Boy, whoever's in charge of Sunny's wardrobe should win an Emmy for last night's baseball-themed episode. We were treated to Dee's Pink Lady-turned-Phillies fan ensemble, Charlie's lawyer outfit, Green Man's leotard (which will end up in the Smithsonian one day), and a pretty accurate representation of the Philly Phanatic mascot costume. Dennis, however, didn't need much help from the wardrobe department in this one. He just popped off his shirt to reveal that he's a chest painter. It was a little surprising, considering how what a metrosexual he is. I would have expected that from Mac or Charlie, but not Dennis.

As the episode title suggests, the plot centers on the gang trying to fight a parking ticket from last year. The judge is baffled as to why Dennis brought a bunch of witnesses along to traffic court, but allows the gang to tell their long and winding story in which they try to prove that their fine should be waived because the Phillies won the World Series.

I generally don't like "flashback shows" that are framed with present-day scenes, but this one works fairly well. I think it would have been even better had it all taken place in the present, but obviously the writers wouldn't have known if the Phils would make it to the WS this year, and certainly wouldn't have wanted to jinx them. It's actually a pretty nice coincidence that the team is currently in the playoffs and looking good.

The gang's story begins at Paddy's Pub, where everyone has gathered to prepare for Game 5 of the World Series and, more importantly, a long day of tailgating with jugs of grain alcohol. Mac and Dennis have worked out a plan to start a fight during the game to distract security so that Dee can run out onto the field and kiss a player. Charlie has another plan - to show up the Philly Phrenetic (he can't call him the Phanatic because he doesn't want to get sued by MLB
) by donning the Green Man costume.

Right before leaving for the stadium, Frank realizes that he forgot the tickets at home, so Charlie and Dennis head for Citizens Bank Park while Mac and Dee accompany Frank back to his place to retrieve the tickets. There's just one problem - the bedbug-infested building is being fumigated. The three try to figure out how to get inside, and Mac gets all up in Dee's grill to insist that he's "absolutely capable" of scaling the building and smashing in a window. (Why he would even need to do that is beyond me, since Frank and Charlie's apartment seems to be on the first floor. But I guess Mac doesn't need a reason to be bad-ass.)

Using a garden hose as a snorkel, Frank runs in to find the tix. As Mac and Dee wait outside, they try to pick the perfect player for Dee to kiss. Dee's set on Ryan Howard, but Mac is really pushing for Chase Utley - mainly because he has written a letter to the second baseman that he wants Dee to deliver. Dee is horrified by the sadly funny letter, which is clearly written by a creeper with a man-crush and major Daddy issues. Their attentions are turned away from the letter to Frank's building when they notice that the garden hose is no longer sticking out from under the fumigation tent. Mac and Dee run in after Frank and find him passed out in his apartment doorway. After Mac fails to find the tickets, the three lie in the smoky, toxic hallway and retch. (I never imagined that a dry heave montage could be so funny, but leave it to Sunny.)

While all of this is going on, Charlie and Dennis are in the stadium parking lot, trying to figure out a way to get inside, having given up on Frank finding the tickets. When Dennis doesn't believe Charlie's story about a "secret tunnel" between the Holiday Inn (which everyone pronounces "Ollidee Inn" - must be a Philly thing) and the stadium, he suggests that Dennis try the old "Charlie 1-2," which is essentially when he jumps in front of a car and then threatens to sue unless the driver gives him what he wants. In this case, it's game tickets. Dennis resists, but Charlie pushes him out in front of the first rich-looking car he sees.

Leaving Dennis broken and bleeding (and without tickets), Charlie morphs into Green Man. When he runs into the Phrenetic, their meeting starts with a playful belly-bump and ends with Charlie wailing on the mascot. Two Phillies fans see this and rescue the Phrenetic, and all three beat up Charlie.

Eventually, the entire gang meets up in the parking lot (no explanation is given as to how Frank, Mac and Dee escaped the bug-bombed building alive), and Dee brings up the "secret tunnel" idea again. The gang decides they have nothing to lose, so they head over to the Holiday Inn to check it out.

From the time they all get back together to the point where they end up locked in a Holiday Inn linen closet, the action starts to slow a bit. Although Mac and Dennis's push-up challenge is kind of funny (primarily because of Dennis's claim that Mac only works his "glamour muscles"), the story doesn't really move along and it seems like everyone's lost the plot. As if sensing the audience's boredom, Dennis wraps up the story by revealing that, instead of finding a secret tunnel, the gang finds a dungeon full of bloody Phillies fan corpses.

Of course, Dennis just made that part up because he felt like he was "losing" the judge, and just wanted to spice up the story. The gang then explains that they ended up locked in the linen closet for six days (because, apparently, the Holiday Inn housekeeping staff never changes the bed sheets), surviving mostly on grain alcohol. Unsurprisingly, the judge orders Dennis to pay the fine, and the gang calls "kangaroo court." Charlie then tries to bring a counter-suit against the Philly Phanatic - finally calling him by his real name, trademarks be damned - at which point the gang is escorted out of the courtroom.

Although this episode was full of the kind of drunken lunacy the Sunny gang does best, it wasn't quite as strong as some of the others this season, and was a bit anti-climactic after last week's stellar episode. Still, any episode in which Charlie gets to both be his lawyerly alter-ego AND Green Man is a pretty good one. Now, if the writers could only find a reason for him to be Serpico again.

Grade: B



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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.




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