s now off life support. I’m guessing that as long as
Pop-Pop is still alive The Lawyer will still be legally obligated to see The
Gang. The Lawyer has always been one of my favorite recurring guest-star characters
on the show, so I hope that he returns in the future. If I had to guess, I’m
guessing that we’ll be seeing him again. His interactions with The Gang are too
funny to not bring Brian Unger back again at some point. The whole thing with
Dennis and Dee freeing the dogs from the pound also had somewhat of a funny
ending. After they had finished taking Pop-Pop off life support, the doctor
told him that he had to leave because people had been attacked by the dogs all
over the city and the emergency room was full of people who had been injured. Dennis
and Dee’s reaction to that and how they basically just shrugged it off was
priceless.
Frank also
showed a rare display of compassion in this episode. Dennis, Dee, Charlie and
Mac discovered that he has been visiting Pop-Pop once a week and bringing him
soup every time he visits. In true It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia fashion,
it was made perfectly clear that Frank had been doing a terrible job taking
care of Pop-Pop, because Pop-Pop’s room was full of containers of old uneaten
soup, which was apparently making the room smell terrible. Frank told them that
he had told the hospital staff that he would take care of cleaning up Pop-Pop’s
room, but that he always forgot to clean up the soup when he came to visit. I
love that Mac told Frank that he didn’t have things under control. The fact
that Frank had been visiting Pop-Pop at the hospital in the hopes that Pop-Pop
would tell him where the Hitler paintings were felt very reminiscent of episode
6x06 “Mac’s Mom Burns Her House Down” where Frank took care of Dee when she got
sick with the ulterior motive of hoping that by taking care of Dee while she
was sick would cause her to be willing to take care of him when he was older
and possibly unable to take care of himself.
It really made
me laugh when Charlie and Mac lectured Dennis and Dee about making a decision
about Pop-Pop, which also made them feel like they had to finish eating the
containers of old soup that they had started eating. The fact that Charlie was
so willing to eat the old soup didn’t really surprise me considering the fact
that he’s always eaten really gross things like cat food and has also
volunteered to eat inedible things like erasers. However, I was surprised that
Mac would eat the soup given his weird beliefs about the skin on apples as well
as apple seeds being full of toxins that was established in episode 5x09 “Mac
and Dennis Break Up”. I know this is a comedy and when it comes to continuity writers
will have a character do something simply for the sake of comedy, but I still
thought that was a bit out of character for Mac to eat a bowl of that old soup.
I loved the
subplot with Mac and Charlie trying to find the Hitler paintings that Pop-Pop had
once owned and Charlie found in season one. It was hilarious how they kept
likening the situation to The Da Vinci Code and how they would like to see their
search for Hitler’s paintings made into a movie. Mac quickly became obsessed
with the idea of Ryan Gosling playing him in the movie because he thought that Ryan
Gosling would be able to match his intensity. If you ask me, it was very true
to Mac’s character to be obsessed with Ryan Gosling, especially since Mac has
always had a rather delusional view of himself, especially when it comes to his
athletic ability, or lack there of. It was great to see Dennis, Dee and Charlie
point out that Mac isn’t much of a threat to people in a violent situation and
that he gets scared in dangerous situations when he was showing them the
sunglasses that he bought in order to help him figure out how big of a threat
people are to others. I personally found the moments with Mac and at one point
Charlie wearing the sunglasses rather funny.
Speaking of
Mac’s appearance, Mac has lost all of the weight that he had gained last
season. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed that they didn’t give
an explanation for what prompted Mac to lose all of the weight that he had
gained last season. Maybe they will do an episode later on in the season that
addresses Mac’s weight loss in more detail like they explained the reason why
Mac had gotten fat last season in episode 7x10 “How Mac Got Fat”.
At one point in
the episode, Mac and Charlie went to a dentist’s office because they thought it
was where the painting was since Cricket had sold it after he had found it in
the trash and decided that the painting had a bad vibe the same way that Frank
had thought the painting was evil. They got in to see the dentist by claiming
that Charlie was there to get braces. After Mac got a call from Frank saying
that he needed more time to find the Nazi treasure, Mac knocked Charlie out
with the anesthesia so he wouldn’t be able to interfere with their plans.
Through a series
of twists and turns Mac, Dennis Dee and Frank returned to the bar and were
shocked to find Charlie there with the painting all whacked out from the
anesthesia since Mac had last seen him at the dentist’s office. It turns out
the painting that they had been looking for had actually been painted by
Charlie, so Mac and Charlie decided to burn the painting since it wouldn’t be
worth anything. However, there was one last twist to the story when Charlie
told Mac that he had painted over Adolf Hitler’s original painting after it was
already burning in the fire, and they showed part of Charlie’s painting burning
away and revealing Hitler’s signature. Personally, I thought that was a great
way to end the episode since Mac, Charlie and Frank had spent the whole episode
looking for Pop-Pop’s Nazi treasure. It was classic Charlie to not tell Mac
about how he had painted over the original painting until after they had
started burning the painting, if you ask me.
I thought that
Charlie Day did a great job in the scene where Charlie was whacked out on the anesthesia
and was telling the others about the painting, especially when it came to how
Charlie was talking in that scene and was drooling a lot. I can’t help but wonder
how he got his voice to sound the way that it did. Regardless of how Charlie
Day got his voice to sound that way and how he managed to drool so much, he did
an awesome job in that scene.
One last thing
that I’d like to comment on is the fact that Dennis acted very dialed back in
the season premiere compared to how over the top he acted last season. I’m
wondering if the writers decided to tone down Dennis’ sociopathic tendencies
this season, or if he was simply acting more dialed back in this episode due to
the plot of the episode not really having any moments where Dennis’ over the
top and narcissistic behavior would seem fitting. It did seem very true to the
character that Dennis would be upset with the doctor for commending The Lawyer
for deciding to take Pop-Pop off life support so he wouldn’t be in pain or
suffer any more though. Regardless of whether or not Dennis acts as over the
top as he acted last season, I’m still excited to see where the writers take
the character this season.
All in all, I
don’t think this was the best episode of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, but
it definitely has grown on me with repeated viewings, and I think it will
continue to do so in the future. This episode really did feel reminiscent of
season one, which didn’t bother me; it simply surprised me considering the fact
that the show is just entering its eighth season. The season eight premiere had
a lot of great moments, and I will happily watch this episode again in the
future.
That being said,
I give this episode a rating of a B.
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