14x05 The Gang Texts

[9.0/10] A brilliant ensemble piece, filled with tons of superb little setups and payoffs, build around a solid theme that leads to both comedy and good social satire.

I’ll admit, when I saw the title of this one, I expected it to be a kind of lame “old man yells at cloud” type episode. But the show had such a great take on texting and tone and communication of all time, both for the points it was making and the humor it wanted to wring from that.

I loved bits like Mac being completely unable to understand the nuance and implied meaning of texting etiquette. I loved Dee not being able to nail comic timing in the text messaging world anymore than she can in the real world. I love Charlie being unable to read, but being a bit of a texting savant because that makes him so good with emojis. And I like the overall satirical point that Mac made this group chat to keep everybody connected and communicating, but using it just leads to more confusion and discord. It’s a hell of a thing to spin out from the simple act of text messaging.

The zoo also makes for a nice setting for that, both because it creates room for confusion (see lions vs. sea lions), but also because it’s just a nice playground to set these knuckleheads loose in. It was inevitable that once Dee explained her fears of getting lost and trampled by goats again, it would happen, but the show found a clever way to set it up and shot it like a horror film which got a laugh out of me) in a creative sequence. Similarly, Frank trying to taunt the gorilla with a bunch of bananas, only to be outsmarted and have the tables turned on him, is just a nice piece of comedy.

The show also leaned into the absurdity of it all. Mac and Charlie being obsessed with meerkats, and Mac repeatedly getting peed on by others trying to show dominance is insane but amusing. And the whole social dynamics between The Gang here are very funny, with Mac’s constant side chats, and everyone avoiding Dee, as illustrated hilariously via the text overlays. It’s weird to say for a show as raunchy as IASIP, but in some ways, this felt like a comedy of manners.

Plus the ending just slayed me! The Gang being at odds all day, only to be reconnected in the style of meerkats, once they’re able to see one another’s faces is the ridiculous cherry on top for all their textual misunderstandings. There’s plenty of reasons to have mixed feelings about Disney acquiring Fox, but if it means It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia can set a hilarious comic set piece to “The Circle of Life”, it’s not all bad.

Overall, this is an absolute stand out episode for the season, with tons of classic chicanery from The Gang and a solid, well-observed point beneath it all.