The supporting cast of Always Sunny has mirrored the show’s own trajectory and ventured into more and more depraved territory as the series has progressed, showing how messed up the world can be outside of The Gang, too. In this episode we find the McPoyle’s suing Bill Ponderosa for a whopping sum of two hundred dollars for the loss of an eye, and in the ensuing trial the show is able to cram a good chunk of its old favourites into a very enjoyable episode.
Charlie’s days watching courtroom procedurals, along with his background in bird law, bring out his usual baffling lawyer jargon and as a result he’s at the centre of this episode. There are roles for the rest of The Gang though and Dennis is tagging along to the court simply to try and find a way out of his alimony payments to Maureen Ponderosa (who we find sitting in the corner of the courtroom having gone ‘full cat’).
Representing the McPoyle’s is the lawyer (probably the only lasting character to get one over on The Gang now and then), portrayed so well by Brian Unger, his smug superiority evident and his utter hatred of the gang so fun to watch as he states ‘I can’t wait to crush you people’. On the defending side is Uncle Jack, his hand fetish being taken to new extremes as he dons huge plastic gloves. It’s so weirdly compelling to watch and Andrew Friedman’s conviction in the portrayal of this desperate character makes it all the more enjoyable. This is a strong episode for all the cast and elsewhere Reginald VelJohnson is great as the baffled judge, bringing a good balance to the sheer number of insane characters on show.
Charlie and Dee clash about sass levels, recalling ‘The Nightman Cometh’ and reinforcing the idea that anything Charlie takes seriously is going to be immediately disrupted by Dee’s own sense of self-importance. That doesn’t last particularly long though as Dee is called as a witness and is immediately rumbled and what follows is a string of witnesses, including Maureen in full cat state which allows Dennis into the fray, only to also be immediately dismissed. A random appearance from a Lion McPoyle reveals that Liam’s brother stabbed him in the eye and yet that just proves Bill drugged everybody so the trial continues.
Essentially at every turn the case just refuses to end, with the lawyer undercutting any potential victories The Gang may have. At the end of the day, Charlie’s bird law actually helps make progress in the case as he claims the family bird (Royal McPoyle) was the one to stab Liam’s eye. This leads to Pappy McPoyle in the stand in a great cameo by the director Guillermo Del Toro and it is revealed that Royal McPoyle had been sitting under Pappy’s hat the entire trial. Only on Always Sunny would a two hundred dollar law suit can turn into something so manic and weird as Royal flies across the room and stabs the lawyer in the eye, leaving no real resolution with the case. Instead, another trial involving The Gang begins as the Judge lets out a desperate groan that hints at these exploits continuing for a long time to come.
7/10 – This is maybe the most consistently funny episode of the season, packed full of wonderful little character moments that show why we keep coming back to this messed-up world that’s been created.