Being Frank

"Being Frank"
Information
Season	Eleven
Episode	Six
Writer(s)	Scott Marder
Director(s)	Heath Cullens
Air Date	February 10, 2016
Chronology
Preceded by	"Mac & Dennis Move to the Suburbs"
Followed by	"McPoyle vs. Ponderosa: The Trial of the Century"

"Being Frank" is the sixth episode of the eleventh season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Synopsis

A day in the life of Frank Reynolds as he tries to keep up with the gang's newest scheme.

Recap

11:00 AM
On a Friday
Philadelphia, PA

This episode is told entirely from the point-of-view of Frank Reynolds. Viewers can hear Frank's internal thoughts and see through his eyes over the course of one day.

Frank is called to Paddy's Pub by Dennis but can't remember the latest scheme everyone is talking about. He is reminded to get his walkie-talkie so he heads back to his apartment where his landlord Hwang shows up and demands the rent check. Hwang chokes on a snake meat sandwich, then Frank eats the sandwich and also nearly chokes to death.

Frank wakes up in the hospital and is reminded over the walkie-talkie to get a car for the gang. The doctor seems to be telling Frank he has a brain tumor, but Frank doesn't listen and pushes him aside. He texts Pondy (Bill Ponderosa) who agrees to let Frank borrow his car. Frank meets the gang, who are attempting to enter a facility with a guard. Mac reveals he has tossed the rug he was going to use to scale a chain-link fence over the fence entirely. Frank eats a drug-laced dog treat and heads to Artemis' apartment to obtain another rug.

Artemis is sitting shivah for her late aunt. Frank goes to her bathroom and snorts some "uppers" to counter-act the dog tranquilizer. He starts feeling the effects from the drugs, trashes Artemis' apartment and runs out with the rug. Driving back, he gets a "911" text from Pondy. Frank drives to the roller rink as Pondy runs out explaining that he got fresh with a girl that he believed was 18. He and Frank are beat up by a gang of angry men that pour out of the rink.

Frank wakes up in the trunk of Pondy's car in an impound lot. He exits and sees the gang, who are now all wearing guard uniforms, on the other side of the fence. They tell him to get Dennis' Range Rover which is also in the lot. He barrels it through the fence and they all take off away from the lot.

Back at their apartment, Frank is using his toe knife and Charlie stands doing some sort of yoga. Before they head to bed, Charlie convinces Frank to play a game of Night Crawlers.

Recurring Roles

• Lance Barber as Bill Ponderosa
• Artemis Pebdani as Artemis
• Shelly Desai as Hwang

Guest Stars

• Brad Lee Wind as Angry Dad

Trivia

• The song playing on the radio when Frank receives a picture of old tits from Pondy is "Ugly In The Morning" by Faith No More. "Digging The Grave", also by Faith No More, plays a bit later in the episode. Danny DeVito and Mike Patton became friends after DeVito and his son attended a Fantômas show at the 2005 Coachella Festival. DeVito reportedly continually goes to see concerts by Patton.
• The song Frank hears when he snorts the pills in Artemis' bathroom is "Monster Mania" by Figure.
• The scenes shown after Frank snorts the pills are probably a reference to The Prodigy's videoclip for their song "Smack My Bitch Up"
• This is the first episode where you get to see a glimpse of Night Crawlers in action. They are using blankets in the game, which might suggest that they took Schmitty's suggestions for improving the game from the 6th Season Episode "The Gang Gets a New Member."
• Frank's hair dye is first mentioned in Season 10's "Frank Retires".
• Franks final instruction as he chokes to "Throw me in the trash" echoes statements he's made in "A Very Sunny Christmas" and "Frank Reynolds' Little Beauties" in which he has expressed very little concern with what happens to his body after his death.
• This is the third episode in which Bill Ponderosa appears that Maureen Ponderosa does not also appear, after "Dee Gives Birth" and "The Gang Squashes Their Beefs".
• This episode may be a nod to the movie "Being John Malkovich", sharing its title and first-person perspective.
• Mac tries to confide in Frank the fact that he thinks Dennis hates him, likely due to the events of "Mac and Dennis Move to the Suburbs".
• Frank has genuine trouble remembering Dennis' name, instead cycling through D-names and referring to him as "the vain one", a call back to his questionable senility in "Charlie's Mom Has Cancer". He only remembers Mac as "this one" that creeps him out, and doesn't want him to touch him, a nod to Mac's possible homosexuality which is later confirmed in "Hero or Hate Crime?"
• Ironically, Frank doesn't want Mac touching him, when in past episodes it's Mac who is telling Frank not to touch him ("Mac and Dennis Break Up", "Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games").
• This entire episode is shot from the perspective of Frank - an interesting camera technique for storytelling.
• This is the shortest episode in the series so far at 16:58 (excluding the closing credits).
• Frank is told he has a condition affecting his frontal lobe. Diseases of or damage to the frontal lobe can lead to severe mental problems, including loss of memory, impulsive behavior, and inability to recognize the consequences of your actions -- which, of course, are all behaviors Frank has exhibited on many occasions on this show.

Quotes

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“Dee's a bird!”