IASIP - S17 E1 & E2 Review

What’s up Basement Dwellers! The Gang is back on FX with the 17th season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and yours truly The Dace Man is here to talk about the two episode premiere! After 2 long years the Gang finally returns to the small screen, after pit-stopping at the PG Abbot Elementary show this winter, the season kicks off with the Rated TV-MA side of that story followed by another episode diving into the potential passing of a beloved character.

S17E1 - The Gang F***s Up Abbott Elementary

During the winter season fans of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia got a bonus treat to hold over their appetite for new adventures of the gang with the first part of the cross over event with ABC's hit sitcom Abbott Elementary. Admittedly yours truly did not watch an episode of Abbott Elementary until the announcement that the Gang would be heading to ABC's flagship comedy, so after binging through the entire run of Abbott up to the cross over I was prepared. Now over on ABC we got the family friendly side of the story, well, as much as it can be with the gang from Paddy's Pub, Kicking off season seventeen from the IASIP perspective we definitely got the gloves off version of both ensembles.

Mac, Charlie and Frank assess the situation in the halls of Abbott Elementary.

It turns out the Gang was causing more mayhem through out the halls of Abbott Elementary than the ABC cut of the crossover revealed. For starters we see what Dennis was up too off camera, after abruptly kicking off the Abbott side of the story by not wanting to be on camera. After commandeering a science lab, Dennis has been off screen developing a coffee machine after being appalled by the quality of the teacher room's offering. He also engages in other plots unbeknownst to the ABC viewers involving Charlie, Mac and Frank.

The four horseman of scams try to exploit the resources of the school for personal gain, as per the gangs usually approach to any situation. Frank's ultimate goal, is to strip the school of its copper and will eventually pull of this scam by the end of the episode. The original three try to form a boy band with the Abbott students and once that gets stopped by the staff they then attempt to create an updated version of 'We Didn't Start The Fire", not knowing that Fall Out Boy, apparently not for the first time, beat them to the punch. The episode furthers the feud between Sweet Dee and Ms. Teagues while trapping Gregory in the middle against his will.

The Gang invites the staff of Abbott to Paddy's Pub.

Overall the episode comes out the gate swinging and feels like a strong return to form of the Gang being the literal worst of the worst. It's also a fun experiment to see how the world of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia plays on a basic cable channel versus their no holds barred FX home. If the gang seemed some what watered down and a bit tamed in the Abbott side of this story, it's because they were. With the season 17 debut it showed them back in their element and at the same time gave more freedoms to the Abbott cast to punch down, I always thought the character of Ava was a perfect transition between the casts as she is most definitely the wild card of Abbott. She played the role phenomenally and even had a chance to let loose with her vocabulary on FX, as did Lisa Ann Walter's character given the minimal time she had on the second half of the cross over.

Overall I would give the episode a 9 out of 10 stairs, as it was excellently executed and a perfect compliment to the first half of the Abbott Elementary/Always Sunny cross over event.

S17E2 - Frank is in a Coma

After the excitement of their first crossover event, the gang returns to their normal antics of torturing each other and scheming about get rich plans. The episode kicks off with the gang at Paddy's and Sweet Dee revealing she found an invitation for Frank to a big wig gala that would rub elbows with a lot of Philadelphia's rich and elite. Uninterested in the event Frank is more concerned with the latest season of a show that asks is it cake or not, setting off the Gang to harass Frank and end with Sweet Dee seemingly sending Frank on a path towards death.

After the well placed title card, it is revealed that Frank is in a coma, and Sweet Dee having been the one to cause this is tasked with overseeing Frank in his final moments of life. I'm throw this out there that if you haven't watched the episode yet... stop reading, there will be spoilers.

The gang looks on at Frank in a coma seemingly on his literal death bed.

Ok you were warned. At this point of the episode as I was watching I kept saying there was something off with the way Frank looked. In the shows defense I assumed it was a tactic they were using so that Danny DeVito would not have to be laid up for the entire episode pretending to be in a coma, the off putting Frank Reynolds though would ultimately pay off by the end of the episode. Sweet Dee then goes through the five stages of grief , but in the most IASIP way revealing nothing but frustration and outbursts from Dee, who's entire goal is to wait for Frank to kick it so she can use the money left to here to get a new butt.

Meanwhile after blatantly lying to Dee about coming back with beers from the bar, Dennis, Mac and Charlie make their way to the gala. After walking in with a plan and determination to franchise Paddy's, they are mistaken as waiters and hilariously end up working the event more so than they work their own Bar... how they still own that establishment after 17 seasons of neglect is truly the American Dream. They end up bonding with a coke addicted, young heir of fortune and proceed to follow him from party to party with worse and worse consequences for the man they just met until, as per most schemes, amounts to nothing.

Dennis, Charlie and Mac rethink the actions of the night.

When they return to Dee in Charlie's apartment it is revealed that Dee found a drawing she made for Frank wedged between a big butts magazine and actually causes her to feel. Now at this point if you think there is some redeeming qualities to any of these characters, you have not been watching the same show as the rest of us. As the gang ultimately decides to let Frank pass, Frank reveals himself from the secondary room, you know the one Charlie was hiding for 16 years, to tell the gang that the Frank in front of them was indeed cake. Once again the gang manages to crush Dee emotionally, by revealing Frank staged the whole thing and even placed the drawing, which he did not even care about, in the magazine just to teach Dee a lesson that "Is it Cake Or Not" is an amazing concept. If Sweet Dee ends up murdering the entire gang by the end of the series... it's most definitely justified.

The bait and switch formula of the episode is a tried and trued formula for the show, again highlighting the gang at the heart of all of this... is in fact the worst of humanity. I give the episode a 7 out of 10 stairs with a potential to be a 10 out of 10 if the overall arc of IASIP ends with Dee murdering them all after being crushed by them time and time again. I also want to note, for a brief moment I thought this would be a swerve allowing Danny to exit the series. As sad of a thought as it is to not have Frank Reynold apart of the gang anymore I can't imagine Danny DeVito has many more seasons left in the tank, so I will forever be on edge anytime they tease the death of Frank

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