‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Season 18 Review: For the Sickos!

In Season 18 of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” one episode stands out from the rest. It takes place late in the run and splits the gang into two groups: Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Mac (Rob Mac) are laid up in their apartment, with only Charlie (Charlie Day) available to assist, while Frank (Danny DeVito) and Dee (Kaitlin Olson) try to figure out what their friends were plotting before they got hurt. Somehow, it all ties into a Christmas card competition, but like so many “Sunny” adventures, whatever initially provokes our merry band of ne’er do wells is soon forgotten in a sea of peculiar and petty disputes.

“Mac and Dennis Tear Their ACLs” isn’t quite a bottle episode. (There are a couple of new sets, including one that requires a bit of CGI trickery.) But it’s got the same vibe: It’s hyper-focused on the main cast, including a hilarious scene built around their insular dynamics (aka the rules for watching a movie with Dennis & Mac). It’s dialogue-heavy, with lots of bickering between our two bedridden protagonists (plus a solid runner about verbally announcing sarcasm whenever it’s deployed). And it’s filled with familiar settings (the guys’ apartment, Paddy’s Pub), faces (the main cast + two guest stars, one of which is the episode’s writer, David Hornsby, aka Cricket), and storylines (harebrained schemes carried out with outsized passion that amount to no material consequence).

It’s a very good episode, but that’s not the reason it stands out. “Mac and Dennis Tear Their ACLs” distinguishes itself almost by default, as the only episode in Season 18 that isn’t designed to elicit maximum disgust. Every other entry either dwells in its characters’ filth throughout or reveals a new level of depravity as the climactic joke. To call certain gags unholy would be too kind, and I mean that as a sincere compliment.

The new batch of episodes is for the sickos — and they will feast.

Don’t get me wrong: “It’s Always Sunny” has always catered to the crowd who likes to watch while leering through a neighbor’s window pane. That’ll happen with a satiric sitcom about a group of depraved narcissists whose worldviews are so warped, there’s seemingly nothing they won’t do. Fake a cancer diagnosis? Child’s play. Eat shit? Not just figuratively. Cannibalism? Which time? And lest we forget… the D.E.N.N.I.S. system. I shudder at the thought.

There’s no need to list the grossest moments from “It’s Always Sunny” (that’s what Reddit boards are for). Everyone who’s seen even a handful of episodes has a favorite (or least favorite) gag; one that springs to mind whenever the series leans away from social commentary or character-driven tomfoolery — and instead chooses violence. My 77-year-old father, who’s seen some shit in his day and never misses an episode, still talks about Frank crawling out of the couch with the same sense of awe others reserve for describing actual births.

Perhaps Season 18 can displace that memory for a while. Far be it from me to spoil the debauchery ahead, but the premiere lives up to the nauseating promise of its title — “Frank Marries a Corpse” — before the follow-up surpasses it. There’s another road trip episode that fails to escape the Philadelphia city limits, but succeeds in topping Dennis’ Jamiroquai hat in terms of bad taste. A pair of otherwise unrelated episodes pay homage to generations-old I.P., while still finding time to out-maim their inspirations. And then there’s the Ren Faire episode, where a McPoyle brothers’ cameo portends a closing joke so distressing my innocent little brain rejected all the warnings of its arrival.

After seven episodes guided by disquieting hijinks, “Mac and Dennis Tear Their ACLs” almost feels like a gift — a balm for the scars inflicted by so many shocking attacks. But for those of you who cherish peering into “Sunny’s” darkest corners, the stand-out episode may be an exception to a stand-out season. Maybe the gang should’ve finished at the same level of degradation at which they began. It a thematic fit, and after nearly 200 episodes, there’s no doubting this team’s ability to deliver fresh, new abominations. But no matter how you feel in the end — ready for a more sundry stretch of “Sunny” or ready for more unrelenting raunch — it’s reassuring to know Howerton, Mac, and Day can still distinguish themselves.

Grade: B

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” premieres with two episodes Monday, August 17 at 9 p.m. ET on FX, FXX, and Hulu. New episodes will be released weekly.