It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 18 Premiere Review: A Much-Needed Explosive Start

Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0

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As a diehard It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fan, I’ve struggled to continue believing in the show in recent years.

This year, that might finally change.

The two-episode Season 18 premiere was packed with absurdly comedic scenes and trademark tantrums that felt closer to the spirit of earlier seasons without copying them directly.

My biggest critique of It’s Always Sunny in recent years is that the show has lost its unique voice and turned to regurgitating old references.

But this premiere felt like anything but.

Familiar characters showed up, but they all played important roles instead of serving as eye candy for dedicated viewers.

Admittedly, the story felt fast-paced at moments, losing out on smaller moments to dig deeper into characters’ inner worlds in favor of building up to bigger, shocking moments.

But even when it spreads itself thin on the pacing front, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 18 Episodes 1 and 2 give the Gang plenty of time to show off just how awful they can be.

Leaning Into the Morbid

Grief is a hard topic to tackle, but nothing’s off the table for this sitcom.

The show addresses the death of actress Lynne Marie Stewart, who played Charlie’s mother, by showing Charlie in mourning.

Somehow, the show keeps the tone relatively light-hearted despite the heavy topic.

The stand-out moment has to be Charlie singing a somber song about his mom while a stripper dances in front of a frozen Frank. It’s impossible to watch that scene while keeping a straight face.

While the situation is hilarious, the show never makes fun of Charlie’s sadness about losing his mom, even when he turns the joint funeral into an extravagant clown parade.

Giving Charlie two entire episodes to process the loss of his mom is the closest It’s Always Sunny can get to a heartfelt approach without veering into Mac Finds His Pride territory.

It’s Always Sunny also gets surprisingly morbid, showing a head popping off a body, Dennis prying a thumb off a corpse, and Sam’s corpse flying through the air after getting launched from a cannon.

The descriptions may sound closer to something you’d see on Dexter, but the scenes still remain comedic, mainly because the body horror is unrealistic and uncanny.

Frank wasn’t very memorable in these episodes, even though the first episode is titled, “Frank Marries A Corpse.”

But I definitely didn’t mind that he took a backseat for the sake of the story, especially since his kids got to shine.

The Trash Twins are Back and Better Than Ever

Dennis mostly takes a backseat on Episode 1, exhibiting his control-freak tendencies in the background and silently scheming.

He’s back in full force on Episode 2, “Dennis & Dee Don’t Get Rich,” with his signature rage and nonsensical rants.

Dennis’ crash-outs are always fun to watch, but the tightly controlled anger that bleeds through his careful composure as he and Dee negotiate with Uncle Jack is even better.

When it comes to Dennis, Glenn Howerton has never held back, but he delivers an exceptional performance on Episode 2. I have no idea how he makes the veins in his forehead pop out like that.

The other half of the Trash Twins, Dee, also has plenty of memorable moments across both episodes.

In particular, Dee’s mutual antagonism with other women in the show, including Artemis and the Waitress, plays unexpectedly well this episode. Dee’s years of berating them are finally met with vengeance in the form of raiding her kitchen.

Dee and Dennis’ dynamic in Episode 2 is easily my favorite part of the premiere. The twins feed off of each other’s energy, and they’re at their funniest when they’re desperate.

Their slow descent into madness as they attempt to get a dead woman’s thumbprint for the marriage certificate is a satisfying payoff for how forcefully they executed the horrifying wedding.

It’s almost childishly comical how Dee and Dennis get so caught up in their fantasies of being rich that they try not to smell “the poor” and let it infect their soon-to-be-millionaire selves.

But in the context of the story, it lands astonishingly well and got a few laughs out of me.

Part of the fun in watching Dennis and Dee try to get Sam’s money is knowing the Sisyphian loop of It’s Always Sunny.

No matter how close the Gang gets to success, they will never truly achieve it.

Mac’s Journey of Self-Discovery

I wasn’t expecting It’s Always Sunny to tackle Mac having to come out to his mom in the season premiere, but I was pleasantly surprised by the decision to confront it head-on.

Unfortunately, the build-up of Mac wrestling with how to come out is much more interesting than what actually happens.

It’s much more interesting to watch Mac trying to cover up any mentions of being gay from his mother than to see the brief moment of him finally coming out via the dummy.

Sure, it’s great that his mom seems to receive the news better than his dad, but the reveal felt squeezed into the already busy wedding ceremony.

I appreciate how the storyline of Mac taking care of his mom after Bonnie’s death in Episode 2 feeds into Episode 1 and continues to build as Mac tries to reunite his parents.

Gregory Scott Cummins pulls double duty by playing both Luther and Donald, and I’m impressed by how he portrays the brothers’ polar-opposite personalities.

Rob Mac also does a great job embodying Mac, as the character’s clear desire for his indifferent family to love him shines through, even in the comedic moments.

However, we only get to scrape the surface of the McDonald family drama.

I would have loved to learn more about Donald, the family’s only charismatic member, and I hope the show returns to Mac’s family later in the season.

After a solid premiere, it’s safe to say that I’m finally feeling hopeful for what It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 18 has in store for the Gang.

Paddy’s Pub’s Bulletin Board

• My favorite line has to be Dennis calling Mac a “gay woke priest.”
• Uncle Jack is still creepy. Uncle Jack as a ventriloquist is even creepier. Uncle Jack sucking on his thumb is a huge No with a capital N from me.

• One ironic title cutaway is great, but two in a row might be overdoing it.
• Shoutout to the Waitress for being out for blood. She deserves it after all these years!
• I still don’t really get the Colonel Sanders tie bit at the beginning of Episode 1. Is the show sponsored by KFC now?
• Charlie’s clown costume looks really good. I’m not above wearing something like that for Halloween.

• How did they manage to get an audience for the wedding? More specifically, do all those people really like Frank Reynolds enough to show up to his wedding?

That’s all from me!

What were your top moments from the latest episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia?

Don’t forget to vote in the poll below, and come back next week for our continued coverage of the Gang’s antics!

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia airs on Mondays at 9/8c on FXX, FX, and Hulu.