It’s Always Sunny season 13, episode 5 recap: The Gang Gets New Wheels

In episode 5 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Frank needs a driver’s test, Charlie and Mac get bullied and Dee accidentally crosses a major line.

As this episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia begins, Dennis (Glenn Howerton) gathers everyone around, attempting to give them a head’s up about where he’s been. Unfortunately for his ego, nobody asks questions about where he has been. Even worse, Dennis learns that his beloved Range Rover was simply abandoned during his hiatus, and is in a state of complete disrepair.

This will not do for Dennis, and he sets out to get a new vehicle. Of course, Dennis finds an obstacle in Frank Reynolds (Danny DeVito), who promptly buys the replacement Rover that Dennis wanted. However, it’s revealed that Frank’s driver’s license has been expired since 1984!

Meanwhile, Charlie (Charlie Day) and Mac (Rob McElhenney) buy new bikes, wishing to feel like kids again. They truly believe that what you ride is your identity. In their reminiscing, they also lament a neighborhood bully, Shawn Dumont (Tyler Labine), who stole their bikes when they were younger. He would offer them a taunt for which there’s just no comeback: “What are you gonna’ do about it?” As it turns out, history repeats itself swiftly and eagerly sometimes, as Charlie and Mac get ganged up on by a bunch of kids.

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Rover vs. Prius and snob vs. snob

After becoming Frank’s chauffeur, Dee (Kaitlin Olson) quickly becomes an elitist Range Rover snob against the Prius-driving Dennis, who joins a fantasy sports club. Frank, however, has no ride he can legally brag about, so he feels pressure to cheat on his driver’s test. He tells a young man named Aidan (Logan Miller) that, if he lets him cheat off his test, he’ll show him his pornography collection. He scoffs at this, noting this little thing called the internet. Still, Frank convinces Aidan to help him out.

Things begin to ramp up, It’s Always Sunny-style, as one might expect. Mac and Charlie’s bikes stolen again, and it was Shawn Dumont’s kid and his entourage who did it. When they confront Shawn about it, he repeats the crushing line: “What are you gonna’ do about it?” (Yes, it’s similar to a scene in another It’s Always Sunny episode, “Charlie wants an abortion,” but it’s a formula that works!)

Meanwhile, Dee gets a taste of her own medicine of freewheeling insults and doesn’t like it. She just has to get revenge on other Range Rover snobs, who insulted her for never being married! She sleeps with Aidan, who she believes is one of the snobbish ladies’ young lovers. She taunts, “This spinster spun a web that swallowed your boy toy up whole!” Unfortunately, it turns out Aidan is actually one of their sons — a bit of a whoopsie moment! So, obviously, she ends up on the run from them.

Similarly, Mac and Charlie beat up the kids who stole their bikes and are forced to flee that scene, fearing they may have killed a kid. When they meet up with Frank and Dee, it’s after they’ve been in a car accident. So, all in all, it’s just another day for the gang. Still, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel:  Dennis buys a new range rover from the fantasy sports/Prius driver (Jim Cashman) — a moment which comes to him like a sweeping, life-affirming revelation.

Ultimately it’s a pretty standard It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode, but that’s not bad. Sure, the man-vs.child fight scene is similar to a moment in Step Brothers, but it’s still an entertaining, “boys will be boys” sort of moment.

That’s it for this It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia recap!  What are you gonna’ do about it? Let us know in the comments!