“A good hockey wig could put this thing over the top.” – Charlie
I’m a sucker for sports movie montages as is, but nothing beats a good parody of one. Sure, South Park has mastered this several times (hell, they even featured a song simply about montages), but there’s something exceptional about seeing Mac and Charlie, in all their live-action glory, improving Mac’s hockey ability with “Scarface (Push it to the Limit)” playing in the background. But the montage is only one great moment of many, putting “Mac’s Big Break” on top of the totem pole as easily the best episode of the sixth season so far.
Mac wins a radio call-in contest for a chance to shoot a puck from center ice during a Flyers game intermission. If he makes the shot, he’ll get to spend a weekend at the radio station’s beach house and, clearly, establish himself as a sports celebrity. Unfortunately, Mac is about as good at hockey as I am and Charlie has to use his very minimal peewee hockey experience to get Mac ready.
There are a few minor complications though. For one, all of Mac’s instincts and training tell him to use the hockey stick as a weapon. (One of my favorite Sunny lines from a couple years ago came when Mac attempts to use his martial arts knowledge to kick-shatter a car window and after he fails miserably, Charlie says, “Take one karate class if you’re so into karate.”) To make matters worse, at the fear of looking like a jabroni, Mac wants to wear skates during the shot even though he doesn’t know how to actually skate. Throw in the restrictive nature of wearing his duster during a slap shot and Mac and Charlie have their work cut out for them.
But, again, if South Park has taught us anything, a montage solves all problems.
Meanwhile, after listening to Mac’s trivia answer on the air, Dennis and Dee decide to record their own podcast where they will talk about serious issues. Regrettably neither are informed about any issues so they rely on Frank bringing in various guests instead. First comes Rickety Cricket. He survived the gash to the throat given to him by Frank in “The Gang Wrestles for the Troops,” but the wound became infected and now he has a deep, gravelly voice. Also, the wound looks like a canine vagina and apparently a stray dog had sex with it, which is about the most disturbing thing I’ve ever imagined.
Next comes Ben the turtle-loving soldier, who doesn’t have much to say though I liked how high Dennis’ voice got when he tries to talk about the various wars the United States is engaged in. Also, Dee’s face was absolutely priceless.
Finally, the Waitress makes her not-so-triumphant return to receive an apology from Dennis as promised by Frank. Of course, Dennis has no plans to apologize about anything, but the Waitress does accept Frank’s offer to drink soup from his shoe for $500 (though not topless). However, the bar is soupless so Rickety Cricket just dumps a bucket of dishwater on her head instead. The dishwater destroys Dennis’ computer and they have to rely on Frank’s cheap tape recorder to record their show. They give the tape to Mac so he can show it to the radio guys (apparently a real Philly radio team).
But Mac doesn’t get that far because moments after he steps onto the rink at the Flyers game, he trips and bashes his head on the ice. Though not before imagining an impressive scenario where he fires a shot so hard that it breaks through the cardboard representation of a goalie. In actuality, Charlie took the shot and missed. On the plus side, Mac’s fall will likely still make him a sports celebrity, as Charlie reminds him, because there’s no way it wont show up on the SportsCenter “Not Top Ten.”
Here’s a few more thoughts about “Mac’s Big Break”:
- “Where’s the H key?” – Charlie
- I loved Charlie’s random ’80s teen movie rich antagonist. Also it was very appropriate considering the montage that would follow.
- “We are not men who get a lot of opportunities, Charlie. The few we’ve had we squandered.” – Mac
- “Does my scar look like a dog’s vagina? Maybe.” – Rickety Cricket
- There’s something creepy but hilarious about Cricket sucking on lemons.
- “That’s a laser beam. I like that one.” – Dennis
- “You’re in the hot seat girl.” – Frank
Some stats and info about It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “Mac’s Big Break”
TV SHOW – It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 6, Episode 4
AIRED ON – October 7th, 2010
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – FX, FXX, Hulu
GENRE – Comedy, Office Culture
CREATED BY – Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton
CAST – Charlie Day, Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, Danny DeVito
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.