After almost a year and a half after the end of season 15, Its Always Sunny returns once again to continue its record-breaking sitcom run with a two-episode premiere.
In the first episode, “The Gang Inflates” everyone is talking about inflation which leads to Mac and Dennis starting an inflatable furniture business, which in typical Sunny fashion quickly goes wrong. Also, Frank discovers Charlie has been hiding both a bathroom and a second bedroom in their apartment, and Dee gets evicted from hers.
And in the second episode, “Frank Shoots Every Member of the Gang,” Dennis and Dee try to get Frank to give up his gun after he accidentally shoots them. Meanwhile, Charlie and Mac take a road trip with their moms (recurring guest stars Sandy Martin and Lynne Marie Stewart) to visit Mac’s uncle Donald McDonald (played by Gregory Scott Cummins, who also plays Mac’s dad Luther) as well as Charlie’s sisters Bunny and Candy (Olivia Cohen and Isabella Cohen).
While both are solid episodes and offer a fair amount of laughs, the first episode, “The Gang Inflates,” stood out to be more, although seeing the return of Mrs. Kelly and Mrs. Mac is always welcome.
The idea of Mac and Dennis renting their couch is ludicrous but really does not seem that out of character, and Charlie trying to act nefarious while slipping off an inflatable couch is the highlight of the episode for me. The gag with Mac continuing to eat “fancy nuts” while he is obviously allergic somewhat overstays its welcome and is reminiscent of Dennis’ denial about having Covid last season, but it still works. The classic bait and switch of Charlie appearing to be smart about money matters and then being revealed once again to be an idiot works well even after about the 100th time. It is a shame Dee is overshadowed by the other cast members in both this episode and “Frank Shoots Every Member of the Gang,” but hopefully, she will have more to do in upcoming episodes. The gag of her gluing herself to doors and walls is good, though.
The second episode of the two “Frank Shoots Every Member of the Gang” feels like it has been years in the making as Frank has been carrying a pistol pretty much since his introduction into the series at the beginning of season two, and fans have eagerly awaited to see if it will go off and shoot someone. In that department, this episode does not disappoint as, indeed, every member of the gang does get shot.
The plot of Dee and Dennis taking Frank out for one good day before making him give up his gun is good, and the image of Danny DeVito peeing on a fire hydrant is always funny, but it does get a little dark in the end, as Frank thinks Dennis and Dee are going to kill him. It is played in typical Sunny fashion, though, so it turns out ok in the end.
The Mac and Charlie storyline of them trying to gain family heirlooms is probably the stronger of the two, mainly due to the inclusion of Mrs. Mac and Mrs. Kelly, although I wanted to see more of both Mac’s uncle Donald, who appears to have a lot in common with his nephew and Charlie’s sisters, who are given very little screentime. What screentime they do get works, though, with hints at a strong bond between Mac and his uncle. The fact that Charlie’s family heirloom is a jar of his family’s teeth is not at all surprising
The two-part season 16 premiere shows that even 16 years in It’s Always Sunny is still going strong and can still offer up some laughs
What are your thoughts on the Sunny premiere?
Season 16 of It’s Always Sunny airs on FXX on Wednesday, with the episode the next day on Hulu.
