"Mac & Dennis Move to the Suburbs" is the fifth episode of the eleventh season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It aired on February 3, 2016, and it was viewed by 563,001 people.
Synopsis[]
Realizing they cannot find a place in Philadelphia that meets their requirements for their price range, Mac and Dennis move out to the suburbs. However, Frank doubts that "city scum" like them can last out there, and makes a bet with them that they will not last a month in the suburbs. And things start to quickly unravel in Mac and Dennis' new home.
Recap[]
Dee complains about the trashy state of her apartment while Mac and Dennis search for a new place to live online. They complain about the rent prices and regret burning down their old rent-controlled apartment.
They end up finding a house in the suburbs an hour's drive away from Paddy's Pub. Frank bets them they will crack and move back to the city before the month is over. They take the bet, agreeing if they lose they will sleep in the same bed as an old man for a full year, but if they win Frank will pay their rent for a year.
Over a dinner of "Mac's Famous Mac and Cheese", they discuss how easy it will be to live in the Suburbs. They grow bored, as there are no bars and the TV isn't set up, so they agree to get a good night's sleep. Dennis fails to sleep due to the noisy pool pump and Mac fails to sleep due to a smoke detector's low-battery chirping.
As the month progresses they grow more and more tired of each other and of living in suburbia. They're jealous that they can't be in on Charlie and Frank's schemes; Dennis tells Mac to stay home to fix the TV and the pool filter while he goes to work, and their relationship develops into a married couple type of duality. Mac starts feeling like a cooped-up housewife and Dennis falls into the role of a working husband, under pressure from road rage and the same dinners every night.
They invite the rest of the gang over to feel Frank out for his intentions of the bet. Dee, Charlie, and Frank arrive with an old black man. During dinner, Frank makes Dee a side bet: if Dennis and Mac make the full month, he will buy Dee a California king size bed, but if they crack she will have to sleep in the same bed as them and the old man. She finds out in private that they are about to crack and tells them to just 'exist' for two weeks.
To distract them from the monotony, Dennis buys Mac a dog whom Mac names Dennis Jr. However, the monotony does not end for either of them. The lack of sleep, the traffic-filled commute, and their overly-friendly neighbor, Wally, nearly make Dennis crack while the chirping, the dog, and pressure to cook mac and cheese for Dennis cause Mac to nearly break.
Dennis arrives home while Mac is finishing shoveling dirt onto a dog grave. Over dinner, Mac accuses Dennis of not caring about him, showing photos of Dennis sleeping in his car and eating at Applebees. Mac then claims to have changed the recipe for the mac and cheese, implying he cooked the dog and put its meat into the pasta.
As Dennis packs to leave, Dee, Charlie, and Frank arrive, congratulating them on surviving the month. Frank tells them their prize is to live rent-free for the next year, but in the exact house they're in right now. As they count down to the final moments of winning the bet, the scene cuts to see Dennis, Mac, Dee, and the Old Man all share the bed in Dee's apartment.
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[]
- Steve Witting as Wally Schmidt
- Wil Garret as the Old Man
- Joshua Poole as Jimmy the Pool Guy
Trivia[]
- The structure of the episode, including the smash cuts to titles showing the day and the plotline of someone's sanity unraveling in an isolated location, is very influenced by the movie The Shining.
- Mac telling Dennis he has cooked their dog is reminiscent of a scene in the movie "The War of The Roses" directed by Danny DeVito.
- Mac and Dennis' old apartment burned down at the end of the ninth season finale "The Gang Squashes Their Beefs" and presumably again in the tenth season finale, "Ass Kickers United: Mac and Charlie Join a Cult".
- Other episodes with at least one bleeped out f-word: "Mac and Dennis: Manhunters", "A Very Sunny Christmas", "Mac and Charlie: White Trash", "The Gang Gets Analyzed", "Charlie Work", '"The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award". and "McPoyle vs. Ponderosa: The Trial of the Century".
- Dennis, Dee, and Mac are still sleeping with the Old Black Man as of the 12th Season premiere, "The Gang Turns Black".
- In the background of the scenes one can see a continually growing number of trash bags and air fresheners, hinting that the guys have no idea how garbage disposal works in the suburbs and therefore just keep it inside.
- The scene with Dennis road raging is a commonly backed-up section of the I-76.
Images[]
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