In the same vein as last season’s “Charlie Work,” this week, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” focused on the inner life of the gang’s most disgusting and depraved member: Frank (Danny DeVito). Just as “Charlie Work” used a unique filming style with long continuous shots, “Being Frank” takes a similarly non-traditional route by showing the full episode from Frank’s perspective.
Where “Charlie Work” was a huge success, “Being Frank” doesn’t carry quite the same impact. In part, this is due to Frank’s character, who works best when playing off the others’ humor. Too often Frank can be overwhelming, and has always filled a somewhat supplementary role as the gang’s “bank.”
By centering an episode on Frank, the show is in danger of either overwhelmingly showcasing Frank’s nauseating behavior or considerably toning it down. While a few moments are extreme even for Frank, like when he randomly gropes strangers, for the most part this is Frank at his mildest. Even though the episode sidesteps becoming too bizarre and repulsive, it also impedes the comedic potential of the character.
The episode provides viewers with a brief and satisfying glimpse of Frank’s bizarre co-dependent relationship with his probable son, Charlie (Charlie Day), but his interactions with the actual gang are few and far between, even for a character-centric episode. The episode has its best moments in these rare moments of interaction, but unfortunately they are too infrequent to carry the episode.
Likewise, this would have been a great time to dive into Frank’s relationship with the strange group that hangs out under the bridge, but instead the episode less successfully employs two recurring characters in Bill Ponderosa (Lance Barber) and Artemis (Artemis Pebdani). Ponderosa has never been the most interesting character, and Artemis is another extreme character who works better alongside the full cast.
“Being Frank” is a creative and ambitious episode, and while it manages not to crash and burn, it is a very mild portrayal of debatably the most extreme character on the show. The episode has its moments and an interesting premise, but it largely feels like a missed opportunity.
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