Spoilers below for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s first two Season 18 episodes, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched them on FX or streamed them via Hulu subscription or Disney+ subscription.
The happiest time of any given year is finally here, when It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia rises from the muck like a drunken and methed-out phoenix. The Season 18 premiere delivered on its gag-worthy promise of having Frank marry and make out with a corpse, which somehow delivered even more disturbing layers than expected, and then followed that up with a touching, clown-filled sendoff for the late Lynne Marie Stewart, which also spun out in some severely disturbing directions. And amidst the chaos, a GOATed new character was introduced.
Let’s point a sporadically flickering spotlight on this fantastic new addition while also championing a couple of other mega-highlights that called back to past episodes and general character history.
Sherman The Legal Mediation Dummy Should Be The Newest Member Of The Gang
As Arrested Development and selected other shows have proven in the past: adding a ventriloquist dummy into the mix without a professional ventriloquist is comedy gold. Also in the comedy gold department: Andrew Friedman's Jack Kelly, arguably the least effective uncle lawyer of any medium, but inarguably the funniest. Combining this recurring delight with a frighteningly constructed wooden puppet is truly alchemy of the gods. And thy name be Sherman.
Sherman is quite the judgmental sidekick, as implied through both Jack and Mac's instant transitions once they're holding the dummy. Mack's impassioned leap across the table to snatch him from Jack while calling him a "wooden f#$!" floored me with laughted. And I still didn't see it coming when Mac wholeheartedly dove into the idea of using Sherman as a mechanism to come out to his mom, in the face of his attempts to deny his sexuality in front of her.
Not an iota of rhyme, reason, sense, logic, or otherwise was put to use when Mac brought Sherman out in the middle of Frank's already janked-up non-wedding. But my god, it was bliss. And I'm hoping since that wooden goblin was part of Mac's coming-out, as well as being present for the horrors of Sam's head falling off, that Rob Mac & Co. will find ways to bring Sherman back into the fold later in Season 18 and forevermore. Jack's return in Episode 2 seems like a good sign, since it presumably means the dummy will be at arm's length.
Charlie Sings About His Dead Mom
Anytime Charlie Day gets behind the ivories (or whatever keyboard keys are made out of), you might as well turn off the rest of the world, because the song deserves all the attention. And oh, buddy, that was the case here as well. Charlie singing about his dead mother, represented by the urn ashes in front of him, made for surprisingly melodic cringe. The song alone would have been reason enough for me to sing its praises...
But then Charlie brings that jaunty ditty back out for a horrific reprise as Dee is Weekend at Bernie's-ing Sam's corpse down the aisle. Charlie on-the-nose pointing out that a dead woman is in the room during Dee's struggles is an all-time great highlight reel moment that exemplifies this show's comedy. Let's bring out "The Nightman Cometh" for second part.
Dennis And Dee Bring Back Their Better-Than-The-Poors Outrage
I love that It's Always Sunny has developed recurring character patterns alongside its go-to episode types. And one of my most beloved examples of this is when Dennis and Dee get a sliver of a whiff of a whisper of potential wealth, and they instantly become screaming, standoffish monsters who cannot imagine being on the same level as others.
As funny as it is when they do it with those they're closest to, it's even funnier when Glenn Howerton and Kaitlin Olson go berserker ham on total strangers, in this case Nate Corddry's belabored mortician. Every one of their line readings is magnificent, and I'll just put this one out there as a favorite.
You should know, and you should tell us, because we are meant to be rich! We are not meant to be squabbling with basement dwellers and morticians all day long. Goddammit! You are working class and we have moved ON from you!
Dennis' "move ON" is filled with the kind of distaste that is so over-the-stop, and yet still so completely believable coming out of the Golden God's mouth. Is it too late to make this a "Roseanne's lottery season" situation where they do get rich, but then it isn't real?
I can't wait to see It’s Always Sunny pulling a Die Hard like we’ve been hoping for when the rest of Season 18 plays out Monday nights on FX, FXX and Hulu at 9:00 p.m. ET.
