"The Gang Gets Invincible" is the second episode of the third season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Synopsis[]
When the Philadelphia Eagles hold open try-outs à la the movie Invincible, Mac, Dennis, and Dee use the event for their own personal competition. Meanwhile, Frank and Charlie go to a tailgate party, where Frank gets high on LSD and the McPoyle brothers target Charlie yet again.
Recap[]
10:30AM on a Wednesday
As the Gang argues over the merits of a mouse winning a fight over a scorpion inside Paddy's, Charlie, frustrated, suggests a change of scenery to break up the monotony of hanging out indoors all day. They go to a local park, where Dennis, Dee, Mac, and Frank immediately regret it. Getting up to leave, an ill-thrown football fumbles up to Dennis, who attempts to throw it back to the sweaty, out-of-shape man who jogs up to retrieve it. The man informs the Gang that the Philadelphia Eagles are holding tryouts, similar to the 2006 film Invincible.
Back at Paddy's Pub, Dennis and Mac discuss the events of the tryout, including a motivational speech from Donovan McNabb, informing Dee that they will use the tryouts as the marker to see who between the two of them the better football player is. Dee suggests that she, too, should try out and join in on the competition, but is chastised for being a girl and not being able to try out for the team.
Frank and Charlie come in and announce that they will tailgate the tryouts. Dennis asks Charlie if he is going to break out the Green Man costume, to which he persistently declines despite the spurs of the rest of the gang. He explains that Green Man got him through some tough times in high school, but is done with the character, and just wants to relax at the event. Frank ingests LSD, announcing his intent to "trip balls".
Later at the Philadelphia Eagles football stadium, the Lincoln Financial Field, Dee approaches Mac and Dennis dressed as a man (named "Cole Armstrong"), and tells them that she will try out with them. Before they finish the conversation, all three learn that the tryouts will not be held at The Link as they had hoped, but at a small neighboring high school. They get on the bus, and Frank and Charlie follow them. On the bus, Doyle McPoyle, brother of the McPoyle twins, fusses with Mac and Dennis, angry that they don’t believe he can make the team.
At the high school, Frank and Charlie set up their tailgate, but the McPoyle twins invade their space with a large mobile home. Charlie, having a history with the McPoyles, is upset at their presence. When he asks them to move their mobile home, they decline because of the space they need for their family. A dozen members of the McPoyles family spill out of the old trailer.
Meanwhile on the tryout field, Dee, Mac, and Dennis anxiously await the arrival of Donovan McNabb, but are crushed to see an impersonator drive up in an old, inexpensive car (a 1992 Geo Metro). The man, who bears almost no resemblance to the Eagles quarterback, advertises McDonalds products, and abruptly leaves after demanding his paycheck.
Back at the tailgate, Frank takes even more LSD, and reveals that he snuck it into Charlie's beer as well. He then goes to the restroom inside the McPoyle trailer, but as he attempts to leave, he becomes locked in. The LSD kicks in, and Frank begins to hallucinate, seeing the face of Artemis in the toilet promising that he can escape by climbing into her mouth.
As the tryouts commence, Mac and Dennis quickly learn the rigors of contact football are far too strenuous. Mac is forcefully tackled by Doyle McPoyle, and Dennis is hit in the head by a football. Dee, however, has found a unique skill: she is able to kick the football long distances because of her long, slender body and "stork-like" wide feet.
Upset, Mac and Dennis seek Frank’s advice at the tailgate. Arriving, they see Charlie, dressed as Green Man, dancing with the McPoyle family in an LSD-induced trance. The McPoyle twins approach them, excited, and announce that their brother Doyle has been invited to the Eagles training camp. Uninterested, Mac and Dennis search for Frank. They find him nearby in a trash can, also under the effects of the LSD. Artemis has been watching him, but soon becomes bored and leaves.
On the tryout field, Dee reveals to the remaining participants and coach that she is in fact a woman, and gloats that she will kick the football 60 yards to show that women can be as good a football player as men. As she punts, she shatters the bones in her foot.
Dee hurries to meet up with the rest of the Gang, who are all trying to coax Frank into giving up the firearm he is waving around. After Mac and Dennis brag that they were right about Dee not being good enough for the Eagles, Frank accidentally fires his gun, shooting Doyle McPoyle in the leg.
The episode ends with the Gang frantically running from the scene of the accident.
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[]
- Faizon Love as Coach
- Jimmi Simpson as Liam McPoyle
- Nate Mooney as Ryan McPoyle
- Bob Rusch as Doyle McPoyle
- Artemis Pebdani as Artemis
- Geoffrey Owens as Middle Age Black Guy (McNabb Imposter)
Co-Starring[]
- Steven Lee Allen as Fat Guy
- Philip Newby as Nebbish Guy
- Thesy Surface as Margaret McPoyle
Trivia[]
- This episode is a parody of the movie Invincible starring Mark Wahlberg (the true story of a 30 year old bartender who attends open tryouts for the Philadelphia Eagles and makes the team).
- The coach refers to "the New Kids on the Block" movie as being the reason they're having the tryouts, but Invincible starred Mark Wahlberg, who was not in New Kids on the Block—that was his brother Donnie.
- In Season 7, the Donovan McNabb imposter will make an appearance in "Frank's Pretty Woman", this time claiming at first to be Tiger Woods, and then, after Dee recognizes him, as actor Don Cheadle.
- According to Rob McElhenney, Charlie's Green Man character is actually a homage of a doctor friend who used to dress in a green body suit after Eagles games.
- This episode has a production code IP03010, and was written to air after "The Gang Gets Held Hostage" which explains why Charlie says about Margaret "Oh, good to see her again. Good. She doesn't know what I'm saying, right?".
- In this episode, we get to hear the inner thoughts of every member of the Gang with the exception of Mac.
- This is the debut of Green Man on Sunny.
- Dennis' prediction that Frank shooting Doyle in the leg will "bite us in the ass" comes true 2 episodes later, in the episode "The Gang Gets Held Hostage".
- Though we have seen Frank being very careless with his gun, and even firing it in the episode "Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad", this is the first time he actually shoots someone with it. (The other times this happens in the series, so far, are in the episode "Storm of the Century" and "Frank Shoots Every Member of the Gang")
- The football field the Gang practices on during this episode is located at Ulysses S. Grant High-school, a popular filming location for various movies, shows, and music videos.