It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – Recap & Review – The Great Recession

photo: fx

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
The Great Recession

Original Air Date: Oct 1, 2009

Tom R. – Sr. Staff Writer
tom@thetwocents.com

Ok…Let’s say there’s this show, and let’s say an episode is sponsored by, say, Coors beer and Dave and Buster’s restaurants. Now let’s say that these sponsors become part of the plot. Are we saying that this is a warning sign for this particular show? Normally I’d sat yes, but the Coors tie-in is one of the funniest jokes this season, if not the show’s history. As for Dave and Buster’s, they become a metaphor to comment on economic stimulation.

Whew! That’s a lot of syllables.

11:00 AM on a Tuesday, and Mac and Dennis notice an RV parked in front of Paddy’s. Mac worries about a developing shanty town full of RVs (“New Poor”) driving away Paddy’s customers (“Old Poor”). Charlie arrives, ready to slash the tires. Mac and Dennis try to think rationally, since the RV still won’t go anywhere, but somehow Charlie wins the argument. The gang heads into the bar, where they find Frank trying to kill himself after he has lost his money in a Ponzi scheme.

At D&B, the gang starts the AIG parallel as Mac and Dennis turn from streamlining the bar to giving themselves bonuses. When Frank protests, he is fired. Mac and Dennis return to the bar and ask Dee and Charlie to defend their jobs in order to keep them. Dee quits after being asked to make a mojito (which no customer has ever ordered), and Charlie goes over his daily routine, including stuffing the trash into the furnace (to give that nice smoky smell”)

Dee comes to Frank for a bailout, and the two sublet their apartments (putting Charlie on the street). Frank comes up with a new idea, selling both knives (cutting through Dee’s shoe as a demonstration) and wet-vacs (without mufflers). At their first potential client’s house, Frank cuts himself during the demo and goes looking for band-aids. As Dee starts her pitch, there is a crash upstairs, and Frank is found on the floor after a second suicide attempt.

Taking a cue from the D&B “Power Card”, Mac and Dennsi sink their remaining money into “Paddy’s Dollars”, which will be bought at the bar and only used there. When more RVs show up on the street, they decide to circulate the Paddy’s dollars among the New Poor as a stimulus. Unfortunately, no real dollars ever come into the bar, and Mac and Dennis have to admit they know absolutely nothing about the economy. Frank bursts in, after failing ar a crab catching operation with Charlie. He announces proudly that re is being reimbursed by the government, and he heads off to D&B with Mac and Dennis, leaving Dee and Charlie behind.

What’s done right here is that the satire never becomes self-important. Like the best South Park episodes, it makes its point by keeping the characters true to their natures. When satire flops, it’s usually because the writing has become too heavy-handed with its morality. But with this show (and South Park, to a point), there is no morality in the first place. Things just happen, and the audience smiles and says, “Ah…I get where you’re going.”

So where is the closest D&B, anyway? Let me know what you thought. Send me some comments or drop, me a line at: tom@thetwocents.com.