The newest episode of Always Sunny had everything I could ask for in an show: a discussion of stem cell research interlaced with duck quacks, gunfire and laser sound effects, jabronis and the appearance of Louis Steven’s dad from Even Stevens (Tom Virtue). Charlie and Mac answer a radio trivia question and get the opportunity to take a shot from center ice in order to win VIP passes to a beach house party. While this may be a minor prize that would mean very little to a majority of the population, Mac figures its his big break to get his name in with Philadelphia’s star athletes. Meanwhile, Dennis and Dee start a podcast after Frank begins taping their interesting conversations. They make a studio in the back office, because their back office has no work related purpose, and record themselves talking about the important issues, sadly at the cost of taping over Frank’s Luther Vandross mix. Dennis and Dee’s radio show had a lot of potential by bringing in recurring characters like the Waitress, Dee’s ex-boyfriend Ben and Rickety Cricket. Of the three, Rickety Cricket really stood out in this episode with some of the most random, funny lines that I would put on par with Tracy Jordon in 30 Rock. Frank lures him into the bar with the promise of a rotisserie chicken, but ends up only giving him a bag of lemons. When asked to provide tales of his life as a homeless person, Cricket retells his latest adventure of aroused dogs sniffing at the scar on his neck from when Frank hit him with a trash can: “Does my scar look like a dog’s vagina? I’m not gonna sit here and try and get inside the mind of a dog. I mean that’s God work. Not that I believe in God, not since that Chinamen stole my kidney”. Cricket’s and Dee’s romantic past gets brought up and when Cricket announces that Dee is a whore, she rebuts: “You’re a whore you stupid, ugly homeless bitch! Well, a dog banged your neck the other day!”With expert timing and finesse, Cricket replies: “Well at least someone’s banging my vagina, you know what I’m saying?!” Classic.
Frank also lures in Ben to talk “about how he and Dee used to bang” and the Waitress by promising her an apology from Dennis, a fact that Dennis said makes her “incredibly gullible and stupid.” At that point, one would think that the Waitress would just storm out, but Frank’s Jedi powers of persuasion keep her there with the promise of $500 if she took off her top and drank soup from his shoe. Surprisingly, she agrees, but because Cricket couldn’t find any soup, they decide to pour a bucket of dirty dishwater on her head for free.
In preparation for the upcoming contest, Charlie has to train Mac into hockey playing shape. Considering that Mac’s response to “touch your toes” is “What am I? A gymnast?,”the only thing that will work in such a short amount of time is a montage to the sound of “Push it to the Limit.” We get some classic movie montage moments of Mac learning how to skate, learning how to take shots on goal and drinking egg yolk as well as some non-movie montage moments of Mac throwing up the aforementioned egg and trying on wigs so that his hair will look like it flows once he makes the shot.Mac & Charlie prepare for Mac to Mac and Charlie come prepared for the contest with Mac in his token duster and Charlie wearing an America flag as a cape. As the music blares and Charlie and Mac skate out onto the rink to do a dance, I was wondering if Mac would actually succeed. As Mac gives the radio hosts a copy of Dennis and Dee’s radio show, calls them “Jabronis” (a cool hockey term according to himself and Charlie), and skates away with the swoop of his duster, I was somewhat concerned at this burst confidence. As Mac winds up and shoots the puck so hard it creates a crater in the cardboard cut out goalie, I began having second thoughts about reality. In actuality, as soon as Mac skated onto the ice, he tripped over himself and fell unconscious. As the big screens replay Mac’s tripping, complete with radio -style “boing” noises, Charlie sums up the end of the episode best: “I think you’re gonna be a sports celebrity after all, because they’re definitely gonna play that shit on ESPN.”
This was the episode I’ve been waiting for since the show premiered this season. I sincerely hope that this wasn’t a fluke and that more episodes like it are in the coming weeks.
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Original Author: Andrew Ebanks