It's the day many of us have been waiting for! The Abbott Elementary and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia crossover episode is finally here. The first part aired on ABC tonight, and we have a part 2 to look forward to when Sunny season 17 returns this year (hopefully in the summer!). As a fan of both shows, I was really looking forward to this. And I have to say, it definitely met my expectations. Here's a review of the crossover event! SPOILERS BELOW.
Principal Ava announces that the district is sending volunteers, and of course that's the Paddy's Pub group. Things aren't too bad at first, but the personalities of everyone just start to seep through. I do find it interesting that Dennis wanted to stay away from the cameras. He's anything but shy. So I feel like behind the scenes he was doing something convoluted, as the gang usually does, that we'll find out about in the It's Always Sunny episode side of events.
Anyway. At first Dee and Janine hit it off. But when Gregory walks in, Dee has her sights set on him. And as we know, someone being in a committed relationship would not stop this gal from "taking a spin," as she puts it. And that's when Dee's true colors start to come out.
Janine calling Dee a bird was such a laugh out loud moment as us fans of the FX series know very well how she hates that insult since the guys always call her that. It was SO smart and one of my favorite parts of the episode.
Then there's Mr. Johnson vs Frank, which I love. They were hilarious. Mr. Johnson's "we're named after a historical racist" line had me laughing for a good while! Frank had to be his disgusting self as he ate compost "seasoned" with chili powder and garlic, and slept in a pelt soaked in urine. Ew. Oh, Frank.
Abbott always has so many good lines but this episode was seriously full of them. Ava and Mac are teamed up, with him being her vice principal and basically acting like a personal assistant. "I already have a white guy that comes in here to annoy me," referring to Jacob. Ha! Mac's face is hilarious and it's so funny how speechless he is when first talking to Ava.
He and his friends need to be on their best behavior as this is community service. But Ava can definitely meet them at their level if need be, which I hope we see in Sunny. Melissa too! It's a great turn of events that I think for the first time, they're the minority here. And Ava won't let Mac forget it! He's the best free help she's ever had, but hilariously the fact he went the extra mile to write thank you notes to the teachers on her behalf was her deal-breaker. I love Ava.
Out of everyone, I knew Melissa would be the one to recognize the name Paddy's Pub and to have been there before. It lives up to its reputation of having 300 one-star reviews. But, hey. The gang is (mostly) on their best behavior here for what they did and don't want to cause any trouble. Kind of.
Dumping 100 gallons of baby oil, 500 Paddy's Pub t-shirts, and a cybertruck into the Schuylkill River. How on earth did they manage to do that? Though I guess they have done crazier stuff before! One thing I hope the Sunny episode explains is why and how the gang ended up choosing Abbott Elementary as the school to volunteer at, and what leads them to it.
I have to say that the true highlight of the episode is definitely Mr. Charlie Kelly. Now, look. Charlie has his wild and unhinged moments. But in a weird way, he's the sweetest one in the dysfunctional group. And he's my favorite character! So the storyline focusing on his illiteracy was pure comedic gold, while being really heartwarming at the same time.
Jacob, Melissa, and Barbara sort of change the way they looked at him after learning about their "criminal background" and wanted to teach him out. "We taught one of the criminals to read at a kindergarten level" is one of the best lines in television, ever. The kindergartners cheering him on at the library as well, and then the graduation too? LOVE IT!
Charlie got one step closer to knowing how to read, but of course one week is not enough. And by the end, the episode comes to a close the perfect way. Charlie states he wants to leave because the school is haunted, thinking they play basketball against ghosts. Of course he reads ghosts instead of the actual word - Guests. I'm telling you, this episode just brought all of the best lines!
Overall, the Abbott Elementary and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia crossover episode was really, really good. I think so many of hyped it up in our minds, and it does meet those expectations. I will say, I think there was a missed opportunity with Mac and Jacob not flirting, or interacting really. I do wish there were some more group scenes.
But I know that there's only a short 20 minutes and you can definitely tell the writers were trying to fit in as much as they could. The Abbott cast is already large, and adding in an ensemble of five more people definitely isn't easy. That's why I do wish that ABC made a sort of exception and allowed this episode to run at 30 minutes instead of just 20. I think that would have helped a lot.
As a journalist, I was able to screen the episode early. And it goes by really fast! But after watching it another time, and even a third, you can really appreciate it even more. So my recommendation is to at least watch the episode twice. I also missed the dynamic Dennis could have brought. But his absence in the episode will be explained in Part 2 when It's Always Sunny returns.
Also, the crossover event was full of birds in all manner of speaking. You got the mention of the Philadelphia Eagles of course, the reference to Charlie's passion for bird law, Janine insulting Dee by calling her a bird, and the most important of all.
It all comes together thanks to Charlie's love for birds. After learning to sort of read with a book about them, Ava learns a fun fact. The Loggerhead shrike is protected in Pennsylvania. So she's able to use that information to get a much-needed new scoreboard for the school by the golf course people. Using blackmail, obviously. Wohoo! Charlie may be on to something. Birds really do come through for you. Episode grade level: A+!
The crossover episode is now streaming on Hulu. Stay tuned to Show Snob as we bring you updates about It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17 on FX and Part 2 of the event!.