Today is an exciting day to be an It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia fan in general as it's the season 17 premiere of the long-running FXX comedy series. Plus, the first episode to start things off also serves as the long-awaited second part to the Abbott Elementary and It's Always Sunny crossover episode. Now we get to see the week from the gang's perspective. And let's just say no matter how hard they try, they just can't help but misbehave. Here's a recap and review of the crossover event! Spoilers below.
The episode takes place a few months after Charlie, Mac, Dennis, Dee, and Frank had to serve community service, which is how they ended up "volunteering" at the school. If you remember, the ABC sitcom features a documentary crew filming the goings on of the school, and that includes the gang's time there as well. However they constantly forget they have mics on them, and about the cameras.
Principal Ava Coleman walks us through the week, which was actually only four days to be exact, with unseen footage that has popped up. In a turn of events that's not surprising to us Sunny viewers at all, the gang was up to more than just getting their community service hours while there.
They are literally all over the place and trying to do a bunch of things at once, even though at first Mac, as well as Dennis, try to keep them all in line. Frank immediately sees an opportunity to make some money. With Abbott's building being an old one,he realizes they used copper piping. This could get them some good money, plus the city would make them pull it out anyway. So in a way, as he sees it, they're doing them a favor.
Then there's Dennis who finally gets more screen time in the crossover, and he doesn't have much to do. So he uses his time to make coffee like a regular Walter White, in reference to the character from Breaking Bad. The coffee at the school is awful, and he refuses to drink it, which leads to this. He becomes a pretty successful barista for the week, actually. Dee calling lice racist is one of the funny and crazy jokes that they make.
We saw how Dee tries to steak Gregory in the first Abbott Elementary and Sunny crossover, and it's clear she was faking liking Janine from the start. The new footage reveals she thinks Janine is a dud and she should be the star of whatever they're filming. You know, this gal is still hilariously trying to make it in the acting world. Ha!
The gang also tries to go for a Blind Side moment and recruit one of the students to join the basketball team at their local school. Though when they ambush him in the bathroom, it sounds like it's something way different that they were trying to recruit him for. When Jacob finds out the real reason, he's very much relieved.
One of the funniest moments from the episode is when they're all sitting at lunch together, and start to talk about 9/11 for hours. Charlie brings up the fact that the kids don't know the significance of the day is for the U.S. and the tragedy that happened. Now, it's become more of an Internet meme.
They all go on and on for hours about "never forget" and how this is a disgrace. And yet somehow, they wind up convincing themselves of the conspiracy theories about the event out there and how they believe them all. Oh you Paddy's Pub peeps. I was just laughing out loud here. They truly are unhinged.
Even still, this propels them to do their final act of craziness in the short four days they're at Abbott Elementary. They want to start a boy band and audition different students for it. Though when that doesn't work as Gregory puts a stop to it so the students can get back to class, Jacob, Barbara, and Janine are brought in. With actor Charlie Day's musical talent and his character Charlie having that in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia too, I was happy to see this element added into the episode.
They want to do an update of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" to fit more modern times, and recurit the three Abbott teachers to help them sing. I was falling out of my seat here. They were so out of sync, I just couldn't. Frank and Mac do actually end up starting a fire trying to melt a bench in the gym.
However, the gang goes into a long tantrum full of curse words at Fall Out Boy when it's pointed out that the band already did an update of the Billy Joel song. They're hilariously frustrated that Fall Out Boy is always one step ahead of them, and Barbara notes even her children haven't tantrum-ed for that long. That's the It's Always Sunny gang for ya!
The gang ends up creating a "Fall Out Boy Can't Stop Us" video instead, going forward with their hysterical creation. They did their own filming at the school which makes up their music video. And hey, it works. We end the wonderful crossover episode with the Abbott staff paying Paddy's Pub a visit. Which I'm so relieved by because I was afraid we wouldn't get this moment. It's seemingly sweet at first with the gang thanking the teachers for their time there, and gift them with an espresso machine.
This was all a distraction though so Frank could go back to the school and get the copper piping. Which he definitely does from one of the bathrooms. Around 100 feet of it. However, Ava points out that this actually saved them money in construction costs, and asks the documentary crew to burn the footage or she'll get fired if the district finds out about it.
Overall just like the first Abbot and Sunny crossover episode, honestly this one was hilarious as well. I think if you're not an average viewer of the raunchy FXX comedy, this all might seem a bit chaotic to you. Though this is what the gang does best. They're always all over the place with a bunch of different thoughts and ideas. This was really enjoyable, made me laugh, and I just love that these two crossover episodes happened! Ava's commentary throughout the whole episode also gave it an extra level of humor. Episode grade level: A.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17 airs new episodes Wednesdays on FXX. Stream the next day on Hulu.
More streaming news from Show Snob: