“Mac and Dennis Break Up,” Sunny’s best episode this year so far was definitely its calmest, lacking any big set-pieces, or guest stars, or appearances by green man, or even a scene set at the bar. But in terms of sheer jokes per minute, this episode is up with the best of Sunny. It relied entirely on the chemistry of the cast, and this is a cast that can make a shrug or a glance seem funny in the right context. Also, any episode that shows us more details of Charlie and Frank’s life together gets a rave from me.
Rather than everyone going on some big caper, the plot was set in motion because Dennis and Mac wanted to borrow a big bowl from Dee to make popcorn for their movie night. “You guys don't have a bowl?” she asks, quite rightly. What self-respecting Predator fan doesn’t have a popcorn bowl? Along with the usual ribbing about how she looks like a bird, Dennis and Mac mock Dee for her latest acquisition, a cat, as another sign of her descent into spinsterhood. Dee responds with a snide jab at Dennis and Mac’s coupledom, and well, there you have it, an episode is born.
Now, I’m sure I’m not the only person that’s getting sick of the whole “bromance” trend that’s sweeping its way through Hollywood, but done right, the bromance gag works, and this episode did the bromance gag right not once, but twice, with both Mac & Dennis and Charlie & Frank, as well as examining the delicate nature of the bromance, by pairing bros in each couple off with each other, with disastrous effects, of course.
As in all bromances, there was a break-up scene, with Mac angrily confronting Dennis about the long time he spent at the video store renting Predator, only to come back with Transporter 2! Mac is worried he won’t be able to follow the movie because he never saw the first Transporter, which seems like a stretch to me given Mac’s love of cool stunts and shit. But he’s more worried about the beefcake video clerk who recommended the change to Dennis. “I feel like you won't stop talking about him!” he moans. "I asked for a movie recommendation," Dennis protests. "Well, you got one,” Mac shoots back, barely holding back the words “you slut.”
Who’s side is everyone on in the breakup? On the one hand, Dennis has a point that watching any movie, even masterpiece such as Predator, 30 times in two months is overkill. And Mac babbles incessantly about everyone’s physique: “It's important to pack on mass!” On the other hand, if you say you’re going to the store to rent Predator, and you come back with Transporter 2, well, that’s just not cricket. Jason Statham is a lovely gentleman, but still.
After the fight, Mac offers to leave, and flounces off to Charlie’s, where he upsets their delicate balance by cleaning. Who knew Mac was such a fussbudget? These scenes were the best in the episode, my opinion on almost any scene in Sunny featuring the goings-on in Charlie’s apartment. Frank cleans his toenails with a steak-knife, but injures himself: “I need some trash to bug up the cut!” Mac’s suggestion that he use a sock, rather than trash, delights Frank but rankles Charlie, who finds it a perfectly good waste of a sock. When Dennis calls to get the scoop on Mac’s new life, Charlie decides to bail. He’s almost always the best, but Charlie was definitely the best this week because of his bitchy, girly aloofness about everything. First he’s pissed at Mac for cleaning up, later on he’s pissed at Dennis for his girly insistence that they watch a movie together. It’s nice to see Charlie not be the pathetic one for a change.