"The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods" is the eleventh episode of the sixth season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Synopsis[]
Things go awry as the Gang travels to Atlantic City for a charity benefit. While Frank, Dee and Mac try to survive in the woods, Dennis and Charlie hitch a ride to the city and have the night of their lives.
Recap[]
3:30 PM, On a Saturday, Somewhere in Jersey
The gang (minus Charlie) is seen driving to an animal rights charity event. Frank who is driving then takes an alternate route to avoid having to go through a toll booth. Suddenly, Mac, who is in the passenger seat, reaches across and turns the wheel to avoid hitting a squirrel in the road.
Frank reveals he donated his money to mock their cause. With the car now crashed the gang attempts to phone a tow truck but realize they have no bars on their cell phones. It's then shown that Charlie was in the trunk during the drive with his hands tied with a bag over his head. Dennis suggests they walk. Charlie is the only one who goes with because Dee is pregnant, Mac is warming up his baseball glove to play catch with Chase Utley and Frank because his suit is chafing him.
Charlie and Dennis[]
While walking Dennis shows Charlie a hickey he received from a girl when he was caught in a rainstorm and went into the theater for shelter. With this story he convinces Charlie to say "yes" to just about anything. Dennis and Charlie then approach a Semi-Truck with a driver sleeping in the front seat who offers to drive them to Atlantic City (their original destination) leaving Frank, Mac and Dee behind. Charlie and Dennis find out that the trucker driving them to Atlantic City thinks they are male prostitutes (lizards) and tells them about how he used to use lizards frequently. The trucker then brings them to a motel to have sex with them, but they manage to escape from the truck and arrive at a casino. Dennis then realizes he left his wallet in the truck. At the same time, Charlie bet all of their remaining money on roulette. After winning, Charlie tells the dealer to "let it ride", and much to Dennis' shock, wins again. Charlie and Dennis are then shown walking into the charity event with $15,000. When Charlie is asked by a woman if he is Frank Reynolds he replies with yes (because of Dennis' story). Charlie then does a speech pretending to be Frank and donates another $5,000 to the charity. It is then revealed that Frank booked Chase Utley (Mac's hero) and Ryan Howard (Dee's crush) of the Philadelphia Phillies who Dennis and Charlie spend the charity event with. Dennis and Charlie get extremely drunk and then spend the remaining $10,000 on a private jet and champagne.
Frank, Mac, and Dee[]
Picture Dennis sent to Mac
Back at the car Frank, Mac and Dee are hungry because they were starving themselves for the buffet at the benefit. Frank tries to hunt a rabbit that he falls into some sort of staring contest with while Dee and Mac find a dead crow and Dee decides to use it for bait. Dee catches the rabbit but Mac and Frank won't kill it because of the moment they shared. Later at night Dee is shown holding the rabbit who is still alive while they have a funeral for the dead crow they found.
Frank wakes up in the morning screaming in pain and reveals he ate the dead crow. Dee brings the bunny with and names it Peter Peter Nickel Eater because it tried to eat a nickel out of the car during the night. Mac then convinces her to set it free and is then captured by a bird. Mac receives a picture message from Dennis. The picture is of him and Chase Utley.
The episode ends with Frank, Mac and Dee being picked up by the same trucker as Charlie and Dennis were picked up by earlier in the episode.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Charlie Day as Charlie Kelly
- Glenn Howerton as Dennis Reynolds
- Rob McElhenney as Mac
- Kaitlin Olson as Dee Reynolds
- Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds
Guest Starring[]
Chase Utley & Ryan Howard (normal people's reaction)
- Tom Sizemore as Trucker
- Ryan Howard as Himself
- Chase Utley as Himself
- Tracy Toth as Deborah
Co-Starring[]
- Natalie Cohen as Penelope the Stewardess
- Ron Bush as Casino Dealer
Trivia[]
Family idyll
- "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen plays during Charlie & Dennis' especially selfish alcohol feast.
- In "The World Series Defense" Mac wrote a fan letter to Chase Utley and Dee admitted that she really likes Ryan Howard.
- At 17:41 Charlie Day plays on piano with his real grandma. She is over 90 years old.
- In this episode Frank parodies famous cartoon character Elmer Fudd in some scenes ("Where are you, wabbit?").
- At first, RCG were about to cut out the whole scene with Charlie and Dennis at the casino, but FX was so happy about the show's biggest ratings ever (2.21 million U.S. viewers for the season premiere) that they allowed one unusually long episode, and this scene was saved. It is cut from syndicated reruns.
- This is the first time that the opening title gives the location of the show as anywhere other than "Philadelphia, PA". This next happens in the Season 8 episode "The Maureen Ponderosa Wedding Massacre".
- This is one of the longest episodes of Sunny (along with 02x04, 02x10 and 04x09).
- During his speech at the animal charity event, Charlie says "This is for the rats!", and immediately throws $5,000 into the air - probably because he is still feeling some guilt for killing "whole generations of those things" in the previous episode.
- In case you're wondering how much Frank saved with his "shortcut": if you traveled the entire length of the Atlantic City Expressway, the toll would be $3.75.
- In the opening scene, a highway marker on the road reads "Hammonton County 542." Hammonton County is not a real county in New Jersey, but a County Road 542 does pass near the town of Hammonton, lining up with Frank's alternate route through the Pine Barrens.
- Charlie brings up his fear of leaving Philly, first stated in "The Gang Hits the Road".
- According to The Always Sunny Podcast, Byron the Trucker was initially cast with actor Michael Madsen, who failed to show up due to abruptly leaving the country for financial reasons. Tom Sizemore was a last-minute replacement, and earned kudos from the cast and crew for his performance.
| < Season 5 |
Season 6 | Season > 7 |
| 1. "Mac Fights Gay Marriage" 2. "Dennis Gets Divorced" 3. "The Gang Buys a Boat" 4. "Mac's Big Break" 5. "Mac and Charlie: White Trash" 6. "Mac's Mom Burns Her House Down" 7. "Who Got Dee Pregnant?" 8. "The Gang Gets a New Member" 9. "Dee Reynolds: Shaping America's Youth" 10. "Charlie Kelly: King of the Rats" 11. "The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods" 12. "Dee Gives Birth" |