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[Editor’s note: The A.V. Club will return to recap this season’s finale on August 20.]
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia has gifted fans dozens of the dumbest schemes in the history of television. In fact, if you had to say what this show was about more than anything else, it would probably be five idiots doing damage control after their very bad ideas explode in their faces. Whether they’re making Kitten Mittens, collecting Philly’s trash, or solving the gas crisis, the Paddy’s Pub Gang has a unique ability to take get-rich-quick schemes and set them on fire. And in “Thought Leadership: A Corporate Conversation,” writers Charlie Day and Rob Mac use viral subjects like slap fighting and Tesla’s Cybertruck to concoct a very funny episode that feels both classic Sunny and current.
An alternate title for this week’s episode could have been “The Gang Has Watched Too Much Succession.” The HBO hit isn’t directly name-checked, but that booming score sure sounds a lot like Nicholas Brittell’s compositions on the multiple Emmy winner. They’ve actually been watching a bunch of clips of a corporate retreat in Idaho, leading to some fantastic misinterpretations of “business speak,” including Mac saying nonsense like “hammer down our brand identity and come out open commando” and Charlie thinking the sacrificial lamb was actual meat and also suggesting they use other animals than a “scapegoat” like maybe a “fall fish” or a “scapefish” or a “fall bird”—and then we’re back to Dee. (Charlie Day is spectacular in this episode.)
The YouTube rabbit hole of Idaho corporate training also allows people like Dennis and Mac to say phrases that mean just about nothing, like, “First and foremost, the business must be protected at all times.” The current concern is a reporter in Paddy’s Pub who Frank believes is there because they dumped 500 gallons of baby oil and 200 Paddy’s Pub T-shirts into the Schuylkill River. How did that happen? Flashback time!
“Paddysgate” started several weeks ago when Frank found a jug out back, arguably the dumbest inciting event for one of his schemes to date. After arguing over how to musically use the jug, and a bit of clawing each other’s faces, the Gang got their own individual jugs, but they were full of water. How do you get rid of water? Charlie insists it can’t be used to clean the bar and it’s probably not smart to start a fire, so they begin the slow process of drinking it and talk about the art of braising, evidence disposal, baby oil, and even the Cybertruck. And then there’s the big question of 2025: “What are your thoughts on slap fighting?”
After a few days of slapping within the group, Mac has a business idea: “professional slap fighting.” They stage these bouts in the bar, which attracts a crowd. But the gang has never come up with a good idea they couldn’t destroy, often through their horniness. So Dennis gives an amazing speech about how slap fighting isn’t erotic enough and turns it into a pitch about an unfulfilled future: “We were promised women going wild.”
Before you know it, Paddy’s has moved from burly dudes to bikinis and baby oil, although most of the women don’t go for the latter. And to entice a higher quality of contestant, they decide to give away a prize: a Cybertruck. But they become obsessed with Elon’s dumb car and decide they want to keep it for themselves, forcing Dee to become a ringer in the competition.
It might have worked if Charlie hadn’t fallen back on some bad habits. He goes to find the Waitress (Day’s wife, Mary Elizabeth Ellis), offering to “oil” her so she can win the car. And there’s a truly funny exchange in which she asks if he’s stalking her again. “No, that’s not my thing,” he says. “Flirting maybe.” It’s a clever nod to a conversation around the show regarding Charlie’s aggressive behavior, especially in early seasons, that also underlines his complete lack of self-awareness.
As the Waitress is living in her car, she jumps at the chance to upgrade her domicile, slapping the shit out of Dee before discovering they’re not actually giving away a Tesla. When she threatens to go to the police, Frank and company dispose of the evidence, but Charlie reveals that Frank’s urgency is because he had crossed the “girls gone wild” line and was staging an orgy in the basement.
After the blame game is complete, the Gang comes up with a “no comment”—only to discover that the sole customer in Paddy’s Pub isn’t a reporter. She’s the sex worker for Frank’s orgy.
Stray observations
- • Never using Elon’s actual name is wonderful—you know he would have loved being referred to as something other than “The Space Nerd”—as is Dee’s revelation that she thinks the Cybertruck is ugly. She is not wrong.
- • Playing “In the Hall Of The Mountain King” while Dee slaps the sanity out of people is a season highlight.
- • Charlie has so many good lines this week, including “They’re too dry! And so they don’t feel wild!” and “How do you get the oil out of the baby?”
- • Mary Elizabeth Ellis has been in at least one episode of every season of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, and we still don’t know her character’s name. The Gang does! They revealed recently on their podcast that not only did she originally have a name they still know but explain why they will probably never reveal it. It’s a good watch.
