“Dee inspired me. She said, ‘You’re an awesome janitor, Charlie. You can make this whole school slippery.'” – Charlie
An unearthed time capsule brings about varying emotions for different members of The Gang. While most of the items buried for ten years didn’t have the exact monetary value that they thought (The Cider House Rules on LaserDisc, a KoRn CD, and a Gregg Jefferies baseball card), there are several items that have intrinsic sentimental value.
For Dee (Kaitlin Olson), it was the ol’ “mail a letter to your future self” trick. Just last year, I received a letter from my senior year English teacher, Mrs. Baker, which included our own “letters to our future self” that we had to write for an assignment. Needless to say, I’m not quite where I thought I would be.
Dee’s letter surmised that by 2010, she would be a famous actress in Hollywood thanks to the inspiration of her high school drama teacher, Dr. Meyers. When she returns school to discuss with the good doctor why she hasn’t made it as far as she hoped, he suggests that maybe it’s her duty to inspire the youth of today. She takes on some sort of teaching position in Dr. Meyer’s class and finds the students to be typical teenagers, FaceTweeting the class away on their iBerries.
She attempts to revive the Frankenstein musical she starred in (as the title character no less), but the end result is a broken hip for Dr. Meyers and a bunch of apathetic students. The best part about this whole storyline was seeing a very pregnant female Frankenstein in full makeup attempt to sing terrible songs about rotting flesh, if only because it’s something you don’t see every day.
The boys in The Gang come across a picture of their younger selves that includes a previous member, Schmitty, played by SNL standout Jason Sudeikis. Schmitty had been kicked out of The Gang because Charlie (Charlie Day) simply didn’t like him and when he gave Mac (Rob McElhenney) and Dennis (Glenn Howerton) an ultimatum, they chose Charlie (and kicked Schmitty out of a moving car). Realizing that Schmitty was awesome, they check in on him and find him to still be a fun guy. Charlie gets immediately jealous and gives Mac and Dennis another ultimatum. This time, they choose Schmitty and Charlie walks off into the night, a lone hero with no one to impress with his Butt Dance.
Mac, Dennis, and Frank (Danny DeVito) take an instant liking to Schmitty, but can’t simply let him into The Gang until Schmitty completes the entire initiation process. This process includes:
- Wearing a sterling silver clover petal ring that when connected with the rings of the other members, forms a four leaf clover of truth, power, and justice. (Something tells me the conspiracy members on Rubicon have the same rings.)
- Attending a luncheon at a fancy Italian restaurant, but only eating what Dennis orders: some kind of prawn salad.
- Sitting in a throne in the middle of the bar as candles are lit around said throne.
- Listening to a CD of some kind of chanting/drum and bass combo.
- Watching Mac attempt to roundhouse kick a bell hanging from the ceiling.
Schmitty doesn’t take any of this ridiculousness seriously and is once again kicked out of The Gang (Frank attempts to kick him out of a moving car but fails so they have to simply let him get out at the curb.) Knowing they need a forth petal to their clover, they approach Charlie about rejoining their ranks. But Charlie has moved on from the Gang. After trying to get inspired by Dee at the high school, he decides to take a job as a substitute janitor and, in his mind at least, is too much of a success to leave. Someone’s got to wax every single surface of the school (including the stage where Dr. Meyers slips and breaks his hip) and by God, Charlie thinks he’s the man for the job.
And yes, my friends, we are treated to the second cliff hanger of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s sixth season. And unlike the back-to-back “Mac Fights Gay Marriage” and “Dennis Gets Divorced,” this unfinished conclusion feels a lot more earned. I’m generally really excited to see how Mac, Dennis, and Frank resort to winning the chronically underappreciated Charlie back.
Lingering thoughts about “The Gang Gets a New Member”:
- Dave Foley does a swell job in his brief scene as the principal. Just swell.
- I wish I could have spelled KoRn with its official backwards “R,” but TVGA just doesn’t have that kind of technology yet.
- Gregg Jefferies career slash-line: .289/.344/.421
- I love the call back to Charlie’s baffling bedtime game Nightcrawlers and that Schmitty has the apparently revolutionary idea of using blankets.
- “I’m not that little. Regular size.” – Charlie
- “You were such a hideous delight in that show.” – Dr. Meyers
- “It’s an imagination-based game.” – Charlie
- “I’m a little confused, are you telling me that this photo of Bruce Jenner is your resume?” – Principal
- “I’m serious, I’ll eat that eraser whole.” – Charlie
- “Tell people we pushed you!” – Frank
Some stats and info about It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “The Gang Gets a New Member”
TV SHOW – It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 6, Episode 8
AIRED ON – November 4th, 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.