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No Hesitation; No Surrender; No Man Left Behind. Review: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – “Thunder Gun Express”

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  • December 1, 2011

  • 5 mins to read

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA: L-R: Rob McElhenney as Mac, Kaitlin Olson as Sweet Dee, Charlie Day as Charlie, Danny DeVito as Frank and Glenn Howerton as Dennis. CR: FX

Review: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Season 7, Episode 11

Air Date: Thursday, December 1, 2011, 10:00 pm ET/PT on FX

Rating: ★★★★★

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA: Clockwise From Top: Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney, Kaitlin Olson, Danny Devito and Charlie Day. CR: FX

The Gang can’t wait to see Thunder Gun Express, “the greatest movie ever made,” according to Dennis (Glenn Howerton). They get the last available tickets online; Charlie (Charlie Day) has the requisite amount of booze; and they have 30 minutes to get to the theater. But when Frank (Danny DeVito) gets to Paddys, he tells them about the awful traffic jams caused by President Obama’s visit to Philadelphia. You just know “Thunder Gun Express” is going to turn into a comedy of errors, especially given their mantra, “No hesitation; no surrender; no man left behind.”

Highlights and observations:

I love the use of the digital clock in the corner of my TV screen counting down the minutes left to get to the theater. It appears each time the show switches to a different scene. Don’t ask me why; it just tickles my funny bone.

Poor Dennis (Glenn Howerton)—everyone gets on him for how slow he’s driving. Sheesh! What do they expect? They’re stuck in traffic like everyone else. Of course, this leads to one of Frank’s stupid brilliant ideas, which Mac (Rob McElhenney), Dee (Kaitlin Olson) and Charlie embrace. “Well, I’ll tell you one thing. I could walk faster than we’re moving.” And off they go.

I can’t believe Dennis makes audio tapes of the women he’s slept with. Who does that? I understand videos, sort of, but audio? What’s the point? I guess it’s for times like this, when he’s stuck in traffic. Yes, he keeps them in the car.

The dialogue among Charlie, Dee and Mac when Mac can’t fit in the sewer is priceless, as is the visual of Mac trying to squeeze into the sewer opening.

Frank highjacking the River Loop ferry to get to the theater is the most hysterical part of “Thunder Gun Express.” What makes it so are the stories he tells the group of Asian people who thought they were on a sight-seeing cruise! The director should have splashed a big “BEVERAGE ALERT” across TV screens everywhere because I practically choked on my iced tea during Frank’s explanation of the Schuylkill River and what’s in it. And then there are his other stories – like why he likes “bangin’ whores.” Not exactly the things these poor unlucky people were expecting to hear!

Funny lines:

Frank wants to know what the movie is about:

Dennis: “It’s about this warrior from a post-apocalyptic underground society who has to travel back in time to save his lover from an evil robot army.”

Mac: “No hesitation, no surrender.”

Dennis, Mac, Charlie and Dee yelling in unison: “No man left behind!”

***

Dee’s response when Frank wants to use her ticket: “Oh no no no, Frank. This is just as much a love story as anything else. Plus, I hear the guy hangs dong and I’m very interested in seeing that.”

***

Mac, about how slow Dennis is: “He’s slow at everything. You should see how long it takes him to bang chicks.”

***

Dee’s response when Mac tells Charlie and her he “hung dong on the trolley:” “I saw it. It looks like a button in a fur coat.”

The funniest thing about this episode is no matter which way the Gang tries to get to the theater, they always end up leaving one man behind, contrary to their mantra. Whether it be leaving Frank because his legs won’t carry him fast enough to jump on the trolley; Charlie and Dee leaving Mac because he can’t get down the sewer opening; or Charlie leaving Dee in the sewer when her heel gets stuck. “Thunder Gun Express” works on so many levels, and I haven’t even told you about Elena (Mariann Gavelo), the beautiful woman Dennis meets and what happens at the end—both of which are damn funny.

Tune in to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Thursdays at 10:00 pm ET/PT only on FX.

All photos courtesy of Patrick McElhenney / © 2011 FX Networks, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Linda

Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!

Linda

Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!