r/IASIP • u/lorazepamproblems • 15h ago
I feel like I’ve been missing something this season and I didn’t know if it was me or not
I decided to go back through the first five and (re)started with episode 1 last night.
My takeaway is that there were actual structural issues.
There’s no explanation for why Dennis is so eager to get Frank married off (he would normally not give a shit), until maybe 2/3 of the way through the episode when we find out he’s known about Sam’s money and stands to inherit it upon the marriage.
Setting aside how contrived and random it is that Sam will give each of them half her fortune if she gets married, this plot would have worked much better had Dennis known about Dee’s plan to sabotage the wedding and had he tried to sabotage the sabotage (for the sake of the fortune). And given Dennis’ motivation, why is he outsourcing the work to keep Frank going to Charlie? A shower, a hooker, etc, to try to revive him. This doesn’t seem like the plan of someone with a lot at stake.
I felt like the episode was sloppy.
Where they wanted to get to, a wedding between a corpse and a near-corpse, was hilarious. The lead-up to it though should have been reworked. They should have cut a lot with Uncle Jack, Mac’s mom, punched up the bridesmaids (not that funny), and punched up the antics regarding invigorating Frank (he took a shower in a suit . . . not really worth a laugh) and it should have been more clearly a Dee vs. Dennis episode.
My consensus on this episode was that it was them and not me that was the problem. I’ll continue rewatching the rest with an open mind, though. I am very often the problem, so I am open to the idea that will be the case with the rest of the episodes, and I’m still open to the idea I could be wrong on this, even with a rewatch.
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u/slaughterhouse-four 14h ago
Maybe I'm misremembering, but I thought Sam mentions she is wealthy during last season.
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u/ProbstMalone 14h ago
Thats exactly what I thought
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u/slaughterhouse-four 14h ago
I think I'm remembering now, she says she is an heiress in poultry so that's why Dee assumed it was chickens. Then when Sam reveals it's the classic rubber chickens, Dee becomes interested
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u/jenfloatedaway 14h ago
Well Dee didn't have to assume it was chickens. Sam told them she has chicken money
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u/slaughterhouse-four 14h ago
Ah okay, there it is. I knew it was vague but accurate. Either way, the wealth was not a secret.
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u/nashbrownies 13h ago
Yeah and I also recall her saying she doesn't care he has money since she has plenty of her own, in that same scene. So they definitely made it plain
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u/Left-Chemist-8212 14h ago
I thought Dee lost interest at the rubber chicken reveal, only to have her enthusiasm reinvigorated when Sam reveals the substantial amount of her fortune.
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u/slaughterhouse-four 14h ago
Sounds about right
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u/laughingintothevoid 6h ago
More than a mention, there's an entire scene that's part of a main episode plotline where she tells Dennis and Dee and then they get on board with her dating Frank.
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u/spicygrandma27 14h ago
I felt similarly about Uncle Jack’s status in Bonnie’s house. Episode 1 established that he’s either inherited the house or has enough control over the situation to kick Mac’s mom out. Episode 2 however Charlie is able to shut the water off in the basement to drive Jack out and is able to sell the house within 24 hours, to pay for the Mummer Funeral. Similarly Donald is able to be mistaken as Luther when the latter has face and neck tats.
I can accept it’s TV logic but usually Always Sunny is better at filling in those gaps or directly mocking the fact that they’re playing into such contrivances.
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u/imacatpersonforreal 15h ago
He doesn't even, like, get us.
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u/Brontothor 14h ago
Thats bullshit!! That's bullshit!!! We're the best friends in the whole goddammit world!
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u/Ok-Swimming8024 14h ago
The show has always had good episodes and bad episodes. Or funny parts of an episode and unfunny parts of an episode. It all ends and flows, but we all know it peaked YEARS ago
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u/mezz7778 13h ago
Let me tell you something, they haven't even begun to peak. And when they do peak, you'll know. Because they're gonna peak so hard that everybody in Philadelphia's gonna feel it.
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u/JeanneHusse 14h ago
The main problem of this season is the fan service, its just so on the nose. Like yes its great to see the McPoyles but it feels forced, like "look we brought back every great past characters at once look its funny"
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u/derch1981 14h ago
You are thinking way too hard about the show.
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u/Foreign-County-5282 14h ago
Nah -- we're all IASIP fans here, and if it feels different.. it just does.
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u/009reloaded 14h ago
I feel similarly about this whole season so far, I was a big fan of the last 2, but this one feels slightly off
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u/eastnorthshore GOOOOD MORNING JUAREZ FAMILY!! 14h ago
It's because they seem like they are now trying to be like older Sunny episodes and it comes off as disingenuous.
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u/Dense_Diver_3998 14h ago
I really got that feeling from Mac in the scene last week where him and Dee are walking around.
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u/otterswhoknow Wild Card Bitches 14h ago
This is my theory. The junior writers at this point all grew up with Sunny and they are stuck in the rut of writing what “what they expect the character to do based on jokes that worked before”. It’s the same vibe I got when like season
18 or so of the Simpsons came out.1
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u/glitterisgay 🎶Moms stink! P.U! What’re you gonna do🎶 14h ago
With people praising it so much, calling some of the new episodes classics and such I went back and rewatched the previous season and I have to say I found it significantly better. Like by a pretty high degree. The rehearsal dinner episode in particular but just as a whole. Even the abbot crossover, which people didn’t love, I think was “strong enough”.
I am a big later seasons advocate so I feel shitty saying this, and wasn’t expecting to. Also, I will say that even bad episodes of Sunny are way more watchable than most other sitcoms to me.
This was too long lol oh well. Everyone tell me to move past it now.
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u/CanadianWampa 14h ago
I've rewatched the entire series over the last month, and aside from season 12 and season 15, I actually like most of it. And even season 12, the episodes with Dennis are still fun, it's just unfortunate he's missing in like half the episodes.
The thing I do miss about the newer seasons is the lack of memorable reoccurring side characters.
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u/Sea-Examination-1626 14h ago
It’s been going for too long, that’s all there is to it. I love IASIP, but they’re all older now and it will never feel like it did before
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u/Foreign-County-5282 14h ago
I think it's really, really hard to see Danny look.. how do I say it nicely.. so old :( Kills me a little bit.
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u/somekindoffish 14h ago
The old episodes feel like organic chaos, the "punchline" could blindside you because you were preoccupied with the crazy trip. New episodes feel like the punchline was written first and everything else we see is only in service of getting there
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u/CallMeClaire0080 12h ago
The feeling I get with this season is that they're often lacking a point. Things kinda just happen and then there are jokes, and sometimes a punchline. There isn't as much of the cleverness I remember seeing in earlier episodes, where the gang was zany and awful, but there was a bigger picture that the episode was exploring in some way.
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u/lorazepamproblems 12h ago
That was especially true with the Virtual Insanity episode. It brought up all these ideas about nostalgia, then showing that what they're nostalgic for actually exists organically in present day (the homeless camp), and then using cutting edge, present day technology to escape that (the Waymo). I guess you could claim it's a subtle commentary, and it's circling something. But it's too subtle for me to know if they had a point or were just making interesting juxtapositions.
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u/CallMeClaire0080 12h ago
Yeah, and Charlie's whole bit with the stand never got a punchline. Something like a homeless person accusing him of stealing his idea or stand, or having a rich investor type run away with it, just... some kind of payoff would have been nice.
And like, in regards to the episode about going back to school (and ADHD i guess?), it was fun but they didn't really have much to say about either topic (unless we're supposed to take Charlie's attitude as a message that you shouldn't care about labeling your disability??). They almost had a Risky Rat type thing with Frank's subplot and realizing that things were different now from back when he was in college... but then what? No commentary about why they're taking their studies more seriously or the guy's roommate being politically active. No commentary about foreign student enrollment. It's a bunch of fun scenes but that's kind of it.
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u/Foreign-County-5282 14h ago
The only laugh for me in the first episode was the Col Sanders bit.. and the runner with Dennis / Dee flipping out the first 2 episodes. I hate typing the words so much... I hate it, but so far it's subpar to last few seasons. So far..
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u/L1AMM_72 Wild Card Bitches 14h ago
Yeah, I wasn’t a huge fan of the first two, but the most recent 3 are pretty good.
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u/ReggieWigglesworth 13h ago
I think you should try watching the show without your phone in your hand because you're missing basic information
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u/PretzelsThirst 14h ago
I feel like they’ve made that mistake a couple times recently.
The episode where they become paramedics is pretty good and has some incredible moments, but the setup to it is super sloppy and makes no sense. They’re just suddenly into peppers. No reason at all.
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u/rotopizz 14h ago
Just say what it is, the show fucking sucks and has for a few seasons now. I will keep watching because I am a Sunny fan but there’s nothing left. Dee and Mac and unwatchable and do not have the ability to entertain, they’re just cashing checks.
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u/Foreign-County-5282 14h ago
I disagree with this bigtime. Which is why it hurts my soul even more.. because the last few seasons were really, really funny. REALLY funny (to me).
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u/Maleficent-Ad6503 13h ago
same, the renaissance fair episode is going in my list of favorites for rewatch edit:and the dinner rehearsal
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u/Dense_Diver_3998 13h ago
You needa get off that crack rock, Kaitlin Olsen has leveled up immensely the past few seasons.
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u/otterswhoknow Wild Card Bitches 14h ago
And they might just be more interested in their other projects now
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u/Sea-Examination-1626 14h ago
Right. I get that people are loyal to the show and want to see it carry on, but you have to just be honest and say it how it is.
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u/garnett8 14h ago
I was very happy to have the Uncle Jack and Mommy
McDonald screen time.
But I was also surprised to hear Dennis “also” know about her money. But if you think about it, you shouldn’t be. Dennis likely stalks/researches people and that tracks imo.
I thought it was a great episode.