The following is a review of Season 16, Episode 1 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
When a long-running series returns for a new season, the first question is always, “will it still be good?” With It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia now entering its 16th season, this question is front of mind. Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Mac (Rob McElhenny), Charlie (Charlie Day), Dee (Kaitlin Olson), and Frank (Danny DeVito) have had so many misadventures at this point, what is left for them to do? The answer, it turns out, is to stick to the formula that has kept them running Paddy’s Pub all this time: latch onto an issue and examine it from the dumbest perspective you can imagine.
The season opener, The Gang Inflates, is filled with plenty of antics. Dennis and Mac complain about the value of a dollar, and Frank tricks Mac into giving him a $10 bill in exchange for a $5. Charlie tries desperately to convince the gang that he knows how to talk business after 15 years living with Frank, and Dee glues her hand to her front door in a desperate bid to avoid eviction after her predatory landlord spikes her rent. What follows is an episode that involves inflatable furniture, cryptocurrency, fancy mixed nuts, and, in typical Always Sunny fashion, everyone trying to screw each other over.
It might sound outlandish for the gang to take on the inflation crisis, but remember, this is the same show that satirized the abortion debate with an episode called A Woman’s Right to Chop – which was all about haircuts. Writer Nina Pedrad’s script makes excellent use of everyone’s talents, but the standouts are DeVito and McElhenny; the former bringing out Frank’s shrewd businessman side and the latter committing to a joke that goes from funny to stupid and back to funny again. McElhenny has the chops to deliver the dumbest of lines with perfectly empty confidence.
There isn’t much else to say that won’t spoil the plot (or at least some of the jokes). Suffice it to say, if you’re worried that the Sunny gang have lost their edge or have begun phoning it in, you can rest assured they have not done either. Instead, the comedy remains topical and incisive, the delivery remains pitch-perfect, and after 170-odd episodes, everyone involved seems more committed to keeping the series going than ever – not just because they can, but because they have something to say. Judging an entire television season from just the first episode is difficult, but if The Gang Inflates is any indication, we are in for another great season.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a7SAcLSuy0]
Season 16 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia premieres June 7 at 10pm E.T. on FXX Canada.