Last night's episode of Sunny was utterly mediocre, and yet I still managed to enjoy every second. (Well, nearly every second. Dee's storyline was pretty boring, aside from her amazing and very literal "rose" ensemble.) How does that happen? Is it because Charlie, Mac and Dennis ALL got shirtless? That can't be it, can it? I'm not that superficial, am I?

Let's not try to answer those questions just yet. I think I know why I liked the episode in spite of itself. It was all wrapped up in a warm and fuzzy blanket of nostalgia - taking us all back to a time when the WWE was still the WWF, Hulkamania ran wild, and Cyndi Lauper got in on the act with a highly entertaining, highly scripted rivalry with the late, great Captain Lou Albano. Ah, those were the days.

What was interesting was how the writers melded that '80s nostalgia with current pop culture references. Former WWF star Rowdy Roddy Piper guested as The Maniac, a washed-up wrestler with a gravelly voice, stringy hair and money problems (sound familiar?), whom the gang hired to be in a match they planned to stage for the troops. This odd idea was spawned after the gang was filled with the American spirit while watching old Hulk Hogan videos on Dee's laptop and discovering that she was having an online romance with a U.S. soldier in Iraq. (Funniest bit: Dennis pointing incredulously at Dee, concerned that this American hero was going to come home and realize he had been talking to that.)

As I mentioned, Dee's plot was inconsequential, and was basically just there to move the wrestling story along. Her hunky soldier came to meet her while on leave, but when he showed up in a wheelchair she tried to pawn the wounded vet off on Artemis. He wasn't really crippled, Frank invited him and his friends to the match, Dee tried to steal him back from Artemis, blah blah blah. Jean shorts were involved, thank God.

Season 5 Episode "The Gang Wrestles For The Troops." © Patrick McElhenney / FX

In an effort to bring back the pageantry of wrestling, the guys wanted to revive Mac and Charlie's old tag team, The Pigeon Boys. When Dennis suggested they go with something a little more majestic like eagles, the three decided they would be some sort of half bird/half man creatures called Birds of War.

The funniest bits surrounded The Maniac, and the gang's realization that they probably shouldn't have ever gotten involved with him. Everyone was a little creeped out when the has-been made ambiguous comments about his kids and then "just drifted away," and even poor, pathetic Charlie was amazed by The Maniac's economic struggles - like fighting with his doctor over a mere $15 co-pay and hauling around a giant bucket of chestnuts in his car. (Mac: "Is he foraging for his food?") Eventually, The Maniac got arrested for outstanding parking tickets, leaving the guys to find another opponent. Not wanting to go with Frank's alter ego, The Trash Man (who literally just throws and eats trash), they hired everyone's favorite street rat, Rickety Cricket.

The wrestling match was just ridiculous enough to make up for the thin plot, especially the Birds of War theme song, which featured the guys (at Dennis' insistence) heavy handedly driving the point home that they were not just birds - they were men. Cricket, as the Talibum, proved a much more formidable foe than the guys expected, bashing Dee (who was in the ring trying to serenade her perfectly mobile soldier with Seal's "Kiss From a Rose") with a folding chair and using his signature move of blowing sand in everyone's eyes to render them powerless.

But just when it looked like America might lose, The Trash Man swept in and took the Talibum out. I mean he really took him out. Did you see that gushing neck wound? Cricket might be dead, y'all. Then again, he's proven to be indestructible in the past. I'm sure he'll just get a new exoskeleton and come back stronger than ever.

Much like a professional wrestling match, this episode was a pleasant diversion with some flash and a few laughs, and not meant to be taken too seriously. The biggest disappointments were the horrible state of Roddy Piper (I used to have a bit of a crush on him back in the day), and the stunning omission of Charlie's famous "Rock, Flag and Eagle" song. He couldn't have taken advantage of the ep's patriotic theme to reprise that gem? Man, he's treading all over me! And he's not supposed to!

Grade: C

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It's Always Sunny stars: Kaitlin Olson / Danny DeVito / Charlie Day / Glenn Howerton / Rob McElhenney


"The Pop Eye @ Starpulse" is a column written by native Pittsburgher and current New Yorker, Becky Broderick. You may contact Becky directly at beckeyeam@gmail.com, or check out her other ramblings on The Pop Eye.

Season 5 Episode "The Gang Wrestles For The Troops." © Patrick McElhenney / FX

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