Review-It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia-“Mac Fights Gay Marriage”

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is back. I have a love-hate relationship with the show: On one hand, in its first few seasons, it was amazingly fresh, fully original and induced some of the best awkward laughs this side of Curb Your Enthusiasm. As the years passed and it gained popularity, however, I felt the show started to take a few missteps. The very qualities that made it endearing, like repeated integration of the the weird side characters in the show’s universe into its various episodes, started to be overused to the point of annoyance. Much like a marriage where the passions have cooled, Sunny and I still go through the motions, but it’s not what it once was. And so I looked forward to last night’s premiere with all the enthusiasm of a wedded man faced with his weekly predetermined sex night with the wife. Let’s get on with it, shall we?


The episode starts with Mac (Rob McElhenney), which, off the bat, sets the wrong tone. In fact, much of what I currently hate about Sunny centers around the fact that Mac has become a more prominent character. I respect the fact that McElhenney created the show, but as an actor within it, he’s a goddamn cancer. Even with a gun to my head, I couldn’t tell you what Mac stands for as a character, yet, whatever it is, I despise it. Dennis has being a sociopathic manwhore. Charlie has his oddly familiar relationship with his roommate and father Frank and being a weirdo in general. Mac just has smothering the funny in every exchange he’s involved in like it was a firstborn Chinese daughter.


The episode revolves around Mac running into a previous love of his, a post-op tranny (pre-op during her time with him) who is now married to a man. Mac, angered that he didn’t receive a call to sleep with the girl now that her penis is gone (gotta give props to this show for making me type that sentence), accuses her husband of being gay and spends the rest of the episode attempting to convey to them the evils of gay marriage to the couple in an attempt to break them up. As expected, every scene revolving around Mac in this episode is abysmal and failed to make me laugh.


Meanwhile, the talk of gay marriage gets Charlie (Charlie Day) and Frank (Danny DeVito) thinking about the legal benefits that they might be in store for if they fake being a gay couple. While this comedic ground has been tilled recently (think I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. Then stop thinking about it because I want you to laugh again), the duo did a good job of getting me to smile (though maybe I was just happy that Mac was offscreen).

The episode’s highlight as far as I was concerned was Dennis (Glenn Howerton) being moved by the talk of marriage (even if gay) to randomly wed his high school sweetheart. Out of the entire gang, I tend to identify the most with Dennis (yep, the “sociopathic manwhore.” Don’t go getting too turned on now, ladies), and thus enjoy his story arcs the most. Seeing the typically detached Mr. Reynolds begin to emote like a schoolgirl had me howling. Here’s the episode’s best exchange:


DENNIS: I am having…this is crazy, but…I’m having feelings again. Like some kind of 14-year-old kid or something! I mean, you remember feelings, right?


MAC: (Shocked) Yeah…I have feelings every single day of my life.


DENNIS: (Giving a quizzical look) Do you?


MAC: (Still shocked) Are you saying you don’t have feelings?


DENNIS: (Stares back at Mac with an “Of course I don’t” expression)


So the episode, while not a home run, had its highlights. And let’s keep it real: What the Hell else would I be doing with my Thursday nights? Between The Office, 30 Rock, Community and Always Sunny, it’s the one time in my week I don’t vividly picture pulling a Michael Hutchence. Give the show a watch. Oh, and, if I ever visit your house, make sure to hide the belts.

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