Episode 09: The Gang Dines Out ((FULL))
"The Gang Dines Out"Season Eight, Episode NineWriterMehar SethiDirectorMatt ShakmanAir DateDecember 13, 2012Images from "The Gang Dines Out""The Gang Dines Out" is the ninth episode of the eighth season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Episode 09: The Gang Dines Out
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia season 8 episode 9 saw the gang head back to Guigino's restaurant for a nice meal - which naturally goes wrong. While many sitcoms like Frasier or How I Met Your Mother will feature its central characters growing up or maturing over time, that hasn't really happened yet for the Paddy's Pub gang. They are all as self-involved, childish and evil as they've ever been, despite the show having run for fourteen seasons and counting.
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia season 8 episode 9 "The Gang Dines Out" sees Dennis and Mac head out for one of their monthly dinners together at Guigino's Italian restaurant. Their plans are somewhat spoiled when Charlie and Frank - who is sporting a hideous wig - arrive to celebrate their moving in anniversary. Both tables think the other should come over to say hello first, which starts a needlessly petty competition.
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia season 8 episode 9 also finds Dee in the same restaurant eating alone because she has a coupon. She's both embarrassed to be eating alone and trying not to get noticed by the guys, but the real hero of the episode is The Waiter (Michael Naughton, Better Call Saul). He has to run around trying to meet the whims of the different groups, including Dennis constantly requesting a new chair or Dee refusing to order anything and making his difficult.
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia season 8 episode 9 also explores the weird relationships both Dennis and Mac and Charlie and Frank have formed with each other. After he hurts Mac's feelings by not being nice to him, Dennis - in a rare display of something approaching emotion - stands up to complement him and sing "Wind Beneath My Wings." The episode ends with the two groups about to attack each other with different objects when The Waiter tries to stop them. He instead trips and gets covered in spaghetti, discovering his shoelaces have been tied. They laugh, causing Dee to appear and take credit for causing the mess, and the gang joins together while ignoring the injured Waiter's call for help. All in all, their night ended better than expected.
Mac and Dennis go to Guigino's Italian restaurant for their monthly dinner, only to discover that Frank and Charlie are also there to celebrate their anniversary of moving in together. Both parties become offended when the other fails to acknowledge them, all the while unaware that Dee is also at the restaurant.This episode provides examples of the following tropes: Ambiguously Gay: Mac attempts to grope the male waiter while putting a tip in his pocket after Frank and Dennis both do the same to the female hostess.
Bottle Episode: The entire episode takes place inside Guigino's Italian restaurant.
Butt-Monkey: The unnamed waiter, who is constantly harassed and verbally abused by the gang throughout the episode and eventually trips and falls into a plate of spaghetti after Dee ties his shoelaces together.
Comically Missing the Point: Mac totally misses the fact that Dennis's heartfelt speech (ostensibly about a military veteran in attendance at the restaurant) was about him despite some very specific references to their shared history until Dennis explicitly spells it out for him.Dennis: I was talking about you! Mac: That was about me? Dennis: Yes! He wasn't there when I went down on Chrissy Orlando! Mac: I did not get that at all!
Comically Small Bribe: Dennis hands a hostess five dollars to try to get her to get him a new chair after she declines to. Mac throws in a whole dollar to make it "come here faster."
Continuity Nod: Dee says that she used to date a troop who was crazy for jean shorts.
Dennis mentions Frank and Charlie running around naked in the sewers looking for rings and coins in his speech.
Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Frank plans to get revenge on Mac and Dennis by "pinching their dicks with a lobster".
Damned by Faint Praise: When Mac demands that Dennis say something nice to him for once, the best Dennis is initially able to come up with is "your hair looks small". He does manage to redeem himself somewhat later on, however.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Mac and Dennis both treat their monthly dinner like a date, getting dressed up for the occasion and commenting on how long they've been looking forward to it. The same applies to Frank and Charlie, who even explain to the somewhat bemused hostess that they're celebrating their "anniversary".
Eating Lunch Alone: Dee goes to the restaurant alone because she has a Groupon that's about to expire, and becomes embarrassed about it once she realizes the rest of the gang are there.
Friendship Moment: The gang bond over laughing at the waiter when he trips and ends up covered in spaghetti at the end of the episode.
Grew a Spine: Mac actually stands up to Dennis for once, accusing the latter of always putting him down and demanding that he say something nice.
I Just Want to Have Friends: Dee is desperate to have someone sit with her and eventually ends up trying to join the soldier's party despite not knowing anybody at his table.
Jerkass Has a Point: Frank is trying to turn Charlie against Mac and Dennis for selfish reasons, but he does have a point when he reminds Charlie that he was originally an equal partner in the bar until they made him a janitor.
Metaphorgotten: Charlie and Dennis both fall into this during their respective toasts; they're ostensibly talking about the troop, but they keep slipping in very specific digs at each other.Dennis: We do have an American hero in the house tonight. A strong man. A brave man. He's the kind of man who knows exactly who he is. He doesn't hide under a toupee. He faces his challenges instead of just retreating to the sewers, nude, to forage for rings and coins. Or to the toilets, or to a life filled with rats.
Moment Killer: The waiter interrupts Frank when he's giving a speech to Charlie about the anniversary of their moving in together. Later, Charlie interrupts Dennis by announcing a toast just as he's about to say something nice to Mac.
Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Dennis and Frank engage in this, antagonizing each other through petty gestures such as sending bottles of wine to each other's tables.
Pet the Dog: When pushed, Dennis gives a genuinely heartfelt speech about how his friendship with Mac helped him build his confidence when they were younger. He then proceeds to sing "The Wind Beneath My Wings" to Mac in the middle of the crowded restaurant.
At the end of the episode, after the waiter trips due Dee's sabotage, Dennis legitimately laughs at her joke and invites her to come dine with him. It's a rare moment of kinship between Dennis and Dee.
Rage-Breaking Point: Dennis is incensed by the fact that he's sat right next to the kitchens on a rickety chair, and even more so by Frank and Charlie neglecting to "pay tribute" to him.
Serenade Your Lover: Dennis does a (maybe) platonic version to Mac.
Tied-Together-Shoelace Trip: Dee suggests that the waiter get revenge on Dennis by tying his shoelaces together. She later ends up doing that very same thing to the waiter himself.
Too Much Information: Dennis goes into extremely vulgar detail about one of his sexual conquests while he's giving a speech to the entire restaurant.Dennis: ...And to go down on Chrissy Orlando on the trampoline, later on the very same night, which I also did. And I licked her asshole a little bit. It was pretty good, it was alright. It wasn't great. But it was fine.
Dee will do anything to avoid the embarrassment of being seen sitting all by herself. Like the rest of the gang, she avoids the simplest solution to a problem and makes things more complicated than they need to be. She desperately tries to force others into sitting with her, even going as far as to insert herself onto another table of people - Dee's desperate.
"The Gang Dines Out" perfectly encapsulates everything that can go wrong with public dining. It puts its characters in relatable situations, then shows you the worst-case scenarios that arise as the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia gang make the worst possible choices. Sometimes dining out can be a blast. Other times, you might end up eating alone next to the kitchen on a chair that wobbles too much. When that happens it might feel awkward when someone you know sees you but if the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia crew has taught us anything it's that the situation could always be much, much worse.
Every once in a while, shows take risks. Each season has one or two episodes that buck the trend, take a different path and explore unfamiliar scenarios, settings, and story arcs. "The Gang Dines Out" felt like one of those episodes.
Dennis and Mac paired up to throw down in a battle royale of paying tribute against Charlie and Frank, while Dee laid low in the (wind beneath my?) wings unnoticed. There were numerous mentions of paying tribute throughout the night out, so I'm suggesting the episode itself was paying tribute to something we'd see on Seinfeld.
Charlie and Frank have the kind of domestic partnership that Mac has sought with Dennis, but has never attained. This was the episode where his frustration came to a head and he got his due, though it didn't feel fulfilling to us despite Dennis' grandiose address on the mic (the best part of the episode, by the way). 041b061a72