Why I Loved It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘s “High School Reunion Part 2: The Gang’s Revenge””

Last week, the Always Sunny gang did a great job with the first half of Season 7’s finale, “The High School Reunion.” (Click that link to watch the episode online via Amazon, and click here for my review of it.) The episode, like all scripted works using a high school reunion as a plot device, centered upon our protagonists living as marginalized outsiders through those years and planning to return to the scene of their ostracization to prove how far they’ve come. And, as is wont to happen, said plans failed, leaving them awash in the all-too-familar scent of social bankruptcy.

It’s Act III that defines these stories. Do our heroes go home humbled, eventually making peace with their high school years? Do they perform some grand feat at the reunion that wins them the widespread acclaim they so badly craved? Do they manage to drag those who tormented them down with them? In the case of the Always Sunny gang, I suppose the episode’s title gives it away: The goal is revenge. Which is a good thing, because It’s Always Sunny shines when it comes to vengeance. And no star shined brighter in the Constellation of Retribution that was “The Gang’s Revenge” than Dennis Reynolds.

Dennis Reynolds’s metamorphosis this season has been the impetus behind my continued viewing. Chinks have riddled the once-impenetrable armor of his mastery of seduction (haha, chinks). He has gone from ladies’ man to sociopath, the transformation perfectly illustrated by a conversation Dennis had in “The Gang’s Revenge” with the wife of a former friend…whom he was attempting to sleep with out of spite.

Listen, listen, listen…I want to be inside you. I want to do shit to you that is going to make you realize what a boring, worthless piece of shit your husband really is.

After the woman question’s Dennis’ heterosexuality for both using makeup and wearing a girdle, he defends himself in a tirade that plums the depths of darkness by Always Sunny‘s standards:

I was speeding through the steps! I have a system! I was demonstrating value on the dance floor and then I engaged you physically when I put my hands on your hips. Now, I’m nurturing your dependence by letting you talk shit about your boring, worthless, piece-of-shit husband. Then I was going to take you to an empty broom closet and I was gonna bang the shit outta you. And then I was going to neglect you emotionally. That’s what I do, Christy! And it was working! I was manipulating your feeble little brain into doing what I want – what I want – and then now it’s what you want!

I realize that material so dark and aggressive isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (just ask this twat), but I ate it up. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia once consistently wowed me with content that was both grim and hilarious. Those days are now few and far between. Yet, much like an enthusiastic blowjob from a woman you’ve been with for years, I’ve learned to be thankful for the times it does happen. Season 7 contained enough enthusiastic blowjobs for me to look forward to Season 8. And, for that, I am grateful.

Tagged as: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, review.