This review contains spoilers for the FX show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”
After starting the season with two episodes that played heavily on some of the show’s earlier iconic episodes, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” moved into new territory with “The Gang Hits the Slopes.” Sporting an alternate 80s style title card and featuring a rare trip out of Philadelphia, the episode launches into an excellent satire of 80s ski movies.
As it has in the past, with episodes like the Ghostbusters-inspired “The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis,” the ever-surprising “It’s Always Sunny” plays on classic stereotypes with each of the characters taking on a different trope. Dennis (Glenn Howerton), in the highlight of the episode, assumes the mantle of the snobby, turtleneck-clad villain in the big ski race, joined by Frank (Danny DeVito), the rich businessman who wants to buy and privatize the mountain. On the other side are Mac (Rob McElhenney) and Dee (Kaitlin Olson) who just want to party and fall in with the washed up 80s crowd, now in their fifties. Caught in the middle is Charlie (Charlie Day) who naively tries to navigate the unfamiliar setting.
What makes the episode so compelling is its surreal quality, as life functions according to 80s-style “mountain rules” in which everything revolves around the budding ski rivalry and the big race at the end. There is also an announcer who inexplicably narrates the episode. Even for “It’s Always Sunny” standards, the episode has a dream-like quality that makes it seem like Charlie is about to wake up from a head injury — though that has already been done this season. Instead, the episode deconstructs the “mountain rules” fantasy at the end to hilarious effect.
While Mac and Dee are relatively passive in the episode, mainly tagging along with the old 80s crew whose sexist “pranks,” like peeping, look particularly dated by modern standards — even to the gang. The dynamic between Dennis and Charlie is where the episode really shines, though. Dennis eagerly takes on the role of the bad guy, assembling a posse of Swiss skiers and taking a hyper-competitive approach to the weekend. He even gets a chance to show off his slightly psychotic god-complex with another classic monologue.
Charlie has plenty of funny moments of his own, but he does feel a bit out of character as the reluctant hero. Not only does he have a pseudo-romance with a woman other than the waitress — or Dee — but his fear of leaving Philadelphia is reduced to an afterthought. Despite this, the final confrontation plays out perfectly, as the 80s fantasy comes crashing down in a beautifully engineered anticlimax.
Even with the show in its 11th season, it's encouraging that the creators are still able to craft a great episode without having to rest on their laurels.
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