Now, in its tenth year as one of the most highly acclaimed televisions shows, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” has brought its fans a new ten episode season filled with antics by Dennis, Charlie, Dee, Mac and Frank, better known as “the gang.”
The season 10 permiere opens with the typical “Sunny” typeface over a black background which reads “9:30 a.m. on a Thursday.” The gang is standing in the aisle of airplane, all wearing plain white t-shirts with varying numbers of tally marks on the chests. All members of the gang are drinking one or two beers on the plane.
As per usual, Dee seems the most confused and uncomfortable with the present situation. After forgetting why exactly they’re all on a plane so early in the morning, Dee explains that they’re attempting to break a drinking record set by Boss Hogg from “The Dukes of Hazzard.” Mac explains that is not, in fact, Boss Hogg’s record, but rather a record set by Wade Boggs of professional baseball.
According to the legend, Boggs drank 50 beers during a cross-country flight. At the top of the show, the gang is determined to beat Boggs with Dee in an apparent lead. One of the episode’s first gags is Charlie being convinced that Boggs is dead. Mac explains profusely that Boggs is actually in his late fifties and living in Tampa.
Mac is the appointed “commissioner” of the endeavor after having lost the preliminary chugging contest before the flight. Dee becomes rowdy after only a few minutes on the plan, chugging beer after beer and belching loudly at the passengers. Commissioner Mac is eager to butt in and apply her respective tallies so as to chart her progress.
Dennis and Frank are seated next to each other in the rear of the plane near the restrooms. Dennis spots a young man wearing an ambiguous varsity sweatshirt with “North Dakota” printed on the chest. The student orders a beer from the refreshment cart, worrying Dennis that if he keeps this up, there will be no beer left on the plane for the gang to pursue their goal. When the flight attendant approaches Frank and Dennis, they order six beers each. Frank, obviously feeling the effect of his over twenty beers, gives the attendant a credit card and says, “Put it on the Boggs account.” The attendant balks at their request, suggesting they have two beers each as a start.
Frank asks if the plane offers condoms. When given a negative response, he vows to “figure something else out.” The suspicious demand is due to Frank’s wish to become the first member of his own sexual club, the “Air Sex Society.”
Dennis is confused, seeing as Frank has never heard of the notorious “Mile High Club.” This talk of in-flight sex gets Dennis thinking. He bets Frank that he’ll be able to have sex with one of the passengers before their plane is over the Great Lakes. Mac overhears their talk of wagers and quickly runs over to put a stop to it. As “commissioner,” he cannot allow any betting to occur during this trip. It is clear that this position of leadership is going to Mac’s head despite his sobriety.
Back at Dee’s seat, she is sleeping. Mac finds her and writes the number 29 on her forehead, signifying her standing in the competition.
Mac moves up to Charlie’s seat, where he finds Charlie ravenously devouring a rotisserie chicken. Mac frowns upon this since he believes Charlie will waste precious space in his stomach for more beer. Charlie disregards these claims and orders a rum and coke, saying that even Wade Boggs was able to eat a chicken before every game and still succeed. Charlie exclaims confidently that Boggs was known as “The Chicken Man.”
Back in the plane’s rear, Frank reveals that he drugged the college student’s beer with sleeping pills to keep him from drinking more beer. Dennis maintains his claim to have sex with a passenger. He demonstrates his skills by eyeing a young woman in seat 44G. With a creepiness best exemplified in the episode “The D.E.N.N.I.S. System,” Dennis visually analyzes the woman’s relationship status, promiscuity and wardrobe, dubbing her a perfect candidate for his predatory game.
Worried that Dee might run away with the competition, Mac looks to inspire a “McGuire/Sosa” rivalry between Charlie and her. Mac reveals that he specifically chose this flight because of the airplane’s size. Citing action films as evidence, Mac believes he’ll be able to access the cargo hold to retrieve 100 extra beers in his checked baggage.
Meanwhile, Dee is still up and about the plane. She grabs the plane’s intercom receiver, addressing herself as “Captain Boss Hogg.” At this point, Dee has consumed 40 beers. After insulting the passengers and chugging a beer, the stewardess exclaims, “The Boggs group is cut off!”
On his way to the restroom, Dennis finds Frank posted up in the small space. Frank explains that by sitting and waiting in the restroom, his sexual partners will come to him “like lambs to the slaughter.”
The student that Frank drugged suddenly begins to spasm violently and yells in confusion. Apparently Frank used somewhere between seven to twelve pills on the man. Dennis fears that the young man’s health could cause an emergency landing, thus cutting the competition short. Frank steps forward, playing his old character Dr. Mantis Toboggan, M.D. Frank’s Dr. Mantis is one of the more bizarre running gags on “Sunny.”
Frank straps the boy to his seat with duct tape, reassuring the stewardess that he’ll be fine until they land in North Dakota. He begins flirting with her, fabricating stories of being a courageous pilot.
Mac eventually makes his way to the cargo hold and finds his extremely large suitcase filled with beers. At the same time, Dennis and the woman from 49F descend into the hold as well. Mac ducks behind his suitcase. The two intend to have sex on a pile of suitcases. Before doing so, the apparent “North Dakota trash” takes a minute to crush and snort a handful of pills.
The plane begins its descent into North Dakota. Charlie is over 30 beers into the competition. Look over at an empty seat, he sees a ghostly figure resembling Wade Boggs. Boggs explains that he is not actually dead and that Charlie should persevere with the drinking because “there’s nothing more fun than winning.”
At Dee’s seat, she sees the ghost of the character Boss Hogg, which is actually a hallucation. Boss Hogg emphatically encourages Dee to keep drinking, since it will help him carry out his “Hazzard County schemes.”
The plane lands in North Dakota and the drugged student is wheeled out of the plane. Heading toward the gate, Dennis leaves the group behind, explaining that he would rather be surrounded by Philadelphia filth than North Dakota. He returns to Philadelphia and is out of the competition with 21 beers under his belt.
Charlie and Dee are neck and neck, cradling beers and drinking heavily. Frank, though adamant about winning, gives up and is out of the competition.
The second leg of their cross-country flight lands what remians of the gang in Los Angeles. Standing in LAX baggage claim, Mac forces Charlie and Dee to keep drinking. Both of them are tied at 70 beers. Charlie can barely stand and has nearly lost his ability to speak. Dee disappears only to be found sleeping on the baggage carousel, being swallowed by the large plastic flaps of the baggage claim.
Charlies is able to choke down one final beer, making him the winner among the gang as well as the new record holder. Mac explains to a belligerent Charlie that now he must bat three for ten just like Wade Boggs would supposedly do after high levels of alcohol consumption.
They make their way to a small baseball diamond in Los Angeles. Charlie is at bat, swinging wildly and excitedly awaiting Mac’s pitch. Mac’s wind-up is shown as a graceful display of physical prowess with soaring music playing in the background. Charlie lets loose and knocks it out of the diamond.