11x10 The Gang Goes to Hell (2)

[9.6/10] I love me a good bottle episode, and IASIP is the right kind of show to pull this off. Normally, the show goes big for season finales, but I like how this one, in its own sort of way, went small. The thing that has always fueled the show, more so than the wacky adventures, is the banter and insane dynamic among The Gang. This episode has the stones to devote twenty minutes to nothing but that dynamic, and the results are fantastic.

There’s tons of great little asides and vignettes that only these characters could pull off: the debate about what sound a cruise ship makes, the imaginary meal debacle, the impromptu Stomp imitation, are all weird little moments that are hilarious and done in a way that’s so specific to how loony these characters are.

I also like how quickly they become unraveled when things start to go wrong. Mac being convinced there’s no God, Charlie going gun-crazy and then deciding that they’re in hell and/or purgatory, and Frank just losing it are all great instances of showing how our heroes can’t respond to even the slightest bit of pressure without going nuts. And little running gags, like Dennis and eventually the rest of The Gang trying to calm one another down by going “oy oy oy” or Dennis’s using an onion to express human emotion were superb.

On top of that, the scene with everyone’s “confessions” (or, more accurately, tattling, as Dee points out) was great. As a Cowboys fan, I got a big kick out of Mac being a Romo-backer. The bits about Dennis stealing letter from Mac’s dad and Charlie messing with Frank’s glasses prescription are characteristically dark but definitely funny. And the way the recriminations fly in the aftermath is superb.

Last but not least, the episode goes out with a bang. The whole group accepting death, Toy Story style, is oddly touching for a moment, with the underwater shot and classical music. But then that vibe is nicely subverted as they punch and kick one another trying to get their heads above water. And the twist that what was framed as the afterlife is just the bright light of an insurance adjuster’s office works as a nice little swerve.

Overall, this is an episode that took a risk by sticking the whole Gang in a room for an entire episode, with no crazy gimmicks or even much of a story to drive the episode, and still managed to pull it off entirely by just letting this wild latticework of mental pathologies and silliness play out for twenty-two minutes. Amibitous, funny, and wildly successful at what it aims to do.