"It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Seasons 10,11,12, 13" It's Not the Same, but That Doesn't Mean It's Worthless

 

    Where do I even start with this iteration of the show. I really want to say that I still enjoy the later seasons as much as I do the earlier seasons, I really do, but the truth is I don't. I just think at some point some time around the 10th season the quality started to dip. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I didn't notice the dip in quality, it's just that the reason this entire review took so long to write was because it's been taking me significantly longer to get through this show than I once did. At some point, it became so successful, and it had gone on for so long, it almost sort of became a caricature of itself? It was bound to happen I suppose. Eventually, you become too successful, and the show becomes the livelihood of too many people to really feel that safe/secure about constantly straddling the line between people understanding the show is satire, and not getting cancelled. What doesn't help either is that the show has basically become a cast that's just "messing around" with each other. And that can be fun at times, but the truth is it's giving me shades of later seasons of Community in the worst way possible. In spite of that, it's not like this each season is particularly long, and so like previous reviews, I'll be going through each season, listing out my favourite episodes from each.

    I think if I had to choose an episode that exemplifies the issues that It's Always Sunny starts to run into, it would most definitely be The Gang Spies Like U.S in season 10. Don't get me wrong, Dee trying to spy on the Chinese fish factory is legitimately funny, and a real plotline to follow. It's just that the B-plot is a real big nothing burger that really leads nowhere. The punchline is just that Mac and Dennis like watching porn, and the entire side-plot is just them all using a laptop, staying in the same area. You could see it from a mile away, and there isn't much movement, it isn't doing much. So in the end viewers just end up wanting to see more of Dee having her hair get stuck in a conveyor belt. There's also Charlie Work which is an interesting episode to see once, but I don't think I've ever watch again. Starting around this time, the show starts to do gimmick episodes, which are fine, and are kind of interesting, especially ones that just follow one character, but once you know what happens, there's really not much appeal in re-watching it again. That's not to say that this season doesn't have standout episodes. I really did love The Gang Beats Boggs, though frankly I'm not sure how much of it is true. It matters very little because despite the small space the gang gets on with so many shenanigans it's hard not to love it nonetheless. I also absolutely love The Gang Goes on Family Fight, but that may just be because I like Keegan-Michael Key a lot. I mean technically it goes against what I enjoy in this show, because it doesn't feature the bar at all, but the fact that gang slowly turns the host insane, and the wrong buzzer keeps on breaking Dennis down just endears me to it. Of course, how could I forget Ass Kickers United: Mac and Charlie Join a Cult which is just a fantastic season closer about the gang vying for control of a fake cult. Shoutout Rex.

    I think that if you had to ask me, I do think I enjoy season 11 of It's Always Sunny more than season 10. Of course there are the gimmick episodes such as Being Frank, which is decent, but nothing I'd like to ever see again, or Frank Falls Out the Window which was frankly just one giant rehash, but not in a . fun way. But the episodes that are fun are really good. Chardee MacDennis 2 was a surprisingly solid sequel, Mac & Dennis Move to the Suburbs is a really fun exploration of the Mac and Dennis relationship that is relatively underexplored I feel like, especially because they've been roommates for so long. Also they have some completely, out-of-bar episodes that are really fun, like The Gang Hits the Slopes, or McPoyle vs. Ponderosa: The Trial of the Century. Of course, this season is known for the two part finale in which the gang spends most of it stuck in a room. Despite the lack of movement I'd say its quite interesting, and of course the Mac finally comes out of the closet and decides he isn't gay which is the big reveal. It's not the best season, but I do have to admit at least it's not riddled by odd decisions like having Dennis just not be there randomly.

    Though, before we reach that season there is season 12 of the show, which has it's moments for sure. I think if I had to choose a favourite episode it' definitely have to be Old Lady House: A Situation Comedy. I didn't realize just how much I missed the show making fun of random things for an episode, like old-timey sitcoms. I didn't realize that the actresses who played Mac and Charlie's mom had it in them to carry an entire episode, but they really did. I mean contrast that to The Gang Turns Black in which the entire show turns into a musical. Now don't get me wrong, I love musicals, but i don't think they really make fun of it in that episode, and frankly there is a hilarious amount of autotune, especially on Danny Devito, who I expected to be able to sing better, but maybe that's just my fault. I also surprisingly enjoyed The Gang Goes to a Water Park, but I think that's just because I'm a big fan of Dennis having an apprentice since he's my favourite character in the show.

    Look when I complain about It's Always Sunny season 13 does come to mind, and that's not just because the actor from Dennis is much less involved in just this one season. It just doesn't really have that same charm because there's that big ghost of Dennis looming, but also not because he's still present for over half of the episodes anyways. There are just too many throwaway episodes for it to be any good, like The Gang Escapes? They're just in an escape room that happens to be setup in Dennis' and Mac's apartment. I wasn't too crazy about the The Gang Does a Clip Show either. Maybe I'm just spoiled by Community making fun of bottle episodes by including new clips, because I didn't really care too much about seeing old clips of Always Sunny as much. The two parter involving the superbowl wasn't that interesting to me either, but I'm also not really a big football fan, so maybe I didn't really have that same sort of attachment that I should have. I'd say there are about two episodes I really enjoy in this episode, one of them being Time's Up for the Gang which has this whole sexual harassment angle, but ends with Mac somehow punching Dee in the vagina, and Dennis telling everyone to be more careful like he is. Mac Finds His Pride was also cool, especially the dance, but I do have to ask if it had much of a place in a show like Sunny.

Final Score: 65-70/100

    Do I still sort of miss that irreverent feeling that earlier season of the show gave me? Yeah of course, but as I just listed out, I enjoyed large swaths of these seasons still. I mean it was bound to happen. I guarantee you if the show was still trying to chase the same magic it had created 10 years earlier people would be complaining that the show had failed to evolve. Either that or they would be complaining about show failing miserably to rechase it's glory days with reboots and sequels. That being said, I suppose what I'm trying to say is don't go into these later seasons expecting the same It's Always Sunny, sure the magic does show up every once in a while, but I'd be lying if I told you that the show is the same as it once was over 10 years ago when it started. Nonetheless, there are still gems to be found in this show, even if they've dulled just a bit over the years.