It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: 10 Most Disturbing Episodes
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: TV's darkest sitcom on just keeps getting darker...
Since its debut episode, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has been at the forefront of dark television comedy. It has gripped viewers with its subversion of the sitcom format and outright mockery of the genre’s tired tropes. In terms of duration, It’s Always Sunny is the longest-running live-action comedy in TV history - and the series is due to commence its fifteenth season in 2021!
The initial Gang was comprised of Charlie Kelly (the lovable idiot), Ronald “Mac” McDonald (the misguided tough guy) and the narcissistic and deluded siblings Dennis and Dee Reynolds. Many fans consider the show to have come into its own with the inclusion of Frank Reynolds (Danny DeVito) in the second season. Over the years, the world of It’s Always Sunny has been populated with captivating and often grotesque characters such as Artemis Dubois, the McPoyle clan, and Rickety Cricket.
It is difficult to compile a top ten list of the Gang’s most disturbing moments, as they sink and slump into darkness week after week. This is evidenced by the omissions from this list, which excludes childhood exposure to Nazism, multiple kidnappings, and a drowned child, because the rest of those episodes gave viewers brief glimpses of light.
10. The Gang Goes To Hell (Season 11, Episode 9)
Only the Gang could make an alcohol-free Christian cruise dark and disturbing. While Mac tries conversion therapy on an unwitting gay couple, and Frank and Charlie cause serious damage attempting to drink boat fuel, it’s the Reynolds siblings who darken this nautical outing.
Dennis confides in Dee that he is struggling with lust, as he eyeballs a “flaxen-haired seductress”. Dee points out she looks 12. However, Dennis has somehow checked she is of age.
Rather than condemn her brother, Dee understands “the implication of being on a boat”. They are in the middle of the ocean, the girl is stuck on a boat, and she couldn’t possibly say no, because something might go wrong for her if she did.
Dee reveals her own implication. When guys she’s with get “skittish about banging”, she insinuates that it would be a shame if her account of what happened was different from his.
Dennis traps the girl in a corridor, telling her that he’s been watching and following her “in a good way”. He points out nobody would hear their screams. To somehow try to make this all okay, Dennis then blames the thunder for making his words sound sinister as the young girl flees in terror.